how much are you DIYing?

[mimzy]

i''d like to count myself among the numerous crafty ladies around here and i am/was really excited about all the things that i was going to be able to DIY for our wedding. but since things have gotten underway, i''m getting more and more discouraged and more and more terrified that i''m not going to be able to pull off the things that i am aiming for. so far i''m planning on DIY these things:

veils (1 cathedral length w/ edging, 1 mini birdcage)
combs (1 all white for ceremony, 1 w/ color for reception)
centerpieces (3 different ones w/ minimal flowers)
bridesmaids gifts (sewing tote bags)
invitations
save the dates
rehearsal/getaway dress
favors (christmas cookies + recipes)
all other decorations
bouquet/boutonnières

so far i''ve made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at the birdcage veil (close, but just not close enough), the combs, and the save the dates. i dont'' really think that the save the dates turned out all that great (see upcoming thread). anyways, i am just scared that these things aren''t going to get done (or at least not well). i''m scared things are just going to look janky. but i don''t have the $$ to buy/outsource these things. i guess i am just feeling a little discouraged.

so how much are you girls planning on DIYing (or planned on DIY''ing and actually did)? have you hit any snags along the way?

 

[oobiecoo]

I designed the invitations and purchased the stationary kits for super cheap but had them printed at Kinkos. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the end result and I got alot of compliments on them. People couldn''t believe they weren''t professionally done.

I tried a birdcage veil but failed miserably so I purchased one but may not wear it anway.

I made an altar arrangement the other night and I am pretty darn proud of the way it turned out!! I plan on donating it to the church afterwards so I incorporated a bit of a "trinity" theme since the Sunday after is pentecost.

I purchased some items and a basket to put together a little "kit" for the ladies'' and mens'' bathrooms.... pain relievers, dental floss, sewing kit etc but there isn''t much craftiness going into it really.

I am probably ordering some ecofetti and plan on putting that in little pouches I found and closing them with a sticker or something.

I bought a "favor box" kit and will put those together with a candy inside.

I made a pen for my shower... the kind that has the flower wrapped onto it... and I may use that as my guestbook pen.

I am going to design and print my programs onto some sort of paper... still need to work on that.

I am making my own playlist and using my laptop hooked up to the reception site''s sound system instead of hiring a dj.

Thats about all I can think of right now...

 

[mimzy]

you sound so on top of things! that all sounds awesome. and good idea about putting together bathroom kits!

and i forgot about programs....those should be on my list too

 

[sera]

Well, hopefully I won''t be DIYing as much as I''ve said, "UH! I''ll just do it myself" to! So, I''ll hold off on my list for now.

 

[bee*]

I''m going to do my own invites, place cards and flowers. Going to get started on them this summer so I can do a few practice trials!

 

[anchor31]

Let's see...

- STDs;
- Invitations;
- Favours (wine and candy);
- Menus;
- Programs;
- Placecards and seating chart;
- Thank you cards;
- Ribbons and bows and stuff for decor.

I was going to make my own veil, but I got a custom one for free so there' s no need. So far, 1 and 2 are done, 3 is half done, but I haven't touched the rest. It's going well, especially because my mom rocks and is giving me lots of help (as in doing a lot of it FOR me

). I should get to it as soon as I'm done with exams!

 

[basil]

We are doing:

Save-the-dates
Programs
Menus (if I decide I even want them)
Placecards and table numbers
Favor stickers
Veil with handmade edging
bridesmaid sashes
shower invites
calligraphy for invitations
candle decorations (mom is pressing leaves into beeswax to leave imprints on the candles)

When I say "we", I mainly mean "my mom"

I don''t have the time, patience, or talent for most of these things!

 

[Pandora II]

We are doing: (or rather I am since FI is a bit allergic to wedding planning!)

Save-the-date Magnets - Done

Order of Service - Designed but not yet printed

Menus - To Do

Table numbers - Designed but not yet printed

Table Plan - Designed but not yet printed and put together.

Favours - Printed (I had a custom stamp made) but not filled yet

Bridesmaid dresses - Fabric bought and dyed. All patterns and notions bought. My mother starts making this week!

Cake - 4 tiers of fruitcake made and fed. Still to marzipan, ice and decorate

Centrepieces - still hunting down the containers, I'm doing urns of fruit with a bit of ivy, so pretty easy

Flowers - I have 3 people helping and a lot will be silk ivy garlands with real stuff woven in. I'm not making my bouquet or my MOH's, but I am doing all the flowergirls hoops (silk flowers so they don't squish them).

