The Many Ways to Re-Use a Lobster Trap

This image is credited to http://www.trapworks.com/

About two weeks ago, I was brainstorming different ways to incorporate where Sean and I are from into the wedding in a way that is tasteful and thoughtful. In my wedding idea browsing, I have seen many innovative ideas that brides come up with, along with some incredibly...well, there's no nice way to put it, incredibly tacky ideas. There's a very fine line in the wedding world between doing something that makes guest go "Ooooh!" and something that makes people go "Ugh!". Note: tulle. I hate tulle. Tulle belongs in ballerina skirts and that's it!

So where Sean and I are from is the South Shore of Massachusetts. His town is very much a fisherman's town (my family owned a fishing store there for 18 years), and my town is historically know for shipbuilding. Coastal, beachy, nautical. How do you incorporate these things for a romantic January wedding?

For starters, the paper. Not the newspaper. The many forms of paper that are involved in the wedding day. Invitations, programs, placecards, menus, table numbers. I have designed all of these things myself incorporating either a scallop shell illustration or a lighthouse illustration I created as an accent.

This image is credited to http://konditormeister.com

For a while I contemplated incorporating chocolate seashells as the accents for our cake, because I personally despise buttercream flowers and I don't really picture fresh flowers on our cake. This will be pending how much of an additional cost it would be from our bakery, since a custom design cake is already included in our reception package. This picture is not what our cake will look like, but the style of shells, arranged in little clusters on different layers of the cake, is what I would envision.

My final detail of incorporating the seaside is pictured above, in the form of a lobster trap card box. I actually ordered a wooden, old-fashioned lobster trap from a store in Maine off eBay, but it was about 3/4 oz the size I thought it would be. I couldn't imagine a card fitting in it. So I am still on the lookout, and I will look into this trapworks.com, since they are local to Massachusetts, to see how much their "card box" traps are. I was amazed by this person's website and how many different uses they have for a lobster trap. From a wine rack to a coffee table to a chair...I'm a nautical whore, I'll admit it. The coffee table kind of had me drooling.

All these little details that are coming into play are very fun! The past few months have been tame in that there hasn't been much to do, so I'm excited to get going with all the do-it-yourself projects. I have to get going though, because I know the next 5 months are going to fly by!

Cheers!