Wedding Blog
Since we will be having our wedding in the heart of wine country, I couldn’t resist including a couple of wine themed elements. I was inspired to use corks to create the escort cards. A friend who works as a bartender has been saving the wine corks just for me, and she recently gave us the first delivery!
Creating the cork holders was actually much easier than I anticipated.
Using an Xacto knife (like a box opener), I sliced a sliver of the cork off to create a flat surface for the cork to stand. Then I cut a slit in the top for the card to go into. I expected it to be difficult to cut into the cork but it was actually really easy!
I love the look of the used wine corks and I think they will be great in our decor. They are also eco-friendly and budget friendly! We are reusing an item that would have been otherwise thrown out and therefore we aren’t purchasing any new items, which reduces consumption and saves money!
We will be naming all of our tables after the places we have visited. Each table card will have the location name and description of the place (when we went, what we did there, etc.) on one side and a picture of us in that place on the other.
The picture on the left is us scuba diving in Bermuda
The picture on the right is when we first started dating
I need your help hive! We have a ton more wine corks to use. Here is the rest of the first delivery and our bartender hookup just called to tell us she has another batch! I love the look of wine corks and they go perfect with our theme but I’m not sure what else to do with them.
How can we incorporate more corks into the wedding?!?
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Hmmm…..Maybe you can buy cheapo picture frames and glue the corks on the border. Might make cute table number frames, or you could put pics of you and Mr. PN, or your families in them.
Make trivets out of them? Create a matting to surround a picture in a frame? Make a memo board out of them, and have people stick well-wishes on it using pushpins?
Also, how are you weighting them down? You don’t want the feather-light corks to blow or topple over, or fall to the floor and become a tripping hazard!
You could make wine cork serving trays. Type those words into Google and you will get some good images.
Cute idea! For the extra, maybe make a “cork” board where people can pin wishes - like a wish tree?
How about creating a cork board on which people can pin a little note?
Cork is also good to deal with heat you can create some err… not sure how you call that. You know the things you put under a hot dish so as not to burn the table?
A cork wreath: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/nh_other/article/0,,diy_14147_2269563,00.html
cut them in half length-wise (keep going through the cork with the exacto knife). Make a cork board! glue the flat side to some surface that you can eventually frame (or something), so that when it’s all filled, it will look like this: http://www.wineintro.com/products/corks/corkboard.html
I don’t know after that. Ask your guests to bring a favorite photo of you or you and the guest or you and your FH? It could be a cute montage!
Can you incorporate them into your flower centerpiece design somehow?
Maybe not useful for the wedding, but definitely for your home…
If you visit the website for one of my favorite Philly bars, Vintage, you’ll see an amazing divider wall (first photo that appears in slideshow; look straight back). Then, a few pics later, there is a closeup of the corks used for the divider wall. It’s an absolutely gorgeous feature that you could recreate yourself.
Website here: http://www.vintage-philadelphia.com/
We have a cork board in our home that my fiance made out of the corks from wine we drank, and it looks really cool and is a definite conversation piece! Maybe if you made a large corkboard you could have people pin notes on it instead of a traditional guestbook, or take polaroids of themselves and pin them up on the board?
We used corks and dowels to make table name card holders and also glued 2 together (rather than cutting one) for escort cards. Be sure to put temporary cards in the corks you’ve already slit or the slits will “grow” back together!
You could drill a little hole into them and have sticks with pictures on them…
Or make little magnets out of them with your wedding date on them. Just your wedding date on them. That would be cute.
I am making a cool wreath of wine corks for my parents who are big winos.
ok, this is an idea in my head…not sure how realistic it is or how good it would look… maybe if you put like 3″ pillar candles in a clear glass candle holder, you could line the corks up around the candle. So the corks would catch the wax. or maybe glue the corks around the edges of the candle and then just sit the candle on a saucer/plate? because the candle would then be sticking out above the corks. like this: http://www.rethinkwhatspossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/corktrivet0015-v2.JPG but with a candle in the middle. That might be nice on the tables or on the bar, the cake table, guest book table, etc.
