the DIY stuff.
The cooler weather these last couple of days, aside from being very welcome and awesome, reminds me of fall, which reminds me of... my wedding. We're now a year and a couple months out, so it's slightly more reasonable for me to be thinking about, and I spent a ton of time today getting this together. I think it's neat, but I'll warn you, it's photo-heavy and a bit oofy under the cut. Cross-posted from the diy_weddings community.
Although we don't have a specific theme, we'd like it to be natural but stylish, play off the autumn timing without being cheesy, and to be as environmentally responsible as possible.
What are we doing ourselves? Not much, I thought, until I started getting this post together!
First, in case you've forgotten, here's some pictures of the ceremony and reception sites.
Ceremony:
Reception:
Now, on to the projects!
1. Bridesmaids' flowers will probably be split up and become centerpieces (there's six of them, so there should be more than enough!). I have two ideas for table decorations around them. The first is to make use of all the little votive holders I got incredibly cheap at a florist's sale. I'd like to cover them in vellum paper, some in solid colors and some patterned, so that they give off a nice glow when the candles are lit. Kind of like this:
The solid-color ones will have some sort of stamp on them; so far the front-runner is something like this:
with this on either side:
I also plan to make some tea-light holders out of fallen wood cut into different lengths, very similar to these:
2. Our favors will be live tree seedlings, and instead of presenting them to guests in the plastic tubes or mylar bags that the vendor offers, I thought it would be nice to give them something that stands a chance of being used again. So a friend and I will crank up the sewing machines and make small drawstring sachets for the seedlings. I haven't decided whether we'll try to make monograms or not, but the basic idea is like this:
3. Escort cards will be pinned to a display board like this:
It'll be made by covering a sheet of cardboard or corkboard with a large piece of fabric and pinning it tightly to the back, then creating stripes by pinning ribbon across it.
4. The last, but probably most ambitious project, is a sort of chandelier. The ceiling at the reception site is very high, with beautiful wooden rafters, perfect for hanging something dramatic and eye-catching. I haven't found any pictures that really capture the idea I have... but here goes. I'd like to collect some fallen branches approximately three feet long, trim off the smallest twigs, then tie them together at the larger end, kind of like an old-fashioned (and very large) broom, only doing it so that the ends point outward in different directions. I'll suspend waxed autumn leaves at different lengths from the branches using thin fishing wire, and if it's possible, maybe twine some icicle lights around the branches.
If you can picture it, it'll kind of be a combination of the following elements:
That's enough for now, but there's certainly more to come!
Although we don't have a specific theme, we'd like it to be natural but stylish, play off the autumn timing without being cheesy, and to be as environmentally responsible as possible.
What are we doing ourselves? Not much, I thought, until I started getting this post together!
First, in case you've forgotten, here's some pictures of the ceremony and reception sites.
Ceremony:
Reception:
Now, on to the projects!
1. Bridesmaids' flowers will probably be split up and become centerpieces (there's six of them, so there should be more than enough!). I have two ideas for table decorations around them. The first is to make use of all the little votive holders I got incredibly cheap at a florist's sale. I'd like to cover them in vellum paper, some in solid colors and some patterned, so that they give off a nice glow when the candles are lit. Kind of like this:
The solid-color ones will have some sort of stamp on them; so far the front-runner is something like this:
with this on either side:
I also plan to make some tea-light holders out of fallen wood cut into different lengths, very similar to these:
2. Our favors will be live tree seedlings, and instead of presenting them to guests in the plastic tubes or mylar bags that the vendor offers, I thought it would be nice to give them something that stands a chance of being used again. So a friend and I will crank up the sewing machines and make small drawstring sachets for the seedlings. I haven't decided whether we'll try to make monograms or not, but the basic idea is like this:
3. Escort cards will be pinned to a display board like this:
It'll be made by covering a sheet of cardboard or corkboard with a large piece of fabric and pinning it tightly to the back, then creating stripes by pinning ribbon across it.
4. The last, but probably most ambitious project, is a sort of chandelier. The ceiling at the reception site is very high, with beautiful wooden rafters, perfect for hanging something dramatic and eye-catching. I haven't found any pictures that really capture the idea I have... but here goes. I'd like to collect some fallen branches approximately three feet long, trim off the smallest twigs, then tie them together at the larger end, kind of like an old-fashioned (and very large) broom, only doing it so that the ends point outward in different directions. I'll suspend waxed autumn leaves at different lengths from the branches using thin fishing wire, and if it's possible, maybe twine some icicle lights around the branches.
If you can picture it, it'll kind of be a combination of the following elements:
That's enough for now, but there's certainly more to come!