DIY Wedding blog post #1

This is my first DIY project posting, originally on Weddingbee website. I will also post it on Project Wedding website. I think it means I am a bona fide DIYer!!

When I started planning my wedding, my already married sister gave me some advice: choose three things that are important to you and leave the rest to someone else. Invitations and decorations top the list and although I have a whole slew of DIY projects up my sleeve, this is by far my favorite.

THOUGHT PROCESS: Sangria is our signature drink so corks and empty bottles will be decorating the three different wedding locations. With this in mind, I really want to have some interesting flower holders at the cocktail hour for people to take away as favors. But who wants a boring old empty wine bottle and another bud vase? Thinking cap!

I saw this catalog for a company called Artful Home and tucked in the back were these colored bottle that had been reversed etched with very cool sayings (the entire bottle was etched, leaving the letters in clear glass). Sayings like: LOVE - Warning causes dizziness. Recommended in excess, DREAMS: Drink deeply and believe. They were perfect wedding sayings but outrageously expensive bottles so I decided to make my own version! No etching only labeling....my style.

ITEMS NEEDED:

Wine bottles - lots of 'em. I retrieved the wine bottles being thrown out after a christmas party at my work. No worries, they knew what I was doing. Straight ones are better than v-shaped ones I have come to find out. Soak the labels off and clean well. I like clear ones, but colored ones are fun too

Paper and printer - you will have to experiment to see which works best with your printer. Paper cutter, Glue stick, Embellishments - I used a silver paint pen.

Using Word, I took the sayings from the catalog, added our names and wedding date, put them into a border I got from Clip Art, played around with color and accents and then printed on a laser printer at work. SHHH.

Here is my first attempt:




I lined the edges with a silver paint pen, trying a couple of different options - silver paint, a silver sharpie, but the silver paint pen worked the best.

This is the final label product although the picture is not as crisp as I would like.



Here is the corner.



So now that I have the label, a bottle is in order. I recommend buying lots of bottles of wine you like, sharing them with your FI, all in the name of science, well, an experiment, ok, a trial of sorts. Or you can steal them from parties you attend. I found that the perfectly round bottles, while boring in shape, make for the best specimen.

I thought I would try spray glue first, I hear it is good for everything. At my first attempt, it turned out gloppy, too thick in one area and not enough in another. It oozed out the sides of the label as I tried to smooth it out...yuck. It also soaked into the paper in the areas where is was thicker and ruined the label. Here is what it looked like.



So for my next experiment, I tried a super bond glue stick and a completely cylindrical bottle which made the smoothing out a lot easier. I would highly recommend using the glue stick cause it allows for adjusting.



Here is one of the final products, with some added ribbon and voila - a personalized wine bottle/vase to go the tables at our cocktail hour and to scatter around the mansion we are using for our wedding day festivities. Tags will be added with little notes encouraging people to take these home as a momento of our wedding.



It is an easy project and adds a personalized touch to your special day. Enjoy!

Draping Dilemma!

Currently being obsessed with the idea of tent draping...no correction, forever being obsessed with tent draping, I am having a difficult time figuring out how and what to do within a budget and time frame.

Originally, I wanted to drape the ceremony area, which is an outside grape arbor as well. Imagine, white chiffon or cotton panels floating softly above the quets, protecting against the harsh sun but casting warmth around the nuptials. It would be beautiful and whimsical, soft with perfect light. Ahhh....it seems like a dream and impossible on our budget.

So, I move to the place where we will be spending the most time, the reception tent. BIG HIGH tent with three poles. I originally wanted draping from the center pole out to all corners of the tent with chinese lanterns in the colors of the wedding hanging in between. Ok that how the hell do we get up there??

This would be perfect.

Other thoughts or ideas to fake the look?

- Draping fabric in a few openings between the poles

- Using just the colored chinese lanterns to break up the white space of the tent

- Line the perimeter of the tent with colored fabric to give hint of color

A few images I love:

I love how the natural elements are tied in with the lanterns.

(Top pic) Example of an initial thought I had to just drape around the poles like curtains.

Adds color but not too difficult to create.

With lots of ideas, not a lot of time or money, the first place to start is with the tent itself, dimensions, poles, how long, how tall. I actually just got off the phone with Justin at Taylor Rental in Haverhill. They are providing the tent and are super super nice. Gave me all the info I needed, 40x80, 24 poles, every 10 feet, and even some suggestions based on what I want to do with the chinese lanterns. We discussed heavy gauge fishing wire. I will still snoop around for a design that I like. Here are the colors thus far:

I would like to use saffron ribbon to hang at the bottom or use to hang on the wire. We will see cause that ribbon is expensive!!

