You might recall that I wanted to DIY one of these glass beverage dispensers, since you can’t buy them here. I bought gallon sized mason jars, my uncle drilled holes into them, we went crazy trying to find a spigot that fit, and then… we realized the glass was too thin, and it cracked under the pressure of the spigot. DIY verdict: total fail.
Image from Classic Hostess
We still need beverage dispensers, though. The alternative was using canisters made of metal, since that wouldn’t break or crack. So when a friend told us her family had a lot of vintage milk cans (similar to this one), and that they could give us a few if we wanted them, I figured we could try and use them for that. If it didn’t work out, we can always use them as decor. Right now we have three of them sitting at home waiting to be retrofitted with spigots. Then I’ll add bunting around the neck stating what’s inside. Although old, they’re in perfect shape and clean. Plus we figure that if they used them to hold milk they’re definitely suitable to hold other beverages.
I had also been thinking about where to set the beverage dispensers, since they need to be on the edge of the table or on a pedestal for a glass to fit under the spigot. And of course, we’re still looking for something to work as a bar. Ikea came to the rescue, once again: they’re running a 70% off sale (plus an additional 10% if you have their Ikea Family card, which is free) and when I saw this Svalbo solid wood sideboard for 19€ instead of the original 75€, I quickly went to pick up a couple of them, one as a bar and the second one for the milk cans/beverage dispensers. Since they’re solid wood, we’ll be able to use them out in the patio after the wedding, as a potting bench or additional table. We’ll probably have to sand them down and restain them with an outdoor stain but we’ll do that after all the wedding madness is over.
In other wedding news, yesterday I went with my friend Maite to a flower shop to look at bouquets. I had planned on DIYing mine because the places I had checked for prices asked for around 100€ but her boyfriend’s brother-in-law’s brother (say that three times fast!) owns a flower shop so we went to check it out. He was very nice and understood perfectly that I didn’t want to spend a ton of money – I’ll be paying 40€ – but I wanted something nice and colorful. He guided me a bit and we settled for a combination of yellow daisies, green daisies, some burnt orange flowers whose name I can’t recall, and other greenery. I can’t wait to see it! I’m sure it will be beautiful. And today I’m having a hair and makeup trial. They asked me to bring a few pictures so they have an idea of what I have in mind. Thanks to Pinterest it was pretty easy!
And I think that’s it on the wedding front this week… we’re less than six weeks away, and there’s so much stuff to do I’m sure I’ll have plenty of updates next week. In the meantime, does anyone have any tips on getting people to RSVP on time?
I love the idea of you guys using those milk cans – so fun! I hope that this project is easy and works out!!
As for RSVPs, we asked everyone to RSVP two weeks before we needed to give our venue the headcount. It still gave us a cushion (ex. when someone was no longer bringing a plus 1). Thankfully, we only had had to call a couple of people!
Yeah a two week cushion is a great idea. Too bad I didn’t think of it before…
Bummer that the glass broke, but the milk jugs will look great. I like the idea of a cute bunting around the neck of them.
We did the same thing for RSVPs that Kristen did-about 2 weeks before the hall needed the final number, that gave us time to contact people. Most everyone responded without us trying to hunt them down. Good luck!
We’re pretty excited about the milk cans! I liked the glass ones because you can see what’s inside, but oh well.
That’s a bummer about the glass dispensers but the milk can idea is pretty great! They will look fabulous!
Great deal on the IKEA sideboards! I dont think the IKEA by us ever does a 70% off sale… that’s some pretty amazing sales!! It’s great that you can use them for something after the wedding too.
Yay about the bouquet- it’s great to find a deal and it’s nice to get rid of some of the DIY jobs especially as the day gets closer!! As for RSVP’s… we gave our deadline a month before the wedding. We had about 8 people or so who we hadn’t heard from by the deadline but we waited over the weekend and most of them showed up the following week. We called the rest. No tips on how to have them respond on time though…
Yup the 70% off is great! I didn’t have much time the other day – I just went in to buy the sideboards since they said they only had 55 units at that price – but I want to go back to check out all the stuff on sale since they had a ton of signs up that said 1.99 and 2.99
Bummer about the glass not working out, but the milk cans will be really cool too! Can’t wait to see!
Yeah it was so sad… especially since we had drilled holes into all five of them so we couldn’t reuse them for anything
Thin glass is a pain to work with.. the milk canisters sound like a really great option. Pretty sweet Ikea sideboard, it’ll be perfect for your drinks.
We were worried it would break with the beverage inside so we didn’t want to risk it. But we’re excited for the milk cans!
Sorry about the glass drink dispensers! It’s so frustrating when your ideas don’t work out right. I bet the milk cans will look great though! And just FYI, the green daisies are actually chrysanthemums! My mom uses them in her flower shop
I can’t wait to see your bouquet! It sounds like it will be beautiful!
AND we haven’t forgotten you! Kevin and I were discussing what to recommend to you here in Dallas the other night. There are a lot of inexpensive, down-to-earth restaurants we love (a Chinese dumpling house, Mediterranean Tapas, etc.), but aren’t sure what you’re looking for. And your boyfriend is in luck; almost all places here in metro Dallas have at least one person on staff that is fluent in Spanish (it’ll be the Latino variety, but hey… it’s better than nothing).
Thanks! Actually a Chinese dumpling house sounds awesome. I love Chinese food but the Chinese restaurants we have here are terrible so whenever we travel I try to get my fix. And I’ll let my bf know he won’t have any trouble getting by!
I am also trying to DIY a beverage dispenser and I searched on Google to see if anyone had tried it before. I was sad to hear what happened to yours… I was wondering if it is worth it to try with thick glass? Was the glass that you used thin? If yours was thin then I will try with thick glass but if it wasn’t I will have to give up on the idea. I was also considering using a perspex bottle. BTW, how were you planning on connecting the tap/dispenser?
Hey Nicole, the glass was pretty thin. Perhaps with thicker one it would’ve worked. As for the tap, I wasn’t sure – I was going to figure it out along the way. We used plumber’s tape when we added the spigot to the metal milk crates though, and it worked fine. Also a bit of silicone on the outside.