DIY Mr & Mrs Wedding Signs

Mr & Mrs signs are still really popular at weddings. They're a great way to incorporate your theme and colour scheme and a creative way to accompany your candy buffet.

I used paper mache letters and painted them. Once the paint was dry, I decorated them with various embelishments, papers and sentiments.  They're really fun to make and inexpensive too!

Personalised Photo Bags - Perfect Wedding Favours for Kids!

Whilst ordering some dry decal rub off paper for some craft projects (I will post about that shortly!) I saw these Personalised Jute Photo Bags and thought what a great idea for wedding favours - especially for kids!

They are made from jute/hessian with sturdy handles and a pocket on the front of the bag which holds a personalise message, picture or piece of artwork. Simply fill them with sweets and there you have it!

DIY Letters

Just thought I'd share my latest DIY project - its for our nursery (baby due in December!) but these would be a fab idea for your wedding too.

The paper mache letters were £2.00 each from ebay. I painted a couple and covered the fronts of a couple with patterned paperstock. I then used embelishments and papers to decorate the letters.

Ideal for use as a welcome sign, sweetie table or guest book sign etc...

Wedding Craft Projects

Hobbycraft has some fantastic wedding craft projects - perfect for the DIY bride!

Frosted Candle Jars

What You Need:

Glass jars - small and large
1mm silver plated jewellery wire
Glass etch spray
Small pliers
Craft punches (optional)
Repositionable spray adhesive
Tealights
Scrap paper

 

Click here for instructions on how to create the jars

 

 

Favour Baskets

 

What You Need:

Mini basket
Organza
Rubber stamp & ink pad
Ribbon
Beads
Sugar coated almonds
Scissors
Thread
Card

 

Click here for instructions

 

 

Pew Ends

 

 

What You Need:

Selection of artificial floral stems and leaf foliage

Feather picks

Dry floral foam

Galvanised bucket

15mm wide ribbon

Selection of seed beads and sequins

Wire

Wire cutters

Scissors

Click here for instructions

Happy crafting!!

DIY Wedding Cake

....cos we all love cake!

Wedding cakes can cost a fortune nowadays, so why not put your baking and creativity skills to the test and make your own! (you may need a trail run or two but it will be worth it in the long run)

Picture  from ‘Wedding Ideas’ website

You may want to consider buying a pre-made and iced wedding cake, and just decorate it to match your wedding. But if you decide to make your own, the following tips may help...

• Allow yourself enough time and patience and look for simple yet beautiful decorating techniques, Such as patterned hearts or  sugar flowers
• Plan to bake the cake about 3 days before your wedding and decorate it 1-2 days before your reception
• use a recipe specifically designed to be a wedding cake as it will ensure that it is sturdy enough
• Cake doesn’t have to be cake anymore. If you’re creative, adventurous and want something unique, you can make your own wedding “cake” from fresh fruit, sweets, chocolates…
• Have a transportation plan – you don’t want all your hard work going to waste by  the cake getting dropped/squashed!
• a cupcake wedding cake is a simple, easy and cost effective wedding cake to make
• Stick with a reliable frosting option, such as buttercream, which is easier to apply than fondant
• If this is your first bash at baking and decorating a cake, use fresh flowers instead of trying to make sugar flowers or top your cake with a pre-made topper
• 
  

  Think about how you wish to display the wedding cake you have created at your reception – consider cake stands, table decorations for around the cake, cake knife etc

Here are some ‘how to’ videos for making your own wedding cake

Good luck!

Tips & Techniques

Here are a few tips and techniques to help you with your wedding DIY projects...

Tags are great to add to favours, use as placenames or labels for a buffet.

You can create your own template in word or download some templates from here and why not purchase a tag punch to save having to cut them out? Use a hole punch to make the hole for the ribbon - neater than cutting one yourself!

When making your own cards and invitations, take your unfinished invitations to a local printing shop to have them cut to size. This will give your cards a finished, professional-looking edge at a great price; plus it will save you a lot of time and effort over cutting them yourself!

Printable card supplies are often much cheaper than purchasing backing papers and embelishments. Click here for a selection.

Use easy to read fonts for your stationery and inserts.

Use a program such Adobe Illustrator to create your invitations. Although it might take a little while to figure out, it will ultimately allow you to play around more with the general design. You can download free versions on the Adobe website. There are also other free software programmes available to play around with.


