Monday, May 24, 2010

My DIY Wedding Projects...

Apologies for my absence of late, but I have been a busy little bee!


(source: www.weddingbee.com)

With only 1 month until our wedding in Bali I've been thrown into the chaotic world of wedding planning and hand making some one off pieces of the big day. We have chosen to run with a theme for the wedding reception, and it will be loosely based on the 'Alice in Wonderland' mad hatters tea party. Picture a long table with white linen, set with gold place settings, candelabras, drink charms adorning the glassware, flower and feather centrepeices, Apothecary glass jars with colourful candy and the table scattered with 'Alice in Wonderland' themed charms. A fairytale...

With such a fun idea we wanted my hand made items to carry this theme. Here are some of the DIY projects so far...

Boutonneries for the Groom and Best-man...

These are my favourite project so far. I am so happy with the end product. I made them from some leaf skeletons, latte coloured Ostrich feathers, a spotty feather, a drinking straw wrapped in green and black ribbon, a silver flower, a brooch backing, some green beads and to top it all off a clock hand charm from the charms I had ordered from My Vintage Charms (to keep with our theme)...


(Hand made Boutonneries)


(Hand made Boutonneries)

I bought the feathers, ribbon, brooch backing and skeleton leaves from a local craft store (try Lincraft or Spotlight), and the charms from myvintagecharms.com. I had the beads and silver flower from some old jewellery I had. Another DIY item to check off the list. Tick...


Wishing Tree...

This is an idea I fell in love with very early on in the Wedding planning. I was searching the web for some inspiration and came across the Guestbook/Wishing trees. There are beautiful examples at Here comes the guide and The Wise Bride's Guide.



(Wishing tree source: http://www.herecomestheguide.com/blog/detail/wish-for-a-better-guest-book/)


(Wishing tree source : http://theyoungbridesguide.wordpress.com)

The wishing tree will be made in Bali, as I thought the logistics of trying to get a 'small tree' from Perth to Bali nigh impossible...


Pearl and Beaded strings for the wishing tree...

Now these I have pre made!
I've made 22 strings in total, all differing in composition of beads/pearls and slightly different lengths. I used fishing line to thread the beads/pearls onto and used charms to hang from the bottom of the lengths. I love that all 22 of them are different. I've also cut the paper for the guests to write their wishes onto, and punched a hole into the top and threaded some ribbon for guests to tie them to the tree. I will clip photographs of our parents and grandparents weddings to the tree as well...


(Hand made Pearl and beaded strings)



(Hand made Pearl and beaded strings)

Swing tags and various wedding stationary...

In keeping with our 'Alice in Wonderland' theme, I printed the swing tags to hang around the Bomboneries (small glass jars to fill with candy), glasses, parasols and Apothecary Candy jars...


(Hand made Swing tags)


(Hand made various wedding stationary)

Candy Bar...

We loved the idea of having a Candy Bar at the reception, so we ran with the idea with these beautiful Apothecary Glass jars. The 3 jars will be part of the table centrepiece. They will be filled with colourful Candy, one containing blue, green and white sugared almonds, one containing Licorice Allsorts and the other housing multi-coloured conversation love heart candies...


(Candy jars, candy and Bomboneries)

Garter...

I searched and searched for a garter I liked, but couldn't find one. I think because I had exactly what I wanted in head I didn't want to settle for anything else, so when I couldn't find it to buy, I made my own. Using lace and ribbon from the local fabric store I used my sewing machine to run it together, then adding the blue bow and pearl cluster in the front...


(Hand made Garter)


'Alice in Wonderland' inspired Drink Charms...

These were so fun to make. I ordered the charms from My Vintage Charms. Once I had the charms I purchased the rings from the local craft store and then threaded the charms on with a pearl on either side. They're cute hey, and similar drink charms are available for sale on my Etsy store...


(Hand made drink charms)


(Hand made drink charms)

Guests Welcome Bags...

I have made up 'Welcome bags' for all the guests attending our wedding. I used brown paper bags and printed a welcome message on the front. Also for inside the bag I printed an Itinerary, map of Bali and an invitation to the Bucks / Hens night, and I will add to bag a tin of mints, bottle of water, fan, sarong, soap, tissues, sunscreen, bottle opener and a t-shirt all purcahsed in Bali when we arrive. We then plan to leave the bags in our guests Hotel rooms as a surprise for when they arrive...


(Hand made welcome bags)


Hand made Bridal Jewellery...

Inspired by a post on Style me Pretty I hand made my own pearl necklace and bracelet. I love the rustic eclectic look of these pieces, and the thrill of making my own jewellery for my wedding. I have an exact replica of both my necklace and bracelet for sale on at my Etsy store...



(Hand made Pearl necklace)



(Hand made Pearl bracelet)



(Hand made Pearl necklace)

Hand made Wedding and Engagement Party invitations...

Last but not least, here are both our Wedding and Engagement Party Invitations. We purchased our paper and envelopes from Starfish Lane, and printed, cut and stuck them ourselves...



(Hand made Wedding invitation)


(Hand made Wedding invitation)

(Hand made Engagement Party invitation)

And as for the bird cage veil... it is slowly coming along. It's actual next on my list to complete, It's the one I've been saving til last...

Thanks for reading. If you have and comments I'd love to hear from you...

ADDIT: I had so much fun hand-making these pieces that I've re-made some for sale at my Etsy store. Follow the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/nicandclay/

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