Favorites - Homegrown Details.

a FAVORITES series

So among all the great people that helped make the wedding happen, were Nolan's mom and sister. 


I can't say enough about them, as they took on  projects that I wanted to but couldn't because I didn't live in Nevada while planning the wedding.  I envisioned pumpkins, fall flowers, and personal touches that I couldn't accomplish in Chicago. 

I was shy at first to ask... that changed quickly.  Both Susie and Ric take pride in their gardens, they grow divine flowers, fruit, veggies and what-do-you-know - pumpkins!  Nolan's sister, Ric has actually transformed her love of gardening into a profitable business, Chickie Baby Blooms.  So they were eager to pitch in when they could and I am eternally grateful! 

Their decor contributions included orange and white pumpkins (large and small), the bouquet flowers, the ring pillow, and the ring bearers' ties.  Obviously listing them doesn't do them justice as they made our wedding that much more PERFECT! 

Photos above:

TOP: Susie and Camille at Camille's bridal shower in August 2009
BOTTOM: Bryant, Ric, and Ethan at Camille and Nolan's wedding in September 2009

Photos below:
Inspirational photos
TOP: Ties from Bella Bows
BOTTOM: Ring pillow from Martha Stewart online



Susie is a sewing machine so she took on the task of sewing the ring bearers' ties and the ring pillow.  I looked for little boy's ties for a while but came up with zilch.  I did find an Etsy seller, Bella Bows, who inspired me, but her fabric wasn't right, so I took my 40% off coupon to JoAnn's and purchased some fun orange polk-a-dot fabric!  I bought a pattern and gleefully handed it off to Susie.  The ring pillow was a similar story, I didn't find any that suited my taste but soon found this Martha Stewart photo that included hankies and ribbon.  Both my grandmothers and Nolan's had many handkerchiefs, so it was pretty fun to incorporate something old from our families into our vintagey wedding.  Susie sewed it like the ones above, bringing all four corners to the middle, attaching a ribbon and voila - a ring pillow!  It was so special to have our something blue as the handkerchief from my Dad's mom, to top it off, I was delighted even more when Susie sewed on one of her mother's circular doilies on the bottom. 

After I handed off projects to them, I knew I didn't have to think about or worry about them again.  Having supportive, creative, helpful people around while planning a wedding is priceless! 

The ties were so fun and the ring pillow was just amazing.  Here is a photo of them in action!  (I will have to include a detail shot of the ring pillow, this just doesn't do it justice.)

Nick - Ring Bear

By the time the wedding rolled around, the end of flower season approached.  We were hoping that some of the fun teddy bear sunflowers would stick around but our wedding was a week too late for a lot of the flowers.

Not to fear, Ric was able to pull together 6 bouquets worth of flowers and brought them up to our Tahoe vacation home the day before the wedding and we assembled our bouquets!  That was a bonding experience that I am so glad I incorporated.  All the girls were able to meet if they hadn't and get their creative juices flowing.  They all made their own bouquet and Ric tied them up! 

All the girls choosing flowers.

Contemplating color

Ric tying up the bouquets

 My bouquet in action!

Below are the pumpkins in action as centerpieces!

I am so thankful that we had all of these pieces in our wedding.  It made my day to know that our  grandmothers were present and that our homegrown elements brightened up the day!