By Carey, IW Bride Blogger

Nathan and I have always known we wanted to get married in New Hampshire. At least I can’t remember ever talking about any other place to marry. After realizing that atmosphere (fun, festive, and family) was really important to us, we decided that having our ceremony and party at a home would be the best idea.

Just what we were looking for. It’s in a great location for those that do not live in New Hampshire. There is so much to do so close by! Most all major attractions can be found within a 45 minute drive. The scenery is so beautiful! The air so fresh! When we went this past August to visit family Nathan and I both fell in love.

We’re so excited to let everyone know this is the place we will become husband and wife!

Remember the very clever DIY save the dates made from vintage postcards that I blogged about recently?  Well, I asked Carey if she’d grace us with her presence over here at IntimateWeddings and be our first bride blogger. And she agreed!

Carey’s intimate New Hampshire wedding is fast approaching. Her wedding date is October 3, 2009. She’s still got lots to do before her Big Day, and she’s still got lots to blog about during the next month. So, if you want to read all about Carrie’s ultra creative wedding planning journey, check back here often for Carey’s posts.

BTW, I’m looking for a few more good women to join the crew here as  bride bloggers. If you are planning an intimate wedding (less than 75 guests) and you are interested in blogging about your wedding here at Intimate Weddings, email me at christina (at) intimateweddings.com and we can chat.

Here’s a Q & A to let you get to know Carey a bit:

Age:

27

Location:

I have lived in Chicago for 3 years.

Wedding Date:

October 3, 2009

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I am a Visual Manager at Anthropologie, so I get to work with beautiful things all day. This job is amazing because it allows for such personal creative freedom in a store environment!

I have two very big dogs: one black Labrador named Tucker and one Fox Hound named Belle. And I have a small but feisty cat named Greta. I love to garden (we have two 4×4 raised garden beds in our small urban backyard). I also really love a good book. Some of my favorites are Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan.  I love cooking, vacations, black coffee, and big lakes. And, I knew my husband-to-be for four years through online connections (we were both part of an community blogging group) before I ever met him in person. Two days after we met in person we were in love and planning his move from Florida to Chicago!

A while back I blogged about having an ice cream truck at your wedding. Well, for those of you who love the idea of ice cream, but want to take a more sophisticated approach, why not create a DIY ice cream parlor?

Amy, over at Eat Drink Chic, has created a stunning, and I MEAN stunning, ice cream parlor display – complete with free wedding printables so that you can re-create the DIY ice cream parlor at your own wedding. Check it out. It really is a feast for the eyes.

Save

Wedding candy bar wrappers made from a vintage Fat Albert comic book ? Yes! In fact, you can make them from any vintage comic book and there’s plenty of them selling cheap on eBay.

I happen to be a huge fan of those quirky comic book ads for squirting ink pens, joy buzzers and itching powder. I recall poring over these ads as a kid when I was lucky enough to snag a Richie Rich comic book from a yard sale. When my five-year old snatched up a Fat Albert comic book at a local flea market, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it so I could read through the mail order ads. Then it hit me! This would be perfect way to wrap a gift! Better yet – let’s make wedding candy bar wrappers!

Not only do these candy bars serve as favors, but also escort cards. I used 52 g Caramilk bars for these favors, but you can also use 42 g Nestle Aero Bars – that is, if you are in Canada. In the U.S., I hear that Hershey’s Milk Chocolate 1.55oz or Nestle Crunch 1.52oz still have the foil wrapper.

BTW, most of these brands should be available in bulk at Costco.

Here’s the tutorial for Wedding Candy Bar Wrappers Made from a Vintage Comic Book

You will need:

A vintage comic book with mail order ads

Caramilk or Aero candy bars if you are in Canada:

Ribbon

Buttons (optional)

White glue for adhering buttons

Double sided tape

Glue stick

Hole punch

A color printer

Paper for printing guests’ names

Cardstock for ‘Thank-You’ tag

Making the Wedding Candy Bar Wrapper

Leaf through your comic book and find a page with mail order ads.

Scan the page, and size it to fit your chocolate bar. (Caramilk wrappers are 4″ x 5.5″). Print. I used regular printer paper and an inkjet printer.

Remove outer wrapping from your candy bar.

Wrap comic book page around the candy bar. I used double sided table to adhere the wrapper.

Type your guests’ names, and table numbers in a font that you like and print. Cut with pinking shears to fit the width of chocolate bar. Adhere with glue stick.

Cut cardstock with pinking shears for ‘Thank-You’ tags. My tags were 2″ x 3″. Print another comic book page, and cut out an ad to adhere to your gift tag.

Glue ad to tag with glue stick. Fold and use a hole punch to make a hole. In your best handwriting, write ‘Thank You’ inside the gift tag. Include your names and wedding date.

Put ribbon through hole and tie to candy bar. Glue buttons to candy bar. (This is entirely optional, but I think the buttons dress it up a bit.)

Display your candy bars at reception entrance. Watch guests oohh and ahh over your clever DIY wedding favors:)

If you want to show some love to Mother Earth, check out Twisted Limb Paperworks.

Twisted Limb Paperworks is an Indiana based art studio that specializes in beautiful handcrafted paper made from 100% recycled paper. (The company uses colored office paper, junk mail, cardboard boxes, grocery bags and recycled water to create the paper.)

Not only is the company’s line of handmade paper wedding invitations made from 100 percent post consumer waste (the paper is also processed chlorine-free and manufactured carbon neutral without the use of dyes), there is a wide assortment of styles to fit a range of budgets.

“We offer a mind-blowing array of choices—26 different handmade paper colors plus all of the flower inclusion, font, graphic, bow, stitching and printing color choices which adds up to literally over 4 trillion design combinations,” says owner Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese, a former state park naturalist.

Sheryl explains that there are two styles of paper available – paper embellished with ferns, flowers and raffia flecks, or paper embedded with grass cuttings.

 Brides also have the option of having seeds embedded in the invitations so that they can be planted. (A popular choice for green weddings.)

Along with invitations, the company also creates save the dates, escort cards, wedding programs, guest books, menus , favors and thank you notes to suit a variety of themes.

Perfect for a garden wedding – or any wedding with a conscience!

For more info check out Twisted Limb Paperworks.