Don't be afraid to use unusual colours and textures!

Think about the pieces you need…most people generally want an Invitation, a Response Card and perhaps a Reception Card. Make sure you order enough paper!

Essential tools:
Paper trimmer
Craft knife - A craft knife allows you to cut intricate shapes with precision and ease
Good scissors
Cutting mat
Ruler

Celebrations Plus

Celebrations Plus have a fantastic range of DIY invitations and embellishments...
These blank cards are only £3.25 for ten cards and envelopes. They are produced in 4 different sizes, and 6 modern colours - Lilac, White, Pastel Blue, Burgundy, Baby Pink and Ivory.

Why not coordinate these with some place name cards? £2.50 for 10 and are available in Gold, Silver, Pearlised White, Silk Embossed or Parchment style.

Then the fun bit – personalise them!

Guest Book Alternatives

There are many ways to keep messages from friends and family other than the traditional guestbook – here are some ideas below:


o Ask guests to write their message, advice or inspiration and post it through a sealed decorated box or wishing well – the box could easily be made by you and personalised to your colour scheme and theme...why not leave this for a year unopened and you can then spend your first anniversary sipping champagne and reading all the special messages!

o Guests can pin notes to a ‘wish tree’ this can also make a great focal point! Again, this can be done using a bit of imagination and DIY! The Wedding Chicks have a fantastic Wish Tree template download here.

o Video booth – guests can leave a video message for you to watch over and over!

o Polaroid camera –guests can take their picture and put it with their message or write a message on the back of the picture. These can be ‘pegged’ along a line which will make a fantastic feature at the wedding, not to mention looking great in the pictures

o Pebbles - pebbles are written on by the guests and then kept for years by the couple. They can be stored in a glass vase, or immersed in water.

o Wooden jigsaw puzzles that your guests can sign. Each guest has one piece of the puzzle to sign each and it’s your job as the couple to then put the whole thing together.

o Why not try and double up your guests place names with your guest book idea, by getting them to write a message on the reverse of their place name? you get to keep each place name in a lovely memory box. A great budget and DIY idea too!

o A suitcase; perfect for vintage weddings, or travel themed wedding. Guests are given a postcard to write on and then left to pop it in the suitcase. Looks great for any wedding and make a real feature out of the guest book.

1950's Retro Inspiration...

Here are some mood boards that I put together for a couple recently and I absolutely loved it! The couple are aiming for a retro/1950’s feel with bright, vibrant colours.

What a fab theme! The couple also wanted a DIY element for their wedding – some ideas below the moodboards...

• Bunting – easy enough to make yourself, just takes time and patience! Find some material of your choice (I found it cheaper to buy a single patchwork quilt cover rather than lots of separate bits of material) think polka dots, stripes etc. Cut out a triangle template from cardboard and use this to cut out the triangles (double sided) using pinking shears. Either sow or glue these to ribbon an inch apart – voila!
• Paper chains – buy lots of bright paper – an easy, budget friendly DIY project. Or you can purchase the ready cut paper 
• For a cheap but effective decoration use lots of tissue paper for a fringe wall (such as the one on the sweetie bar pic on the moodboard) Tissue paper is cheap enough and it doesn’t take that much at all to do a lot. .
• Make party poppers by cutting paper towel rolls into thirds, filling them with confetti + taffy and wrapping them up in paper. Super easy and super cute! Plus they really pop
• Create your own place name holders etc and add a 50’s feel with these Cath Kidston Labels and Stickers (Cath Kidston Stationery)
• The record/vinyl style invitations have a great 50’s/retro feel – these can be quite pricey to buy (about £2 per invite) but are easy enough to create yourself.
      o Cut out a circle from some glossy black card in the required size
      o  Type the required text (example attached on separate page) and print this out onto cardstock – 
          maybe stick to white and decorate the card once its printed or add some graphics on before printing
      o  Use double sided tape or carefully apply craft glue and secure the smaller circle onto the centre of the
         ‘record’
      o  This may take a few trial runs but practice makes perfect!


