When Katherine Heilman-Slavin came into the store a few months ago and bought almost all our lace yardage, we had to know what was going to become of it. Turns out the lace was just one of many materials that she borrowed, thrifted, craigslisted, or got here at the Resource Exchange for a lovely DIY wedding with her husband Thomas Slavin!  The ceremony and reception, held at Taller Puertorriqueño, where Kat works, was a showcase of creativity and resourcefulness. They kept the cost and environmental footprint of their nuptials to a minimum, and as you can see from the pictures, everything looked great!

To decorate the tables, Kat lay down plastic purple tablecloths, then lay the lace yardage over top so the purple showed through for a beautiful effect.

All the ribbons, including the ribbon used for creating boutonnieres, corsages, and the bride’s bouquet came from our store. The cake also featured something reclaimed: The cake topper was a gold star Kat found in our “random room” with a chopstick pierced through it and  painted with a cursive “T & K”. Kat says even the white thread she used to fix a hole in the side of her dress came from the re!

In order to avoid buying new, Kat turned to Craigslist to find other things she needed. She purchased the vases and string lights  from a woman was selling materials from her wedding, almost all of which she had originally thrifted.

After the wedding, almost all the decor, including the vases, lights, tablecloths and lace, was donated to Taller Puertorriqueño for fundraisers and youth workshops. The event was a perfect example of how, with creative planning, it’s possible to throw a fun and unique party that doesn’t add to landfill or consume natural resources by utilizing the “sharing economy” and thinking outside the box. Congratulations to Kat and Thomas and thanks for the inspiration!