Wedding Blog
(Images from The Knot)
It was a question pondered in our house for quite awhile… I love Shepherd hooks but my family and Mr. Sundae don’t share in the excitement. They’re convinced that somehow the hooks, even low ones, will block the view of us at the altar. I disagree. I was so convinced that I wanted to use them I did a lot of pricing, and found some here for as low as $2.47 (note: I think they might have to be higher than that, but I was on a cost analysis campaign). They could easily be placed only every other row or even every two rows, which would definitely cut down on overall cost. And then one day, while perusing a back issue of Martha Stewart Weddings that I bought on ebay (I have an illness) I saw this picture:
Even though we won’t have any pews to hang them from, I love the ribbons holding the galvanized buckets and our chairs have a place on the back that something can easily hang from. Mrs. Onion’s perfect execution of this idea has only fueled the fire. Our florist thinks that, given our black, white & green color scheme, we might be better off using something other than tins to hold the hydrangeas. She offered to make some black paper cones/holders filled with green hydrangeas, something like this:
(All images also from The Knot)
I can’t decide if I like the paper cones, like the first row, or if it looks better to have them tied directly to the chairs with some ribbon. Our ceremony chairs will be white and look just like the picture on the bottom left. I am leaning heavily towards tying them directly to the chairs but I have until July to decide, when we meet with the florist again to finalize everything.
What do you all think? What kind of decor have you/are you planning to use for an outdoor ceremony?
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How much is your florist charging you for the hooks with decorations? I was thinking the same thing but then the flower budget is just getting WAY out of hand. So we cut them out to save costs. I wonder if the florist was overcharging me to begin with!
I actually never got a price for the hooks with decorations, before I spoke to the florist I found the other pictures and decided to eliminate the hooks (mostly b/c no one else liked them but me). I would think you could buy the hooks yourself and then vary the cost from the florist based on the size of decorations, though. I’ve seen baby’s breath hanging in bunches from the hooks and it looks fantastic!
So ladies… I too love this idea because we are having our ceremony outside and need a little bit of “flare” to spruce up the asle. So my FI and I came up with our low budget idea.
We have access to metal bending tools, so we took 1/8″ thick and 1/2″ wide steel and bent a curly cue. I spray painted them black. They are hip height. Then I found galvanized buckets with little star cut outs. I painted them black also and then highlighted the stars with pink (our color are black and pink). We plan on buying a little blooming annual with foilage from our local nursery to place in the buckets. Total cost about $60 for the project and I get to keep the hooks to use in my yard and the annuals to plan in my garden! 
ok, am i the only one who read the subject line and thought you were coming up with a really novel idea for how to pay for the wedding? (i.e. the oldest profession: http://www.liberator.net/articles/prostitution.html).
P.S. I found the perfect sized hooks (about as tall as a chair) at JoAnns fabric store on sale for a buck each!
oooh that sounds like a fun project to make them yourself. but how would one do this if they don’t have access to metal bending tools???
Ha ha ha, Mrs. Daisy, that made me laugh so hard!
Andromeda - I bow to your hook making abilities
Peanut-
Do you have a local college or high school with a metal program? You might be able to buy the materials and ask a student to do the bending? Or, I might be able to make you a few if you’d pay for the metal and shipping to your location. If you’re interested PM me and we’ll talk details. I can send you a picture of mine too. Just let me know!
Miss Sundae,
Where were you able to find hooks for a reasonable price? I am trying soo hard to find them but haven’t found any pretty stainless steel ones… I love the ones on the right!!!
Just a note on the shepherd’s hooks… I bought a bunch of them at Joann Fabrics for like $1.20/each. They are the shorter ones-maybe 3 feet tall? Anyway-if you go on Joann’s website first, they ALWAYS have coupons. Unfortunately, they don’t sell the hooks online that I can see. Hope that helps someone!
Here are a couple of other ideas for you to try
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/dani24/Wedding%20ideas/ceremony/ym7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/dani24/Wedding%20ideas/ceremony/hydrangeaceremonydecor.jpg
Sorry…. I don’t recall where I got the from, so if someone knows the source, please let me know.
We had bunches of hydrangeas hanging from the chairs in every other row, in fabulous baskets the groom’s mother found at a garage sale for 50 cents apiece.
I was actually about to post about this! We ordered shepherd hooks online and they came yesterday! We still don’t know what to hang off of them, though…
CreamPuff, I have about a million ideas if you’re interested 
Miss Cream Puff, where did you order the shepherd hooks online?
my only suggestion with the cones is that if there is any wind at all, they will blow and the flowers may fall out.
not to be a debbie-downer, but that’s what happened with ours.
I am doing something similar to Andromeda: I bought hooks at Joann’s too, and inexpensive pots from Home Depot. I spray painted them red, then black so they look more like metal. I’m planting bunches of flowers in them and hanging lanterns from the shepherd’s hooks. I found great lanterns from Overstock.com. My colors are red, white and black and I’m having an indoor reception, but tea lights in these lanterns will be charming. http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Pagoda-Lantern-with-Red-Glass-Set-of-4/3149853/product.html?
I’m growing the plants myself, so this whole thing will cost about $100.
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Mrs. Sundae, Chicago/Lake Geneva, WI
Age and Occupation: 28, Knowledge Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Investment Advisor
Engagement Date: July 20, 2007
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: February 5, 2008
Venue: The Abbey Resort
About Me: It’s hard to believe that by the time Mr. Sundae and I get married we will have been together for almost ten years. When we first met in college we split dollar pitchers and now we share the mortgage payments. Despite our love for the city we are looking forward to tying the knot in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
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