I'm still in disbelief that my baby sister has already been married for a year! Yup, an entire year. I may be a few days late but at least this is within the same month!
Wasn't she just five years old? Seriously, where has the time gone? There was this one time that vividly stands out in my memory (maybe because we talk about it all the time) when she LITERALLY stole my Christmas present because it had the Little Mermaid on the front of the shirt. While I was blindsided by the millions of presents our parents used to buy for us, she proceeded to go into the other room and put it on so she could make it known that it was now her shirt. As usual, I gave in and let her keep it. I took my role as big sister seriously as you can see from the pictures below.
I think it was Dad who nicknamed her "The Mermaid Freak." She is still a mermaid freak, however, you would never have known by looking at her wedding - no mermaids, or Sebastian, to be found! Some would say it's a miracle.
But regardless, as her big sister I have and always will have her back. So, if mermaids are what she wants, mermaids are what she'll get!
Keith and I really wanted to do something handmade and special for their big day. We talked about some ideas and narrowed in on creating centerpieces and ceremony alter stands for the floral arrangements. We were super excited to be involved and that we could provide my sister and brother-in-law with the one of a kind touch they were envisioning.
We worked with them on their vision and walked through some of their inspiration. They identified that they wanted a refined rustic spring look and we got to work!
Kelli and Pat wanted to flank their ceremony space with two unique wooden stands so the florists could insert flower arrangements. On a wedding budget, of course, we used pallet wood which worked out perfectly because the contrasting colors gave the altar stands more dimension and character. The flowers sat right on top and sat on each side of the altar. Since the stand was rustic in nature Kelli decided to keep in theme by making the flowers vibrant wild flowers. They were stunning - the bride and groom, too!
This was no small wedding so in agreeing to make the centerpieces, we had unknowingly agreed to making about twenty centerpieces! Good thing we love them. We used pallet wood again to tie into the ceremony decor and created boxes for the table arrangements. The flowers stayed in a vase and sat right within the box, which were offered guests to take at the end of the night.
Getting the wood prepared was the easy part. There are many different ways to take a pallet apart however any opportunity to use a power tool, we will. Keith took a reciprocating saw with a metal blade running the blade between the pallet base and the planks, cutting through the nails. This will not put added pressure on the pallet wood (which could cause it to break). It will also retain the character of the wood.
Once you get your pallet separated it's all about putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Some planks of wood are thicker and wider than others which will affect the thickness and height of the boxes. If you can, match up similar sized pieces and then put the boxes together. Once we had the pieces in similar piles we used an 18g Brad Nailer and it went rather quickly.
After we put the boxes together we made sure to sand down each box thoroughly. We didn't want anyone to get splinters while managing or carrying them home. Then we added a natural stain to help bring out some of the grain and varying colors in the wood.
To round out the decor, we decided to hand make the table numbers from the same pallet wood used for the ceremony altar and the centerpiece boxes. Kelli and I spent a full day painting numbers with stencils onto the wood with me being in the early stages of pregnancy and with a two year old in tow. All in a days work.
In order to make the table numbers stand, we cut the pieces of wood at an angle and then used Gorilla Glue to add a small piece of wood to the bottom for stability.
The best part about all of these items is that they don't have to be perfect. As a matter of fact, they wouldn't hold as much character if they were perfect. They are relatively simple to make but certainly require lots of time and attention to detail. We would do it again in a heartbeat!
The centerpiece boxes are currently listed in our ETSY shop. If you are interested in the table numbers or ceremony alter, request a custom order and we would love to help add a special touch to your special day.
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