Thoughts for now. My brain is overloading but I think my ideas are starting to come together!

6 month FREAK out...oh and flowers

I got an email the other day from Project Wedding, a site I frequent as a DIY bride. They send daily emails on different topic and tell the number of days until your wedding. Well Dec 27 was officially the 6 month mark and I had a small panic attack at work....every possible acronym happened to me, ADD, OCD, ADHA, OCD again, all at the same time, activating a strong, urgent need to go to every blog I frequent, Weddingbee, 100 Layer Cake, Project Wedding, The Knot, One Wed, the list goes on, print out every picture I have on my work computer, contact every contact I have for each wedding decision left untended, complete the four registries we have, fill out my wedding book, finalize my guest list AND tell the caterer which cheese to buy. It was more than slightly overwhelming.

So with all this going on, I reactivated my wedding organizer for my after the holidays wedding rally...get it going!!! I made it myself and it is a little less helpful than when I started. I borrowed items and ideas from other sites and they just don't fit. So I am going to spend the New Years weekend reorganizing my binder and making sure that everything is more user friendly.

I also need to start paying more attention to this blog and using it as a tracking method. I get so jealous of the brides who have time to create an amazing monetized blog, with sponsors and readers and links and greatcontent. They must have a lot of time....which makes me reassert my need and desire to cut back on things that I am doing outside my own life, if that makes an sense. How do people juggle it all? I mean I am blogging at work about my wedding!! Thank goodness the boss is away, so I can play. :)

Jul and I have our first flower consultation today and I am feeling a little frazzled. I can see what I want in my head but I can't describe it in words. Simple, elegant, bursting with color and texture but not overwhelming.

Here are a few pictures of types of flowers I would like. I'm not sure the price of each but I think they are gorgeous.

Daisies

Hydrangea

Peonies

Ranunculus

Thanks for listening to my rant!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So we have a photographer and we couldn't be happier...well we could if we were already married...and had a million bucks, well maybe not even then.

ANYWAY, Juliano and I have decided on Darren Pellegrino Photography help tell the story of our wedding day. We met with Darren and his wife Beth and were instantly smitten. There was no pretentiousness, no pressure, no hurry up and decide, in fact they talked us down from a higher priced package. They were both incredibly kind and I felt like I wanted to talk with them all evening.

Juliano and I had looked at a slew of wedding photography sites. In fact, I made J look at 4 sites without telling him prices or anything and he chose Darren's page. The pictures in color are glorious, the composition and angles are fascinating and interesting, the special moments have they captured are brief passing seconds, caught for a lifetime.

But the thing that sealed the deal is the fact that both Darren and Beth speak Portuguese and made an big effort to make Jul feel comfortable. It will be a big gift and enormous help for Juliano's family as well.

We are very lucky to have Darren and Beth agree to be part of our family for the day.

Check out the website at http://www.darrenpellegrino.com/ . Make sure you click on to the blog as well to see some of his other stuff.

YAY!!! Can't wait.

Two Maids Weigh In

Coleen likes #1 and Jess likes #2. I like them both but I also like #3 and #4. Maybe a trip to the bridal shop is in order. I like #4 with a small ribbon/sash around the waist.

Maid Dresses Galore...

So I think this is the easiest way, aside from actually shopping in a store - geesh who does that anymore - to see some of my ideas for bridesmaid's dresses. Just some ideas and nothing more. I love the colors though. EEEEE!!! as Coleen would say. I really like the first one but in a different color, obviously! Have at it ladies. These are all from David's Bridal but we don't necessarily need to go there. This is just to generate ideas. Thoughts?

What LUCK!!

So apparently I lucked out at Filene's Basement's Running of the Brides because I scored myself a Maggie Sottero Couture bridal gown for $250! Originally, I believe it is $2298.  Ummm that is an over $2000 savings! And for anyone who knows bridal fashion, Maggie Sottero is an innovator in the industry, one of the most recognized bridal gown manufacturers, a multi-award winning designer label offering brides the best fit in the industry, coupled with the highest quality fabrics and exquisite details. 

Holy cow. I am fully in love with my dress.  Needs very few alterations which makes the price tag even sweeter.

Here are some photos of 2009 Running of the Bride. We went in August.