Since I recently got
hitched, and have all the photos from the big day, I launched a weekly series sharing my favorite images and memories, and a few tips and resources
along the way. If you're planning a wedding, make sure to check out "The
Credits" at the end. Enjoy!
Set upon a cliff in La Jolla, nestled in the shadow of gorgeous
cypress trees and overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Martin Johnson House is
charming all on its own. Nevertheless, décor and signage helped warm up, fill
up and, most importantly, personalize
the already-lovely space on our wedding day.
Before the ceremony, guests were greeted with a welcome
table (designed by me and executed by our day-of coordinator) and light refreshments:
an infused water station (cucumber, citrus and berry options, served in glass beverage dispensers my mother bought) and lemon-lavender shortbread cookies, baked by my maid
of honor.
The actual welcome table, and matching wooden crate, were purchased
at a flea market in Escondido, where we also picked up the “fresh buds” box we
used to collect cards (and the milk glass-esque candleholders that brightened up our gift table). The bird figurines, potted cactus and vintage typewriter I already
owned; the lotus candleholder was a souvenir from our Maui trip (where we got
engaged), the mercury candle was bought at Anthropologie and the tall frosted
vases were from Pottery Barn. The vintage brass goblets (along with the brown
faceted glasses on the wine barrel belly bars) were a steal we scooped up
during a trip to a San Diego swap meet, and upon visiting the shops at Bernardo Winery I couldn't leave without the antiqued birdcage candleholder. We had a fairly traditional guestbook,
created by our photographer using our favorite images from our engagement
session, and GT painstakingly put together the cork "C & G" using our saved wine corks.
While I had hoped to make all my own signage, using reclaimed wood or pallets and chalkboards, I simply ran out of time and resources. Thankfully, our catering coordinator came to the rescue and created several chalkboard signs for us: welcome and ceremony signs, a games sign, gift table sign and, my favorite, a sign detailing our love story. It was nerve-wracking relinquishing control over these details but they came out better than I could have imagined, and probably better than I could have done myself in those anxiety-riddled days before the wedding.
I did create a few smaller signs though: our bar menu, escorts table signs and an Instagram sign with our wedding hashtag for guests to use (cute frames found at Cost Plus World Market), and an “In Memory”
sign for our family photo table that was filled with pictures of us, our
parents and our grandparents, as well as a candle burning in remembrance of
those who couldn’t be with us that day. The candle and white lantern we picked
up at Ikea, while the gold chevron paper, similar confetti garland, and Rifle botanicals garland I got from Paper Source.
My “it’s all in the details” craziness even extended to the
bathrooms, where I had our coordinator place peach-scented soap in pretty mason
jar dispensers (from Bath & Body Works) as well as smooth pebbles, for
effect. There’s no photo, so you’ll just have to believe me.
I told you. I’m a details gal. Fortunately, many of these little décor items we now have displayed in our home—serving
as beautiful daily reminders of our wedding day.
(Up Next Week: Florals and Favors! To catch up on any Wedding Wednesday posts you may have missed, you can find the whole series here.)
THE CREDITS
VENUE: Martin Johnson House
COORDINATOR (day-of): WED San Diego
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