The bridal bouquet was created using plum dahlias, eggplant mini calas, lavender ranunculas and purple tulips.

The bridesmaids bouquets were similar to the bridal bouquet but the lavender ranunculas was removed and replaced with chocolate brown cymbidium orchids for a darker, richer look.

You can find out more about the event on the Amy Karp Photography blog. Sounds like such a terrific event. If you're planning on attending, I'd love to hear about it after the event.

According to Amber, the most successful DIY element from her wedding was the mustaches on sticks that she handmade out of clay. And, as a result of the success of the mustaches on a stick, Amber is the gal behind the popular Whisker Works etsy shop. In this shop, Amber creates mustache props that brides just love to have at their weddings for both favors and a fun way to spice up their photo booths. {more on the Whisker Works shop after the wedding} I loved hearing the stoy behind the wedding creations, which you can see below.

The wedding dress cost a total of $120 and is 100% silk. From Amber, "I bought a damaged dress from a store that sells unsold dresses on eBay, then my mom (who also has an esty store) made most of the adjustments to it. She hemmed it, removed the two inner layers of skirting, parts of the train (that created the ring bearer's pillow) because I didn't want a poofy dress... then I adjusted a lot of the beading on my own. The final dress I would estimate to be about 60% of the original dress. Being able to make modifications on our own saved us a lot of money, of course." Amber's bouquet was handmade by Amber, two bridesmaids and her mom. Her mom bought flowers from the grocery store to keep costs down and the ribbon wrapping the stems is the same ribbon that was used on the invitations.

Alex proposed to Amber with a 1920's ring, so they used that as a common theme throughout the wedding which took place in a 1920's hotel {The Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring, FL}. Amber found a 1920's wedding band that matches her ring well and for her hubby's ring, Amber found an artist who makes bands out of old silver coins, so they had him custom create a ring from a 1920's coin. Amber also found 1920s cameo necklaces for each of her bridesmaids as gifts (which they wore on our wedding day), in addition to Amber wearing one herself {seen in the pic of the bouquet}. The necklace will now become a family heirloom that Amber will pass down. And, back to the hotel, The Kenilworth Lodge gave Amber and Alex 40% off their total rental (a smaller room for the ceremony and the large ballroom for the reception) because they had 40 rooms rented by themselves and wedding guests.

All of the save-the-date cards, invites, rsvp cards were printed on Amber's home printer. She made little black and white coloring pages from photos of herself and hubby to keep the kids occupied at the wedding. They placed the coloring pages at their seats along with custom kids menus. To create the table identifiers, Amber soaked off the labels from bottles of red wine and replaced them with hand-made numbered labels. Each bottle also had a fact about the couple around the neck. There was an open bar all night and Amber hired one of her sister's friends to be the bartender. But, Amber says, having a bottle of wine on the tables saved a couple trips to the bar.

One of the ways Amber and Alex saved on wedding costs was they had their photographer friends take shots for them as wedding gifts. {Amber's maid of honor and Alex's best man are both professional photographers} Above, Amber's family shows off her mustaches on a stick.

UPDATE: I received a question about what Amber and Alex did for food, so I emailed her. Here's Amber's reply - just goes to show you that it never hurts to ask. We're both vegetarian and since a wedding is about sharing our love and our style with our guests, we decided to go down that road. We had it catered (set-plate), but on an extreme budget. Our original quote came in at $30/head, but by discussing our budget with our catering, they reduced the price significantly by having us choose only one option, vegetarian of course, and eliminating the desert. We had wedding cupcakes and a candy buffet, so we didn't think a third desert was necessary anyway. Believe it or not, catering cost was reduced to $10 per plate and it was super-delicious. :) Our wedding cupcake baker also worked with our budget, doing large cupcakes for $1 each in three different flavors. The candy buffet was a total of $80 - dishes were donated by a friend and the candies came from Walgreens (even though their candy is more expensive there, it was cheaper in the long run because I didn't have to pay for refrigerated shipping).

Photo Credits: Kelly Borsheim (Amber's sister) and Trang Do (Amber's maid of honor)

And, if you are looking for your own mustaches on a stick or the latest addition, lipsticks on a stick {which I think are the cutest}, please visit Amber's shop at Whisker Works.

Cut your first slice of wedding cake as Mr. & Mrs. with a stylish keepsake cake knife and server set from The Wedding Outlet. There are so many great styles to select from including silver or gold, colored accents, crystal handles and of course personalized sets.

While silver server sets are typically the most popular among brides, gold sets are favored by brides looking for something distinctive and that compliments their unique color schemes.

Gold Server Sets: Venice Gold Serving Set, Gold Heart Server Set

Server sets are offered with a wide selection of accents both in the traditional white and ivory and a variety of colored and themed accents allowing the bride to compliment their wedding theme or color scheme. Diamond pendants, organza & satin bows and floral embellishments are among the more popular choices for accents.

Accented Server Sets: Chocolate and Strawberry Cream Cake Server, Blush Ivory Server Set, Bridal Tapestry Server Set, Ivory Diamond Knife Server Set

A trend that is always a must is customization. Whether the server set is given as a gift or purchased by the couple the option for personalization is always appreciated by shoppers. Traditionally the bride and grooms name along with the wedding date is engraved on both the knife and server set. However, today you will find that the couples monogram is a more modern selection and can be seen on many accessories throughout the wedding.

Personalized Server Sets: Royal Cake Server, Regal Rhinestone Server Set

Server sets are used during a memorable part of the wedding reception and can later be used in the couple's home when entertaining. No matter what this important piece will serve as a keepsake for years to come. To see the entire collections of cake and knife server sets from The Wedding Outlet, please click here.

I just love the photo below with the playing cards draped over the shoulders. How cute is this for a photo booth prop?

You can see more photos from Marisa's Alice in Wonderland themed event here.

This week THREE LUCKY READERS of Brenda's Wedding Blog will receive 52 credits to Invys.com - which is enough credits to allow the winner to download artwork PDFs for all six items offered at Invys.com (invitations, save-the-dates, response cards, reception cards, directions cards, and fold-over thank you cards).

Invys.com offers invitations, save-the-dates, response cards, reception cards, directions cards, and fold-over thank you cards. The software works entirely online, so users don't need to purchase design software. Colors can be changed for all the elements of the design, so brides can select their particular wedding palette for any design. It's free to try the Invy's invitation designer, and there is no software to download. Users can save their projects by registering for the site.

To enter the contest, please visit the Wedding Invitation section of Invys.com and then come back here to leave me a comment {wedding thought} with your wedding date and your favorite design motif {remember you can create the invitation in any color scheme, this page just shows the designs}. The contest runs thru Monday March 15th, with a winner being selected on Tuesday March 16th. Please be sure to leave your email address on the comment form so I can email you if you're the lucky winner {it will not be published}. PS: don't forget to share this post with all your engaged friends.

Contest prize: 1 of 3 complete invitation sets from Invys.com
Contest Deadline: Monday March 15th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST
Contest Question to Answer: What is your favorite design motif from Invys.com?
{PS: don't forget to include your wedding date to be eligible to win}

Congratulations to Heather and Jimmy and thank you to Jade for sharing this wedding with us today. To see more from Jade McCully, please visit Jade's web site and blog. And, to see more photos from this wedding, please click here.