- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
Since I’m a bride-to-be, I think what I’m doing is perfectly normal. Others think I’m insane. Let’s see what you guys think!
My wedding is a mere 10 months away, and sure it’s a long time for planning, right? I’ve got no worries about that at all. What am I doing? I’m collecting leaves for the wedding.
See, our wedding is a fall-themed affair set for early November. Yeah, I know, it’s not like there aren’t going to be any leaves next year, but I thought I’d get a step ahead. Some leaves are amazing in their colors of gold, rust, and orange, and what if I don’t find them next year? Okay, as I type, it does sound a little manic, but it’s all for a good cause! Mr. Kiwi thinks I’m insane, picking up leaves I deem “wedding-worthy” and placing them inside heavy books strewn about the apartment. Our apartment isn’t large by any description and these leaf holders are really crampin’ my style.
Am I insane? Should I just forget about it, put the books back in the shelf and wait until next fall? Are there any insanities your fiance is wary of regarding your wedding?
I would say don’t bother. We tried to be proactive about a lot of things for our wedding but then when the time came to implement the ideas we’d been planning for so long we realized we didn’t want to do them anymore!
hahaha I LOVE IT!!! Kate might have good advice though. 
But it’s not like picking up and pressing leaves is expensive or time consuming (hehe hopefully) so if you wanna do it, go for it!!! And make something awesome out of those leaves!!!!
Thanks guys!!
Thanks for the link, Katie! I may end up buying fake ones, too at some point. Who knows?? I am such a weirdo.
No you’re not crazy. My moh did the same thing last year. but got fed up and threw them out when they broke. Instead her fmil bought plastic ones which were very pretty and spread them about on the cocktail tables. When the room is that big, you really dont notice that they are plastic.
The colors might fade by next fall. I got all excited when I moved out east for awhile as the leaves are so much prettier out there during the fall. I took pictures galore and pressed a few, but by the next time I opened that book about 18 months later, the colors were not as vibrant anymore. They just looked like dead leaves with a little color.
But then I am not the person to ask regarding plants, so maybe my non-green-thumb faded them or there is something you can do to prevent leaf fade.
Yeah, I thought about doing this too for my fall wedding but the leaves pressed in your books will dry out and fall apart by your wedding date. It’s better to buy them (as stupid as it sounds- why buy leaves when trees are everywhere??)
penguin, that’s what I thought, why would I pay for crap people try to get rid of? What I’ll do for my wedding. It’s sad.
there are ways to preserve leaves without them losing their color!! try:
http://archive.tri-cityherald.com/HOME/GARDEN/garden10272.html
http://www.gardenandhearth.com/SketchingandDrawing/Preserve-Autumn-Leaves.htm
lol - I would so be doing the same thing - but I think everyone is right - the leaves will dry out too much and start to flake apart by your wedding 
I would just go with fake leaves….they have some really pretty silk ones.
But yeah, you’re just a smidge crazy….lol. 
Sounds perfectly sensible to me. Although you should make sure they won’t go brown over the next year, or rot out your books, you have to be careful of that.
Hey, I was told that I was getting too “Mrs Blandings” (great movie, if you’ve never seen it) because I mused about forcing daffodils for my June 3rd wedding. Daffodils are my favorite flower, and they’ll be unavailable from florists by then. I always force bulbs anyway–right now I’ve got a couple dozen tulips and hyacinths in the vegetable drawer of my fridge, that will be planted in pots once my amaryllis bulbs are all finished, so I’ll have plenty of early spring flowers in my apartment. (Most of my amaryllises are blooming right now, for Christmas.) So, I thought I could probably get daffodil bulbs for cheap in early December, put them on my terrace or in the fridge, and experiement to see how quickly they’d grow to be ready for the wedding. Apparently I’m “obsessing.” No, this wasn’t from my darling fiance, all he ever does is threaten to nanny-block all wedding-related websites. Oh well, no daffs for me, it will be yellow, ivory and champagne roses.
My friend collected leaves the year before for her October wedding and they were still plenty colorful a year later. They were a bit brittle though, but everyone gushed about how cute an idea it was to have real leaves for the placecards.
Oooh…leaf placecards…that’s cute! My aunt was bored one day and wrote “Happy Autumn [name]” on leaves with a gold pen and gave it to her daughters. I thought it was so cute. And Miss Kiwi, I think you’re smart for thinking so ahead for your wedding. =)
LOL Pencils, don’t let my fiance hear about the nanny blocking!
I would definitely collect leaves a year in advance for a fall-themed wedding — oh wait, I did (see http://bigfatchinesewedding.blogspot.com/2006/04/seasonal-differences.html)! And good thing, b/c when it came time for my wedding the fall was unusally warm and hardly any leaves were changing color. I pressed the leaves and attempted to shellac them, but I think there are better ways of preserving leaves so that they’re not so brittle, such as dipping them in wax.
Why save leaves when Crate and Barrel has really pretty ones on super sale in their outlet! http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4685&f=12334
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA Engagement Date: March 31, 2006 Wedding Date: November 3, 2007 Venue: Radisson Hotel About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics