A Beautiful Woodland Wedding and A Handmade Wedding Card

We had the wonderful pleasure of attending our oldest and dearest friend's daughter's wedding last June.  They live in the greater Milwaukee area, but decided to have their wedding not too far from our home because they loved the woodland setting for their wedding ceremony.  It was a great advantage for us because we didn't even need to get a hotel.

The beautiful bride and her handsome husband were married at Burlap and Bells in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.  Burlap and Bells offers three outdoor wedding spaces:  Vine Chapel,  Cliff Top, and Tree Grove.  You can read and see pictures of each space on the Burlap and Bells website.  The wedding we attended was held at Tree Grove so this post will talk all about that wedding space.

Having a wedding in Tree Grove was so enchanting.  There is a long, grassy, tree lined path from the road to the actual ceremony.

Tiki torches line the path to ward off mosquitoes and perhaps light the way for wedding held at night.

Tall pines filter the sun.   Benches fill in amongst the tall pines.  A rustic arch is in the center front.

They did have a sound system, so everyone was heard.  I know in a lot of outdoor weddings, there is no sound system and it can be difficult to hear what people are saying.  The bride's aunt played the music for the wedding.

The bride looked like a princess in her beautiful gown.  I really loved the bridesmaids dresses too.  The color and style was so elegant and flattering on all of them.

This handsome young man is the bride's brother.

And this beautiful and elegant lady, is one our dearest friends, the bride's mom.

We are also related to these two cuties.  We call them "cousins" though, technically I'm not sure if that's what they are.  Perhaps someone who knows more about ancestry can tell me.  They are my husband's grandmother's sister's great great grandchildren.  It hurts my brain just trying to figure it out.

We had a lot of fun taking a short wagon ride from the parking lot to the wedding ceremony area.  I wore a gorgeous maxi dress from Stitch Fix.  It was such a hot, humid day, so the dress was perfect!

This is my husband and the bride's father.  They met in high school and have been best friend's ever since. It's so wonderful to reach this age and see our children all grown up, getting married, and having babies of their own.

And here I am with the beautiful mother-of-the-bride.  I didn't meet her in high school, but I met her when my husband and I got engaged and we've been friends ever since.

The reception was held at a covered pavilion.  It is lit entirely by bistro lights and is filled with a mixture of rustic tables and mismatched chairs.

I loved the bride and grooms over sized chairs.  The table was graced with long, green garland and there was a green hoop behind the chairs.  A "Mr & Mrs" sign sat on the the floor in front of the couple with a white floral arrangement in front of it.

White candles placed on log rings completed the wedding table look.

The pavilion is open to the outside.  Each opening has long white curtains and sliding barn doors on each end.

The rustic tables and chairs were decorated with a long, white lace runner and topped with greenery, baby's breath, candles, a log ring and a cute sentimental wooden sign.

The dessert table held a welcome sign and two log tiered trays filled with a cupcake assortment.

Beautiful white flowers graced the base of the cupcake tiers.

There was a small cake just for the Bride and Groom to enjoy.  It had simple white frosting with fresh flowers placed on it.

A oval sign placed near the dessert table.

A very touching and sentimental Remembrance Table was placed in the corner of the reception area.   It held photographs of all the loved ones of the Bride and Groom who had passed on and could not be there to celebrate the day.

I thought the sign placed on the table was so sweet.

This gold hoop was placed in front of the DJ area.

Here is the outside of the covered pavilion.  The dance area looks out over an open field and is lit by bistro lights.

The Bride & Groom having their first dance.

And here I am, giddy with excitement because I'm about to enjoy my SECOND cupcake.  My husband doesn't really care for cupcakes, so I got his too!

I did make them a handmade card but it ended up being a disaster because it was so thick it wouldn't fit in their card box.  I've never had this happen at a wedding before, and it was so embarrassing!  They chose a card box that only had a sliver sized opening, so when I tried to put the card in, it just got completely crushed, and it still wouldn't go in.  I finally just had to hand to the father of the bride and he put it in his coat pocket.  

I thought because it wasn't going through the mail, I could go all out on the embellishments, but I guess I was wrong.  Anyhow, here's the card.  I'm sure you can tell by looking at it why it wouldn't fit in their card  box.  I hope it wasn't too badly damaged by the time the Bride and Groom received it.

To make the card, I used ornate wedding paper for both the background and the heart.  I cut the heart out with Spellbinder's Nestabilities, then popped it up on dimensionals.  Lots of paper and ribbon flowers were added, plus a crochet butterfly and some pearl ribbon....all stuff from my stash.  I just kept playing with the arrangement till I got the look I wanted.

