Among all the glass bottles and cake plates, I’ve picked up a few other antiques along the way — a plate here and there, a creamer and sugar, a couple of Fire King sapphire bowls, some little vintage metal trays. But my best find, by far, was this serving set.

Do you see that tag? $4.50. I doubt I could have even found a jewel-cut plastic-handled cake server at Michael’s for that. The server has a serrated edge, so I don’t even need a separate knife. That’s what I call efficient. And you can’t see it in this photo, but the tongs on the right have a scissor-like handle. Not sure if I could actually serve anything with it, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

I have to take a moment to brag about Josh. Because I’m such a lucky girl.

First he decided to go antiquing for more bottles for the wedding — not because I asked, but all on his own, because he’s just a thoughtful, helpful guy. Then he not only found seriously awesome bottles (some of these put my efforts to shame), but he photographed them for me so I wouldn’t have to wait to see them.

Yeah, that script rocks. And so does the photo. So now you know that Josh is not only a better antique-finder than me, he is also a better photographer.

Do you know how hard it is to find the ones with embossed glass? Yes, really hard. And the grand finale…

A Salem bottle! It doesn’t get any more amazing than that.

And there are even more on his Flickr — these are just the highlights.

Sidebar for those who aren’t Ambrosia Parsley fans: Among many other things, Bossa Nova is the title of a Shivaree song. “I’m the luckiest girl / Gonna tell you I love you…”

Actually, it’s part more-than-three, because I’ve been to Pacific Coast Antiques in Brookings a couple of times for a bottle here and a bottle there. But this was installment three of the Quest for Bottles and Cake Stands.

Since I was driving down to Brookings for Thanksgiving, I thought I might as well stop in and check out the world-famous antiquing in Lincoln City. Well, if you are looking to make a single purchase — and spend a pretty penny for it — then Lincoln City is the place to go. At my first stop, I found quite a few beautiful milk bottles in perfect condition, and many of them were quite special, but most were $60+. Several were $75, and I didn’t see a single one below $30. I’m buying so many of these, I can’t justify even one bottle at $30. On to the next shop, which was a complete bust. One nice cake stand, but at $70, I couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

Last, I went to Granny’s Attic and found a few more reasonably-priced bottles. I was a little discouraged and antiqued-out at that point, so I skipped the rest of the stores and hoped for better luck in Brookings.

That photo has nothing to do with anything wedding-related… I took it from the beach in Brookings one evening this week. This is why the Oregon Coast is my happy place.

I found a couple of nice cake plates in Brookings, including one that was a steal at $9. Surely it isn’t an antique, but you can’t beat $9 for any glass cake stand, regardless of age. But still no milk bottles, no vintage wine carafes, no other nondescript bottles that I just had to have.

Yesterday, we went down to Crescent City to explore the antique shops there — and I was shocked to discover that there are tons of them! Nine in all, including one I went to a few months ago. And lo and behold, bottles!

First, the non-wedding items: The book is a first edition of a book I loved as a child, published in the 1800s. The little trivet is just for fun… We know I have a trivet obsession, and this one was only $2.

The little sugar bowl was just such a great find I couldn’t pass it up… I will probably see if the caterer will use it for sugar for coffee at the reception. The pink depression glass cake plate and the clear cake plate at the very back are the ones I found in Brookings. The little blue saucer at the front was all by himself so I had to have him. Not sure yet what role he’ll play at the wedding.

A couple of the bottles are from Granny’s Attic in Lincoln City, and the rest are from shops in Crescent City. The large bottle on the far right was a real splurge — I must’ve had a momentary seizure when I decided to spend $20 on a single bottle, but it’s in perfect condition and is very special.

And my HUGE splurge was the little light blue cake plate at the left. You can’t see him very well in this photo, but he’s so so so pretty — the perfect blue, in flawless condition, and blue milk glass, which is very hard to find.

Just a quick addition to the flower files. This is obscenely gorgeous. I’m usually adamantly anti-huge flower arrangements, but these… Oh, so pretty… As we speak, I’m sitting here doing a mental inventory of all my glass containers to figure out how many of them could hold large arrangements like this. (Enough to have one or two large arrangements per table? Perhaps, perhaps.)

Via the always-enchanting Peonies & Polaroids.

I love all of the creative ways people display their escort and seating cards. Like a ribbon board (how cute are all the buttons scattered at the bottom?), via Snippet & Ink.

I’ve seen several hanging from branches, but this one on Style Me Pretty has some really cool, unique little hangers.

