Jen & Ryan's Wedding

Jen & Ryan's Beach Wedding -

The Chuppa is my Grandma's Tablecloth - we had bamboo poles in old french buckets, topped them with chandelier bobeches and an old glass doorknob. I beaded 5 long strands of white beads and crystals for each bobeche and old very long crystals from my other Grandmas Chandelier.   My brother performed the marriage ceremony - which was really special for all of us and so heartfelt - plus he was really funny and made the entire ceremony more memorable than you can imagine.

They did the mixing of the sand -

The Programs - we added a vintage button to each one...

Love this Cake - My neighbor owns the local bakery that is out of this world - I knew they would nail this cake and they did - I was beyond thrilled.  I found the vintage wood Sea Horse at a yard sale $1 - it has a plastic base and I'm pretty sure it was a canister lid - I added the rows of rhinestones.

Jen & Ryan with their Wedding Party - I've known these girls since they were little and I love them so much - that's my son Tony on the far left, and the guys are Ryan's best buddies and brother -

So Cool

But they just had to be real - 

Personalized Water Bottles on the beach -

Bride and Bridesmaids bouquets were Calla Lillys  - Jen's had some special little
momentos sewn onto the braided white satin wrap on hers- and the guys all had minis -

 Candle Holder with the date in vintage rhinestones -

I washed and ironed 150 vintage damask Napkins - added a ring of crystals to each - and boy did they get commented on...

We put Orchids in the glass containers and filled them with sand -

Lori & Tim Prepping while we were on the beach...

We had the entire yard fenced in and hung 44 sets of Ikea curtains on bamboo rods attached at the top - the breezes were perfect!

We had a swag of whitewashed driftwood to sign - it's hanging in Jen & Ryan's home now 

It was a perfect night - 

You can kind of see we had the whole yard fenced in and hung white sheers from Ikea all the way around the yard on bamboo rods - it was so great when the breezes would billow out the curtains -

The morning after...the kids all stayed at a Hotel and then they came home for a brunch with about 40 other friends and family -

Thanks for looking at one of the best days of my life -

Now back to the kitchen blog and a blog about the incredible chairs I got at The Little French Flea Market over the weekend...

Marsha

Jen's Beach Wedding Vintage Rhinestone Centerpieces & Candle Holders

Good Sunday to ya!

Here's what all the Centerpieces looked like for a week before the wedding - it was like living on an orchid farm and little by little all of our regular everyday stuff got stashed making room for everything wedding.

Two days before the wedding we filled the containers with sand so you couldn't see the pots insisde at all - during our 'Morning After' Brunch we emptied the sand cuz I think the sand was suffocating the orchids.  Bought the orchids at the Farmers Market and they were gorgeous!

We had so much fun making these - a few months before the wedding I started to buy up all the glass containers at the Thrifts and we decorated them.  They cost me like 2.99 a piece.   We wrapped them in twine (got a huge bolt at a garage sale for a buck)  then we lined the twine wrap with rhinestone trim, and added vintage rhinestone jewelry and shells to each side.  I've been collecting vintage rhinestone jewels for as long as i can remember - brooches, necklaces, earrings, shoe clips, sweater connectors,  bracelets, and buttons, and didn't know it, but this was what I was saving them for....

Started off with this mess - bringing all the little drawers out to the table to figure out exactly what to do!

Went downtown and bought these bolts of rhinestones

separated and organized everything

painted and decorated the shells too

then decorated all 4 sides of the vases

we used these shorter and taller containers for candles and flowers all over the place

Two nights before the Wedding we set up the tables and started checking stuff out

Our vision was coming alive - I was standing on the band's stage...

NOTE:  About a month before the wedding, we decided to paint the kitchen.  Can you imagine?  We emptied the entire kitchen out, laundry room too, lived with everything spread across the dining room and further, painted and spruced up, then put everything away with 3 weeks left till the wedding.    Crazy, but so worth it!  

I'm blogging that right after this...

Jen's Beach Wedding & Freshening Up The Little Bathroom

I'm just diving in because you gotta start somewhere...

 I've lurked around your blogs during the wedding prep mostly checking in in the middle of the night when many times I awoke in a panic and had to look through stacks of papers to make sure I had paid some bill or turned the sprinkler off in the back.  I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something - all the time.

