

Don’t you love weekends where you barrel through wedding projects and craft to your heart’s content? Seriously, I do. Crafting is a zen thing for me. It’s the only time when I’m not freaking out about logistics and can just focus on the task at hand whether that’s gluing stuff down or cutting perfect edges.
So this past weekend, with my sixteen year old cousin, C as a helper, I finished off the details for our guest sign-in table. Here is a general mockup (it’s missing another framed photo– same as the one on the left) and a digital photo frame that will include a slideshow of Mr. Canary and me through the years, as well as photos of other family members.
I’ve been DYING to share these with you for the longest time! Here are our perdy programs…



Now it’s time for the finishing touches, namely the outer portion of the invite!
Over the last 16 months of wedding planning (sheesh!), I have come across a lot of ideas for guest books, but none of them has really struck my fancy. I’ve seen engagement photo guest books, wish bowls, wish trees, and Polaroid guest books, but I wanted to do something a little different. (One of the curses of doing too much research!)Last month in the Spring issue of Inside Weddings, I came across a twist on the traditional guest book that I really liked:
photo from Inside Weddings

With the exception of the flower graphic (which I describe at the bottom), I designed everything in MS Powerpoint, a) because I don’t have Illustrator, and b) because Powerpoint is pretty easy to use. For the layered inserts, I wanted to maximize the use of each sheet of paper. I drew boxes with an extremely light and thin dotted edge to help guide myself, exactly where the paper would eventually be cut (and thus eliminate the lines). The dimensions were as follows:
I thank everyone for your suggestions regarding my bridal bouquet. I will indeed remove the bear grass loops - I agree. it takes away from the beauty of the bouquet. Even though the greenery adds fullness, I’d rather not have any. Hopefully my flowers will be in full bloom and greenery won’t be necessary to fill out the bouquet.

A few readers were inquiring about how to tie a proper bow in my Gocco Invites Part II post.