Vendor I (literally) Heart: Stories of Gen

This time, my featured vendor is very near and dear to me, as she is my new sister-in-law! Let me explain:

I don't know about you, but as the bride, I made the majority of the wedding decisions and would consult with Cape Cod Groom for his approval.  But since I wanted Cape Cod Groom to have some aspects of the wedding that were his decision (and take a few things off my plate!), one of the tasks on his to-do list was to choose the gifts for the groomsmen.  Now, I will admit that this was a challenging task, as it's always easier to find pretty things for bridesmaids, so I was not surprised when he turned to our SIL, the creative mind behind Stories of Gen for assistance.

Our SIL started Stories of Gen to create a unique gift giving service to suit any budget.  You provide her with the details on who, what, where, why, and how much you want to spend, and she will send you at least 3 fantastic finds from which to choose.

In our case, we were looking for attendant gifts for two very different groomsmen.  One was a bachelor in his early 20's, the other a married father.  Neither would have been into the traditional monogrammed flask. Stories of Gen found the perfect gifts for both, and since Cape Cod Groom waited until the last minute, she was even able to ship everything to us in time, in stylish packaging no less.

For my cousin, the young bachelor, she found this hip wallet, made of recycled seatbelts (courtesy of interrobang)!

For the best man, she found these Chicago Transit cufflinks, to remind him of his hometown now that he's relocated to Atlanta:

Overall, our Groomsmen could not have been happier with their gifts, and we were thrilled with Stories of Gen's unique and tasteful choices!

With wedding season quickly approaching, I highly recommend you contact her for all of your attendant gift needs.  She also does gifts for any occasion, so don't forget to do something extra special for your parents for Mother's and Father's Day as well (especially if they are helping you out with your wedding)!

Finally, if you are going to be a guest at a wedding and want to give the lucky couple something unexpected, or are attending a wedding without a registry and have no idea what to purchase, here are some really cute items she has found for the bride & groom:

My personal fave, a customized silhouette of the couple:

Solar powered birdhouse to adorn the newlywed's home:

Love jar, also perfect for DIY wedding sand ceremonies!

 

Going Against the Grain (literally!): DIY Sand Ceremony

I am so excited to share another one of my wedding DIY projects now that we have received our professional wedding photos!

I had always liked the idea of incoporating a unity ceremony into the religious service, and had often seen this done with the lighting of unity candles. Since we were getting married on the coast of Cape Cod, and the beach has always been special to me, my fiance and I decided that we preferred to do a unity sand ceremony instead.

Being the researcher that I am, I instantly began scouring the Internet for where I could purchase the nicest sand ceremony set for the lowest price. However, I was quickly dismayed, and rather taken aback, by the ridiculous prices for these sets. "Are you freaking kidding me?? $65 for a couple of vases? Sand NOT included?" I said to myself.

I decided that there was no reason that I could not make a sand ceremony set myself, for a fraction of the cost. So when my then-fiance and I were on Cape Cod in October doing some last minute wedding plannning, we stopped at Michael's to see what we could find. We were pleased to discover the small heart jars pictured below to hold the sand, and bought 6 of them (2 for my sand, 2 for his sand, and 2 for my dad's sand, who was also our officiant), for only $0.99 a piece!

Next, we needed a large vase or jar into which we would pour our creation. Since I knew we would want to take it on the plane back to Chicago, we decided to purchase an apothecary jar with a lid so our sand wouldn't spill. I also like apothecary jars because they are pretty and have a vintage vibe, which was also one of our wedding themes. We found one that fit the bill for less than $10.

We then purchased some white and dark blue sand (our wedding colors) at Michael's for only a few dollars a pound. Since we still needed sand for my father, we thought we'd go to the beach and collect some local sand for free, which would incorporate a more sentimental touch as well!

Here is the final product:

Photograph by Seth Kammueller

And here it is after the unity sand ceremony:

Photograph by Seth Kammueller

Overall, we were very pleased with how our DIY project turned out, and many of our guests commented on how unique and special the unity ceremony was. My father also gave a nice speech before we poured the unity sand to explain the symbolic meaning behind it, and our pianist played "Claire de Lune" by Debussy to add to the ambiance of the moment.