Vintage Feature – We’re Back with Lots to Share!

Our July blog hiatus has ended and there’s so much we want share with you! With help from Jami and Priscilla, we’ve made much progress on our studio, inside and out, and we think it looks amazing. So, how did we do with our three July goals? We invite you to read on!

Goal one was to make a farm table top for the workbench so clients could experiment with different place settings and tablescapes. Instead of the top, though, we now have an actual table, set up in the back, that works even better.

This mother-daughter team came to our studio a few weeks ago and experimented with a variety of different looks. After admiring several possibilities, their lovely reception table plan emerged! So far we’ve had four clients use this design table to plan their reception tables and several more have appointments to visit us in the next few weeks. Yay!

The next item on our list was to finish and print our brochure. After my business mentor shared some key editing suggestions, we had a small batch printed. More editing was done, a reorder placed, and now we are waiting for them to arrive!

The third and final goal – finish moving our inventory. Whew – we are VERY pleased to declare “DONE!” After three months of steadily packing and unpacking, everything is in the studio and now we’re busily staging and organizing.

Our opening photo and the one below show vignettes in our studio created by Priscilla. We love them all but the second one down is crazy fun!! We took the glassware out of the crates, lined the shelves with white lights, and shazam – they sure do sparkle!

Three goals on our list all checked off! There’s one more thing we want you to see and it’s the final thing we brought to Studio 238. She happens to be the sassiest, baddest, smartest, wisest, and outright best character EVER created – ta da…

Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager!

“Ma’am is acceptable in a crunch but I prefer Captain.”

She’ll be here to greet you and keep us focused on providing the very best service to our clients. Yes, you can count on us, Captain!

Vintage Feature – Three Assignments for July

We are taking a blog break during the month of July but that doesn’t mean we won’t be hard at work! In fact, we have three assignments to have finished before the month’s end and here they are:

1 – Construct a farm table top.

When clients visit our studio, we want them to explore our vintage offerings and be able to set sample table place settings for their guests. We recently added this work table, as seen below, and we’ll be making a wooden farm table slab to place on top. Can’t wait to get the power tools out and start on this assignment!!

2 – Finalize and print our business brochure.

With all of the beautiful photos from the many talented professional photographers, it’s been so delightful to work on this project. We still need to add more text and the photo credits but it’s close – at least this draft.

3 – Finish moving our inventory.

Yep, we’ve got more to pack and move to the studio, including this heavy vintage store shelving unit. Although this is our least favorite assignment, it is the one we can’t wait to finish!

Check on us in August to see how we did on our assignments. ‘Till then, wishing ya’ll a fun, carefree July!

Southern Vintage Table Event – Rain or Shine, Devon & Brian’s Wedding Day Was Wonderful!

Today we have some spectacular photos from Devon and Brian’s April wedding. Their Duke Chapel ceremony and Merry Hill reception, captured by Jessica Arden Photography, demonstrate how fun a rainy wedding day can truly be!

After getting married at the grand Duke Chapel, the wedding party moved to the pastoral beauty of Merry Hill Farm to celebrate. For their reception meal, this lovely couple used a mix of our vintage floral patterns with blue and white china to create a colorful table for their guests. On the dessert table and decorated with delicious cupcakes, our vintage tiered stands presented a yummy display for friends and family. Although their celebratory plans had to change a bit when the evening rain began, perhaps a little rain can create the best memories!

“Thank you so much for providing the amazing china and being such a pleasure to work with for our wedding. The plates were so beautiful and the tables looked amazing when everything came together! It ended up being rainy on our wedding night, so we had to move everything under the tents and lost some of the pretty Merry Hill scenery, and I was so happy that we had beautiful table settings to add some color and charm to the tent space! And don’t worry, we ended up having the most fun ever despite the rain!” – Devon

Gosh, this final photo at Duke Chapel is simply perfect! Congrats, Devon and Brian, and best wishes for a fun-filled future together, rain or shine!

Vintage Feature – Move Update!

It’s almost been 2 months since Amy and I first got the keys to our studio and we are getting so, so close! The sign is on the window, more shelves filled, inventory shuffled, Amy’s shelves and flower cooler are in, and – the most exciting news for SVT – the commercial dish machine is being installed tomorrow! Whoop, whoop!

Here’s the day we got the keys….

… and here’s today!

We are working from our new space and meeting with clients as we continue to move in. Please let us know if you’d like to come by and we’ll schedule a time to meet!

The next update will be our last when everything is in place!

PS – Brainstorming with the Yayas is always fruitful. Thanks for the “Studio 238” combo name – we love it!

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Vintage Feature – Read all about it on Green Wedding Shoes!

Photographer AJ Dunlap put it perfectly. “IT’S UP, IT’S UP, IT’S UP!!!!!!!!,” she emailed to all of us, meaning that Olivia and Joseph’s wedding is now on the prestigious wedding blog, Green Wedding Shoes. The feature, “A Vintage Wedding with Meaningful Details,” showcases this beautiful occasion and we can’t be more excited!