The sentiment was stamped and gold embossed then cut out with a MFT die.  There is also a border of metallic gold paper before it's adhered to a card base.  It's one of those cards that is much prettier in real life and very hard to photograph.  All the white tends to wash it out.

I hope you enjoyed looking at this beautiful wedding today!  

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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A Handmade Wedding Card For A Beautiful Wedding

Today I have a post to share that celebrates the goodness of life amidst all the sadness with the world's response to Covid.  I had a very busy, but blessed weekend celebrating two life moments in two dear friends lives:  one was a wedding and the other was a baby shower.  I've known both of these dear friends for many years.  We have watched together our kids grow up, and now we celebrate the marital unions of our children and the birth of our first grand babies.  There is something special about friendships that stand the test of time and that celebrate life's milestones together.  This week I will cover my dear friend's Julia's daughter's wedding and next week I will cover the baby shower of my other dear friend Sandy's daughter-in-law.

First, I want to show the card I made for the bride and groom:  Savannah and Trevor.  I kept the card on the simpler side because I think that is more to Savannah's taste, plus I was really pressed for time this week.  

I used a retired Stampin' Up set called "Wedding Wishes".  I simply stamped the main image and sentiment directly on a card base and colored it in slightly with Copic Markers.  I then adhered the card base to a light grey mat to make it pop.  

Now I'd like to show you a few snap shots of the wedding venue.  The wedding was held in a renovated factory that took milk from its original form and made it into other products such as condensed or powdered milk.  They named the 1903 building "The Condensery" in honor of its history.

They did such an excellent job of keeping the beauty of the original craftsmanship of the factory and yet adding the modern conveniences like elevators.

There are three rooms on the upper levels of The Condensery.  One was a large banquet hall and overflow room, and the other room is used as a dance hall/bar.  On the lower level of the building is a restaurant.

I just loved these big wooden doors!

This is the large banquet hall with the wedding party table on the right.

The bride kept the decor simple, yet elegant and a bit rustic at the same time:  the perfect blend for the atmosphere of the establishment if you were to ask me.  Each table had a burlap runner with a blue Mason canning jar sitting on top of a round wood slice.  The floral arrangements included pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with Baby's Breath.   Small gold votives and some Lindsor Truffles completed the display.

My favorite decor of the wedding was the dessert table...but I am partial to cake so why wouldn't it be?  I just loved the rustic decor of this table!  

Savannah used old wooden crates and old metal tins to create different levels of height on the table.  Pretty pink and white cupcakes were placed in delicate, lacy pink liners once again contrasting the beauty of the old with the new.  A few of the same floral arrangements used on the tables was brought in to tie everything together.

I just loved this cute sign too!  I am one that really enjoys the art and taste of a beautiful wedding cake at a wedding, but if you're not going to have a cake, as many couples today choose not to do, this was a great alternative as it was very well done.

The bridal bouquets were a romantic mix of pink roses and pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with white roses and babies breath.  They were so lovely.  The wedding was originally scheduled for May but was delayed due to Covid lockdowns, that is why the bride went with spring colors.

Many weddings have personal touches woven throughout to commemorate lost loved ones who could not be with them in person but are there in spirit.  One of the most touching aspects of this wedding was to see beautiful butterflies in the brides and the matron of the brides hair to remember the brides beautiful nephew and the matron of honor's lovely infant son.

The bridesmaids wore exquisite, full length,  blush pink halter dresses.

The bride looked absolutely stunning in her gown by Ines Di Santo.  

And finally, I want to show you my dear friend Julia, the Mother-of-the-Bride.  Julia is such a naturally beautiful woman any day of the week, but she looked exceptionally gorgeous in her dress by Tadashi Shoji purchased from Nordstrom.  It has an off-white lining with a sequined taupe sheer overlay.  My dress you will hear more about in my next "Ageless Style" post.  I had originally purchased a blush pink floral halter dress for Savannah's wedding, but when the wedding was moved to September, and the temperatures dipped to low fifties/sixties, I thought I'd better find something else to wear.  I found this gorgeous fall dress at JCPenney.

Of course my husband/photographer never noticed the wind blew my flutter sleeve up before snapping these photos 😄 But I do love this dress.  It is a very soft knit and is so comfortable to wear and the colors are very suitable for fall.  I loved it so much I wore it again the very next day to the baby shower!

This last photo is not only to show my footwear but these gorgeous wooden floors!  My husband couldn't stop commenting on how much he loved the floors of this old building.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how life continues on in spite of Covid and all the other nonsense going on in the world right now.  It was a wonderful weekend to get away from it all, and enjoy ourselves and celebrate the things that are really important in life:  family, friends, and God!

Have a Great Day!

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