I remember my mom asking me, “What is your vision for your wedding?” Did I want an elegant wedding? A formal affair? A shabby chic ceremony?
My reply? I wanted a romantic, classy and timeless wedding with homemade touches.
I love being crafty and I think the little details of a wedding can truly allow the personality of the couple to shine.
My mom, sister and I tuned into our crafty side to make the programs, menus, wedding favors and table signs for our wedding. With the help of some free template downloads from the Wedding Chicks website, we created a cohesive look.
Our photographer snapped this picture of our wedding programs on the table with our wedding favors.
Our favors were our family’s favorite homemade cookies, displayed in a cookie jars lined with various fabrics. The cookie bar allowed guests to pick and choose the cookies of their choice to bring home to enjoy after the reception. 
My mom was a lifesaver with this cookie bar. She lined all of the jars with fabrics we selected, made the scalloped labels and baked numerous batches of cookies. The end result had the homemade feel I wanted without looking sloppy. She’s a cookie bar star!
When our guests arrived at the cocktail hour before the reception, they found their names on a homemade escort board.
Inside the personalized envelopes were the guests’ seating assignments, noted by various loving words.
The loving words served as table names that were framed and propped against the beautiful floral centerpieces.
Ryan and I sat at a feast table with our entire bridal party and their dates. On the back of our chairs hung bride and groom signs made for us by my mother and sister. 
Our menus contained the same wedding monogram found on the programs and cookie bar bags to help tie the whole look together. 
After dinner, our female guests enjoyed kicking off their heels and slipping into the flip flops we had displayed in baskets that served as “dancin’ shoes.” 
The flip flops were tied together and stamped with the decorative numbers to make it easy for our guests to find the correct size.
I think the flip flops were a success, as the dance floor remained packed the entire night! 
To be continued…
(All photos courtesy of Gina Leigh.)
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I LOVE the details in it all- fabulously done 😉
The cookie jar idea is so cute! I love that you made so many of the crafts yourself. You were a busy gal but it looks like it paid off!
I love the details! The cookie jar and flip flops are too cute.
Everything looked beautiful and so pulled together Julie! In Pittsburgh, a “cookie table” is actually a must-have tradition! Many close friends and family bake their best cookies and display them all on a big table. Since my family isn’t from the area, but Joe’s is, we kept the table and added a framed note explaining the tradition, as well as to-go bags for people take with them at the end of the night.
I really like the cookie jar idea! It turned out really well!
The cookie bar is so cute! What a great idea. I would have been all over that. Everything is so beautiful. Love the colors!
This is GORGEOUS. My sister-in-law recieved her wedding album recently and was telling me how she’s disappointed in her photos…I told her about your blog and she LOVED all your pictures!!
Love everything about your wedding! Absolutely amazing 🙂
The cookie jar for a wedding favor is such a great idea!! You must have been in the kitchen forever baking all of them, though!
You had such an elegant wedding. I LOVE the cookie bar! That is genius! 🙂 I love it!
So beautiful! I love the yellow too!
I love the idea of the cookie bar, its such a personal touch
Very pretty!
Did you print the programs, menus, etc. yourself? I’m debating whether or not I should print my own and if so, what kind of printer I should get.
yes! i got an estimate from a local printer & it was $600+! CRAZY! we used my parents’ printer b/c it was nicer than ours. it worked really well!
Absolutely gorgeous! It looks like something out of a magazine!
Everything just looked beautiful!!!
Love the cookie bar idea! =D
I hope you don’t mind I’m going to show this post to my sister who is getting married in august, she may want to use a few of these ideas, you guys did an awesome job, everything looks so professional and elegant!
i hope she can use them!
Cookie bar? Flip-flops? Those are such cute ideas 🙂 Have I been living under a rock? I can’t believe this is the first time I hear of these 😛 Sounds like it was a gorgeous and unique reception 🙂
Loved the flip flop idea! Told my mom about it last week! Gonna tuck that idea away for when I plan my wedding!
julie, everything is absolutely beautifuL!!
I’m all about the details. I’m loving looking at The Knot. So MANY good ideas!
I love all the details of your wedding – especially the cookie bar idea and the flip-flops for dancing. Genius!
Thats just beautiful! I love the classy-ness about it!
