Wedding ceremony and thimbles

The tip of my finger is still numb.

On Saturday I conducted a ceremony only. Very sweet couple and so were their friends and family.

The set-up was very simple, and they had everything under control. So to be useful, I offered to help them with pinning on the corsages and boutonnières. About 19 of them.

I have put on a few hundred corsages and boutonnières in my career, with speed and accuracy and absolutely NO PIN showing. Yes, I pride myself in fixing the one who has a "bout" totally askew and pin sticking out from a fellow buddy who attempted to pin it on him, or a grandmother who's corsage is limping to the side because there was nothing to anchor it to on her flimsy georgette fabric dress.

But these were silk flowers. They were pretty cymbidium orchid silk flowers fashioned into corsages and bouts. Translate: very hard, thick plastic "stems". So I am pushing, and pushing and pushing pins into these suckers with as much grace as I could muster considering the hardness of the stem. I seriously could have used a thimble.

The tip of my right index finger was pretty sore after all that, and seriously - it is still numb on the tip!

It was a fairly warm, muggy (for OC) July day, and I thought this was a clever idea the bride did for fans. The ceremony program was printed on the outside of a folded two page program, then the wooden stick was glued to the inside. So this version may be a lot less expensive than having ceremony fans printed.

Here is how you can D.I.Y. your own fan programs:

Purchase program card stock, either printed from the dealer, or blank and print at home. Another option, print and then fold a piece of 8.5" x 11" card stock in half. Use a bone folder or a ruler to press the edge down.

Purchase the wooden sticks, which need to be longer and bigger than traditional tongue depressors.

Place double-stick tape to the program edges, hot glue gun the sticks to the inside and press. Add a ribbon in your color(s).

This idea can also be used for menu cards if you are having a daytime outdoor event or meal.