Recaps: Tutorials - Programs

I thought I would share a few things that I DIYed for the wedding. I thought I would start with the programs since we are talking about the ceremony.

First off, excuse my messy table. I bought heavy card stock from the paper store in town and then borrowed the cutter from my husband’s book store. Then, I trimmed off about 2 inches.

  I had printed the programs out (about 5.5 x 5.5 inches) and then I had to trim them.

Then, I used a single hole punch (actually I went through 3 of them because of the thickness of the cardstock with the 12 pages of program) to punch out two holes. Then, I took a length of ribbon and tied to two together.

After, I got the ribbon in. I glued on an envelope (the same ones we used with our Save the Dates and our inner envelope of the invitations) to the other side of the inside cover. I then used our paisley stamp we used on all our paper stuff and stamped orange metallic ink over the envelope flap. Then, I tri folded 3 kleenex squares and put in the envelope.

    After that I put in the bookmarks I made  (I used the left over cardstock, printed a couple sheet of a bookmark design I whipped up, punched a hole in the top and then tied it with ribbon). Then, I added to the front cover a design I made, printed, and cut. I attached it with scrapbook black photo corners and was done.

  There’s a better image of the bookmark. It was so much fun (and time consuming) making these programs. But I’m not going to lie. I don’t think I ever want to do that again.

*All photos are author’s own collection. 

Sacrifice to the Wedding Gods/DIY Recycle of Glass Candle Jars

Theatre is one of my true loves. My director for most of the plays that I was a part of through college and high school was an incredible lady. She never thought that a play would be a success unless by some accident (never on purpose) blood was shed to the theatre gods. Sometimes it was the tech team, the makeup crew, the actors, or the set builders (mostly) that gave their blood sacrifice.

Well, Monday, I gave my sacrifice to the wedding gods.

See, I have been saving old glass candle jars after we use them and recycling them to use outside the chapel to light the dark winter night. (And because I believe in reusing and recycling, so reusing the glass jars sounded pretty smart.)

So, here's a DIY tip for doing this. If you would like to reuse a pretty jar that has a candle in it (but the candle has burned away so much that it no longer stays lit):

1. Let it cool over night or about 12 hours.
2. Put it in the freezer for a couple of days.
3. Take it out of the freezer and let it thaw for a few hours (to a few days or months.. whenever you have time)
4. Take a butter knife (you can use any moderately sharp object, but this has been the best for me) and crack the wax so that it comes up from the bottom. (This can be done in one go if you are lucky. Normally, I find myself digging out pieces.)
5. Dump out the old wax.
6. Let it soak in hot water for a few minutes. Wash. Dry. Done.

It was the digging out part that ruined me. I was apparently pressing far too hard on the candle in question with my little butter knife and stabbed through the glass and into my hand, shattering the glass.

The cut isn't large and no major shards of glass were in my hands. I'm thankful it wasn't as bad as it could have been. But as it was I bled to the wedding gods.

DIY Projects Galore

There are still many DIY projects that we are working on. We have done quite a few already (Save the Dates, RSVPS and other components of our invitation suite, etc), but like any bride I am still work on quite a few of them.

1. the cards I am doing instead of a bouquet toss for the single ladies
2. place settings (calligraphy cards and pockets)
3. wreaths (2 evergreen with elegant bows, 2 golden christmas wreaths)
4. bridesmaids carrying books
5. makeup
6. photobooth
7. packets (material and ribbon) for our exit toss
8. the jars/vases for candles outside the venue
9. cards to help people understand the formal photography after the ceremony
10. calligraphy signs for everything
11. pew decorations
12. programs
13. thank you cards
14. second reception invitations
15. food (not all of it just desserts)
16. seating chart poster
17. pedicure (mom got me a certificate for the mani)
18. decorating the chapel and dining room
19. flowers (just for the centerpieces)

I really am drowning in projects. We have dropped quite a few projects from our radar (the digital scrapbook as the guestbook for example) because of lack of time. It seems like these will be doable. I can probably wrap up the signs, cards, and place settings in the next few weekends. Then, the books and wreaths will come next with the aid of my mother. The pew decor will be easy. So.... we will see if they all get done or we have an f*** it moment closer to time.

