The header to our seating chart. |
My hand beaded veil. |
Our invitations. |
Back in the UK I really got going, with under a year left and a lot to get done my creative self was under pressure. I had seen a friend's take on a wedding guestbook while I'd been back in Colorado (thanks Karmen!) and loved the idea of doing a photo frame (or two) to hang up and see all the time instead of a guestbook that would get tucked away somewhere and rarely seen. So I picked up some tagboard and pens from Hobbeycraft and cut them to the size of the frames we wanted, found a couple of our engagement photos that we both liked and used some double sided tape to stick them on. Great because I can swap out the pictures for wedding photos (if I ever get around to it).
By this point we'd chosen our reception venue, The Cross Barn, and I was trying to come up with simple and efective ways of decorating the walls given the restrictions on budget and that the venue had for hanging things from the walls and ceilings. I decided to make some bunting, it matched my DIY, English summer theme and would be easy to get up there on the day without spoiling the effect of the Barn's interior. I was short a sowing machine so I did it all by hand, which was a bit of a challenge. I think it turned out great and loads of people mentioned how understated and nice it was.
I also did our seating chart myself, the photo at the top is of the header. I had a lot of leftover odds and ends from making the stationary and decided I'd rig up a seating chart with it. I cut out little name tags for each guest and strung them on leftover ribbon, then attached the ribbons to a large piece of tagboard under the table number. We had banquet seating at long tables. I made the table number cards for the tables using tagboard, a home-made stencil and sponge painting. Tom's mum wrote all the place cards by hand for us, just plain craft store bought place cards in white. And we glued the little blue bows (another Hobbycraft purchase) onto them afterwards.
I also did our seating chart myself, the photo at the top is of the header. I had a lot of leftover odds and ends from making the stationary and decided I'd rig up a seating chart with it. I cut out little name tags for each guest and strung them on leftover ribbon, then attached the ribbons to a large piece of tagboard under the table number. We had banquet seating at long tables. I made the table number cards for the tables using tagboard, a home-made stencil and sponge painting. Tom's mum wrote all the place cards by hand for us, just plain craft store bought place cards in white. And we glued the little blue bows (another Hobbycraft purchase) onto them afterwards.
Place cards handmade by Tom's mum. |
I did most of the table decorations myself, with the help of friends and family. I bought the candle lanterns from Ikea and filled the bases with ivy cut around my in-laws home in Hampshire. The table runner was from Hobbycraft. The flowers I did myself with the help of my sister, I bought bunches of cheap flowers from the supermarket and simply cut them to length and arranged them in pasta jars I had saved and cleaned out over the course of a few months. Simple, inexpensive and really suited the theme and style whereas flourist centrepieces would have felt too formal and stuffy.
Finally I have to give some lip service to the fantastic crafty tradespeople we did use, because they did such a fantastic job and it all came out exactly as I had pictured it in my head all along. My beautiful bouquet and my sister's posies were created by Charlotte and her team at Moutan in Hartley Wintney. I was so pleased with how it came out, exactly as I'd pictured it, and I don't know how they did it with as little information as they got from me, but it was perfect!
And another special thanks goes out to Lesley at Bespoke Bakery, our cake was not only beautiful, but also very very yummy. We had half a dozen guests at our wedding with gluten allergies and she did the entire cake gluten free for us and most people didn't have a clue.
If you are planning a wedding and want any advice on any of these projects or any other DIY wedding ideas, please contact me. I had such a great time doing all this stuff and would love to share some of my knowledge with you!
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