Guest Post: Real Bride, Ms. Library, and her Kids' Table

I am very excited to introduce you all to one of my favorite brides, Ms. Library, who is planning a July, 2010 wedding.  I have been following her blog for quite a while and I am getting more and more excited for her as the day is fast approaching!  Under 100 days, people!  I had the honor of designing her garter and she has graciously agreed to share all the wedding glory as my first real bride feature!  Just to whet your appetite, I asked Ms. Library if she would share one of her favorite posts, and she picked one of my favorites.  Why?  Well, it illustrates just how thoughtful she is of every guest, even the littlest ones, and she reuses, renews, and recycles effortlessly!  Check it out and feel free to leave her some encouraging words.  Anyone reading a wedding blog understands how much that is appreciated!  Here she writes:

Note to Self #1: The Kids’ Table

While last night proved to be a roller coaster of emotions (getting a dress that doesn’t look like you want it to and that you can’t return isn’t always the greatest for self esteem), I decided I didn’t want to grade papers (HA!) and I wanted to work on the first of my ideas, decorating the kids’ table.

My goal was to make it as kid friendly as possible with nothing fragile or flammable. Using Mrs. Sprinkle’s kids’ table as inspiration, I knew we had some leftover jelly jars in my basement and a tall blue vase in our dining room collecting dust. Containers? Check! I had already picked up coloring supplies (four packs of markers and a jumbo pack of crayons) for $1 a package after Christmas and I just need to print out the coloring books to assemble them. Coloring activities? Check!

What I needed to complete my vision were children’s books. While trying to pick a book for a professional book club on my local library’s website, I noticed their scrolling banner was advertising a 50% off sale on their book barn supplies. Dad Library is a huge fan of library sales, so I have been no stranger to them growing up. Their prices are super cheap, and while the conditions of the books vary, you can find some amazing deals. I stopped by after work yesterday to see what there was. I had planned on looking for some of my childhood favorites (One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal, Miss Rumphius, etc.) and some of Mr. Library’s (Where’s Waldo?, anything by Dr. Seuss), but alas, none of those were available. Here is what I did score:



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I remember having Millions of Cats in my childhood library at home, plus Mr. Library and I are cat lovers, so it seemed appropriate. Roxaboxen was one of my absolute favorites and Barbara Cooney, the illustrator, is from Maine. Amazing Grace seems like an awesome book, and while I don’t remember reading it, I’m sure I was exposed to it at some point. Plus it was Reading Rainbow endorsed. Double trouble! And what wedding would be complete without a little Cinderella action? Not this one! I tossed it in. And all of them cost $1. Total! Looove it! Books for the centerpiece? Quad check!

With my treasures assembled, I began to play. I had to make more pom flowers for the centerpiece, so I got out my tissue paper and made five. After putting them in the blue vase and putting the coloring supplies in the jars, I came up with the formation:

View from the top – Don’t the markers and book covers give the arrangement some color?

The container on the side with the clear sticks is filled with glow sticks. I plan on decorating all of the containers with ribbons and signs.

The stems of the tissue flowers will be wrapped in green floral tape so they look a little more realistic and won’t be sharp if anyone takes them out to play with them.

The coloring books will be waiting above the place setting for each child, as well as a container of bubbles with each child’s name on it (no matter how old they are!).

What do you think? Are you having a kids’ table?