DIY Tips

[tensei]

Hi there, fellow brides-to-be!

I'm getting married in August and I'm on an extremely tight budget because I'm paying for the wedding myself! I'm going to pull it all off for about $2000. I just thought I'd share some of my DIY tips for anyone who finds them useful!


Favors - Technically, I'm not the one doing them. My grandparents love to make jelly. I ordered 2 oz. jars from http://www.specialtybottle.com for about .40/each. My grandparents are going to make blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry jelly, then we'll tie little ribbons around the jars.

Centerpieces - The wedding will be a garden theme, so I've planted wildflowers that I'll plan into little pots when the time comes. My backup plan if the flowers don't look so great is a local nursery!

Invitations - Target has great DIY invitations that you print, $25 for 50. They have a few different styles to choose from.

Flowers - I'm a floral designer, so that's kind of a given. ;) But you ladies can do your own bouquets if you like the hand ties. Order some fresh cut flowers from your local florist. I would suggest getting them one of two days before the wedding - fresh flowers open up quickly if you don't have a huge cooler to store them in. All you'll have to do is bunch the flowers the way you like and hold the stems with a pretty ribbon. Arrangements are a bit tougher. I would suggest basket and foam arrangements for beginners, because it's easier to make the flowers stay where you put them. Vases are a bit harder, but you may just want to have a florist do arrangements.

Flower girl basket - Basket from a craft store + white paint + trim (fabric, lace, silk flowers, beads, etc) + glue gun = a basket with more sentimental value and less cost.

Ring bearer's pillow - If you have even elementary knowledge of sewing, you can make a small, square pillow. Ribbon and lace make nice trim. :)

Hope these ideas help!

[Debbie]

Thanks for the tips. :D
I'm also getting married in August and are on a tight budget. We are doing
(almost) everything ourselves.
We'll be using sunflowers and daisies and wheat. The wild sunflowers grow
everywhere in this area at that time and I also planted some in my own
garden as back-up...
MIL is coming to help with everything and she is kinda crafty, so I'm sure
we'll manage.

Hope your wedding is all you want it to be and feel free to share more
money saving tips ;)

[tensei]

Thanks for the tips. :D
I'm also getting married in August and are on a tight budget. We are doing
(almost) everything ourselves.
We'll be using sunflowers and daisies and wheat. The wild sunflowers grow
everywhere in this area at that time and I also planted some in my own
garden as back-up...
MIL is coming to help with everything and she is kinda crafty, so I'm sure
we'll manage.

Hope your wedding is all you want it to be and feel free to share more
money saving tips ;)

Here's a tip for the dress! I just bought one from www.fairytaleendeavors.com .

It's a gorgeous dress and it was less than $300. I was a little hesitant at first because it's an online business, but I found that it's only about an hour or so from my house! So I went out there last night with my mom. The woman who owns it is really nice. :) And I love the dresses! If you're still fretting over a dress, I'd suggest looking there!

Good luck to you and your fiance!

[Debbie]

Thanks for the link, but I'm not "fretting" over my dress anymore. I just took
a picture I like to a seamstress in town and she is making my dream dress
for less than I would've gotten it anywhere else. :D

[Greymalka]

Good luck with your wedding plans! We are (mostly) paying for our own wedding too and I understand the problems with trying to run with your visions without running out of funds!

For us, Ebay has been awesome! =c)
;)

[nle5]

Good luck with your wedding plans! We are (mostly) paying for our own wedding too and I understand the problems with trying to run with your visions without running out of funds!

For us, Ebay has been awesome! =c)
;)

Ebay is such an awesome place to find things for the wedding and reception. I have a package coming in from eFavormart with flowers, ivy, and other items I needed for the wedding reception favors. eFavormart is an ebay store out of California. It is really a wonderful store and they ship extremely fast. It sent me an email with the tracking information so I can track my package and find out where it is located at any given time.

I also ordered my tiara from another ebay store, Cutebride_com. Again, the person running the store was awesome and let me know when my tiara was shipped and when I could expect it to arrive. It ***e in excellent condition and was packed very well so the tiara did not get broken in the mail.

