‘Tis the Season to be Jolly…
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Tag: Vintage China
Vintage Feature – New Inventory Page Going Up
I’ve been musing, thinking, problem-solving, photographing, counting, editing, and thinking some more all week. The problem? How to cleanly and efficiently share our inventory counts with our clients. Even though we have many lovely photographs on our website and on Pinterest, a more detailed description was still needed so clients could know more precisely what vintage treasures we offer. The solution had eluded me until I started mucking around in WordPress and its accompanying widgets.
Then, a most wonderful thing happened…
I discovered how to make a simple slideshow that can exhibit more than one image on the screen with individual descriptions. Ta dah! Now, please appreciate that this did take a bit of trial and lots of errors, but admittedly, I am pleased with myself. 🙂
I figured out pretty quickly that each photo needed to be standardized as far as size and look. Gulp. This meant that many, if not most, of our photos would have to be re-edited at the very least and probably a lot more would need to be retaken. The magnitude of this task took a while for me to accept, but with a long, deep breath, I resolutely began with the recently-published-but now-defunct Vintage Glassware Inventory page.
After revising this slideshow and fine-tuning the settings, our teapot collection was next in line. I pulled each off the shelves, matched them with their lids stored in a separate container, organized them on the table to get an idea on how to order them in the slideshow, created a backdrop, and then photographed each one. After measuring the capacity of several pots, and deciding on how much a teacup would hold, I also had a serving estimate for each.
With the more tedious part done, I created the slideshow with the new photos and added it to a new Inventory page along with the new glassware slideshow. Check it out – the page is called Inventory and now housed on our main menu. Whoop whoop! But this is just the beginning!
The upcoming set of inventory will be our Large Decor Collection. I’ve got a good start and hope to add this slide show sometime soon. What’s after this? Still pondering that one – there are so many to choose from! 🙂 🙁
In the meantime, I’m also getting ready for a retirement tea party this week and two weddings the following weekend. Lots to do and enjoying every bit of it!
Thanks for visiting and have a terrific week! Looks like the sun will be coming back to NC mid-week – thank goodness!
(For those who are interested, I will share two secrets about taking photos. The first secret is that I use my iPhone6 camera. The technique for taking this kind of photo is a bit tricky but not rocket science. After taking the image, I first use the iPhoto app on the phone to straighten and crop the image. The second big secret is that I edit the image with an app I just love – Camera360. It’s free and amazing! (Thanks, Cat, for sharing this with me.) These photos are magically uploaded to iCloud and I then open them on my computer in iPhoto, name them and make a few minor adjustments, and export to a folder on iCloud. The final step is to import them into the WordPress library. None of this is difficult but it does take time and lots of it.)
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Southern Vintage Table Event – Before the Guests Arrive…
The venue was wonderfully historic and rustic, the decor details created by the bride and family were perfect, and we were very pleased to be a part of this wonderful day! After months of designing and planning, the Boondocks was ready for the celebration of Jennifer & Jesse’s wedding. Here are some of our photos – and it was so hard to pick out just a few – of the pre-celebration. As you can see, it was going to be a beautiful, sweet affair!
Congratulations, Jennifer & Jesse, and wishing you enduring love, happiness, and fun!
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Southern Vintage Table Event – A Perfect July Day for Chasity & Travis
It was a beautiful Merry Hill Farm wedding and the late July weather was picture-perfect. After months of planning, new careers, and a relocation to the NC coast, Chasity and Travis were so excited their day had arrived!
This beautiful affair was more than their wedding day – it was time to rejoice with family and friends. From grandmother Jean’s stunning centerpieces and floral arrangements, to the decorating talents of the couple’s mothers and aunts, these two families made certain Chasity and Travis’ celebration was filled with memories to cherish for years to come.
The gorgeous purples of the centerpieces against burlap created a splendid backdrop for our vintage tableware and we loved the napkin/silverware lace burlap pockets with their floral accent! It was all so lovely and befitting of this couple’s love and devotion.
Thank you, Chasity and Travis, for inviting us to help with this beautiful affair! Wishing you love, happiness, and joy on your new life’s adventure together!
Here are the fantastic folks who helped make this a beautiful, joyful day!