3 months tomorrow!!

These days I’m sifting through ideas left and right. Things that are small that have been put off until a later date and that later date is now. We have about 4 months (okay and a half) left to go before the wedding and I am picking up ideas and putting them down like shirts at Macy’s looking for the right ones. There are many ideas that we have held onto and will take them with us when we check out, but others that we liked have been replaced with ruffle tops we like better.

Ideas we looked at and put back on the shelf:
1. Digital scrapbook/guestbook – we loved the idea of this, but I just don’t have the time to devote to it and make it wonderful right now with all the other diy projects we have going on, my job, life, planning my sister in law’s wedding, and grad school.

2. Wishes jars or similar – I didn’t want to overwhelm my guests with hoops they had to jump through. I really wanted our reception to be a laid back, family dinner. I wanted to be able to see my guests, talk to each of them, get pictures with them, and be able to spend time with the people we love.

3. How we know everyone chart – I liked the idea, but I wasn’t sure how to display it. Although, now I am reconsidering this and putting it in the program. Okay, maybe, but only if I have time.

4.Games – for the guests to play… see my answer for 2.

5.Traditional Wedding stuff – no unity candle, that didn’t resonate true to either of us instead we have opted for a candle light ceremony. No ultra cheesy heard a thousand times songs (ie: Bless the Broken Road!). In fact, my entrance song is so unique… I’m waiting until after the wedding to tell you. No real bouquet or garter toss. Instead we are giving those items (or something similar) to friends that we know should have something special. No punch!

Ideas we loved and kept to wear on that day:
1. DIY photobooth – We work on a college campus and JRock runs the bookstore. So he has college kids working for him. One of my favorite employees of his is a blast to be around. She’s fun, spunky, crazy awesome. She is doing the camera manning for pizza. Seriously a great deal and it will be fun to see those pictures of our family and friends.

2.Quaker style marriage certificate – We really wanted something special for our marriage certificate that was beautiful, one of a kind, meaningful, and had some sort of resonance for our guests and us. It lets them know that we are accountable for this marriage. They know we have said we would go through the trenches to make this marriage last and not be a statistic and says to them… we know you know and you have to be our support community and help us through all the trials. It really meant quite a bit to us.

3. Knowing our officiant – JRock and I both had our officiant in class. He was my work study advisor. He really connected with me and he is someone we both know, love, and admire. We were glad that he accepted our request. He really is a great man.

4. Good food we LIKE – We went with foods we already know we love. Regional favorites that make our mouth water. True northern Italian pizza from a local pizzeria, desserts made by the hands of our family, true comfort lasagna, handmade breadsticks, cookies and milk. It’s not fancy, but it sure tastes good.

5.Small guest list – we have a max of 60 and we like it that way. It means we get to spend time with our guest rather than smiling across the crowded room at them. Plus, we are having a big reception in our home town for our family and friends who couldn’t come and that is pot luck and wonderful.

6. Cultural Elements - Menhdi, UT football (it is cultural in the South), books, and things. It is a truly unique and personal wedding.

Invitation Suite

I am putting the finishing touches on our invitation suite. I was torn. I really wanted to diy our invitations, but I really wanted letterpress. So to save money and compromise…. I ordered our main invitation and envelope in letterpress. You have seen them.

Then, I made our hotel and area information sheet, the RSVP, the RSVP instruction card, the photo upload information card, our rehearsal dinner invitation, and finally our after party invitation.

It’s taken me months and I’m still not done. Everything is done but the RSVP which is taking forever since they each have to be hand typed. Our RSVP mimics out Save the Dates.

I have had a blast doing them, but I seriously want to warn brides. If you do not have the time or patience to print, design, cut, and man handle all your invitation pieces…. get the set.