[Greymalka]

Hello there! I seems that we are both up quite late tonight doing "wedding stuff" as my fiance says.

Great to hear that you have had so much luck with vendors on Ebay. SO happy that your tiara got to you in one piece. The seller must have put extra special care into your package!

Ebay is also great because one can shop when the mood hits ( 2:30 in the A.M.!!!).

I bought my cake topper ( we are having a medieval themed wedding and our topper is two dragons in a heart shape!) and a celtic knotwork mold for making chocolate wedding favors.

THANKS for the link for the favors site...I will definately check it out as I'm just getting started on this part of "wedding stuff! and have a feeling guests might end up with bag of random stuff because I can't make up my mind!

All the pieces sound interesting... what are your favors going to be? =c)











Ebay is such an awesome place to find things for the wedding and reception. I have a package coming in from eFavormart with flowers, ivy, and other items I needed for the wedding reception favors. eFavormart is an ebay store out of California. It is really a wonderful store and they ship extremely fast. It sent me an email with the tracking information so I can track my package and find out where it is located at any given time.

I also ordered my tiara from another ebay store, Cutebride_com. Again, the person running the store was awesome and let me know when my tiara was shipped and when I could expect it to arrive. It ***e in excellent condition and was packed very well so the tiara did not get broken in the mail.

[nle5]

Hello there! I seems that we are both up quite late tonight doing "wedding stuff" as my fiance says.

Great to hear that you have had so much luck with vendors on Ebay. SO happy that your tiara got to you in one piece. The seller must have put extra special care into your package!

Ebay is also great because one can shop when the mood hits ( 2:30 in the A.M.!!!).

I bought my cake topper ( we are having a medieval themed wedding and our topper is two dragons in a heart shape!) and a celtic knotwork mold for making chocolate wedding favors.

THANKS for the link for the favors site...I will definately check it out as I'm just getting started on this part of "wedding stuff! and have a feeling guests might end up with bag of random stuff because I can't make up my mind!

All the pieces sound interesting... what are your favors going to be? =c)

Ummm yeah ebay is always open .... even when my eyes are not. LOL

You should start a wedding journal and post a picture of your cake topper. All I found for a gothic cake top is ones with bats ... UCK!

I am making my own favors in which I have several ideas.
1. I am going to take those little champagne glass favors and place (hot glue) three different ribbon flowers on them in our wedding colors. The colors I got for these are navy, ivory, and mauve. Then you can also take some beads and hot glue those to the champagne glass. Add a little ribbon (silver) at the bottom and your done.

2. I am going to take some little heart shaped dish favors and add some small rose buds, in our wedding colors, to the top. After hot gluing the flowers, on I am going to place wedding conversation hearts, peanuts, or mints in the dish. The colors I got for these are navy, ivory, and mauve. Our other wedding color is silver and I do not like the way flowers look in silver.

I am going to use some of the ivy for the wedding pew bows I am making and to wrap around the altar thing. For the altar thing, I am going to use the ivy and place some flowers along it with ivory tulle. It is going to look really nice.

[Greymalka]

Ummm yeah ebay is always open .... even when my eyes are not. LOL

You should start a wedding journal and post a picture of your cake topper. All I found for a gothic cake top is ones with bats ... UCK!

I am making my own favors in which I have several ideas.
1. I am going to take those little champagne glass favors and place (hot glue) three different ribbon flowers on them in our wedding colors. The colors I got for these are navy, ivory, and mauve. Then you can also take some beads and hot glue those to the champagne glass. Add a little ribbon (silver) at the bottom and your done.

2. I am going to take some little heart shaped dish favors and add some small rose buds, in our wedding colors, to the top. After hot gluing the flowers, on I am going to place wedding conversation hearts, peanuts, or mints in the dish. The colors I got for these are navy, ivory, and mauve. Our other wedding color is silver and I do not like the way flowers look in silver.

I am going to use some of the ivy for the wedding pew bows I am making and to wrap around the altar thing. For the altar thing, I am going to use the ivy and place some flowers along it with ivory tulle. It is going to look really nice.


Sounds beautiful. =c) I really like those colors together too... navy and mauve, how pretty!