Wedding Bonanzas Part 2!

Here is Part Deux that you have been champing at the bit for! 

Wedding Bonanzas....again

If you are getting married in some sort of outdoor space, it is always nice to add a little spice to a pergola or gazebo that you are getting married in/on/around.   For our pergola I went to Joanne Fabrics and got some of the 'extra' material they have on clearance, but also bought some nice material to really make it pop.  Total it ran me around $70 (also with a coupon), but it is already being re-used for some curtains, and the other half is being re-used in another wedding next summer.  

These are my wonderful friends setting it up for us. Easy to drape, just need a tall fellow or a stool.  I would also recommend tying the bottom to whatever the "base" is because it will blow all around during the ceremony, possibly ruining some photo ops-

To make another plug for the Rebuilding Exchange in Chicago, IL, while purchasing the shutters, we came across some reclaimed wood from a house in Detroit to make a "welcome" sign for the entrance of the reception.  It was beautiful wood, and they gave you all the info on the house (the address, etc.) which I thought was rather neat.  My wonderful man friend did all the assembling, but the final product turned out amazingly. 

To paint our name on the sign, we bought stencils at Michaels (with a coupon) and some white outdoor durable paint. Just make sure you let everything dry!

After the wedding, we took the bottom 'stake' part off, and the sign is now hanging on our wall as decor.  So frickin' cute! 

Last, but not least, we borrowed a large glass cylinder from someone else who had recently got hitched, added a simple sign to it so it was known what the cylinder was for, AND to add some cute-ness to the reception/gift table.  I did this by hand, and used some cute scrapbook paper.  Piece of cake. 

To those that need it- Happy Planning! It might seem to be a giant pain in the butt, but in the end it is definitely all worth it. 

Wedding Bonanzas! For The Money Savvy

It might have been a few months, okay about 6, but we were busy getting hitched and now here I am with pictures of things we did, DYI, that others might enjoy. 

WEDDING BONANZAS!!!!

First, the gladiolas-  The day before the wedding I went to the local farmers market and bought some to put in large mason jars that I got from Michaels (with a coupon of course) to add a little accent to some of the tables at the wedding.  Turned out great!



Next, instead of buying a cake topper, you can ask your florist to put a few flowers aside and the bakery can add them to the top and make it look beautiful, and natural.




One of my favorite projects that we did were the place cards, and how they were displayed at the reception. We went to the Rebuilding Exchange in Chicago, IL to find some salvaged shutters which all the place cards could be set into.  What a great success, and also found some vintage hinges to connect them together to make a really AWESOME presentation.

For the place cards themselves, I got simple white ones at a Factory Card Outlet, and bought a stamp and stamped each individual one and simply wrote the Names and Table Numbers. Very easy to do, and I really enjoyed it.  As an extra special touch to the very BIG wedding scene, I wrote a personal note on the inside of each card to the couple for thanking them for being there, or something else personal; whether it be a joke or just statement.  Our wedding guest ABSOLUTELY loved this touch! Seriously....loved it.

On the back we also stamped them with stamps that were literal chickens, salmon, beef, or vegetable which corresponded to their meal choices. These were purchased at the Paper Source.  To make it even easier for the staff, they were also different colors to really tell the difference.

Don't go far, there is going to be a part two!