Our Wedding Candy Bar

Finally onto one of the best parts of the wedding — the candy bar! Rather than having favors at each place setting, we decided to go with a big buffet of candy so that everyone could choose what they wanted and have some fun with it. You can read my previous candy bar post here for all the details of how I put this together, determining how much candy you'll need, poll results of peoples favorite treats and resources for containers and bulk candy.

We included an empty bag at each place setting with a note that matched the design of our invites telling people to help themselves to some sweet treats at The Candy Bar.

We had extra bags on the candy table with a sign that included, "Don't be shy, take another bag!"

Overall, it was a huge success! Everyone loved it and I really enjoyed the interactive element of it. One thing I dislike most about weddings is feeling like you are stuck in this seat that you're assigned with no where to go but the bar or the dance floor. With the large deck off the back of our venue, the yard games outside, the candy bar and the cake buffet (more details later!), there were many reasons to get up, walk around and mingle, and this created the exact environment I was hoping for. Plus really, who doesn't love candy?

CRAFTING THE CANDY BAGS

I purchased 1/2 lb size glassine bags from Paper Mart. I wanted them to look more 'finished' so I trimmed the tops with scalloped scissors. Yes, it was kind of a pain, but worth it :)

By accident, I stumbled upon the little paper clips at JoAnn Fabrics on clearance in the scrapbooking aisle. Each had a different word on it like promise, love, memory, etc - they were perfect.

I used the clips to attach a card that I designed to match our invites and figured people could also use the clip to close the bag after filling it. They came out great and I loved how they looked on the tables.

CRAFTING THE TAGS AND LABELS

I was torn as to whether I should label each container with the type of candy inside or if I should just make a sign for the table listing them, since most were self explanatory. But I decided it would be fun and more aesthetically pleasing to design labels, and I really love how they came out.

I created them in Adobe Illustrator and printed them on my inkjet printer. I used ivory label stock for the labels and card stock for the tags. I cut them out by hand with scissors (which turned out to be much easier than I expected) and added two slits on the tags to run ribbon through for hanging. A small knot at the bottom held them in place.

If you would like to use this art for your own candy bar, you can download the files below:

Click here to download an EPS file of the labels. (You will need a program that can edit EPS files to use this)

Click here to download the font, Honey Script. (Which is a personal favorite of mine, regardless of the use!)

It's tough to save the files in a format that everyone can use, but hopefully I'll have some time in the next week to save a few more formats for you. Please feel free to contact me with any requests or questions in the meantime and check back soon for additional downloads. (p.s. If you share this file elsewhere, please give proper credit - thanks!)

Next up on Wedding Week, the cake buffet! Which was just about as fun as the candy bar – stay tuned!

Crafting: Our Wedding Napkin Rings

I originally shared these tissue paper pom pom flowers with you in my very first Crafting post back in April. I loved them so much, I knew they would be the perfect addition to my reception table decor. A few modifications to the original design and some grapevine rings were all I needed. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to create your own.

What you'll need for one 4" flower:

3 pieces of tissue paper, 9" x 4.5"

6" piece of thin wire, floral or any other type

1.5" ring (I used mini grapevine wreaths)

Scissors

Stack the three sheets of tissue on top of each other. Make 3/8" accordion folds, creasing after each fold. I find it easiest to make one fold, flip it over, make the other, and repeat, so you are always folding up away from you and it's easy to see.

Fold the piece of wire in half and slip over the center of the folded tissue. Twist the bottom closed. Using sharp scissors, trim the ends of the paper into rounded or pointy shapes. I chose rounded for this one.

Separate the tissue layers, one at a time until the flower begins to take shape. You will keep the bottom flat for this project but can also puff them into a ball to use for hanging or to make a garland.

Last step is to attach them to your rings using the wire tails and snip off any excess wire. I found these inexpensive 1.5" grapevine rings at my local craft store (I have about 100 if anyone would like them!) but any ring of a similar size will do. Macrame rings also work well for this project. They come in the proper size, in both gold metal and white plastic and are very inexpensive.