Sorry for the horrible quality of the picture. I’m waiting to let Nikki get the best picture of all of this madness.

Calligraphy

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on my calligraphy. I started working on them over the long weekend. It’s a process. I have horrible handwriting anyway. I like them, but I also think that it still looks like a child wrote these. Jonathon and my mother (who love me and are biased) ay that they look amazing.

It’s a process. Jonathon draws a straight line in light pencil for me. Then, I address them practicing each word at a time. Then, going with it. I think I’ll get faster the more I do. Since it’s taking an hour to do each one.

Our envelope with the stamps.  

My practice notebook. I don’t want to violate privacy sorry, no addresses!

YAY

We finished addressing our invitations this weekend!!!!

I feel incredible, because one time consuming task is out of the way. I had fun. Jonathon helped me keep all the lines straight and we worked our way through our whole list. It probably took about 40 hours this weekend, but it’s done!!

I’ll upload pictures sometime in the near future. I already have a week of blogs lined up for you. A ton of good wedding things happened this weekend. So, be prepared!

I’ve got a secret…

Shh. Come closer and I’ll tell you.

*looks around* I’ve been practicing calligraphy for my invitations.

Yes, me I have been. Me with the horrible chicken scratch writing. People have told me I’d make a great doctor based on my handwriting. So why am I practicing calligraphy? See, it started one night while I was laying awake listening to my boy sawing down an entire rainforest. I often find myself thinking about how to do wedding things different, cheaper, better, still look expensive. This was after I had received my lovely invitations from Peculiar Pair Press and I knew that a label would be a disaster on those stunning envelopes. So, I was pondering how to get the calligraphy part without paying the price.

And it hit me! Okay it was actually Jonathon’s arm sailing into my face at warp speed, but I really did have a great idea. I could pawn it off on my family. I loved this idea for many days. But then again, laying awake listening to the melodious rapture of buzz saws that this probably wouldn’t work considering my family is 2 hours away and the times I am with my family we are always doing stuff. And it hit me (again, yes it was Jonathon’s leg this time… he is a tough person to sleep with) that I should do it.

I thought about much I suck at handwriting, but over many more forests died and limbs flew I thought I would pick a script that I really liked and thought over time I could at least start to make look similar. I chose the freebooter script. (It’s also the script in my header.)

I started practicing with a regular pen. It wasn’t hard really. Jonathon was surprised that I made it so similar. I finally found an orange calligraphy marker tip pen. I bought 3. (They were $2 each!) I got them yesterday and I started practicing. I love it. I don’t think I could ever do and charge, but I would encourage other brides to try it.

I’ll show you a sample after I print out my first invitation.

The Christmas Ball Wreath

The first DIY project that I am going to detail for you on how to do. I’m not completely done with it yet. I still need to add the ribbon to tie it to the doors, but this is the basics. The ribbon part is the easy part.

Step1:

Get a wire hanger and mold it into a circle. (It does not need to be a completely perfect circle, just mostly a circle.

Step 2:

Twist the top part apart but leave it so that you can twist it back later.

Step 3:

Start piling on the Christmas balls. You can use any color or size you want and multiple sizes. Just make sure it looks full and there are plenty of balls. (In theory you should secure the balls to their little loopy tops with a hot glue gun. I didn’t do this on these, but if any come loose I will.)

Halfway done.

Step 4:

After you finished with the balls, close the top again and twist it so that it can hang properly. Then, you attach a ribbon around the top. I know that part is vague since I haven’t done that step yet.

I got my idea from Eddie Ross. This could help more with clarification.

Home Sweet Home

We are back home from our trip to see our parents and J Rock's trip to ATL. It has been a busy wedding week. And a busy week period. My boy is sick today. He got a wicked virus yesterday. So I'm munching on airborne and playing nurse. But let me tell you about my week.

My mom (love her!) found a typewriter (for free!) for me for our STDS. So, the first morning I was home, I cracked it open and started to work. The work was slow and repetitive. But fun. I have a small, fairly precise area to work with. I am about halfway done and I now have it down to a science. I just need to find the envelopes to type out the addresses.

