Wednesday, March 25, 2009

light a little light

I'm a little bit afraid that my candle-lighting helpers are going to off me after the wedding. In addition to the many (many) votives for the barn beams and tables, I'd like to light the bannisters to the balcony. (Hay loft?)
(Source: Byron Colby Barn)
Here's one level of the bannister. There's another where the photographer is standing. I like the light aspect of the Christmas lights, but I'm not a big fan of Christmas lights at any time but Christmas. And no, you cannot convince me that they're "fairy lights." Those are different.


So, more candles? I really like this, with the different jars and lipped votive holders.

And these, which might be baby food jars. Did you know that you can buy clean, empty baby food jars on eBay? Seriously, someone will sell you anything there. Incredible.

I'm not sure how to attach them to the bannister, though. Giant twist-ties? Ribbon? Pipe cleaners? (Of course you remember pipe cleaners.) I am less concerned with the aesthetics of attachment than I am with my bridesmaids not killing me before the honeymoon, so I'd have to choose ease over beauty if there's a choice to be made.

5 comments:

LPC said...

I am just a wee bit worried that you are saying hayloft and candles in the same breath. We can assume there is no real hay? Only hay ghosts?

Julia said...

Correct, LPC. It's a has-been barn. I'm a delicate flower, you know. No hay, no animals. Hardwood floors and temperature control, yes.

Anonymous said...

IKEA has (or had) some glass lanterns hung with picture wire. I have a couple. They're not particularly attractive and might be too 60s-ish for your purposes in any case, but they might give you an idea of how to manage the hanging. The glass part is sort of bowl shaped and has a large lip around the opening. A wire loop wraps around the neck of the glass below the lip and holds it tightly. Another piece of wire attaches to the wire loop for hanging. It would be pretty simple to manage, if you have glass with a big enough lip/groove to hold the wire tightly. You could leave one side of the hanging wire undone so that it could be put through the railing and secured. Alternatively, and I say this as someone who has been in that particular hayloft in recent months, as long as no one is sitting up there, you could probably avoiding hanging altogether if you put the candles in jars on a low platform (bricks and boards, perhaps?). I'd also be more than happy to help, should you need it.

lilac_leaf said...

I second the wire for hanging. The last thing you need is a ribbon to catch fire. And you can easily bend wire to hook conveniently over the banister. Although you could use Christmas lights covered in tulle or vines to take the Christmas feel away, maybe, but you've probably thought of that.

Also? I probably can manage to save you up several dozen baby food jars between now and, say, early August. Probably :P Though I'm not convinced they'll be as romantic as rounded glass jars, it would be pretty cool to walk into the barn and look around and think "My kid ate all that!"

If you're decorating the evening before, don't forget I'll have a pair of hands and I'll be more than happy to help!

Anonymous said...

I agree that wire is the way to go - Also, have you ever shopped at American Science and Surplus? They always have interesting bottles and jars for sale. I think the closest one to you is at Milwaukee/Foster. Here's a link to their website:
http://www.sciplus.com/