Category Archives: Eco Thrifty Wedding

décor, DIY, Eco Wedding, flowers, Thrifty Wedding

Grow With Love

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Update on my life: Mr. Veg and I had a romantic reunion at our friends’ Dave and Heather’s lakeside wedding, I passed my written test at the RMV and am now allowed to drive in the USA (with a licensed adult), I have scoured FMIL Veg’s house and barn for wedding items, and thanks to the Salvation Army Mr. Veg finally has something to wear to the wedding.

And now I find myself with a few minutes of down time so I thought I’d keep good on my promise to delve into more detail about our seed packet favors. I’ll let you read the story behind them for yourselves, but I’ll give you a little background on the steps involved.

We bought all seeds in bulk from The Territorial Seed Company. They were very friendly and helpful on the phone. The seed packets from Territorial are so cute that I contemplated using theirs, but buying the seeds in packets is substantially more expensive than buying them in bulk. Like 10x more expensive. So, of course, we went the DIY route.


I designed the packets on good old trusty MS Word with fonts downloaded from DaFont.I then went on an odyssey to find the right paper. It was important to me that the paper was 100% recycled and bleach free, but also that it was thin enough to fold and glue easily. Trust me, if you’re thinking about folding and glueing 160 envelopes, find the thinnest paper available. So I looked in every office supply and craft store I could think of, but kept coming up empty handed. The best I could find was Paper source paper for about 30 cents per sheet. That seemed awfully expensive.

Finally, I stopped in an art supply store near where my sister lived and found handmade paper that was 100% recycled for only $8 per pack. I bought two packs and the lady gave me a 40% discount with a coupon she had behind the counter. Woo hoo! And the best part was that it was already cut in half vertically (hot dog style, not hamburger), so it saved me a bit of time. When do you ever find 4 x 11 paper? Perfect. I love when things like that happen.

So anyway, I know you’ve already seen this picture, but here is the end result.


10 days out now. Yee haw!

décor, Eco Wedding

No time!

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Two weeks to go. No time for a real post right now, Mr. Veggie flew in to the US two days ago and I am on my way up to see him for the first time since mid-June. (Pucker up Veg!, I’m-a-comin’). Then we have a wedding to go to, a conference to present at, family to visit, a driver’s license to renew, a bank account to open, oh yeah, and a few minor details to hammer out before the big day. Marriage license? Yeah, that one should probably get moved up to the top of the list.

So, sorry for the lack of witty and insightful commentary, but the least I could do is give you a sneak peek at some projects I’ve been working on this week.

Vegetable Escort Cards made from recycled craft paper cardstock and fabric scraps from Veggie sister Kale’s quilting room.

Seed packet favors. I should do a whole post on these because the story behind them is really sweet. We’ll see, I’ll try my best.

Birds for garlands. Made from cardboard gathered from our rubbish (pizza boxes, beer boxes, two-year old flowergirl’s birthday presents) and vintage sheets/ fabric scraps.

This shindig is starting to come together. I can’t believe I’m going to be a wife in two weeks. I can’t believe I get to see Mr. Veggie tonight. Have a great weekend everyone!

décor, DIY, Eco Wedding, Thrifty Wedding

I get by with a little help from my…

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…newly-found-internet-acquaintances. Such a catchy tune.
Last week I was the recipient of some major bee love.
There once was a girl so nice that she volunteered to help with cutting and glueing, the two most evil most dreaded wedding crafting jobs. Who is this saint? This happy little crafting elf? This magical crafting fairy-godmother? Why she’s EAQ219, (A.K.A. Em) wedding bee afficionado. We met at the D.C. Bee meetup two weeks ago and she volunteered to help me finish up some projects. You know I wasn’t going to let an opportunity like that slip by. So I invited her over for an afternoon crafting session while my nieces were supposed to be napping.

Still smiling even though her fingers are blistering.
Let me tell you something about Em. She is hardcore. Some people might head for the door when greeted with a pile of 160 envelopes to fold, glue, and stuff. A lesser woman might have balked at cutting corrugated cardboard when the only scissors I could find were hot pink kiddie safety scissors. Not this girl. She is epic. And, not only did she show some mad crafting skills, she also passed on some good words of advice, as only a recent DIY bride could.

