Welcome Bags

Happy Wedding Wednesday! 

I'm headed off to Austin, TX today but wanted to share some photos and wedding tips! 

I wanted to have some kind of "Welcome Bag" for out of town guests in the hotel blocks we reserved. For those of you out of the loop, the Welcome bag is for out of town guests and should have some things they need inside. Ours were filled with wedding info, water (with a wedding label!), gum, snacks, maps and brochures. 

For the bag themselves, you can use any bag. We wanted it to be an eco-choice but fabric tote bags weren't in our budget. So we collected every brown bag that was gently used. I was even trading with friends when I saw them carrying a bag. 

  I decorated this bag myself and hosted a craft night with my friends. I told them to use mine as inspiration and go wild! I got out all of my paper scraps, stickers, die cuts, stamps, etc and let them create! Their designs were amazing and I couldn't have pulled this off without them. Thank you!!!

 Here are some of the things they came up with:

The Lovely Bertha Leal

Anna Koonin and Emily Furr

Emily Furr

Potted Herb Centerpieces

Happy Wedding Wednesday! 

Wanted to share with you some pictures of coming up with my centerpieces. 

I had a very small budget for centerpieces and wanted to them to be "green."

We got the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings to use potted herbs. A potted plant is always 

a "green"choice (over cut flowers) and I wanted to make sure the containers were green as well. 

Bio-degradable planters!

Kmart had these very chic and sturdy bio-degradable containers...and you can see the sale sticker right there!! I ended up getting them in two different sizes in these three colors. I bought some in MA and in NY to make sure I had enough. 

Two days before the wedding my husband and I drove up to the Berkshires. We bought herbs and flowers at Home Depot/Walmart. Then we showed up at My Aunt and Uncle's house unannounced...where they so kindly fed us and got all the kids together to help us.

My family planting!

We had five generations putting together these centerpieces! We planted freely and then watered!

My grandmother-my Auntie-My two cousins-and my first cousin once removed 

(my first cousin's son). Here are some pics by my Auntie Merry!

The cutest gardener ever!

My cousin Marina

The groom...aka sticker remover

Another set of cousins drove the arrangements over to the reception the next day! 

 I was very happy at the end of the night to see guests and staff bringing them home. My friends and family kept telling me they used the basil, parley, oregano...all summer!

The Budget Savvy Bride

Mr. Hulse and I are this week's Budget Savvy Bride Wedding of the Week!

I'm so excited to be featured on this blog! I feel like it is my wedding day all over again!

I used this blog a lot during wedding planning for inspiration and also to look at the budget breakdowns. It was really helpful when I felt like I was crazy for spending money on vintage hankies....

The photos were taken by my dear friends at Joanna Wilson Photography.

Enjoy!

Mailing the Hankie Invites

I've owed you this post for so long!

These are pictures and the "how" behind mailing
my wedding invitations.Or just where I got everything!

  
Envelopes~Paper Presentations 

  My favorite store on my favorite block (besides all my other favs on the block)!
I knew that I wanted something really simple in terms of envelopes. This way the Hankies would be the star. I spent hours at Paper Presentations looking for the perfect envelope and sleeve to hold the invite. I found some made with recycled paper and also bought inserts to line the envelopes.

        

Information Cards~Ruffled & Avery 

I made little cards to go the sleeve with RSVP information. 

Used a template on Ruffled (free download!) and Avery labels for the card.

We skipped Response Cards to help keep things eco-friendly. 

Calligraphy~ Briar Winters

Calligraphy on wedding invitations is beautiful! It wasn't really in our budget. I took a tip from The Groom Says and asked a Bridesmaid, Briar Winters, to pen addresses with her gorgeous penmanship.

Mailing them ~ Bunny Tip


These can be tricky to mail if they are very thick! I took them to the post office and had an employee helped me measure the envelopes thickness with the hankie folded. Normally they were 61 cents, but the thicker hankies ended up being over $1.

 

I was very happy with the way these turned out and my guests loved receiving them!
Are you making Hankie Invites too?

Ode to Stamps!

Geek Confession: I love Postage Stamps. When I was in fifth grade I started collecting them. My Dad collects stamps too and started me out with a children's stamp collecting book. He taught me the basics about how to soak them to remove the paper envelope. I love stamps so naturally I strike up conversations about them at Pink Olive. I mainly struck up a conversation about these stamps:

 These are the exact stamps I would've LOVED to have used for my wedding! I thought about using Vintage Postage Stamps but didn't know where to get them (Psst-Etsy). Instead I used many current stamps from the Post Office... and they were beautiful.

  I'm stocking up on the Herb stamps above and will probably use them on my holiday postcards (since there isn't a .29 cent holiday stamp).  Here are a few more current stamps I'm loving!

Anytime Stamp

 
Stamps for Save the Dates or Wedding Invitations:

Stamps for Holiday Cards:

All stamps and Images belong to the USPS https://www.usps.com/

PS. USPS....I could use a Holiday Post Card Stamp..for next year...

Martha Stewart Living: Wax Seals

I saw these wax seals in Martha Stewart Living, November 2011.

They used them in gift wrapping but they would also be great
on Wedding Invites, Holiday Cards, etc.

The seal wax is made to go in a glue gun!!! SO EASY!!!

For more: http://www.marthastewart.com/857299/wax-seals

  Image from Martha Stewart Living, November 2011

Where you been?

We haven't written in so long... and amazingly...you are still reading Cozy Rustic! We've had more than ten readers this week...and we haven't posted since April. And people are sharing Cozy Rustic! I've found our projects all over the web! On Pinterest and other crafty sites!! Shocker!

Where have we been you ask?

Well... I got married. That took up some of my time...or ALL of it.

Bea has been busy writing and work-shopping breakthrough musicals. She has also started another blog called Giant Dorkgasm. Check it out!

Photo by Gabe Rizzo with Tuesday Night Pictures

I've come back to Cozy Rustic to keep up the crafty posts and share my wedding projects with you. Above is a photo of me walking down the aisle in honor of Wedding Wednesday... and for all of you that just look at the pictures..

Thanks for staying with us!

Love Bunny