Then, Natasha (my MOH) and I went shopping for fun wedding things. It started with a trip to get wedding shoes. I found some adorable Steven by Steve Madden shoes. They were fuschia with a dragon fly rhinestone. It just wasn't what I was looking for though. So, the search continues for shoes. But we went to Hobby Lobby where I did luck out. I bought some new gold stamp ink. But I found a wonderful stamp that looks like the postage paid stamp from Paris in 1949. And one for our thank you post cards (which we already have) that says merci!. I'm so happy with those. I also found 35 gold Christmas tree balls of all sizes for $10 and some other gold, ivory and orange balls. Lovely.

On Tuesday, my wonderful engagement photographer worked through the night (Monday) so that our pictures were ready. I'll have this disk this week and will regale you with my favorites. I'm pretty excited.

It was a productive week, even though I forgot to write down the two Dj's numbers so that I could call them and I was sans internet for a week. I got a bunch done.

Bridal Show and Ideas

So, I'm back at work after being sick. That was quite an ordeal and I am glad it is over with now. I work tomorrow and then I am off for a long weekend, but I bet you'd rather hear about the bridal show. It was the My Bella Bridal Show in Ga. I met some great vendors. However, I was underwhelmed. I might have found my day of, DJ, and rental company though! The fashion show was somewhat ridiculous with those very cheaply made dresses that look somewhat like polyester. *sigh* Nonetheless, my boy and I had fun. We sat out on the peir for about 30 minutes before it began. It was delicious. Then, we got a nice gift basket.

I'm on a kick. I am working on my programs! (Shocking since it is over 14 months until the big day.) I am working on our STDS. (Not shocking since those need to go out soon.) I am making a list and gathering some shot I love for my photographer. Not that she needs much help, but it's always good to convey what you'd like so they have an idea of the pictures in your head (an ipod cable linking us would work better!).

I work at my venue as you may know. I see it everyday and I can't help to plan and plot and get ideas on a daily basis. My current idea is to put candles EVERYWHERE outside. I mean, on the backs of the stone benches, on the outside stairs, on the top of the veranda, inside the chapel, inside the buildings, on the porch. I mean... EVERYWHERE. Since it will be evening and winter it would look cozy. I'm also thinking about those lovely floral monograms you see everywhere, but not just on the doors in other areas as well. All in all I think it shall be lovely.

DIY Bride

I never thought I'd be a complete DIY Bride. I never thought that I would do alot of wedding things on my own or with my family. However, I am not one to back down on a challenge so when my boy challenged me to cut the budget I started thinking about things I could do myself or with help.

1. Flowers. I never thought I would do this, but I want fresh flowers and my mom used to be a floral designer before I was born. So, I think we can muddle through the simple flower designs. It will make my mom feel special and well... it'll be nice to try it together.

2. Cake. My mom, matron of honor and bridesmaids are all talented at this. So I bet we can rock out some couture cupcakes or mini cakes. Plus, I am kick ass baker.

3. Design. I can decorate like an ace. So can my attendants and family. The centerpieces will be intricate but elegant and simple. We can do it.

4. Wreaths. My mom is pretty crafty. So, we are going to make the wreaths, monogram wreaths, and the mistletoe ball.

5. Invites/Stationary. This is my specialty. I know my way around word and photoshop. So, no problems here.

6. Makeup. I am a makeup artist anyway. Who else would I trust with this? I'll do my own makeup. No big deal.

7. Mani/Pedi. Also, I am good at this. All those years in theatre, makeup classes, and nail classes mean I can handle that. I won't be doing my hair though.

There are some thing I'm not doing. The hot food, my hair, my dress, any of the attire really, or the photography/videography. In fact, photography is our biggest expense. Tomorrow, I will give you a post about my photographer. Her contract is laying, signed, on my coffee table. I'll mail it out tomorrow and let her know. I'm really excited about this part.