Trace. Cut. Glue. Repeat.
Also, on the way back to DC from my bridal shower I swung by Mrs. Trail Mix’s house. While my nieces fought over who would get to walk her ah-dor-a-ble little puppy, her and I loaded my trunk with boxes of café lights. 500 feet of gorgeous little beauties, all in two nice nest-like bundles. If you enjoy rubix cubes, do I have a good job for you. Then, because she really is so super sweet, and was about to move into a new apartment in 3 days, she threw in some paper lanterns too. Nice! Gotta love the leftover wedding goodies. After a mere two nights of So You Think You Can Dance, I had those babies untangled and ready to hang. I am so excited about them. Like really really jazzed. Pumped, even.
Three weeks to go and I am loving the bee love. Thanks Trail Mix, thanks Em, I will be sure to pay these favors forward.
planning

No sugar plums here

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T minus one month till the wedding and I’m having some pretty weird wedding-related dreams. O.K., maybe more like wedding nightmares.

Want to know how you can tell this is a dream? 1) That is the kind of perkiness you can only get in dreams. I mean let’s be serious, my boobs haven’t looked like that since 10th grade ever. 2) There is a giant dream bubble above my head.

Two nights ago I dreamed that I picked up my dress from the cleaners and while it definitely was the dress that belonged to me, it was a totally different dress than the one I have and didn’t fit at all. It was a halter dress and was so big that pretty much my entire boobs were showing. This is a ridiculous and impossible dream for many reasons. First, I already have my dress back from the cleaners and have tried it on repeatedly. And second, there is definitely not a possibility that it will be too big. American snack foods are doing their part to ensure quite the opposite in fact.

Then two nights ago I dreamed that I had to get a haircut, which is true. But somehow my sister was the stylist and she cut my hair into a chin length bob. All I kept saying was, maybe it will grow out again before the wedding.

I wish I would just have really wackadoo nightmares because these ones were just realistic enough that when I woke up in the morning I thought “Man, I really need to find someone to alter my dress soon” and then again the next day “What am I going to do about my hair?”.

Last night I was dream free. Thank goodness.

I can’t be the only one having weird wedding dreams. Come on, let’s hear them.

Eco Wedding, Family, Flower Girls, food, gifts

Shower for a Dirty Hippie

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I feel so special and loved and supported and excited and happy. This weekend I was showered.

Every bride needs a wedding bell and candle, right? Thanks Great Aunt Veggie.
**All photos in this post my my amazing FSIL, Jen, from Jen Lebo Photography.

My bridesmaids (Veggie Sisters Kale, Eggplant, Carrot), Momma Veggie, and little brother Bridesman Veggie threw me a fantastic bridal shower at the Veggie parents house in New Jersey. We missed Veggie Sister Tomato, who couldn’t take time off of med school in Arizona to join us, but I got to see so many wonderful women that have been a part of my life throughout the years. Friends from elementary school, grad school, and even one from NZ managed to find their way to the party. And the Veggie ladies did not disappoint. They cooked the most amazing most drool worthy food. They are clearly not doing their part to make sure I fit in my wedding dress in a few weeks. Veggie sisters, we have about 1/16 of an inch in wiggle room in that dress. If it doesn’t fit, I blame the stratta from the shower.
Momma Veggie’s cupcakes, which will also make an appearance at the wedding got rave reviews:
Unbeknownst to me (well, actually pretty knownst), the Veggie sisters interviewed Mr. Veggie via Skype and recorded it so we could play a “how well do you know your groom?” game. Veggie sister Kale read the questions and I tried my best to give answers that wouldn’t embarrass either of us too badly. I was doing well until they asked about our first kiss, which may or may not have been in the middle of a crowded party in a bit of a drunken stupor. Sorry mom! Veggie sister Eggplant played back Mr. Veggie’s responses to the joy of the crowd. They particularly enjoyed this response by Mr. Veg.
Veggie sister Kale: What is the first thing that Miss Veggie will want to do after the wedding?
Mr. Veggie: Blog about it.
You know it!

Then we played a game that was really all about embarrassing me… it was kind of a roast where guests wrote down their favorite Miss Veggie moment. Then they were read out loud and I had to guess who wrote them. I’m just thankful that my friends used good judgement and censored a bit.After games it was time to get serious. There was a pile of treasure waiting with my name on it. I was a little nervous about this part of the party with some registration hesitations still lingering. All week I was practicing my “Gee thanks, this is so thoughtful of you, even though it weighs 50 pounds, is breakable and bulky, doesn’t work with NZ electrical outlets, and is a totally ridiculous item that we would never buy ourselves”-face. But I should have had more faith in our family and friends. They totally get us.Veggie Sister Carrot diligently recorded names and gifts while I tore through handmade wrapping paper of one kind and another. Our guests were so thoughtful in their choices of wrapping, keeping in mind our desire for a low footprint wedding. We got gifts wrapped in magazine pages, new dishtowels, and recycled fabric. Most of the gifts really fell in-line with our lifestyle too, being light, nonbreakable, and recycled or eco in some way. And the best part was that we got a lot of donations for our non-profit and really generous contributions to a “travel home to visit” fund. I know I sound ridiculous and snobby right now, and should be thankful for any gifts that we received, and I totally am, but it really just felt nice that people understood us so well to pick gifts that worked for us. I did get three bars of nice soap. Is that a hint? Because I really tried to clean up nice and leave my dirty hippie-ness out on the porch for a day.

