Renaissance Chef

Hey There! MK here.

To kick off Heart of Frederick again, Molly and I will be sharing some of our favorite Frederick weddings this week.

From the bride  groom, Alyssa + Mike:

Like most couples, we wanted to invest ourselves deeply into the planning to ensure that our love, creativity, and craft would shine in every detail. Planning our wedding was a great way for us to not only bring ourselves closer together but it gave us a chance to create an experience that could bring our two families together.

It started with the invitations. We wanted to create and set a handcrafted tone because we knew from the start we would be making most of the decorations and details ourselves. Alyssa spent a lot of time designing and laying out the text. She painted all of the details and embellishments that were incorporated in the design. Michael created a wood block carving that we would then ink and run through a hand roller press to decorate the outside of the invitation. Of course the carving included our two cats, Pickles and Stevie.

Our wedding favors were truly something special. Our hobby/small business endeavor Refill Glassworks came much into play here. We have been involved with reclaiming empty wine and liquor bottles from local bars and restaurants. We then take these bottles and repurpose them by cleaning them up, cutting and polishing them and turning them into unique and environmental friendly drink ware. These wine bottle tumblers are great gifts that we have been selling online and at local craft and wine festivals. In creating each favor by hand we found ourselves at a place where our devoted time and craft could become a tangible and personal thank you for each one of our guests.

As far as decor goes we tried to split our duties in half depending on our personal expertise. Michael cut and chopped wood to create handmade chalkboard frames to hand letter the signage for the wedding. Alyssa gathered all of the perfect colors and different flower combinations to create our centerpieces. She wrapped all the vases by hand with jute to add a rustic look to match the rest of the décor. We combined this with raw cut wooden discs that were supplied by a great friend who is an arborist.

One of our most treasured piece from the wedding is the guestbook. We knew from the start we wanted a guestbook, but not one that would get tucked in a closet and never seen. This was a piece that we really wanted to stand out, something that no one has ever seen before. That concept and a lyric “let love grow” would lead us to the idea of a large flower planter that we could have on our porch or deck for years to come. Michael’s best man is a woodworker and after explaining the idea to him he ran with it and built something that truly surpassed our expectations. He made it so the back panel of the planter box could be removed and signed by our guests. After the event we were able to put a clear coat over the signatures to preserve them. We now have exactly what we wanted, a beautiful and unique piece for our outdoor space that reminds us of our big day and the ones that were there celebrating by our side.