Favours
• Home baked cookies in retro shapes. Choose an icing colour to match your scheme and wrap in cellophane, then tie with pretty bows.
• Sticks of rock with personalised labels
• Mini gumball machines with DIY handmade labels
• Boxed cupcake with a retro cupcase
• Personalised lemonade mix
• Cupcake lipgloss

Sweetie Bar...

Here are some fab ideas for your sweetie table...

This wonderful Lollipop tree idea is from Martha Stewart weddings – this would look great on your sweetie table or as a centrepiece! I just love the Martha Stewart site and wish I’d discovered it earlier on whilst creating my DIY bits for our wedding!

Instead of spending a fortune on personalised sweetie bags – do them yourself! Bulk buy some plain white paper bags from ebay for example, find a stamp you like, coloured ink pad to match your colour theme and stamp away! Alternatively, create some personalised stickers and stick these onto the bags. Some sweetie bar ideas below...

For some ideas for DIY candy bar wrappers, click here

There are also some great ideas on here

For sweets galore try here

Sugar Candy Bouquet

I stumbled accross this wonderful sugar candy bouquet whilst searching on the internet - what a fantastic idea for a centrepiece and favours all rolled into one! And whats better, the website tells you how to do it yourself and you can also purchase the items needed from their ebay shop, fantastic!

Click here to be directed to the blog

DIY Buttonholes

.....can save lots of money out of your wedding budget! Either go for fresh flowers or artificial flowers. There are so many realistic looking silk/artificial flowers around now and the bonus of these is that you can sell them after your wedding!

You will need:

• Flowers such as a rose, daisy or gardenia
• Greenery
• Green florist tape
• Wire

Instructions

•  Trim the flower and fern/greenery as required (greenery should be about 1/3 longer than the flower).
• Take a length of florist's wire, stick one end in the fleshy part of the flower just beneath the flower, and bind the greenery to the flower by winding the wire in a diagonal criss-cross pattern down the stem and back up again.
• Now take a piece of tape and bind the stem down and up again to cover the wire (the tape should be stretched while you do this so it sticks to itself automatically).
• Open out the flower if it needs it, and there you are. Make sure you have an adequate supply of large pins!
• Give yourself plenty of time and get some spare supplies for practising
• If using fresh flowers, be careful to use ones that will last the day & keep them in the fridge to keep fresh before use

Click here for some video guidance

Why not think outside the box with some of the ideas below:

20% off Confetti Stationery

Confetti are running 20% off ALL Stationery until midnight Sunday 22nd May. This is across their range of professionally printed and 'create your own styles'

Click here to view the wonderful collections...a taster of their DIY collection is below

DIY Wedding Cakes!

Ever thought about making your own wedding cake? Or maybe cheating slightly, and buying a ready made iced cake and just decorating it yourself?

It may be easier than you think! There are lots of ready-made sugar craft flowers etc now a days so with a little practice, why not try to do your own whilst saving yourself a substantial amount of money!

These reads from Amazon may help you along your way...

DIY Invitation Competition - Fantastic Prizes to be won!

Making your own wedding invitations? Why not enter this great competition from DIY Invitations with some fantastic wedding related prizes up for grabs to the best DIY invitation entries. The top three will be chosen by a panel of judges - Kym Stelmacher of BecomingtheMrs.com, Jessica Bishop of Thebudgetsavvybride.com, and Lauren Donaldson of LaurenEliseCrafted.com/featured DIYer on Emmaline Bride.


The prizes? A couture wedding album/guest book, a custom calligraphy package, some bridal accessories from Avenue C bridal of Etsy.com, and there will also be a random drawing for a custom designed invitation map.

The contest deadline is April 30th so what are you waiting for!

 Click here to enter

DIY Confetti Cones

I just love these DIY confetti cones from Celebrations!

They come with 25 sheets of parchment-style paper, personalised with your initials, plus 25 gold bow seals, and enough sun-dried rose petals to fill them as shown in the picture below.

Complete with simple instructions and a specially-designed white dispensing box to ensure they don't fall over whilst waiting to be handed to your guests - a special insert holds the cones in place.

What a bargain at £19.95 for a box of 25! Personalisation alone is usually pretty pricey so this is a great buy!

DIY Inspiration...

Stuck for some wedding DIY ideas?
Check out these bargain reads for some inspiration...



It's all here, from 'save the date' notices to flowers and favours. Fashion beautiful birds nest place cards, embellished with tinsel, candied almonds, and guests photographs.

