April 13, 2013 was my good friend Aimee's wedding to my husband's college friend, John. For literally months (I work slow!) I worked on this card box for their wedding...
Aimee chose a beautiful Sangria color for the wedding with White and Gold accents.
Brief Review of Previous Boxes and What I Learned:
This is my third card box and luckily I feel like each time I've been able to improve upon it. The first one was for my own wedding which was just a small shoebox covered in a shiny purple paper with a small cream bow (like 1/4 inch think) and a cream heart applique. I liked it because obviously I made it but it was small and didn't fit all the cards. My second card box, the beach cardbox for my friend Cassie's wedding was made from two square boxes. This one was gorgeous but delicate and not well thought out. I didn't make the hole big enough in the bottom of he top box for the cards to be able to fall to the bottom. That resulted in some old ladies tearing the box apart to get cards in. Also, I glued small seashells down with super glue but some fell off because they were too small and the glue wasn't strong enough (Maybe use hot glue next time?). Also, I had a large ribbon glued down around it from top to bottom and that made it so you could even open the box!
So, this box I wanted to be perfect!! I chose three round boxes at AC Moore and cut a rectangular hole in the top cover of the smallest box. I also cut the whole entire bottom out of the top and middle boxes so that it would be completely open to the bottom. Then I traced the smaller boxes bottoms onto the larger boxes covers so I could cut out those holes (using an exacto knife is all you need for this).
I then searched high and low for a purple sangria colored paper to cover the boxes. I looked in a lot of craft stores like AC Moore, Michael's and a few local craft stores and I looked online at Etsy and the like. I could not for the life of me find a sangria colored paper. So I decided to look into paints knowing that if I didn't like it I could just redo the whole darn thing. Luckily I chose two purple paints that were close to the color I wanted (I used my bridesmaid dress as a reference for color) I found that mixing the two together created the color I was looking for. I also found that it needed at least two-three coats of paint! I hard large tubes and almost ran out!
To top it off I used sticky pearls that I had bought for the beach card box. I decided on a simple pattern on the top and bottom. I think it looks pretty elegant if I do say so myself! I then used two ribbons (both off white even though I was going for gold-ish) wrapped tightly around the top box and tied into a bow. I cut the edges to make them fancy. I highly recommend using two ribbons with different material/texture! It really adds a level to the bow. I was then also going to use a heart applique with the couples names on it but it didn't print correctly. In the end I also bought a purple flower clip that went on one side. I saw it in Nordstrom Rack and had to have it! Sorry I don't have a picture with it on the box.
So in the end I think this box was one of the best. Sturdy, Elegant and does its purpose well!!! The wedding itself was just beautiful. I am so incredibly happy for you (if you're reading this Aimee!) Aimee and John on their marriage!
Here is a picture of the wedding party in front of the Old Grist Mill. I have very fond memories of this mill from when I was a child (like really small child... 2-7 years old) having picnics with my family and great-grandmother right next to the water. It was so nice to be back there as an adult and share that with my husband.
I am the bridesmaid third from the left (the one with the dress too short because my stupid seamstress screwed it up!). Hubby is the best man (closest man to the groom) he was the most handsome man there!!!! (Sorry Aimee, I'm biased!)
