Wedding inspiration _ Alternative Guestbooks

 I like to be original. Or at least as original as possible. Since I'm showing you pictures it means that these things have been done before and I'm not the first one. I actually did have the idea of a wish tree before I found pictures of it online.  

What is a wish tree?
It's a tree that you might have near your ceremony location (or that you bring there in a large pot) where the guests will write their wishes to the newlyweds on a piece of paper and tie it up on the tree. The notes can then be put into a scrapbook from the wedding together with photos, etc. 

Using an olive tree as a wish tree according to me has a lot of symbolic meanings. The olive tree grows for centuries and is a very slow grower. It will therefore outlast the generations and keep standing strong. It's very resistant and can handle most warm climatic climates. It's also a beautiful tree to look at and I love the olive green leaves! 

Placing an old typewriter and some old paper is a sweet idea for a guestbook.  The notes are bound to get a unique style! 

The fingerprint tree. Each guest leaves a fingerprint on the tree  to symbolize leaves. It could be a frontcover idea for the actual guestbook. 

I liked this farm-style guestbook location.

Wedding inspiration _ Hair II

 This is the second edition to hair inspiration for your wedding day. The first one can be read by clicking here. I am planing my own wedding and trying to decide how to have my hair.
I know I don't want a full on veil, but I am considering wearing one of these small birdcage veils during the ceremony itself and then taking it off during the dinner. They can be easily made yourself by buying some large scale netting, a hair comb clip, a flower (or you can even make this yourself as well out of organza or tulle). I'll make a proper tutorial if I get around to making it myself!

This is not a full birdscage just a piece of netting covering a part of the face, but I really like the effect. 

These unique handmade hairpieces are quite sweet and give a bit of a relaxed hippie feel. 

Birds cage nr.2.

Birds cage nr.3

Birds cage nr. 4. 

Birds cage nr. 5. 

Real flowers in the hair creates a Hawaii beach wedding look.  

Organza hair clips

Organza hair clips with some netting.

A flower hair clip with feathers.

Wedding inspiration _ Balls

 Before you start asking why it says balls in the title, calm down! It's nothing dirty! 

Ever since I did a garden design course at university (I do architecture) I fell in love with flowers shaped as balls. Either the whole flower, each petal, the leaves, or the whole plant itself! 

There are many "do it yourself" ideas which don't have to be very expensive, although as with anything you decide to do yourself, time consuming compared to buying them straight away. 

These flower balls can be easily done by yourself or bought at your local florist. Buy a bunch of flowers (almost any flower can be used that has a slightly stiff stem) and a foam ball (those green ones that absorb water that can also be bought at your florist). Cut the stem off leaving just 3cm on each stem.  Start by inserting the flower-stems into the foam ball all around the ball in a circle. Then do another circle in a 90 degree angle compared to the first one, creating a cross. Then fill in the empty spaces. Depending on how big each flower bud is, you will either need just 1, or several flowers to do this last step. 

The flower balls can either be used as table decoration, or aisle decoration as shown on the picture.  Chose a flower that has colours that go in your overall colour theme!

A cute banner in the background for photos. Either behind the newlyweds, on the present table, or as you enter the reception area. 

A rounded ball plant as an alternative placement card and favor. 

A very beautiful wild Australian flower. 

Allium is one of my favorite flowers. It comes in white, lilac and blue. 

A close-up of a Allium flower. 

The craspedia makes a cute little bouquett. The yellow flowers look great when the overall colour theme is black or grey. 

A close-up of the Craspedia bouquett

Why not have some balloons? Either in many different colours or just in the same colours as your overall colour theme. 

Chocolate favours! Yummy!

Make your own tulle pompoms as decoration!

Pimp that shoe! Pimp your shoe with a tulle pompom. 

These string balls can be made by wrapping a balloon with string and using paper mache glue. Pop the balloon and this is your result. A more complete tutorial on how to make these balls, look here. 

Here's a tutorial on how to make these balls! Either use balloons or yoga balls! 

Rice lanterns create a lovely effect for outdoor weddings! They are quite cheap to buy and if you keep your eyes open perhaps someone who has just gotten married is selling theirs off cheaply!

Wedding inspiration _ decorations eco-style

These tiny potplants can be used as a gift for the guest but also to show where the guest is supposed to sit.

The thought of a plant as a gift can be used to symbolize the growing love between the spouses, and the growing friendship between you and the guest.

If you have guests coming from afar, you can put a large seed inside some fabric and put in your pot, for easy transport.

A sweet idea is to wrap some colourful fabric around your napkins in order to put a bit more colour on your table. The same fabric could be used for your invitation cards, wrapped around pots on the table, or around the vases.

A simple but effectful decoration. Buy a simple galvanized tub (cost max 10 euros new and I'm sure you can even find them second hand), fill them with soil, buy a packet of grass seeds and a month before the wedding, sprinkle the seeds on the soil. The grass will grow quickly. I'm not sure how safe these candles are in the middle of the grass though. I was personally thinking of having a larger tub where one side would have pebbles and candles and the other side grass. You can even cut the grass shorter than what it is here.

Flower balls are made easily with that green spoungy stuff you can buy at any florists or plant shop. Then buy a bunch of flowers (any with a slightly firm stem and not necessarily the same kind) and stick them into the sponge. Start by putting the flowers in a circle around the sponge ball, then a circle 45* from that..and continue filling in the empty areas.

I thought this was a sweet lantern. Putting flower petals at the bottom.

I love these paper flowers. Either for decoration, for your bridal bouquett or for the flowergirl bouquett. Use different patterned papers in contrasting colours to go with your colour theme.

In order to save paper you can write the menu on an old window or mirror. You can put one large one at the enterance of the restaurant and avoid printing personalised menus for everyone.

Why not have a wish tree? This is an alternative to the traditional guestbook. You can cut out pieces of paper, punch a hole through the top with a piece of ribbon around it. Each guest writes their wishes to the couple on a piece of paper and tie it up on the tree. It's a nice idea as well as a beautiful decoration piece for the wedding.

This is an alternative seating card idea. Tie up some string and attach the name cards to it with a small peg. It becomes an interactive way to start the party.

I thought this idea was cool for a country style wedding. I don't know where I'd find the big galvanized tubs and it might be a bit of a waste if you don't know what to do with them afterwards. But this idea is super cool. You don't have to put it on the back of your truck, you can even just put it on a table or in the grass!