Venue – Merry Hill Farm
Photographer – Five Copper Creative
Florist – Mews Designs
Floral Designer – Grandmother Jean
Decorators – Aunts April, Paula, Mary, Ruth
Director – Aunt Bonnie
Table Settings – Southern Vintage Table
Caterer – Clyde Coopers BBQ
Tents, Tables, Chairs – Hayden Tent Rentals
DJ – Big Boy Productions
Bar Tender – Raleigh Bartending School
PS – Chasity, thank you for being such a delight and for helping me with this post. Travis and your mother, I am so appreciative of your help unloading and loading. Lastly, Joni from Merry Hill Farm, you did an extraordinary job packing up from the evening’s festivities!
Also, sincere thanks to Amanda of Five Copper Creative for allowing us to feature several of her photos with ours. Be sure to check out her post for more photos of the family and celebration! Such a pleasure meeting you all!
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Southern Vintage Table Event – Anna & Anthony’s Wedding, The Sequel
They’re in – Kait Miller‘s beautiful photographs of a most happy event – the marriage of Anna and Anthony. In an earlier blog post we shared our images of the tables and decor along with one lone but wonderful photo of this radiant couple. Today’s post captures more of the joyfulness of this day, along with a few more lovely photos of our tables, courtesy of Kait!
There were two touching details you’ll love hearing about as much as we did – the stories about Anna’s dress and the tiered wedding cake. Take note of Anna’s mother’s elegant wedding dress in the below photo. After being refashioned and refitted, this dress was transformed into Anna’s one-of-a-kind heirloom wedding dress. How delightfully fabulous and sweet!
Now, here’s the backstory of their delicious wedding cake as told by Anna’s mother, Sheila.
“I baked the cake with my sister-in-law, Suzi. I had baked my own wedding cake with the help with my mother-in-law 37 years ago. Suzi had baked her own cake for her wedding 34 years ago. My mother-in-law was Susie’s mother but by that time Suzi didn’t need any help from her mother. Over the past 30 years Suzi has baked about 13 wedding cakes. I really couldn’t of done it without her. It was an almond flavored golden cake with lemon curd filling and Cointreau flavored buttercream.”
Magical memories, embellished with enduring family traditions, were created on this loved-filled wedding day. Anna and Anthony, wishing you two a lifetime of joy, happiness, and fun!
We are so pleased to have played a role in this most important family celebration and, as you can see below, Sheila was appreciative to have us there, too. Thank you, Sheila, for these kind words!
The vintage china and your decorating absolutely made the wedding so special. Having the wedding away from the family home created some challenges. We wanted our guests to feel the personal touches that we would have shared with them if we had been at home. You made it possible. I think the wedding was one of the happiest days of my life if not THE happiest. I know it was the happiest day of Anna’s life… Thank you so very much for your aesthetic touches and thoughtfulness.
Here are the fantastic vendors who helped make this a beautiful, happy day!
Venue – Merry Hill Farm
Photographer – Kait Miller Photography
Wedding Coordinator – Events by Memory Lane
Florist – Fernrock Farm
Tableware and Decor – Southern Vintage Table
Caterer – Thrills from the Grill
Hair and Makeup – Adonia by Jen and Samantha Anderson
Band – The Troupers
Transportation – Greenway Transit
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Southern Vintage Table Event – Anna & Anthony’s Merry Hill Wedding
June has been wonderfully busy for Southern Vintage Table with three weddings, two of which were at one of our favorite venues, Merry Hill Farm, and with our favorite flower farm, Fernrock Farm. Both of these weddings were beautiful, sweet, and fabulously vintage! Today’s post will feature our table and decor photos from Anna & Anthony’s wedding with more forthcoming when the professional shots are available.
When Anna contacted us to help her with her wedding plans, we were delighted! Not only did she want to use our lovely vintage china patterns and stainless flatware, she also wanted to design her table centerpieces using some of our favorite finds – vintage tins, topless teapots, teacups filled with succulents, miniature framed artwork, and milk glass vases. We had so much fun putting together our schema for the tables and were excited to see how our vision would come to life. Except for the pesky high winds that day, we would not be disappointed!
In addition to the tables, Anna saw our vintage pink dresser and knew it had to be part of her design plan. It is adorable and we’ve been waiting for someone to appreciate its charm, but the main feature of the greeting station was Anna’s inspiration – vintage-inspired handkerchiefs for their guests. With her brother’s talents, our trifold divider was transformed! Check out the blackboard sign’s greeting – you’ll love it!
Thank you, Anna & Anthony, for letting us be a part of this wonderful, love-filled day. It was such a pleasure setting your tables and meeting your delightful family and friends. To whomever took this incredible photo – thank you! It captures the absolute joy of this beautiful day!
