Wedding Wednesday: Favors

I’ve decided to try out a new series about my upcoming wedding next April! I think this will be the perfect space to chronicle our wedding planning journey, and reflect on it in the future. Plus, it’s my goal to remain as sane as humanly possible. No bridezilla. No crying over napkin choices. No dress shopping with a huge entourage. Here’s hoping I can make good on this promise.

Without further ado, let’s jump into the first big project of our wedding–the favors!

We got engaged in August 2012, and our wedding isn’t until April 2014. We (purposefully) gave ourselves plenty of time to plan.

To go along with our DIY/vintage theme, I wanted to give something handmade to our guests as a thank you for attending.

My future mother-in-law, Kathy, makes delicious berry jams every summer (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry). The strawberry is my favorite, so I thought why not give away mini jars of homemade strawberry jam as favors. Turns out it was a great way for us to bond and truly a labor of love for all involved–including Keith’s sister, dad, mom, and neighbors.

We pre-ordered the strawberries from a farm in Keith’s Michigan hometown.

So many strawberries!

We borrowed their neighbor’s industrial kitchen (they own a catering business) to make enough for all the wedding guests in one day. It was quite the feat!

180 jars of fresh strawberry jam!

Of course, we had to set aside some strawberries for our morning waffles. Fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and homemade Belgian waffles. Yum!

I love strawberry season.