Jen's Beach Wedding was perfect, I'm a happy Mom and I love Ryan very much - this couple got it right.  We planned and prepped the Wedding and at the same time spruced up this old place on a $0 budget and had the biggest blast of our lives.   We did it all at the same time, that's how we roll better under pressure I guess - no time for being confused, disappointed, or pissed at anything including how much things cost.

I left you at sending out the Invitations about 8 weeks before the wedding.  We shifted into high gear and of course I got some orders for Chandeliers and sold some furniture so I had to continue to take care of biz and while biz has been slow - it picked up - wouldn't ya know it, and we needed the $$$, so late into the night I was beading Chandies, and mr.bh was in his studio wiring em up.  

Once biz was under control, I started with painting the little bathroom.  The vanity countertop was ugly yellowish marble that I painted about 13 years ago and it needed a freshening up too.  The floor was green stone tiles with cement grout and I decided to paint it all gray.  I was unsure how but determined - and figured if paint didn't work - I'd get a rug.

Now that I'm looking at these pics I'm thinking I should add a little color on the raised panels of the vanity doors - yeah?   Hmmm.

I used Porch and Patio paint from Home Depot and got a can of light gray mixed up - perfect at the store, but at home it was too dark so I added some white for a lighter marine gray and it was much better. Phew!  Done.

I used Epoxy paint on the marble sink top - love it, and you would never know, and it takes wear, tear and abuse - 13 years worth.

I used a nice wide brush, and it worked! Much better - don't you think?  

Ok one project down...a ton more to go.  

Photo of the full bath tomorrow - 

AND the Wedding Centerpieces tomorrow...

Every night after dinner we'd meet out on the porch for a much needed glass of wine or a couple shooters to discuss the dailys and plot the plan for the next day.  PS We agreed on most things, disagreed on some things, but the only thing all of us ever argued about was the GUEST LIST. Enough said.

Thanks for not forgetting about me...and if you're here come see our Chandeliers and everything Beach House at the Rose Bowl every 2nd Sunday of the month.

See you tomorrow with our Centerpieces, Candle Holders - and then the Kitchen Sweep Up. 

Marsha

Beach House Bath - Painted White Tiles & Closet Markers

Welcome to my Beach House Bath.  One of my favorite bloggers, Sarah over at a beach cottage, was blogging about painting bathroom tiles and asked for comments if you've tried this before - I've taken the plunge - many times.

Here's my bathroom now after a complete makeover on a tight budget a few years ago.  No before photos - but it was built in the 1940's so you can imagine it was really tired.  The tiles in the shower  and on the countertop were peachy/pink with grey trim and we painted them white - you cannot tell that they are not original white tiles.  They are in perfect condition, they clean up with Windex, and they look just as new and fresh as real white tiles look.  I swear, you cannot tell.  Even in the shower, they're new and fresh every single day.  EVERYONE is shocked when I tell them they're painted.

Built in the 1940's, original heater heats up { your legs } instantly - we took off the chrome plate, cleaned and polished it and left it - why not?

Added a curved shower rod which is surprisingly more roomy -

These floor tiles were in the tile store's stock room - saved money by not having special order - we did it all ourselves - easy enough and didn't take long -

True 40's tub - looks brand new -

This photo - I'm in the bathroom you can see the closed door with a long mirror on it.  The star mirror is over the toilet.

Of course, a Chandelier -

Snapped the linen closet which is right outside the bathroom in a joke of a hallway - and I hope you can see the markers.  Right after we got married we went to Lake Tahoe, where we did some antiquing and junking.  Mr bh found these really old linen closet markers that are etched on mirror backing and we bought them for our "home we would one day have." I was impressed that he appreciated details like that.  

I came home pregnant.

 

  

There's a Guest Towel marker too and I love them.  

In the past, I've painted ugly dark tan bumpy tiles white, never had a chipping peeling problem, even with the bumps.  Our little bathroom had a horrible yellowish/greenish marble counter top that I also painted.  It's been 15 years, and just recently I saw a few chips, decided I should probably redo it, but I haven't yet.  It's not THAT bad.  That was before they made special paint for this so I used epoxy appliance paint.  It worked.

Oh - and I always spray the paint to avoid brush streaks - just sayin.

Now, I gotta get back to applying strands of rhinestones to large shells for Jen's Beach Wedding.

Take care - have a great weekend, we're shopping for shoes and doing some cake testing - thank heavens because Jen and I are starving.

I'm joining the party at Cindy's Show and Tell Friday