A followup post will be coming soon with photos from Kaitlin Miller along with the vendor listing – be sure to check back in!
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Southern Vintage Table Event – Brooke & Tyler’s Wedding Photos Are In!
Remember our previous post about our trip to Tarboro to the historic Saint Anne’s Chapel for Brooke and Tyler’s wedding? Well, here are the photos of their nuptials on this beautiful May day. As you can see, our vintage china and tableware fit in beautifully with their outdoor vintage wedding.
Many, many thanks to photographer Laurie Crutchfield for sharing these and to Brooke and Tyler for inviting Southern Vintage Table! Wishing you endless love, happiness, and joy! Be sure to check out Crutchfield Photography’s Facebook for more from this happy occasion!
Folks who helped with this sweet vintage celebration included:
Tar River Rentals – Tent
The Decorating Divas (Debra Guthrie and Cynthia Flint) – Flowers and Decor
Catering by Family and Friends
West Furniture – Vintage Furniture
Southern Vintage Table – Vintage China, Glassware, Silverware
Crutchfield Photography
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Vintage Adventure – On the Road for a Vintage Wedding in Tarboro
One thing I love about my business is seeing the many different venues in our area. This weekend was especially a treat as we traveled to the small city of Tarboro in eastern North Carolina. According to the town’s website, Tarboro was originally inhabited by the Tuscarora tribe. By 1733 Europeans discovered this beautiful area by a river, known as the Taw, the Native American word for “river of health.” Over the years, the area was called Tawboro, Tarrburg, and Tarborough, until today’s name of Tarboro finally settled in.
Our destination was a beautiful, historic church called Saint Anne’s Chapel on the outskirts of town. It was designed by a German Baltimore architect and built in 1922 by two sisters with help from their cousins. Services were held here until the 1950s but after the sisters’ death, it started to fall into disrepair. Rescued by Kevin and Trish Wilson in 1999 and carefully restored to its former beauty, Saint Anne’s Chapel is now a lovely place for weddings and community events. Be sure to check out their website to learn more about this gorgeous piece of history!
We left our 225 place settings with Brooke’s family and crew and can’t wait to see scenes from their wedding and reception! Many thanks go out to her family and friends for helping Priscilla and me unload, and for sharing a bit of their stories as well.
PS – One unexpected philosophical nugget that came up during our conversation on the road to Tarboro is this thought from a Barbara Kingsolver book – The most important thing about a person is the thing you don’t know. Hmmm…food for thought, indeed.
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Vintage Feature – Delightful Sedum-Filled Vintage Teacups
What do you do with a beautiful vintage teacup that’s lost its handle or has a chip? Drill a hole in the bottom, fill it with an assortment of sedums, and create a beautiful mini garden!
Since they love sun, leave them outside or in a sunny window and when you need something pretty for your table, put them on a pedestal for your guests to enjoy! These are also available from Southern Vintage Table as a tabletop decor item and fit in perfectly with our Vintage Centerpiece Packages.
And, with today being Mother’s Day, we send wishes of love, compassion, and respect to all mothers and their children. To my mother, thank you for all of your gifts to us – your spirit, strength, compassion, courage, love of family, sassy smile – we miss you.
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Southern Vintage Table Event – An Easter Family Dinner
Our Easter surprise came as a last minute request to set the table for a Sunday family dinner – sweet!
Our design began with a vintage floral printed tablecloth, layered with bright green placemats and yellow napkins. We chose vintage stoneware patterns that featured green, yellow, and brown, and the sparkling jewels of the table were Sharon’s amber thumbnail tumblers – so gorgeous in the afternoon sunlight!
The centerpiece vignette included an eclectic mix of vintage gems – brass candle holders with yellow candlesticks, a mixed bouquet in a vintage vase, moss-covered egg cups and china purse, a vintage Easter postcard poised on a fork stand, and a cute ceramic basket filled with colorful jelly beans – so many fun, delightful touches to this stunning table!
Sharon absolutely loved her beautiful table and knew her Easter dinner guests would, too. As I am in the moment, writing this post about this intimate family dinner and thinking about our upcoming wedding this weekend, I realize once again why I love our business. Each event, dinner, affair, and occasion, small or large, grand or casual, is an opportunity for Southern Vintage Table to create a beautiful, unique, vintage-inspired table atmosphere for the most important guest list – yours!
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