Top Decoration

Will and I have been to many weddings...many...and I can easily say that of all those weddings, including our own, this one was the most fun!

We had a fantastic time and were sad when the clock struck midnight and the celebration had to end.

We danced and danced and danced and danced...

It was a great party!



Here is a peek at how the centerpieces for the reception tables turned out:

I had so much fun creating them!

Of course, it came with the self-imposed pressure to get the look perfectly-perfect. But in the end, the bride was thrilled with how everything looked...and since that's all that really matters, I'm sure I can say that they did, in fact, turn out

perfectly-perfect!



I will share more photos when I can get my hands on them. Since I was busy decorating and then pulling off the half-time show (yes, there was a half-time show) complete with dirndl and lederhosen (I'll explain later), I didn't have much free time to dig out my camera and take pictures. But once a few of the other wedding guests send them to me, I will definitely show you how it all turned out. It was gorgeous and totally worth sharing!




Oh, and one last thing...

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Hunter

We love you both!

To say that the Swoveland women are a little preoccupied by the sound of wedding bells, would be an understatement.

In reality, we are totally preoccupied!

This Saturday, my husband's baby sister is walking down the aisle to say "I Do", and we all have a hand in making her vision for the wedding a reality.


Ready for my part?


Back in June I posted about an idea I had found on Apartment Therapy.

It was a gorgeous display of canning jars and candles set atop white linens with white china and white chairs.

The effect is gorgeous!

(click here to see the original post)


Not long after my post, my sister-in-law asked me if I could be in charge of recreating the look for the centerpieces at her wedding reception.

Hmm...let me think about that...


YES!


So I found 168 canning jars in varying sizes, for the cheapest price I could find...

And enough tea lights to fill each jar...

By the way, did you know that Ikea sells tea lights that are nearly twice as big as normal tea lights? I had no idea, but was thrilled when I found them! Bonus - they burn for 9 hours, which is more than twice as long as the little ones!



The Will's (big and little) and I, spent last night taking off all the lids,

(how cute is it that our seven year old wanted to help?)

placing a candle in each jar,

lighting every single wick to make them super easy to light for the reception,

and placing them all back in the boxes to make moving them most efficient...

Of course, I couldn't pack them all up without doing a mock up of what the dinner tables will look like...

It was so pretty!

The photo doesn't do it justice. It's even prettier than what I had imagined!

I cannot wait to see what the place looks like filled with the romantic glow of flickering candlelight bouncing off the glass jars!

I'm going to take it a step further and spruce it up a bit beyond just the candles and jars. Not too much, but we want to inject a bit of the wedding colors into the mix.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!


We have a lot more to get done before the weekend starts with the rehearsal on Friday,

wedding on Saturday,

and

Owen's 6th Birthday Party on Sunday!


It's a lot to cram into one weekend, but we wanted to take advantage of family being in town for the wedding. Doing his party on Sunday means that Owen will get to have his cousin here for the party, which he will love!



I hope that you all have a fantastic weekend!

I'll be back next week to show you how it all went!

I love this look!

Simple, elegant, glowing...

appearing as if it was effortless and just thrown together with jars from around the house...

I would *love* to host a backyard party with my girlfriends and have this be the table that we gather around.

So pretty!