Wild Wedding: The Reception Details {Everything from Desserts to Booze!}

After stepping off the trolley, this is what was waiting for me. I have to give *major* credit to my wedding planner (email me for information on her and her staff!) and to the reception venue for being so accommodating. Everything worked out better than I expected and these photographs do not do it justice. I didn't want anything *too* fancy (obviously!), and I liked things to be a little...kitschy? Either way, things were just what I wanted.

The Desserts:
I wanted a dessert table, a sort of random collection of sweets. I ended up not going through with a huge spread, but I did score some cupcakes and cookies.

Cupcakes in chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet
{Ordered from Peace, Love, Cupcakes in Clearwater}

I acquired several of these cupcake holders brand new in their original packaging from Good Will of all places!




Sugar cookies & cupcakes
{These cake stands were from Marshalls}

The Decorations:

Peg People print made by Leen Machine on ETSY
{Silver frame from Marshalls}


I framed some of engagement pictures for our gift table
{All frames were from Marshalls too}




The photo book from our engagement shoot

The Centerpieces:

I give my wedding planner major props for making my dream of pinwheels come true, LOL. I originally was going to have a flower free wedding. Crazy, I know. But, I'm not really a big fan of flowers. I knew I wanted brooch bouquets and centerpieces, to me, are not that important. I wanted something fun and simple. I had seen pinwheel centerpieces online before, but I didn't really pursue them until my planner suggested I give it a try. Easy, cheap, cute.

I had collected various pieces of milk glass from another bride and through thrift stores that I was going to use as the main part of the centerpiece. However, I still needed to "fill" those vases and goblets! My planner suggested I look into flowers--just for the tables. I saw baby's breath and carnations were the cheapest...and some of the carnation centerpieces I had seen were just fine. I loved the big fluffy carnations and thought it would be a cheap and cute way to fill out my milk glass pieces.

Since I didn't use a florist, these were definitely a DIY project that my planner and her staff worked on for days. I can't give them enough credit, because it was something that I didn't know if I could pull off... but I did. I liked them. It worked out. :)

Not bad, eh?


Every table had different milk glass pieces, different colors of carnations, different pinwheels. All together it looked cohesive, but it was cute. I genuinely was surprised how simple it looked. I didn't want anything fancy--this was just me. I know carnations are not for everyone (and are usually publicly scorned), but this was what worked for us.



The centerpieces in their entirety at two tables:


Ahhh the burlap runners! These were my favorite! They had ruffles on the ends and were too cute. And... what else do you see there? Cootie catchers! (Or, fortune tellers, whatever you may call them)

I originally was going to use the cootie catchers as escort cards. I had seen it on a wedding blog and thought that was a cute idea. However, making 100 cootie catchers did not sound like very much fun! I then would have to find a creative way to display them...it was a hassle. We simplified it by just making several cootie catchers and scrapping the entire idea of escort cards.




I used a cootie catcher template that I found online (Use Google. It is your friend.), and I replaced the information with cute trivia about Scott & I. Where did we meet, where are we going on our honeymoon, what was our first date. I used Martha Stewart paper and printed these at home. Some of the bridal party helped fold these the night before the wedding (God bless them!). I thought they were a nice touch--especially since many of our friends and family didn't know some of the stuff on them!

The Guestbook:

As you know, I *love* snail mail. I love postcards and packages. Originally, we were going to use an aqua vintage typewriter for our guestbook. Yet again, the idea of simplicity came up...who would change out the paper on the typewriter? Where can I find new typewriter ribbon for our machine? Where would the pages go? I had seen someone do postcards before and this was a very simple project.

Mailbox from Lowes, gemstone stickers from Michael's, postcard books about love from Barnes & Noble.




Sharpies! My addiction. :)


Some of the postcards

Postcard books I ordered:
Our Love Is Here to Stay: 15 Postcards of Affection
The Little Box of I Love You
Valentine Postcard Book {Reproductions of vintage Valentine's Day cards}


Guests in action sending us sweet love notes


I loved it. I loved reading the messages! I did not however love that not everyone left us a note. I know not everyone signs a guestbook, but next time {LOL}, I would have made some signs directly guests or have the DJ remind them. :)

The Seating Chart:

Again, we scrapped the escort cards and my planner offered to make this little bulletin board. Easy peasy.

The Ceiling:

Our reception venue was both inside and outside. Outside--beautiful deck with the view of the water. Inside--more conference room and less classy wedding venue. We didn't mind, but the ceilings, as you can see, needed some jazzing up. I ordered a ton of tissue paper poms from PomFlair on ETSY. These gave the room a lot more personality!

The Cake:

My MIL surprised us with this cake!


The cake topper I ordered from OrangeCrushSeattle on ETSY

The Cups:

Oh yes. We kept it classy by buying out our local KMart's selection of yellow Solo cups. You can scratch your name into the cup! I thought it was funny...and that way no one would get confused at the keg as to whose cup was whose!

What did everyone put in those cups? We had a smaller keg of Key West Southernmost Wheat (which was gone by dinner time), a full size keg of Yuengling (gone by 10:30 p.m.), and a variety of wines that included Moscato (also gone by dinner time!), Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Merlot.

*All photography by CSE Photography unless otherwise noted.

What You Missed:
The week before the wedding I got a tattoo! We also had our beach rehearsal before having dinner, handing out bridal party gifts, and a wild after party. The morning of the wedding, I got ready and my girls worked it for the camera. We had a first look and we were off to the ceremony. I shared some candid pictures and the first part of the ceremony. The ceremony continued and then we shared our vows. We had a sand ceremony and our first kiss as husband and wife. We then threw seashells in the ocean and made a wish and took group pictures with our friends and family. We also took private shots of just my groom and I before hopping on the trolley.