AND it was nothing too too too extravagent…just perfect!:)
The cookie bar idea is GENIUS. I just have to say, I’ve loved how reflective and thoughtful these wedding recaps have been.
It makes me realize I have no idea what “feel” i’d want for my wedding. I know what I like when I see it, but I’m not necessarily the type to only like one style.
Ok, you had the best wedding ever! I bet the guests were enjoying it so much! Cookie jars, flip flops, all those little details! I love it
Love the details! The cookie bar and flip flops are great ideas! The last picture is lovely 🙂
I love all of the details of your wedding from the monograms consistent throughout the wedding to the cookie jars, and the flip flops. Your wedding was truly unique and romantic. I have to say though, my favorite table is Hope. Why? Because my name is Hope 🙂 Haha.
you know that’s why we picked that word, right? 😉
All I can say is…..BEAUTIFUL!
It is all so “Father of the Bride”…I LOVE IT!
Hi! I love your blog and especially all the wedding recaps. Every last detail was perfect! I do have a question. Where did you get the fabric for the seating arrangements? I love finding fun prints and framing the fabric for different places in my house. Happy New Year! =)
we ordered it online… i can’t remember the website! i know we used the search terms “yellow damask” though!
I love how you did that all on a budget! I love the idea of a cookie bar. You really did achieve the homemade look with out being sloppy.
I love the cookie bar idea! Also, where did you get the symbol from? Does it have any special significance? Happy New Year!! 🙂
the symbol was actually a customized wedding monogram that we had made for free through the wedding chicks website! weddingchicks.com
it was the letter “f” for ryan’s last name with our wedding date underneath.
That is all absolutely beautiful! What a fun time. 🙂
You did such a great job! We LOVE seeing our downloads in real life! Thank you for sharing! I have posted them to our facebook page. (:
facebook.com/weddingchicks
absolutely beautiful! Looks like your vision came to life! I love looking at pictures from our wedding because the same was true. So happy for you & your husband!
I love the idea of labeling the tables with loving words rather than table numbers! Such a creative idea that gives it a personal touch 🙂
I have been reading your blog for a few months now and I have to say you have inspired me to eat better and workout more! Love the blog!
I am planning a shower for my friend and I love the cookie bar that your mom helped with for your wedding. Do you know how she made those scalloped labels???
she made them with sticker paper and scalloped scissors. i think you can find them at big-name craft stores like joann’s! i also think some places may sell the scalloped labels already!
SO happy you did these recaps, I used a few of your ideas (bride and groom signs, monogram) in my wedding last month! Yours looked beautiful 🙂
Your wedding recaps are VERY helpful! I have a question about invitations, when you sent them out how many weeks before the wedding did you request the response cards back by? We are doing our own invitations and I want to make sure they make it back with enough time!
i think we said 2 weeks?
I love your cookie bar – it’s the perfect touch! Do you know where you got the tongs that were used with each jar?
thank you so much! i think my mom got them at walmart, actually!
Hi Julie! I love the flip flops! I’m getting married in June at the beach and would love to do this for my guest. Where did you purchase the flip flops in bulk? Thanks!
i bought a bunch of them on sale at old navy!
Hey Julie – I love your wedding posts. We’ve also decided to do a cookie buffet. Weird questions for you – approx. how many cookies did you have, like 2-3 per person?
i honestly cannot remember! i think your estimation is good though since most people took one bag per couple… i think we made 3 – 4/pp.
You may not remember, but what size frames did you use for the table names? I am deciding between a 5×7 and 4×6. I just don’t know if a 4×6 will be too small.
5X7 definitely!! and congrats to YOU!
Hi Julie,
I love all your cute wedding ideas! I am getting married this April and am totally stealing the cookie bar favor idea. Random question if you don’t mind me asking where did you get the wooden tongs?
What a gorgeous wedding! I’m in the process of wedding planning and have enjoyed your wedding blog posts. Do you remember how many flip flops you purchased? I’m having a hard time guessing what an appropriate amount would be…
How many days in advance did you start baking the cookies for the cookie bar? I was thinking about doing Cookie favors for my wedding and leaving them at each place setting…but I like the idea of multiple options for people so they can pick what they want!
We did them two days in advance. 🙂