Eco-Friendly Inspired Wedding

Eco-Friendly Inspired Wedding
"How to incorporate a theme into your
Limited Wedding Budget"
By: Ester A Creations

We were recently inspired by "My Fair Wedding with David Tutera" and the intricate details in his creations. It's marvelous how he can take an idea, a concept, and transform it into a life-size fairytale. When you walk into one of his weddings, you feel like you have been transported into a different world of fantasy, joy, and wonder. It undoubtedly leaves you wanting more.

How can you translate that into your budget-limited wedding? How do you take a concept, like an "Eco-Friendly" Wedding, and fit it all of those elements into your budget? And how do you make it look good?

Think of it like making a soup. You can't put too much of one ingredient or that spice will overpower the soup. So you temper the soup with a dash of salt and so forth. It's the basic idea with planning your own wedding. You can incorporate a theme into your Wedding by implementing small details and hints of color into each element, here and there. Not too much...not too little. How do you know where to start or how much is too much? The key is to be creative and put just a little touch into each element of your wedding so it all comes together.

For example, you can start with your Invitations. You can choose an invite with a leaf design and a touch of green. The invitations are the first things your guests will receive and they get a sense of your wedding from your invitations.
A budget-friendly solution is to make your own invitations. It doesn't have to be stressful. You can find DIY Invitations Kits that come with a template, matching envelopes, and response cards; often under $50-$100 for a set of 50! They are so easy to put together and provide a simpler solution to expensive invitations. You can add another personal touch to your invitations by adding a color ribbon or a wax seal with your new last name initial.

You can add a "wood" inspired touch to your centerpieces that will convey your "green" themed wedding without having to place trees in the center of every table. To do this, place a charger plate with a wood-grain type design in the center of the table and place 3 candles of different heights onto the plate. Or you can choose to use a simple vase filled with lush flowers in the color hues of your wedding. You can then personalize the vase with cling-on labels and place small candles around the base of the vase.

Not only do floral favors make great mementos for your guests, but they can also ease the load on your budget, doubling as centerpieces for the tables at your reception. Consider using favor bags filled with flower seeds as an affordable 'green' favor for your wedding. You can find several personalized labels to choose from for favor boxes, bags, etc. from our website. If your busy schedule doesn't allow you enough time to DIY (do it yourself), you can choose from an affordable array of personalized party favors to give as a keepsake to your guests. If you are looking for practical and usable favors, you may like kitchen style favors such as a "Heart-Shaped Bamboo Cheese Board" or "Bamboo Salad Sets".

Other ways to bring a "green" theme or "eco-friendly" theme into your wedding are to add a green sash to your chairs with a simple cream colored table cloth or you can use a softer hue of green table linen without adding any embelishments to your chairs. The key is to keep it simple and use either but not both. You don't want to have green everywhere, spewing all over your tables. - You can add the same leaf pattern to your place cards. For example: You can use "Please Be Seeded - Plantable Seed Place Cards" that incorporate your theme and they are completely unique.

It's about taking an idea and putting little pieces of it into the small details of your wedding. Make it personal, about you, and not about duplicating someone else's wedding. With these tips, you will effortlessly incorporate any theme into your special wedding day without breaking the bank.

Baby Shower - Red and Pink

We were recently contacted to coordinate a surprise Baby Shower. We found inspiration in the mother-to-be's design for the baby's room. She loves butterflies and ladybugs. So we put together a Ladybug inspired Baby Shower with a pink and red color scheme.

How did we do it?

It all starts with "You're Invited!" These very affordable adorable DIY (do it yourself) invitations featured a photograph of the parents-to-be with the event details printed on the vellum. The "Baby Vellum Photo Announcement Kit" is enclosed with an invitation creation template that offers a very easy and affordable solution for invitations. You can find these very affordable invitations in pink or blue, in our Baby Shower Category here:  http://bit.ly/gYd9H1

We selected an array of beautiful flowers in shades of red and pink to accentuate the satin table cloths. Red and pink roses, tulips in pink and red, red spray roses, red carnations, and burgundy mini carnations were delicately grouped together and placed into our vases. Our "Personalized Baby Square Glass Vases" come with an engravable frame. To add a personal touch to each table, we placed a wallet size picture of the baby's ultrasound inside the frame, and personalized with: "Maria's Baby Shower" and the Date. A pair of tealight candles illuminated the centerpieces with a wonderful glow, creating an intimate setting on each table. Not only do they make great centerpieces but these Personalized Baby Square Glass Vases are reusable too. TIP: You can ask the restaurant or venue if they have different colored lights in the space that you can change to match a color of your party (as seen in the upper left hand corner of the collage above), to add a pop of color and create an intimate setting for your party. It's free!  http://bit.ly/eVnzQv

Sometimes it doesn't fit within your budget to rent table cloths and matching napkins. Some restaurants/venues offer the option to upgrade from their standard table cloths to a different (nicer) color for a small fee. For Favors, we selected "It's about time! - Baby Is Brewing" Teapot Timer favors. We added personalized tags that read: "Maria's Baby Shower - date". Another really great favor that matches this theme, is the Ladybug Magnets (set of 2).
Purchase these favors and other LADYBUG Themed Favors Here:
www.esteracreations.theaspenshops.com

There were game booklets tucked into the cloth napkins on every place setting. These were created to offer an activity for the guests to complete while waiting for the appetizers. We will post the template so you too can create a personalized game booklet for your party.
For this party, we rented silver candle sticks to add height to the tables and complete the design. A local party planner may have similar candle holders you can rent. Another option is to check out local dollar stores, arts and crafts stores, or even places like K-Mart for any candle holders that you can spray paint to compliment your color scheme. Colors like black, white, silver, gold, bronze can accent any color scheme. Play with height. If you have short centerpieces you may want to balance the table out with something taller on each side of the centerpiece. It creates a cohesive look that will blow your guests away and create a very memorable party!

For Diaper Cake and Diaper Ladybug, please contact us for pricing, details, and available designs. I can make several animals out of diapers, such as: elephant, giraffe, monkey, train, crib, turtle, ladybug, etc. to use as a party decoration, gifts for mother-to-be, as a gift to give at hospital, etc. These are custom items - made to order. Email me: esteracreations@hotmail.com to order your own custom Diaper Cake and Diaper Animal.

Red and pink helium balloons were placed in each corner of the room, accenting the gifts and cake table. It adds a festive element to the room without breaking the bank. You can rent a helium tank or purchase a disposable one from a crafts or party supply store (Disposable helium tank runs about $40 and fills approximately 50 balloons).