Finding Direction

Folks.  Its wedding week J  We’re four days away.  Which means that I probably won’t be posting much (read: at all) this week.  There seems to be a lot of coordinating to do here at the last minute.  In addition, we’re working hard to finish up all those DIYs and printing lots of paper (you won’t believe how much paper ends up being involved with a wedding).  Maybe if there is time you’ll hear from us once more before the wedding, but if not, have no fear – I promise to return after the honeymoon to fill you in on all the juicy details that I haven’t had a chance to share yet (remember I’m using this as somewhat of a journal too so I’ll want to add the rest for when I’m old and can’t remember what games we played at cocktail hour ‘n such).

This was a big weekend.  We crossed so much off the to do list!  And I got to see all of my bridesmaids (each of whom helped us out with a wedding task at some point during the weekend….thanks ladies!)  While there is lots to show you, I thought I’d come back to the teaser I gave you a few weeks back regarding a special project my Uncle Jim was working on.

A loooong time ago, I found a post of an Ash Lawn wedding on one of the blogs I usually read.  It. Was. Gorgeous.  And as a result, I may or may not have stalked hunted  tracked the bride down to ask her some questions about having a wedding at Ash Lawn.  One of the pieces of advice she gave: ‘Take advantage of Ash Lawn’s space.’  It’s a pretty big plantation with lots of gardens and picturesque locations to host your guests.  I took the advice to heart and plan to send you guys all over that place for different wedding events and activities.  But her advice came with a warning: ‘Make it clear where stuff is…like the bathroom.’  She explained that spreading out and using all of Ash Lawn was awesome, but did mean people were a little turned around.  She mentioned that with several folks, during the only 5 minutes she spent with them, they asked ‘Where is the restroom?’ 

With this in mind and an unending stream of ideas placed in front of me via Pinterest, we jumped on board the wedding band wagon of including signs into our special day décor.  First off, I love the way they look – definitely go with our laid back, outside wedding feel.  But it seemed that they would also serve a good purpose: helping our guests get around the grounds of Ash Lawn.  (an aside: I’ve been amazed at the ups and downs that come with planning a wedding; shocked at the level of incompetence of vendors and thrilled by the generosity of some to do all that they can to make your day special.  Lucky for us, the good and helpful surprises have far outweighed the bad! Not only from our friends and family, but complete strangers as well.  We are so lucky.)  In an introduction to Pinterest for my Aunt, my cousin showed off some of the images I had been pinning to my ‘Wedding (maybe)’ board.  My Aunt took notice of the wedding sign trend that was occurring and ever so kindly offered my Uncle’s services to reproduce the gems I was seeing on the interwebs.

My Uncle is a very talented wood worker.  While I felt a bit guilty about accepting the help, I was giddy at the thought of having the beautiful signs I had always envisioned directing our guests about the wedding.  He assured us it would be no problem and had mock ups (based on my pins!) within a week.  We made some selections and within no time, he delivered the posts and arrows for the seven signs I requested.  (I know…way to take advantage of someone when they offer you help….)  And they look awesome!

This past weekend Kels trucked up from Rich-mund to help us finish them off with some stenciling J  Luckily Saturday included some beautiful weather so we headed out to the circle to write out all the signs.  We needed an arrow for each of the below:





Ceremony

Cocktails (2)

Corn Hole

Kubb

Cheese

Reception

Restrooms (2)

Cows (wouldn’t want you guys to miss out on the cows!)

Chile (you know to help you get your bearings)

Then three larger signs to 1) direct cars at the turn for Ash Lawn 2) send you guys down the right path to the ceremony  and 3) help you find your seat.  We are so happy with how they turned out!  They’re going to look even better once we have them mounted on their posts and sticking in the ground.  Hopefully you guys will take note and use them to help find your way to all sorts of important things (like the cheese table and corn hole sets!).