Definitely the cork board. My old roommates used to fill vases and the like with them - that might be cool for centerpieces (maybe even cut up or shredded corks?).
I would suggest using them in much the same fashion as you have for the escort cards… to hold a card that has the name of the passed hor d’eourves atop the waiter tray…. again at any food stations, etc. I think that by allowing them to hold ALL of your signs and such you will be able to use them without going overboard and drilling in the “wine” theme.
You could fill pretty hurricane or apothecary jars with them and make some arrangements in your entry area or on the escort card table. Anywhere you need a little pizazz but don’t want to have to spend money on flowers.
Corks on stick within the flower arrangements (or centerpieces)? If done right, it might look pretty cook!
Glass vases/containers of varying sizes filled with corks would be cool decorative elements, and could even contain silk flowers, bamboo, or manzanita branches if that does with your decor. You could also take the basic cork board idea one further and make cork initials to hang on chairs or doors with a pretty ribbon. You could make a garland out of corks and flowers to hang up somewhere…or attach a row of them around the bases of pillar candles…lots of possibilities!
Miss P — I did a mock up for a client a few weeks ago and used wine corks as vase fillers. Check out my post here: http://eventjubilee.com/blog/2008/07/miniscape-romantic-wine-mock-up/
You don’t have to use them with just flowers though. Tall, cylinder style vases filled with wine corks at different heights would look spectacular!
Someone else has probably suggested making a wreath. My friend’s mom has one in her living room and it’s really really pretty.
Make a “cork board” and attach pictures and use is it as decoration? perhaps near the guestbook/table card area?
I had very similar escort card holders!
We used double sided tape to stick these down on an outside table - it worked pretty well. You could also hot-glue small flat washers to the bottom of the corks to add some weight. If the escort table will be indoors, you don’t have to worry at all.
I’ve had this bookmarked for a wine-themed bridal shower:
http://justjaime28.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/a-wine-themed-wedding-shower/
I like the cork board idea.
Other option: Ya know how people use flowers to make floral letters to hang on doors or wherever? Make ‘em out of corks!!
I have an idea not previously mentioned - don’t use any more corks in your wedding. 
We are also getting married on a vineyard and are having cork place cards too. In looking at weddings, it seems like the use of the corks can get overdone very quickly. My mom and I each have a lovely large vase full of corks on display in our house. We didn’t get the corks from a bar, rather they are all OUR corks! Once the vase gets full, she usually makes a cork board serving tray and brings it as a hostess gift with some wine to whatever event she is going to. The point is, the corks don’t HAVE to be used for your wedding, they can decorate your house year round.
I don’t have any new ideas for the corks. But I love that you used the names of places you visited and photos from those travels. My husband and I love the National Parks- I even worked as a ranger for 4 summers. So we named our tables after National Parks we have been to and also created a special table card with our photos from these travels. Our guests loved it too. I still see our table photos in their homes. It feels great. This will be such an awesome gift for you and your guests.
I like the cork board idea a lot, although transporting it from NY to CA and back to NY might be difficult…
@willworkforpeonies: Thanks for this link! I love the candle in the tray with the corks surrounding it!
@enmoore66: Thanks for suggesting this - I’m afriad of overdoing it so this is something I’m considering!
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Mrs. Pinot Noir, New York/Napa Valley
Age and Occupation: 24, Health Educator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Market Researcher
Engagement Date: November 10, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 25, 2008
Venue: Auberge du Soleil
About Me: I am a Minnesota raised, NYC transplant planning a destination wedding in Napa. I'm balancing my love for the environment and my hubby-to-be's love for tradition to create our "green wedding in disguise." Our wedding will include local food and wine, antique touches and lots of love and laughter. When wedding planning isn't taking up my free time (and money) I love to read, cook, workout, watch baseball and travel! Follow along in my adventure as I attempt to plan an eco-friendly and socially responsible wedding (with eco-oblivious Mr. Pinot Noir).
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