poufy things

Our ceremony site is pretty freakin' spectacular:
It's also a city park, which means lots of restrictions. Fortunately, the Pretty, the Rules, and Our Impoverished State all converge in one lovely reality: not a lot of ceremony decor. Don't need it, can't have it, couldn't afford it anyway.

We're basically going to have a few rows of chairs with an aisle runner in between them. I want to hang some pomanders from the chairs along the aisle to pretty things up. I've been looking into chair rental companies in San Francisco (how did people get anything done before the internet?) and I've decided on the first thing I Want But Am Officially Giving Up:
I always thought that I wanted -- had to have, even -- these chiavari chairs at the ceremony. They're classic, they're gorgeous ... and they don't come cheaper than $8/chair. Plus delivery. Since that's not going to happen on our budget, enter Team B:
Not quite as uptown, perhaps, but a lovely, respectable chair nonetheless. And they're white, which kinda fits with the whole "we're having a wedding" theme of our event. And at $2.25, they're much, much friendlier.

Now all I need is a way to get them to the site on our own. A $200 delivery charge on $65 worth of chairs seems a little ... ridiculous. But back to the poufy stuff:

I completed my test run on the two d.i.y. paper pomanders, and I think we have a pretty clear winner.

First, the paper punch & pearl-headed pins version, courtesy of Once Wed. (The grey bow is just what I had lying around the apartment. I'll get the green seam binding for the real ones.) Pretty, elegant, easy to make, not too-time intensive (about 2 hours) and we can cart 'em back to L.A. for the reception without too much trouble. Second ... sigh. Budget Savvy Bride's blog is where I got the idea, but hers looks ... less sucking-out-loud ... than mine does. I couldn't make the paper stop being too flat/too clumpy as I unfolded it. And I didn't hot-glue the wires in so I could re-use the styrofoam ball, but it's pretty precariously constructed in it's current state. It looks a little less "classic wedding", and a little (okay, a lot) more "my 5 year-old niece made this in kindergarten" than I was hoping for.

So far, we've got Chair B and Pomander A. And one more poofy thing, to boot:
My petticoat has officially acquired its green tulle layer. Also, my dress is no longer too short. Mad, mad love for R & L Tailors on Pico.