So, thanks Veggie Fam. You rock.

Momma Veggie, Veggie Sister Kale, Me, Veggie Sister Eggplant, and Veggie Sister Carrot.
**All photos in this post my my amazing FSIL, Jen, from Jen Lebo Photography.

Did anyone have any embarrassing moments at their bridal shower? Anyone else have any gift-induced nervousness? Did it turn out for the beter or for the worse?
food

Washington Bee-C

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Two weeks ago some fabulous D.C. bees organized a nice quaint get-together for a few readers and bloggers. You know, just a small gathering to share wedding ideas and advice. A few girls thought it would be a good idea, and then a few more, and then I hopped on the bandwagon as a D.C. summer resident, and by last week it morphed into this:

Look out D.C. the bees are taking over! Yep, that’s right. All those gorgeous gals are bees.

Last Thursday about 25 of us came out for a night of dimsum and drinks at Ping Pong, a flashy restaurant downtown. The combination of the 100 degree heat and hours of wedding crafting all day, every day must have made me slightly delirious. In a ultra-crafty daze, I thought it would be a good idea to put together some fabric-covered bee pins as favors and wedding bee inspired table toppers.

Counter-Clockwise from top: Two bees proudly display their bee pride behind a steamy dumpling foreground; Pretty place settings at the beginning of the night; A few conversation starters on the back of the table toppers; Place settings at the end of the night, You can tell how good the food was, not one bit left; I just couldn’t help myself with the signs, I blame Martha.

I had never been out for dimsum before, but let me tell you. Dim Sum = Yum Yum. The food was so good. I can vouch for a nice selection of on-tap beers too, and I hear from a very good source (cough, cough, Ribbons) that the Tenessee Tea Tingle is worth a try.

Food as high and as far as the eye could see.

We may have caused a bit of a scene, as 25 newly-engaged/ newly-wed ladies would do. One guy at the bar asked me what kind of club we were and if he could join. “Of course you can join”, I replied innocently, but once I explained that we were all wedding bloggers he didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic. Hmmm. Go figure.

Clockwise from top left: Mrs. Dorsay double fists her way through happy hour; Daniellemybelle gives a big bee smile; A sweaty Miss Veggie and Veggie Sister Kale enjoy a cool drink after a hot metro ride; and a group of bees get their drink on.

Thanks to DaydreamWanderer for her fabulous organizational and photography skills and to Daniellemybelle for making the reservations. It was such a great evening. It was so nice to share in everyone’s pre and post wedding enthusiasm and put some faces to names I see on the bee all the time. I met some great ladies, some of whom were even crazy enough to volunteer to help me craft a bit. I hope I am in town for the next one!
I’m not even going to try to name all the girls in the picture, but I’m pretty sure that these girls are in there somewhere: the futuremrsjewell, daniellemybelle, veggie sister kale, msterrapin, spaganya, septcabride, mrs. pencils, eaq219, lolo7835, sali2011, scarletjwl, onbecomingmrshall, sea glass, grits, msjeep23, miss boot camp, junebug12. I know I missed people, so sorry.

Gold star for anyone who can pick out the four blogger bees tucked in there and super gold star for anyone who can find a hive hostess.
décor, DIY, Eco Wedding

Paper Galands – Help Me Decide

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I have had this project on my radar screen for a long time now. I think may even be on the original inspiration board I made about a year ago. So, with 5 weeks until the wedding, I guess its time to get going. Which means its time to decide what shape I want to make the garland. Want to help?

I will be making my garland out of salvaged cardboard boxes and vintage sheets my sister has gathered from Salvation Army and Value Village. One side will stay brown and the other side will be one of these gorgeous patterns. They will be strung from jute twine or hemp.


And here’s where you come in. I can’t decide what shape to make my garland. Originally I thought I would do birds, like the original project. I made a mock up out of paper and baker’s twine and this is how it turned out:

Then I started thinking that even though the birds are super cute, maybe they are a little trendy, and maybe there is something that represents Mr. Veggie and I a little better. So I made a garland made of leaves:

And then once I got going, I thought maybe I could make something a little more “veggie”-ish for us. So I made a garland of beans and beany leaves:
Here are all three mock-ups hanging together.
So what do you think? Should I stick with the oh-so-cute birds? Go with the pretty and natural shaped leaves? Keep it real with the beans? Can you tell what everything is? Does one stand out more than the others? Let me know.

