our wedding: DIY menus + napkins

From the very beginning i knew exactly what flowers and containers I wanted to use to dress up our tables. I was so excited about the natural beauty of the succulents juxtaposed against the pops of yellow from the billy balls. but hadn't put much thought into the rest of the table - thank god for Meg from La Partie Events. During one of our many idea-a-thons Meg asked what we were doing to add color to the table. white table cloths, white plates - oh geez it will be a sea of white! i love color. i crave color. this has to be fixed!

a few weeks later i was intent on sewing our own napkins using a mod yellow patterned fabric. thank god for etsy. after hours of scouring countless sites, i found a lovely fabric seller who had just what i needed. days later i had 28 yards of fabric waiting on my front step. yikes. thankfully my mom and MIL are talented at the helm of a sewing machine - AND very generous with their time. between the three of us, we stitched 100 lovely and homemade napkins for our wedding reception.



next up was the menu design. i wanted to keep it simple and clean. no need to compete with those spectacular napkins! just a dab of chevron and lots of yellow and we had a menu.



my favorite part of the entire package is the twine that ties it all together. my husband was never a boy scout, but you'd never guess it from his love of knots. he actually spent a summer making his way through a knot tying book - in his twenties! i'd say it's the engineer in him wanting to know the best knot for any given situation. with his expertise in the area, i enlisted him to create our "love knot" napkin rings - all 100 of them. he's taking a break from his knot hobby these days, i think he got his fill.

i love how so many people contributed to this part of the day. from Meg's advice, to our moms' sewing skills, to my design, to topher's knots - it was truly a labor of love.


I think ben liked them too.

photos by erinheartscourt