Be sure to take a moment to enjoy this lovely article – you’ll fall in love with this sweet couple as all of us have! And, definitely watch the video at the end – it’s amazing!

(PS – note the vendor listing, too. We just love seeing our name among these incredible wedding professionals!)

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Southern Vintage Table Event – Kelcey & Isaac’s Vintage Wedding

We have been looking forward to Kelcey and Isaac’s wedding day for over a year and yesterday was the day! All of the designing, planning, and organizing culminated in one of the most beautiful weddings we’ve ever seen. With our vintage place settings set on Greenhouse Picker Sisters‘ farm tables and Springwell Gardens‘ oh-so splendid flower arrangements, the reception area at Merry Hill Farm was transformed into a gorgeous sea of color and textures.

At each table were vintage vessels filled with beautiful floral bouquets, including a collection of teacups collected by Kelcey for her wedding day. Springwell Gardens also created lovely aromatic bouquets in our vintage silver creamers, milk glass vases and compotes, and stoneware pitchers.

Final vintages touches included framed table markers, biscuit/tea tins, and books, Votives and candles in vintage brass candle holders added the sparkle of light at each table for the evening of fun and celebration.

Now we can’t wait to hear all the details and see the evening through Kelcey and Isaac’s professional photos. It was such a pleasure being part of this wedding day and working with a team of incredible vendors. We don’t have the complete vendor list but we’ll share them when we post the “real” photos!

Thanks to my sweet sisters, Rowena and Sharon, and dear friend Priscilla, for your help yesterday! And, you’ll want to know that the “bury the bourbon” Southern tradition came through with a gorgeous North Carolina day!

And, of course, a heartfelt congratulations to Kelcey and Issac! Best wishes for a loving, joyful life together!

Southern Vintage Table Event – A Photo Shoot at Carrollock Farms

We really enjoy helping with photo shoots and when Danielle of DHS Photography invited us to help with one showcasing a new venue, we happily agreed. Carrollock Farms, with a rich NC farming history, has beautiful pastures with cows and seasonal crops. Hosting your event here will give you a true feeling of being in the country.

Be sure to check out this beautiful country venue in Willow Spring, NC. Thank you, DHS Photography, for sharing these wonderful photos! And, to all mothers and mothers-to-be…

Happy Mother’s Day!

Vintage Feature – Shelves Are Filling Up!

Oh my goodness, it has been an incredible week! My aching muscles and feet are a testament to the progress we have made on our studio move. Look at these shelves, filled with our vintage treasures and wares. No longer crammed in crates or drawers, they now are easily admired and seen!

There’s still more to do to get our new studio ready but we are making progress every day. We even greeted three clients this week. Gotta run – my car is loaded up and ready to go!

Vintage Feature – Our First Studio Update

Yep, we are getting there! The floor, first covered with blue carpet, now has two fresh coats of paint. Stuff is coming in, load by load -thanks to Randy, Taylor, Cameron, and Sam – and we are now working on our primary shelving for our vintage wares.

Don’t you love these shelves? They were part of a store liquidation sale in Burlington. Carrie, Bill, and I loaded them up and brought them to our studio. (Believe me, that’s saying a lot – those shelves are heavy!) The skeletons of both rows are now assembled, shelves are being covered with pretty wallpaper, and soon will be filled our inventory.

But, the best news is that we had our first client pickup from our new digs and met with several clients as well. Both Amy and I are trying to enjoy each step along the way but we also can’t wait until it’s all ready!

Vintage Tips – Make Your Own Tiered Stand, Part 2

Scones with jam and lemon curd, cucumber sandwiches, and chocolate-covered strawberries – sounds like a tea party, right? Well, almost. These delicious treats need to be presented properly to your guests, and yes, that means pretty vintage tiered stands.

This week we have been preparing for a reception tea party to be held in Asheville next weekend for a very special bride, Jess. Her mother wants everything to be tea-party-perfect so we’ve been assembling and making tiered stands for each table. So far we have 11 ready with only 4 left to prepare and assemble.

One of our older posts, “Make Your Own Tiered Stand,” has tips for making a tiered stand and the basics are the same. If you drilling into hard porcelain, we have a new tip to add – use a diamond-coated drill bit. Two biggies while using this bit – the drill bit needs to be constantly bathed in water and you only need slight pressure on the plate as it grinds the porcelain down. A second tip is to position the drill bit at an angle to start an indentation in the porcelain. Otherwise, the bit jumps around and it’s difficult to get it to stay put. After you get a nice quarter moon-shaped groove, you then can begin to move the drill slowly to its 90-degree angle and continue grinding through the plate. Patience and arm power also are needed!

Once finished with your three plates, put them together with the hardware, get the scones in the oven, and start cutting those cucumbers! Of course, we are more than happy to provide these vintage tiered stands along with the other teatime essentials. Mark the date on your calendar for your tea party and give us a call!