Thanksgiving 2013 ~ Dining Table Centerpiece

Ok so I'm going to mix this up a bit and show you my Thanksgiving centerpiece adventure from last week. Since I work for a specialty rental company called the Attic, I decided to showcase Attic items for this centerpiece. {Check out the website here!}

Picture by picture, step by step, I'll show you how I put together this centerpiece using the Attic pieces plus some other extras from my own collection.

First, I needed an plan. I wanted to do something different. I had this slight vision of a centerpiece idea in my head, and I ran with it, even though I was blind in not knowing where I was headed. All I knew was that I wanted some sort of cluster. A grouping of some sort.

I started with my base: A thick and wide log round (no picture). Below are the items that make up the rest, and a picture of the first time I put those items together in order to start getting a visual for what I was about to create.

I used some gold/champagne mercury tea light votives:

Vintage bottles:

Gold candlestick holders and pillar candle holders:

Antlers (from my own collection):

Then after grabbing some pine cones from the back yard, I used this champagne colored spray paint (from Michaels) to spray them with. (You can cover the cones in the paint or just spray on the edges. It just depends on how much you want the cones covered or shiny. I did some of both.)

Next, I bought flowers. I bought them at Fred Meyer here in town. They seem to always have a pretty good selection. I didn't want a whole lot of color though, just a very natural look, with a hint of shine. So I just added a small amount of color using berries which still fit in with my natural look.

Then began the arranging. After I arranged the flowers in the bottles to how I liked and what seemed best, I started arranging the bottles and candle sticks in the middle first. (Most importantly, making sure no flowers were too close to the tops of the candles.) Once I liked the set up, I filled in with pine cones and added the antlers and votives around the base. I took advantage of the altering heights to make this work from all sides.

Then to finish the table setting and the dessert display...

And after all that, time spent with family, and eating delicious food made for a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you to my wonderful mom who sat there almost the whole time watching me, helping and supporting my ideas! She also is the one who planned out the china and place settings. ;)
Thanks for reading!
t.

A Ceremony Is Not A Performance.

Over this past summer, as I worked every weekend on a wedding, I had a wonderful time getting to help produce some very different and unique weddings. That's the great thing about this job, is that you really get to try it all. You get to see what it would be like if someone actually did *that* or had *that* or managed to pull *that* off at their wedding.. and it's fun to do new things every weekend.

However.

There were a couple times this season that I noticed a little more about the different and unique ceremonies. They were more of a performance than a marriage ceremony. Either the couple was way too picky, and detailed about how they would be seen during the moments giving their vows, or they were too worried about how every little thing had to be just right.

Now let me set straight the line between a performance, and making things pretty.

Dictionary definition for performance:

per·for·mance
noun
: an activity that a person or group does to entertain an audience.

Did you see that? "Entertain.."

Now, is a marriage ceremony about entertaining an audience? I don't think so.

Dictionary definition for ceremony:

cer·e·mo·ny
noun

: a formal act or event that is a part of a social or religious occasion

: very polite or formal behavior


Now obviously, I'm a wedding planner. I out of all people understand how all the little things need to be done correctly in order for everything to be perfect. I like to make things pretty, and special. But I also am a traditionalist. And I love the incredible, powerful and emotional importance of what a wedding ceremony is about. I mean after all, the reception is a celebration for what the ceremony holds. The ceremony should be about two people coming together as one. They are giving their lives to one another, to make it one life they will live together until the day they die.

The people seated behind or around you, are there as witnesses to that vow. Because they love and care for you. Sure, the set up can be (and I think should be), pretty. And it should be special. But, it's not about performing to the guests. Doing all this confusing choreography, standing here, now there, worrying about who can see you when... They all can see you just fine, even if they only see your backs. They still know what they're watching, and understand why they are there. You, as the bride or groom, just need to focus on why YOU'RE there. What's happening in front of you and to you. Don't worry about anything else! It's about vowing a new life with that person you're holding hands with, and what the officiant is saying. Don't make it a big show. It's already an amazing show. It doesn't need more than that.

Hope that isn't too confusing. It's not always easy for me to write down what is in my head, to make sense of what I'm expressing.

Until next time..
t.