Ruffled

It’s my first time to WPPI and I even though I thought I’d never say this, I am loving my time in Las Vegas! Ever since I posted this vintage wedding last week, I’ve fallen in love with their animal bouts from Drinking Stars. Their current bouts are themed by touristic locations with a retro flair: Las Vegas and Coney Island. When I spotted the Las Vegas collection I thought it was only appropriate to share! Coney Island themed bouts are perfect for a carnival inspired wedding.

I love when brides submit their own weddings! Callie emailed me last week sharing a bit of her vintage wedding, with a 60s inspired “woodland” theme and a vintage dress to drool over. A vintage wedding dress worn by Twiggy? Yes, please! Let’s dive in to this super mod wedding fete.

From the bride, Callie:
We got married last November, in a cozy historic lodge in Berkeley, California. We fell in love with the lodge the moment we walked in. With wood floors, vaulted ceilings, a wood burning fireplace and located in the middle of the secluded Berkeley Hills, part of the East Bay National Park District, we new it would be ideal for our 1960’s woodland themed wedding. And it was indeed super cozy and intimate. We had about 75 of our closest friends and family attend an extremely short ceremony lasting just over five minutes and officiated by my husband’s favorite cousin followed by a vegetarian supper paired with delicious wines from my hometown of Santa Ynez, CA (made famous by the film Sideways), backed by 1960’s folk and rock soundtrack (think Neil Young, Love, and the Zombies) spun by my two girlfriends who I used to DJ with back in my early 20’s. We walked down the aisle to 13 by Big Star and walked away to La la la love you by the Pixies.

Her story is so good, I didn’t have the hear to edit shorter. It’s that worth it! (more…)

Here’s a fun Valentine’s Day wedding, shot by Katherine O’Brien. Abby and Kurt got married at the Barr Mansion, a gorgeous venue in Austin, Texas. Vintage Valentine’s Day cards were used as their escort cards, hung from a clothes line and secured with clothes pins. They even had a friend show up dressed as cupid, fully prepared with a bow and arrow. Abby had the guitarist change from “Here Comes the Bride” to “Here Comes the Sun” as she was walking down the aisle, a nice surprise for guests. Thanks Abby for sharing your day with us, we wish you and Kurt a lifetime of happiness!

Their friend showed up dressed as cupid, in honor of Valentine’s Day:

Below is a wise man (from a nativity set) that’s half lifesize and my family has used it to prank each other for a long time (like, they’d leave it in the shower so you pull back the curtain and there’s an almost-human sized wise man there so you jump.) He made a surprise appearance at my wedding.

Vendors:
Venue and Catering: Barr Mansion (www.barrmansion.com) / Dress: Coutures by Laura (www.austincoutures.com) / Flowers: Posey Floral and Event Design / Photography: Katherine O’Brien / DJ: Music4Life (www.music4lifedjs.com) / Guitarist: Mark Anthony Cruz (www.markanthonycruz.com)

Opening our DIY Contest is Sarah G., with the cutest DIY steampunk cake topper! The theme of our contest is “Found Tucked Away and Used Today”, where participants must reuse an old item in a do-it-yourself project. The winner will receive $500, and the second place winner a $100 gift certificate to Wendy Mink Jewelry!

Sarah upcycled her mom’s vintage cake topper to adapt to their quirky personalities:

What you’ll need:

- a base (either someone’s old cake topper, wooden box, or anything your imagination come’s up with – you could even use something like this)
- craft paint from Michaels or any craft store
- paint brushes
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- wooden pieces (found at any craft store, usually in the model building section)
- gear scrapbooking pieces (from Michaels or any craft store)

Instructions:

Step 1: Find a base for the caketopper. I used the base from my mom’s old cake topper. I removed the old tulle, fake flowers and little figurines (with her permission of course) and painted over the yellowed plastic with a base of silver paint.

Step 2: I started to “antique” the base by dry brushing tiny bits of black paint over the silver. The swirling in the hearts reminded me on wrought iron so I tried to imitate that as much as possible. The little spheres reminded me of lightbulbs so using a creamy-yellow I painted them to resemble light bulbs. Working with what you have is always a challenge, but if you take a moment to look at what you have things start to reveal themselves.

Step 3: Using small wooden pieces you can find at any craft store or hobby shop I constructed 2 small robot figurines by hot-gluing the pieces together.

Step 4: Paint robot figurines to your liking and hot-glue to the completed (and dried) base.

Step 5: To make the caketopper a bit more “mechanical” (because my fiancee is an engineer and likes all things mechanical) I found some clock gears, usually used for scrapbooking, and added them. Make sure everything is secure and dried.

A little more from Sarah:
This is definitely a piece I will keep after the wedding. It means a lot because it contains a piece of my parents wedding and all the love I put into our wedding. Plus it’s neat and quirky, just like us!

To enter your DIY Contest, email me at amanda @ ruffledblog.com or click here for details. Last day to submit your project is March 25, so hurry!