Our wedding decor
Floral installation: Floral Designs by Melissa
Wow, did I have fun planning the decor! We landed on a library theme for the wedding (and rounded it out with some autumnal motifs), and in between working on the comic all summer, I assembled the following details…
Catalog Cards
These place cards included the guest name as the author, a call number as the table number, and a subject heading as the table name. These cards are drafts from while I was figuring out the design, but the finals came out fairly similar.
Guest Books
Instead of a guest book, I made a hand drawn poster of piles of books that guests could sign in different colored pens (inspired by an Etsy creation). We also had an Instax camera and an album for guests to file away their snapshots.
Book Drop
Mini book return drop for card collection (an idea from my Aunt Mary). I made this out of foam core held together with brackets and T-pins, and gluing thin wood paneling to the facade. I used vinyl letters for the sign.
Bookshelf
We used the venue’s built-in bookshelf to play up the feel of entering a library, using books from our personal library. We avoided any books with bright colored spines, and removed any of the jackets so they would look more uniform as a group. I do wish I’d been more available day-of to fuss with the bookshelf, because we had also brought a huge collection of photos of family who have passed, and portraits of beloved pets, but some of the shelves were shorter than I thought and the resulting reconfiguration made it look a little cramped—we probably could have pulled out some things here and there. But Chris did a great job trying to translate my over-ambitious ideas while I was getting ready (we insisted that the venue not deal with this part because there was so much), and overall it represents a lot of people (and animal friends) whom we loved.
Card Catalog
This tabletop card catalog belongs to my parents, and the florist filled it with flowers! Note the classic literature lined up to the side, including Tolkein and Austen.
Other Bookish Details
Throughout, we included various bookish details, including two green banker lamps, a due-date stamp, and piles of books within different themes (classic literature, foreign translations, library science books, French language books, small paperbacks). I also included my vintage wooden painting case that doesn’t have much to do with libraries but fit with the card catalog somehow. Plus, many of the tabletop signs were on vintage library sign stands (see the photo below, bottom left corner).
Centerpieces
Our centerpieces were stacks of vintage books under eight different subject headings: Massachusetts, J.R.R. Tolkein, Plants, Cooking, Music, Painting, Sports, and Domestic Animals. The hand painted table number panels feature a subject motif, with the call number and subject heading in a typewriter font.
Welcome Sign
I also wish I had chosen a better surface for the welcome sign. I had cut a corner by doing it on black matte board and fitting it into a frame, but the flowers installed on top of it caused the matte board to buckle. I’m not sure if it was like that during the event or if it only set in at it absorbed the moisture throughout the evening, but it ended up looking pretty icky when I packed it up the next day.
Other Details
I’m not sure where to put these, but here they are. I made some cutout cookies to snack on the morning of the wedding and kind of fit them all on a tray. Chris also held onto a hankie for me with an embroidered ‘H’. Unfortunately we’re not sure where it went post-wedding :( And check out our cake toppers. It’s our beloved Ivy and Archie!
