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Three years ago on May 8th, Mr. Bunting lost his father. It was unexpected, tragic, and easily the worst day of our lives.
At 5 AM that morning, I had left with a group of classmates to go on a two-month geology adventure to the canyonlands of the Southwest. By the time I got the call, we were already several states away in our van. There is no greater feeling of helplessness than when your loved one is in need and you can’t even be there. But I have amazing parents and they arranged an emergency return flight for me, so by 11PM I was finally pulling into his driveway.
I know the anniversary of his father’s death is, and always will be, a sorrowful time for Mr. Bunting. I also know that this year may be especially hard as our wedding day approaches, knowing his father won’t be there. I never once fathomed that we would be missing one of our parents when we finally exchanged vows, but you can never really see sudden tragedies coming.
I think it’s important to honor those who are with us in spirit at our wedding, especially since they have played such crucial roles in our lives. So I’ve taken it upon myself to find a way to incorporate his father into the wedding in a way that will commemorate him without detracting from the celebratory mood of the day. I already plan on including some memorial wording on our programs, but I almost feel as if that’s not enough tribute.
Image via Beliefnet
I hated cake toppers. It’s true. I thought they were all ugly and cheap looking, and there was no way I was going to have one on our cake. I’m not big into monogrammed letters, either, so I wouldn’t even consider having bejeweled initials. I was resolved to use real flowers or to make something myself.
Looking back on my naive self, I can’t help but laugh. Not because I’ve changed my mind about monogrammed initials, but because I thought that’s all the wedding world had to offer when it came to cake toppers. Again, this is where I love the internet, especially Etsy, because it opens up a whole new world of opportunities. Granted, I still cringe at the majority of cake toppers (I’m picky about proportions and aesthetics, what can I say?), but there are some reeeeeeally great ones available! So many, in fact, that I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Let us explore the wonderful possibilities together. Shall we? Yes, we shall.
Lovebirds have been a popular choice lately, and with good reason. There are plenty of styles to choose from, too:
Image via Red Light Studio on Etsy
I knew right off the bat that I would be designing our invitation suite. I also knew these invites had to follow very specific guidelines set by yours truly. They had to be colorful. They had to include illustrations. They had to reflect our wedding style. And most importantly, they had to be an accurate representation of Mr. Bunting and me as a couple and as individuals. (This is beginning to sound like a repeat of the save the dates, isn’t it?)
That last one is a lot of pressure to put on yourself. I’ve faced this challenge as an illustrator many times before as I struggled to develop an artistic style in college that reflected my “voice,” and I was about to face it again with our wedding invitations.
They had to be us, and man is hard to pin us down into a single design suite. The pressure was almost too much, so once again I procrastinated. A lot. I procrastinated by scouring the internet for inspiration, and just when I thought I’d found some elements that would be my inspirational focal point, I found another invitation suite that ran in the opposite direction (and was just as cool).
I finally had to gather all my favorite sources of inspiration in front of me and then just sit down and start drawing. I gave myself a pep talk about how there’s no way anyone can create something that embodies everything about us as individuals, so I focused on a starting element and things slowly evolved. Before I knew it, I had a general, consistent theme that just felt right. And despite all my procrastination, I started early enough so that I could pick away at all the little details until I had something I was really proud of. There were many neat elements and ideas that I had to sadly cast aside, but I realized that the illustrations needed to be the focal point and anything else was an unnecessary distraction.
So, without further ado, here are the Bunting wedding invitations!
Personal photo
I’ve always dreamed of having an outdoor wedding ceremony, so finding a venue with the perfect outdoor location was crucial in my early planning. We checked out banquet centers that had small gazebos. We checked out golf courses with their little designated wedding greens. We even checked out a fishing and hunting building, which had a beautiful outdoor space but a not-so-beautiful interior. From what was within our budget, everything felt like a little manicured garden with flowers here and a white gazebo there and a nude female fountain right over yonder. They were all pretty in their own sense, but it all felt so artificial and forced to me. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, so the search expanded to involve parks. Some of the parks we looked at would not accommodate a wedding very well, and others still had too much of a manicured feel.