PENGY: Can you please add a poll to this post with the following choices? -Thanks
Which shape should I choose to make my cardboard garland?
Bird’s The Word
Leaf it up to Me
String Bean

DIY, flowers, Groomsmen

Boutie-licious

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I crack myself up.

I’m writing this post while my nieces are down for a nap, so it’s going to be short and sweet with lots of pics. Hope that’s ok. Getting anything done with a two and three year old around is pretty much impossible. Don’t even get me started about the disaster that was “helping” Aunt Veggie plant the centerpieces yesterday. That’s a whole ‘nother post.

OK, so I’ve been knocking off wedding projects left and right this week and last night was boutonniere night. Supplies: 2 packages of feathers (pheasant and quail) for about $2.50 each. One bunch of dried yellow flowers about $5. One stem of fake pussy willow about $2.50. One role of floral tape and one spool of floral wire, which will both get used again for bouquet making.

I have no prior bout-making experience, so I kind of just went for it. Here was my first attempt:

I liked it, but it was a bit poufy at the bottom and the feather stem wasn’t quite long enough to stay in well. So I made some adjustments including trimming the down off of the feathers a bit, and wrapping a piece of floral wire around the base of the feathers. I didn’t get any pictures of these steps, but when trimming the down poufy bit at the bottom, I tried to just follow the natural line of the feather. You can kind of see what I mean in the left bout in this after photo.I twisted about 2 inches of floral wire around the stem of the feathers and crimped it closed with a pair of pliers. This really helped me have more length to wrap the tape around and made them bendable, and easier to position at the end. I read about adding toothpicks or other hard bits in with the stems to make them stronger, but the dried flowers were sturdy enough, so I didn’t need to add anything.


I made 10 total, for groomsmen, ringbearer, and dads and it took me about two hours. The only thing I have to do now is wrap some nice ribbon to cover the tape and find long pins. With each completed project I feel just a little more relieved.

DIY, Family, staycation-moon, Story

Team Spirit

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Our camp wedding is going to involve lots of fun and games and a fair bit of friendly family competition. While my side might have the advantage in sheer numbers, Mr. Veggie’s side has quite a few good athletes, so its looking to be a good match up. We have several events planned for the weekend. The morning of our rehearsal dinner the camp is going to set up a multi-event relay for our immediate families and bridal party involving silly stunts and heroic athletic feats. At the rehearsal dinner itself we are having a chili cook-off and microbrew competition. A few rounds of flip cup and frisbeer might also find their way into the evening. But the main event (besides our wedding) will be the bride v. groom softball game, to take place at 10am the morning of the wedding. Yes people will have to choose sides. For some it will be an easy choice. For others, it will be heartwrenching.

Question: How will we know what side they chose? How will I know who to heckle (and possibly sabotage) and who to cheer on?
Answer: Team uniforms.

As soon as I mentioned the idea to the Veggie Sisters and Momma Veggie they were 100% on board. Aren’t they great? They suggested some websites where we could have shirts made. But, you know me. Ordering new shirts just isn’t my style. We are going for eco and thrifty after all. So I came up with a plan to make them. Luckily Momma Veggie was still on board (did I mention how great she is?).

One trip to Salvation Army and Michael’s later and we had everything we needed to make the uniforms. We went with pink for Team Bride and blue for Team Groom. I know, I know, so cliché. I don’t even like pink. But obvious is good sometimes.

All of the shirts were blank except for this one, which is especially for Veggie Bro bridesman. It has ruffles. And says “Sweetie Pie”. Sweet. We only bought shirts that were half off so we spent about $1.50 per shirt and bought a total of 22 shirts. At Michael’s we picked up some white and black paint and sponge brushes. We couldn’t find the exact stencils we wanted, so in a moment of crafting naievety we decided we could just make them ourselves back at home.

Note to all budget savvy brides: Buy. The. Stencils. Printing and cutting them out is do-able, but it takes for-ev-er. This is me exact-o-knifing my little heart out. I think I have early onset arthritis because of this project.

And here’s Momma Veggie doing some touch ups after spreading, stenciling, and sponging. And what was the rest of the Veggie family doing while we were working so hard in our maquilladora? Sitting on their tooshies. Watching t.v. to be exact. Watching America’s got talent to be more exact. (I know I’m embarrassed for them).

But after some prodding Veggie Sister Eggplant and Stepdad Veggie pulled through in a major way. They went out and brought back some red cows from the gelato store up the street. Sweet!

And here is a small sample of the finished product. Veggie Guests, you better be ready to bring it!