These are actually favors, but I really wanted to do this for seating cards — until I realized how many of my guests would be traveling. Via MSW.

This would be perfect for a summer wedding. And that calligraphered mini-scroll? Love that. Via Snippet & Ink.

How fun to do some on black paper and others on white. From Kristina, with calligraphy by the wonderful Jenna Hein.

Another Snippet & Ink find. This would be fun with an ecclectic mix of playing cards from multiple decks too.

Something like this, with the names attached, would be a great way to combine sweet treats and escort cards. Via MSW.

The classic favor seating card never goes out of style. Also via MSW.

I really, really, really adore this. But of course I do, seeing as I have a deep affinity for cards. Found on Oh So Beautiful Paper, and designed by one of my most admired letterpress shops, the Lettered Olive.

One of my all-time favorite ideas: using fabric swatches. The best part about this is that the fabric swatch matched the napkins on that table. From Details Details.

I decided a couple of months ago that I wanted to do a magnet or pin board. A pin board I could make out of cork and cover with fabric (like the one above), or I could make a magnet board with magnetic paint. In either case, I could frame it — either by finding a cool frame or making one out of moulding from the hardware store. Something like the ones in Shabby Vintage Mom’s shop.

I could attach the escort cards with a variety of bird magnets, to tie into our “fly away with us” quasi-theme. Kikkerland makes two sets (I know this because I have some from each set); one is sold at Anthropologie, the other I can get through the Arbor in Salem. These would double as favors, or I could keep them and cover every square inch of my fridge after the wedding.

And then the board itself would go on display on a metal floor easel. I’m sure I could find a place for this in my house after the wedding, no?

We aren’t doing a served dinner, but I think there’s a certain amount of comfort in knowing where you’re going to sit. There’s none of that “cool kids table” awkwardness, and you can seat people together who have never met but would enjoy each other’s company. And I know that I, for one, would love to have a calligraphered escort or seating card for my memories box.

I’ve had a deep relationship with music since I was very young. My mom can tell you about how I used to serenade everyone from a microphone in our living room. (The fact that they supported me is a real testament to their love, I’m sure.) So, needless to say, music is extremely important to me.

I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want a DJ. It’s probably a control freak thing (I admit it), but even with “play this” and “don’t even think about playing this” lists, I wasn’t too hot on the idea. The ballroom has a brand new A/V system, so hiring a DJ also seemed like an avoidable expense — and I’m always on the lookout for those.

Although I really wanted live music for the wedding and reception, I quickly realized that there was no way we could afford it. Even a jazz trio would’ve blown our budget; three (members) times four (hours) times virtually any amount equals no flowers, no linens, and possibly no tables.

Thankfully, I found La Musica Bella, a piano and violin duo out of Portland. I found rave reviews online, and their rates were extremely reasonable, so I booked them right away. They can play for both the ceremony and reception, but the current plan is to have live music for the ceremony and use an iPod for the reception. The only songs I’ve settled on for the ceremony are Vivaldi’s Winter Largo (parents’ and bridesmaids’ processional) and Pachelbel’s Canon in D (bride’s processional). They’re both very traditional selections, but I love them and they really fit with the elegant, romantic, classic mood I’m striving for.

My best friend from high school is singing during the ceremony, but we haven’t made a selection yet. She has fantastic jazz and country talent, and she could quite honestly sing anything we gave her and do it brilliantly. I like the idea of putting a jazz twist on When You Say Nothing At All by Alison Krauss.

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may I can never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing

I was also considering If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys, but I know Josh will veto that on principle. (Not a big Alicia fan, to say the least.)

Choosing the recessional and reception songs is a much bigger challenge. Helpful lists from the Bride’s Guide and Classic Bride will prove indispensible, I’m sure, as will my old officemate’s wedding mix. But I think my problem is going to be editing the playlist down, not adding to it. At four minutes a song, we only need 60 — 75 if we pad it by 25%.

The first hour or so, Josh and I (and our wedding party and family) will be taking photos, since we aren’t planning to see each other before the ceremony. During that time, our guests will (hopefully) be distracted by food and wine. I definitely want a jazz mix for that time, and I might make things easy for myself (for once!) and go with a classic: Nat King Cole Love Songs.

Then comes dance time, which has to be the perfect blend of romantic and fun, slow and silly, old and new. The key here is finding the right transitions. You can’t just jump from YMCA into Etta James… or can you?

We’re also going to get our guests involved in picking the reception songs — but the exact details are under wraps, at least for now.

Any must-have songs that might slip through the cracks? Let me know!