You can easily modify this project in many ways to suit your needs and decor. You can make them any color you wish and even layer different colored tissue within a flower. You can also change the size of the flower by starting with larger or smaller sheets of tissue. Get creative and happy crafting!

Reception Decor

Some of you may remember back in early September when I wrote about putting all these decorations together (check it out here), and it was really rewarding to finally see it all come together that day.

I wanted things to be clean, fresh and casual, and really reflect our style. I didn't want anything obtrusive on the tables that would make it hard to talk with the people across from you, so the simplicity of the bottles and single stem flowers really worked out well. Plus it was great to be able to put our vintage bottle and jar collection to good use!

Making the table runners was A LOT of work, but it wouldn't have been the same without them. I used five different fabrics and I loved the eclectic feel it gave.

Click here for a tutorial on how to make these napkin rings, which can be customized in so many ways!

MY CUSTOM CARD BOX

When it came time to find a card box, I was so excited to be able to turn to my good friend Rachel of Get Ready, Set, Go. I was lucky enough to hand pick this vintage train case from her collection while I was down visiting before the wedding and once I finished my invite art, I sent it her way to do up my case!

She hand drew the custom artwork to perfectly match my invitation (shown below) and even included our wedding date inside the top. I was thrilled to pieces with it and love that I now have an awesome, functional case that I can use anytime and is a great memory of our special day.

Stop back later today for the napkin ring tutorial and tomorrow for more about the cake buffet and candy bar with photos, craft projects and downloadable templates!

Ceremony Decor and Music

While I dedicated most of my time and energy to decorating for the reception, I wanted to make sure the gazebo had just a few touches that tied everything together. To save time and money, I only decorated the 10 chairs that lined the aisle. I bought a long spool of wide sheer satin, tied it around the chair in a big bow and added a silk rose accent.

I found these simple rusty wire and grapevine sconces at Hobby Lobby and knew they would be perfect for the two front columns of the gazebo. I didn't want large flowers to be distracting, and these wispy wildflowers were just right.

A turn down the wrong aisle at Target one day led me to these grapevine accents (which my mom had previously found and I totally forgot about). Two on each side was just enough color and texture.

When it came to music for the ceremony, I was at a total loss. I, of course, turned to all of you for help and received so many suggestions! (You can read them all here.) A couple days before the wedding, I finally decided on two songs that had been lingering in the back of my mind and just felt right.

I walked down the aisle to In My Dreams by Josh Turner, and we chose L.O.V.E. by Nat King Cole for the recessional, at which point we were also surprisingly bombarded with scented jasmine hulls that my mom secretly picked up – scared the heck out of me!

Later today I'll have more pics of the reception decor I put together along with a tutorial on the napkin rings we made, see ya then!

Our Wedding Day

Our wedding took place on September 12 at a little place called Skyview Lodge in Brunswick, Ohio, which is a bit southwest of Cleveland. It's a beautiful old tin roofed lodge atop a big hill with an amazing view.

We had the short ceremony at 5pm at the gazebo in the backyard. After waking up to rain, it turned out to be the most perfect weather ever.

With a convenient break in his treatments, my Dad was rested up and feeling great to walk me down the aisle, which was a great blessing.

Guests enjoyed drinks and played corn hole out back while we took some photos on the grounds. The reception began inside shortly after.

Click here to see more photos of the reception decor and my awesome custom card box (shown below). Here you can find a step-by-step tutorial on making the tissue flower napkin rings we used.

Click here for a closer look at our cake buffet with a tutorial on making the sign holders and templates for the flavor cards.

Click here for all the details of how I put together our candy bar, downloadable templates of the candy labels and all the information and resources you need to create your own candy bar.

If you missed it before, here is a post about my dress and all the handmade touches that made up my bridal ensemble!

Next week I will share a few more details and photos of my bouquet with a tutorial on how to dry it after the big day. I'll also have a step by step how-to on making my birds nest ring pillow.

It was a beautiful sunset that night which everyone enjoyed from the back deck of the lodge. Later in the evening, my aunt and uncle surprised us by decorating the grounds with luminaries.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

Photography by David and Lisa Wilding, Lorain, Ohio