February (and most of August â22 through April â23 if Iâm completely honest) was dominated by Wedding Prep. Weâre DIY people, so we had decided not to go the wedding planner route. However, after a bit of research and self-reflection, we realized that for the wedding we wantedâwith as many of our friends and family present as we could reasonably affordâwe were not going to be able to DIY everything. Then it turned into a game of outsourcing what we knew we were not good at, and scheduling for ourselves the things we knew we were! And so, obviously, dear reader, I was going to do the paper and design type stuffâdecor, save-the-dates, invitations, and so onâmyself.*
Sticking to approximate themes of adventure and nature, I drew and painted designs for the paper materials (the final versions shown here!) Simultaneously, I scrounged the pieces that would become decorâupcycling kombucha bottles and jelly jars, collecting attractive sticks and antlers and tree chunks, and prowling around thrift stores for candle holders and frames and other knick knacks. I had not previously fantasized much about what my wedding would be like, so it was an evolving process where I played with various combinations of objects until I liked what I was looking at. Not unlike my 2D art process! See the images for a lot of barely-comprehensible vision scribbles from my sketchbook.
Meanwhile, the rest of life continued. Prescribed fire season got rolling, Gali continued to be an irresistible subject for phone photography, and Brad and I went on a little adventure to Southwest VA to celebrate Valentineâs Day (and learned how not to use a wood-burning stove at a smoky AirBnB stayânothing was damaged but our pride).
*I did receive lots of help, with decor in particular, especially the day ofâbut Iâm getting ahead of myself.