My friends, Leon and Heidi, are also getting married this year, next month in fact. Many props to Heidi, as she is taking DIY to a whole new level. She has purchased some things to make it easy for her and Leon, but for the most part has taken a hands-on approach to her entire wedding. Here’s a few things she’s done:
- Invitations: First, she purchased very nice cream-colored blank wedding stationery from Target. I believe she got them on sale for under $15. Then, being the artist she is, she carved her and Leon’s faces into a wooden stamp which she pressed onto the invites as a letter head. Finally, she printed out the text of the lower half of the invites, as well as the addresses on the envelopes, on her own printer. They looked fantastic – cute, personal, and humorous.
- Food: Heidi and Leon are also on a budget, so they decided to cut out a huge cost, yet also allow the guests to contribute to the wedding in an important way, by making it a potluck wedding. Everyone brings a dish or two of their choosing!
- Alcohol: While they may be purchasing a keg or two of their favorite beers, Heidi makes her own wine in many different flavors, that I am sure will be included in their reception.
- Decorations: Heidi’s always been crafty and seems to really value a homemade gift. Everytime I talk to her, she’s created yet another adorable decoration for her wedding. While these aren’t photos of her decorations, they are close in resemblance:
Heidi used some Egyptian wrapping paper that she’s kept over the years for her paper strips.
Instead of asking her friends or female relatives to wear matching dresses, Heidi opted for felt flower pins. Much like this photo, yet Heidi also included hand stitching. A beautiful decoration and keepsake for her female guests.
Though not quite what Heidi made as her cake topper, this is a fitting example, since she and Leon love mushrooms. Instead, Heidi took a small mason jar and inserted a happy picture of her and Leon taken at a special place they visit annually. Behind the picture, she stuffed the jar with reflective dark purple strips of paper.
Finally, I want to discuss a really cool decoration Heidi is currently working on: Glow-in-the-dark lace lanterns. The fact that I cannot find an exact picture online to reference this idea either means I’m not calling it by the right name, or this is a completely original idea of hers. First, she is wrapping a filled balloon with paper mache to create a large sphere:
Here’s a helpful link on how to make paper mache pulp:
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/papermache/a/blpmpulp.htm
Once the paper mache had dried and hardened, you pop the balloon and you have a hard sphere to work with. Now, I’m not sure exactly how she’s doing this, but here’s what I imagine: spray or brush the paper mache sphere with glow-in-the-dark paint
Then, find a piece of lace or some type of fabric with multiple decorative holes and wrap the sphere with it.
Cut a small hole into the structure and attach a string or rope, so you can hang it off a ceiling, overhang, or tree!
Here’s a close idea of what it may look like, but without the creases and instead of a light or candle, imagine that cool green glow-in-the-dark color shining through the lace:
I love it! Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