The great book offers lots of different suggestions for DIY ideas to personalise your wedding, with hints and tips on how you can adapt it to fit your theme/colours. It advises places to look for inspiration and has some fab ideas for ways to personalise your wedding to make your day your own. 

This book will show you that with a little bit of planning and preparation, it is possible to have the day of your dreams without starting married life in debt.  You really can create your own special day by doing it yourself and having fun along the way. This book is packed with top tips and money saving ideas for: Stationery, Venues, Flowers, Transport, Hair and Make-up, Photographs, Food and Drink, the Reception and much more - including tips from live brides and over 100 budget busting ideas.

Wedding Decoration Budget Ideas

Sorry for the infrequent posts lately – I’ve been extremely busy arranging a charity masquerade ball. Hectic but lots of fun!


Anyway, as this has also been quite relevant to what I’ve been doing, here are some budget wedding decoration ideas:

DIY Ideas
Wedding stationery; invitations, save the date cards, place names, order of service booklets etc (let me know if you need any advice on these)

• Bridesmaid wrist corsages – a cheaper alternative to a bouquet and easy to make yourself
• Create a topiary using tissue paper and Styrofoam. You could then hang them from the ceiling or place on a small garden cane and secure in a plant pot. You can pick up a topiary from most craft stores or garden centres
• Bunting to decorate the venue
• Wedding post box and guest book (buy the blank versions and decorate yourself to match your colour/theme)
• Wedding favours
• The list is endless!! I made lots of things for my wedding so give me a shout if this is something you are considering doing

Money-saving...

•  Shop around for decorations. eBay and wedding forums are great for picking up bargains that have only been used once (that’s where most of mine came from!) such as mirror plates, table runners, chair backs, candles, tea lights etc. 9 times out of 10 they are in perfect condition as they have only been used at one wedding.
• Consider making as much as you can yourself such as invitations, place names, favours etc – it can save you a bomb!
• Ask about to see if any friends/family know of a photographer, cake maker, florist etc – you never know you might be able to get a discount!
• Make a wedding budget spreadsheet and stick to it - keep it up to date with what you have spent and what is left to pay out. It’s very easy to go over budget with all the little bits that add up

 Ceremony Decor

• It may be worth asking the venue if their florist does wedding flowers – it may work out cheaper to use their preferred florist
• It's also worth asking whether any other couples are getting married in the venue on the same day as you. They may be prepared to split the cost of the floral arrangements
• Secure and tie two long stem pink roses organza ribbon as a pew decoration
• The front of the venue will be the main focal point so keep the main decorations here and just dot simple ones on the pew ends to keep costs down
• Don't put flowers in any area of the venue that people won't be able to see when they're sat down 

Reception Decor 

• Candles/tea lights are a cheap and easy way to create a soft, romantic ambience. Just check with your venue that they allow candles. If not, there are battery operated tea lights available which actually look quite effective!
•  Shop around for prices on centrepieces etc – a florist may charge more for the hire of vases etc than what you can pick them up for second hand
• Use the flowers from the church to double up as decorations for the venue
• Ask the venue if they have vases that you can borrow
• Purchase fairy lights in the January sales – look out for the soft white Christmas lights
• Make the guest book part of the decorations by having it on a separate table that's decorated with framed pictures of you both. Coordinate the guest book with the theme or colours of the wedding and have it available at the ceremony and reception. This way more guests will see it and have the opportunity to sign it.

DIY Favour Boxes

As well as having lots of great wedding favour boxes, table decorations etc – DIY Favour Boxes have some great design tips for when you’re making your own favours.

Click here to read the article

They also offer a favour design service for when you're feeling a little uninspired!

Confetti Self Assembly Wedding Stationery Kits

These DIY wedding invitation kits from Confetti are great if you want to pick your style, embellishments and print from the comfort of your own home – saving lots of money!!!

The DIY kits vary from wedding invitations, orders of service, RSVP's, thank you letters and save the date wedding invitations. You can also create printed menus, table numbers and place cards using their ink and laser jet compatible pre-scored and perforated sheets

Personalised your stationary with their range of trims, ribbons and embellishments. Also available are creative outers, inserts, and envelopes which can be personalised and printed using Confetti’s Print centre.