Hopeful Monsters

Now that my wedding is over and I'm slowly catching back up with life, I thought I might write a bit about some of the amazing crafters, artists, and makers that helped us to throw such a bang up shindig.

We planned a wedding in Colorado while living in Portland, so many things were sourced from either location or off the internet.

First, the dress.

I really lucked out in finding my dress while I was out doing some regular browsing and shopping around Portland. I stumbled across it at Seaplane and knew almost immediately that I loved it.

Reconstructed vintage gowns? Check.

Feathers and lace? Check.

Comfortable? Check.

Handmade and local? Double check. The dress was made by Frocky Jack Morgan, whose in-house studio is located in Flutter - one of my favorite Portland stores. If you're in Portland, drop by if only to fondle the gorgeous dresses and leer at some of the amazing artifacts hidden around the store.

Second, my hair piece.

As you can see above, the hair piece was a lovely combination of little feathers and two handmade flowers. The flowers were made by Cultivar to repair/improve the hair piece that I paid an inappropriate and unfitting amount of money to a local artisan for and then was wholly unsatisfied with. Cultivar turned something I couldn't stand into a beautiful and perfect hair piece!

I also had a brooch made by Cultivar to attach to my bustle. You can see it here:

Next, the rings.

Both our rings are titanium, made by craft people; mine by Jerry Spaulding through The Real Mother Goose in Portland, and Josh's by Titanium Knights.

The Cake

The cake was made by Tee and Cakes in Boulder, Colorado, and they were great about working my decorations. Specifically, the recycled book page flowers made by Kit and Caboodles (I think...her Etsy shop has disappeared.) and the personalized topper made by Vintage by Crystal.
The cupcake stands were made from thrifted glass ware and plates. I glued the glasses to the plates to make cupcake platters at a variety of heights. They matched, but because the bases were different, were more interesting to me than the garden variety dessert plates from caterers.

The invitations were designed by me, and while I hand printed the Save the Dates, I couldn't stand to do the invitations. We had them printed by Anders Printing in SE Portland and I assembled the layers with a tape gun in their lovely air conditioned office.

The flowers, which matched my bizarre vision (I must have marimos!) and truly exceeded my expectations, were done by John Gray Turner at Bouquets in Denver, Colorado.

The table number were photos we took in some of the places we've traveled together.

Guest book made from a recycled encyclopedia with an embossed image of Atlas holding the world. We had guests take photos of themselves in an on-site photobooth and glue the photos into our book.

Our ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract, was designed and made by Josh. It incorporates a mangrove tree which holds personal significance for us. We wrote our own text and vows as well.

For favors I made one inch buttons from raw silk, satin ribbon, and vintage lace collected by my mother as well as some buttons with a mosque silhoutte over a yellow sky with a heart. (We got engaged in Istanbul.)

We also had some pencils imprinted with phrases said by our English students and ourselves when we were teaching in Istanbul. And, lastly rock candy crystals with tiny metal scoops and hand stamped "loot" bags.

I've probably forgotten someone in this list, but I want to lastly mention Katie Jenkins Photography. She was our photographer and I just love the way she made everything look as perfect as I remember it. (And the dancing a lot more...shall we say, interesting?)

We had a really fantastic time and it all came off more wonderfully than I had expected!