Bicycle Bride #3: The Ceremony

With only four more weekends left before our wedding, and after having more than a year to get it done. I still don’t have an arch. Or I do, sort of – it’s just not able to stand upright yet.

I fell in love with ribbon arches when I first started planning the wedding, and it’s one of the first things I started to work on. Don’t be fooled by it’s simplistic nature, it was hard work gathering and wrapping all those ribbons! I changed my arch up a bit by also using a lot of lace with the ribbon, and I’m pretty happy with how it came out (who cares that I realised too late that its structure might not be wide enough, right?). Only problem that remains unsolved is HOW TO GET IT TO STAND UPRIGHT!

Susan Dean via Green Wedding Shoes (top left); Elizabeth Messina via Green Wedding Shoes (top right); W. Scott Chester Photography via 100 Layer Cake (bottom left); Katherine Elizabeth Photography via Green Wedding Shoes (bottom right)

In all the pics on the internet I’ve found on DIY ribbon arches, it seems like people either stuck it into the ground (don’t think I’ll be able to destroy the venue’s beautiful lawn…) or had it standing in wooden crates. The wooden crates look like the obvious thing, but I’ve tried it and my wooden poles just keep falling over due to the weight. Eventually I discovered a blog post somewhere where the writer said that she set each pole in a block of cement, using a flower pot, after which she put the poles (that now have weights on) in the wooden crates. So this is now my plan of action. I haven’t been able to test this method yet as my fiancé and I just haven’t found the time to get round to it. Hopefully we’ll get to it during this week or this coming weekend, which is kind of the last chance we’ll have to do it….eeeeeek. If someone else out there has another suggestion on how to get my pretty ribbons upright and blowing ever so happily in the light breeze, please let me know!

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Source: Love Made Visible on SBB

We’re getting married in Old Mac Daddy’s beautiful garden, and the venue uses cute church pews for the ceremony. I don’t think the ceremony area needs a lot of decorations, as it’s in a beautiful setting already, but I am considering tying lace or tulle around the side of each church pew, and maybe setting up some minimal decor, such as some chalkboard signs, crates and flowers.

I also bought pink and white fynbos confetti from Scatterlings (found them via SouthBound Bride!), which I pick up from the post office this week! I really wanted to do something different than your usual confetti options. Old Mac Daddy’s is an environmentally friendly venue, so they require that you only use confetti that is biodegradable. I didn’t want to go with rose petals or bubbles, so I’m really glad I came across this service provider on SouthBound Bride. Fynbos is a bit different and a nice touch, as the venue itself has fynbos growing everywhere. Pretty sure the pictures will also look amazing!

Source: via Tradesy (left); Scatterlings (right)

Our minister has asked for a podium from which to read his notes, and boy, what a struggle finding something to hire that fits in with my “look”! I started looking around on Pinterest and found a lone photograph of someone using a wine barrel to serve this purpose. Love this idea, and have been wanting to get a wine barrel for another DIY project in the garden, so I figured that since I have to fork out money for this anyway, I might as well get something that I can repurpose for another project afterwards.

As for the music for the ceremony, I’m stuck. I’ve hired two musicians that will be playing the flute and violin, but I don’t have a clue to what song me and the bridesmaids will be walking in on… Before we got engaged I had so many songs that I always thought would be perfect for this, but now that the time has come, I can’t decide on something that will work, keeping in mind that the instruments to be used are a flute and violin. The DJ’s given me until Friday to decide on this, so hopefully between work (it’s our busy season, just my luck!) and all the other wedding stuff, I’ll be able to find the perfect song.

Source: via Oleander & Palm (left); via Etsy (right)

Pre-drinks and canapés will be served afterwards on the deck overlooking the dam, and for the deck area I just want to make some bunting. I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of fabric bunting, but I think I’m going to stick to my original plan of making bunting from the pages of old books. Getting started on it right after I’ve finished this post – only one month to go!

Irene’s story so far: The Proposal | The Suppliers