A Book Themed Wedding

The Office Husband and I are huge book nerds. My dad was a printer by trade in his earlier years, and that's where I grew to love and appreciate a well made book. And the Office Groom always has a new book or magazine in his hand, which he probably got after one of our many visits to Indigo.

We hadn't initially thought of having any theme at all, and it sort of happened naturally after we fell in love with an invite design found online that tells the story of how the couple met and got engaged. And that's when we came up with the saying "A lifetime full of wonderful stories," and a book theme was born.

We didn't want to go over the top and end up with a library for a reception, so we tried to incorporate the theme in little ways. Here are a few photos of how it turned out!

Guests could find out where they were sitting by referring to the seating chart, which was designed to look like a library reference list. I also added a few loose book pages to frame it.


Library cards were used as table numbers. You can find them on Etsy easily!


In lieu of the traditional flower arrangement, we decided to use books as the guest table centerpieces. Each table had a group of books which were specifically picked out with the guests in mind. It took a a lot of visits to the bookstore to do this, but luckily time was on our side. And we got some great deals just by looking throught the bargain bins and with the help of a friend whose dad works at a publishing house!


We made a donation to ABC Life Literacy Canada on behalf of our guests, and as a token of their appreciate the organization provided a small Robert Munsch book for each guest.


This was my favourite detail. To add a personal touch, we handmade these bookmarks for all the guests. But we went one step further and wrote a personal story for each guest. That took a few nights of sitting on the couch with some wine and recollecting our most favourite memories, but it was worth it! It blew the minds of so many people!


After a delicious dinner, the cupcake table opened up. I found this gem of a book at Indigo!


Photographs by Shannon Lepere and our family & friends.

Cramming in some Crafts

With just 4 days left until the big day (CRAZY!), I have been in Super Craft mode. The Office Groom and I have been collecting books for the last year and a half and I was finally able to put them to use. The photos don't do any of our arrangement justice, especially with all the crap behind them, but hopefully it will look awesome in the actual space with everything else.

GUEST / GIFT TABLE
A stack of books with a flower arrangement (the pink box is just a plce holder) on top. There are loose book sheets underneath. The gift box and guest book tie in our colours.



DESSERT TABLE
I'm all about recycling and reusing. So when I saw these pots at my bridal shower, I wanted to use them again. Luckily the ribbon around them mathces our colours (and OG kilt) perfectly! There will be cupcakes in the pots, and then rest of them will be scattered around the books.



DINNER TABLE
My personal fave. We picked up books with all of our guests in mind. Everything from music, comedy, video games, hockey, and travel. Hopefully most of them will notice the titles and realize the connection :) At the end of the night one lucky guest at each table will get to take the books home.



There were a lot more crafts done over the weekend with my BMs. More photos to come!

Why Am I Sweating The Small Stuff?

I spent almost 30 minutes at Essence du Papier today during my lunch, staring at a wall of guest book options. I kid you not. STARING. I picked up one book and looked it over on all sides. And then I put it down and picked up another book.

I debated everything from size, colour, traditional write-in, or photo. The sales people probably thought I was some crazy homeless lady dressed up decent just looking for a place to stay cool from the outdoor heat. Sigh.

And then... when I FINALLY made my choice (a photo guest book with white paper), and headed back to the office... it was only about an hour afterwards when I started to doubt my choice.

WTF? In my head I could hear my sensible side telling me to "Take it easy - it's just a guest book!" However it was having to compete with my more emotional side who wanted me to "Put real thought into this, because after all, this is your WEDDING GUEST BOOK!!"

So, like a madwoman with a split personality, I picked up the shopping bag and made my way back to the store. And it was only after I had exited the elevator that I realized I forgot one of the items on my desk.

ARRRGH.

I took that as a sign from the world that I should go back to my desk, live with my choice, and actually get some work done.

A friggin' guest book. Who woulda guessed? lol

Showing Some Book Love To Our Guests

What is normally a 20 minute commute to work on the subway took me FORTY FIVE FRIGGIN MINUTES this morning. They kept stopping between stations, so we just stood there in the dark tunnel, while someone on the intercom would explain what was going on, but all we could hear was "St...gre....bu....mor....ple...." Why do they even bother?!

So needless to say, I was a bit flustered when I got into the office, but my sour mood quickly dissipated when I noticed a package on my desk. And I knew instantly what it was...

The guests gifts had arrived!!!

I hurriedly set my purse down, turned on my computer, and got nice and comfy at my desk so that I could open the box. And there they were. 150 brand new, fresh smelling (it's all about the smell for me) Robert Munsch books and announcement cards. Le sigh...



Early in the wedding process, after OG and I had decided that we wanted a book theme, we came up with the idea of donating to a good cause that related to the theme in some way. Enter ABC Life Literacy Canada (formerly ABC Canada) - a non-for-profit organization that promotes the cause of literacy nationally through various programs, and helps adults with low literacy to develop the skills they need to succeed in reading, writing, and numeracy.

All it took was an e-mail, and soon I was in touch with the lovely people in the ABC marketing department. They set it up so that once we made a donation they would provide us with enough books for each of our guests as a token of thanks. How cool is that?!



We're also really happy that they've provided us with a title by Robert Munsch, one of Canada's most popular Canadian children's authors, and a personal favourite of both OG and mine (and pretty much every kid in North America, right?!).

I can't wait to see everyone open their little books at the reception, and I hope know that they were part of a good cause :)