And then we found it. A small park tucked away on a rural road. Set aside from the main park area was a lower grove designated for special events, complete with a large wooden trellis with vines clinging to its structure. There were winding paved walkways, a well maintained pavilion building with overhang areas, and enough trees to make a squirrel gleeful. But best of all? There was a natural spring on site, which fed a natural stream that meandered through the park. There were flowers and plants and all sorts of vegetation, and while the park does maintain the greenery, the landscaping is minimal so everything looks oh so natural. Perfectperfectperfect. After scoping out the spot with Mother Bunting and Daddy Bunting, we returned later with Mr. Bunting and he gave full approval.
Personal photo
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
Remember the fabric garland I was making for our cookie table?
To refresh your memory, this is the photo that was the full inspiration behind my garland:
Image via The Sweetest Occasion / Design by SHEPAPERIE + Design Boutique / Photo by Jeanna Hayes
By a chance of fate, Brother Bunting’s fiancee’s mother met a woman while golfing who, after they got on the topic of Brother Bunting’s wedding, turned out to be a seamstress. Did you follow any of that? No? That’s OK. The relationships aren’t important, it was just fun to say. Anyway, this bit of information was passed on to Mother Bunting, and after further investigation we learned that this seamstress was not only very passionate about sewing, but very experienced.
Image via Male Pattern Boldness
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Before I go any further…Bunting Bridesmaids, I love you, but this post isn’t for your eyes!
Second-guessing. This is something I’m very familiar with. I have a hard time committing to a decision without mulling it over properly, and by properly I mean for a looong time. I also have trouble with a degree of the “greener grass” mentality. Not in a way that makes me envious of something else, but in a way that always has me thinking, “but there could be something better if I just keep looking!” Let’s call this the “just around the river bend” mentality, in honor of Pocahontas. Because honestly, there really could be anything, even something better, around that next river bend.
Image credit: Disney / Words added by yours truly
I’m a sucker for pretty installation art pieces, and what better place for such a compositional experience than the very space where you say your wedding vows? This is the space that everyone’s undivided attention will turn to during the ceremony, and I love it when a couple takes it to the next level. I understand how some brides may not want to detract from themselves as they recite their vows, but as long as there aren’t spinning rockets and flashing lights attached to the altar, then the space can be used to enhance the experience by framing the couple. And hey, if you’re a nervous bride and you want to be out of the spotlight so you can fumble through your vows (oh, how I hope this won’t be me), then maybe the spinning rockets aren’t a bad idea…
Simply put, creative and colorful ceremony spaces rock my world.
Image via Green Wedding Shoes / Photo by Ashley Rose Photography
Or…how to make your own cake stand if your cake is too dang big for a glass or ceramic one.
Image via My Sweet and Saucy
Dessert tables make me drool, and not just because they’re filled with all kinds of sweets and treats. They’ve been catching on a lot lately, and they’re perfect for those who want an alternative to the traditional wedding cake or just an additional dessert bar. They would also be amazing at a bridal shower or really any type of party. Pretty much you can come up with whatever reason you want, and I will be all over it.
Just check out some of these arrangements and you’ll understand why:
Image via The Caketress / Design by Lori Hutchinson / Photo by Rebecca Wood
Have you ever had one of those things that you knew you wanted to incorporate into your wedding, even before you were engaged or in a serious relationship? I’ve felt this way about paper lanterns. I’m not even sure where I first got the idea, but I know it was well before I was engaged. There’s just something about them that has me drooling…perhaps because they’re essentially suspended colorful drops of happiness.
Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Simply Jessie Photography
I’ve wanted to incorporate chalkboards for a while, and had settled on using one for our seating chart. However, my handwriting is not the best, and I couldn’t get the image of a smudged seating chart out of my head. Seriously, how do these people transport their chalkboards without smearing them? Oh, right, you can use a spray fixative (found at art/craft supply stores) to add a protective coating. Well, I still didn’t want to write out 150-plus names, even if I could condense the couples into one line. So I thought to myself, why not print something to create a faux chalkboard? I work at a printing company, after all, so it’s perfect.
Image via I Doux / Photo by Shaun Yasaki
Given my difficulties with finding shoes, I’ve been ordering and ordering pair upon pair from Endless. There have been some that were cute but too tight, some that were comfy but too weird, and some that were cute and comfy but just not right for my dress. And then there were these:
Image via Endless
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