After months of hard work – what feels like hundreds of paper samples, gross super-glue/hot glue covered fingers/clothes, butting heads with (only a couple) vendors and changing my mind a million times on all the details -we did it, we got married and it was a pretty awesome day if I say so myself!
It was really important for me almost immediately to make sure our wedding wasn’t a cookie cutter affair. I wanted people to walk in the door and think,”this is Chris and Julia’s wedding!”. Now achieving this feat was neither easy or terribly inexpensive but through research, hardcore crafting and amazing helpers, I was able to realize my perfect wedding vision. Check out my different projects below and details on how I was able to pull them off.
(top left) Drink Stirrers: Once we decided on custom pint glasses as our favors, I knew that I wanted cocktail stirrers as our name tags. I thought the two would make for a whimsical display and marry (tehe) function and design perfectly. Luckily, I only had an 80 person wedding so this task wasn’t too time consuming. To make my stirrers I went to the grocery store and bought a pack of shish kabob skewers for about $1.99 and spray painted them gold to make them a bit more fancy. Then I used the leaf pattern and fonts from my invitations to make the flags feel cohesive and just printed them on my home computer, cut them out with an x-acto and glued them on!
(top right) Table Numbers: For my table numbers, I kept with the rustic theme by using natural-look paper and wood holders. I decided to make my life a bit more difficult and instead of merely printing the numbers on the paper, I printed, then cut out two for each and placed them back to back with a pretty piece of paper in the middle for that extra wow factor. Each table’s was slightly different which made them feel more precious.
(bottom left) Menus: These were definitely my easiest project! I just used the same craft paper and stuck with my design and fonts to keep everything cohesive. I decided with the florist that adding a little sprig to the napkin/menu combo would make the presentation look that much more purposeful and complete.
(bottom right) Dessert Table Backdrop: This is the project that everyone thought I was crazy for wanting to do! I’m sure you’ve all seen amazing dessert table displays with stunning backdrops that add the perfect amount of drama, well I wanted that! This project took a TON of planning because I didn’t want it to break the bank. First and foremost, I had to figure out what the structure would be. I ruled out plywood (too heavy) and foam core (too expensive) and found the perfect solution - home insulation. I used two boards of insulation (4′x8′ each) and covered them in tissue paper paper flowers (inspired by Martha Stewart’s poms, just half the amount of paper). After lots of help from family and wielding a staple gun like a pro, I was able to construct my backdrop! Then all I had to do was rent a Uhaul (my husband loved that!) to get it there.
It really was the perfect day. In the end what really mattered wasn’t so much all the details, but my amazing friends and family who came to celebrate and, of course, my new husband!
Tagged: artwork, etsy, photography