So far all gone well. I have a couple of advantages though - first I've had a 19 month engagement, and secondly, my degree is in design. My budget is tight so I didn't really have a choice.

The only thing bugging me at the moment is not finding the right containers for my centrepieces at the right price.

I'm also a bit scared about icing the cake... luckily you do it in 5 layers and sand it down in between so should go okay. I'm decorating it with cascading fruit and flowers so I can hide any dodgy bits! However, so far the whole thing has cost less than $100 - If I bought one here it would be over $1k so if it's not 100% perfect I don't really care...

 

[mimzy]

you girls are all so great/ambitious! i have a feeling that once i really get into these i am going to need a support group!

 

[Haven]

I'm extremely creative but we're not big DIYers for things like this, so I'm quite impressed with your DIY lists.

My family owns a desktop publishing and printing business, so it's not technically DIY, but they're printing the following things for us:
- Programs
- Map inserts for invitations (which I'm designing myself, so that's DIY, right?)
I guess that's it for the printing!

Also:
- My mother is a calligrapher, so she's addressing all of the outer and inner invitation envelopes.
- Favors and placecards--we're using Moleskine cahiers for our favors, which we're going to print on using a Gocco machine. The placecards will be bookmarks placed in the cahiers. We're going to make the bookmarks out of grossgrain ribbon and my mother will calligraphy the table numbers on them. The bookmarks are an homage to the way FI proposed to me, so I'm excited about them.

I think that's it!

 

[Stephanie]

Grr.. it ate my post.

I think that I have everything under control now, but I may have gotten into the DIY over my head a bit.

All the stationary - Invites, STDs, Place cards, thank you notes, favor notes, announcements (for those that can''t attned), and table numbers

Decor - Since it''s outside there isn''t too much, but I can''t seem to be able to get started on the Pomanders that I wanted to make. If I can''t get them done in two weeks, I''ll scrap it all and go back to lanterns. Still need to find decent luminaries. All the bags that I have seen just look so flimsy. There are one or two other things but I think that those won''t be a problem.

Ceremony - Have the organza bags, just need to fill them (closer to the date of course) and put a note on there about what to do. These bags will be placed on the chairs along with the programs.

There are many things that are semi-diy (things that need to be monogrammed and engraved).

 

[EricaR]

I''m super crafty so I''m using the wedding as an excuse to buy all sorts of supplies. "Why yes honey, I need these rubber stamps for our, ummm, Save the Dates! Yes, that is it!"

So far I''m planning on making Save the Dates, Invites, all other stationary, my veil, a wedding shawl (knit with lace weight alpaca that is beautiful!!!), and whatever else I can come up with to make. We are doing the reception in a restaurant and I don''t know what sort of decor they will let me bring in.

 

[CrownJewel]

After getting a quote from a few florists, I decided that I''m going to do the flowers myself. I''m actually really excited to make this my project b/c I want something super simple (big poofy roses in a silver vessel) and I''ve always wanted to learn a little about floral design.

I just got a Gocco and some paints/bulbs etc. I''m going to design our invites, but have them letterpressed. Using the same design, I''ll Gocco my RSVP cards, envelopes, thank you cards, menus, etc.

So glad to see other crafty ladies doing so much for their weddings! I''m a crafting fiend.

 

[K&L]

I''m very much a DIY person, and when I got engaged, my fiance gave me a DIY wedding book. Of all the things that it goes over that you can do yourself, the best thing I took from it is...

decide what things are most important to do yourself, how you can use your friends and family as resources, and what you should really pay someone to do

So I''m doing:

invitations, programs, any other printed things
buying a plain veil that I will add beads to to make it look like one I saw for $350 (my cost: $60)
making all the tissue paper flowers that will hang at my reception (this is gonna take a long time)
other reception decorations
considering making table runners
candy favors covered with stickers with our initials or design from our invitations
making jewelry for each of my bridesmaids

Friends/Family:

my brother plays 9 instruments, so it''d really be special for him to play at my wedding/reception
friends will play the piano/sing during ceremony
my grandmother is doing alterations and making my flower girl dress (which I''m designing)
family friends will help decorate the reception and ceremony

I''m hiring people to do:

flowers, photography, hair/makeup, catering, cake, etc

 

[Stephanie]

Date: 4/21/2008 9:58:26 PM
Author: CrownJewel
After getting a quote from a few florists, I decided that I''m going to do the flowers myself. I''m actually really excited to make this my project b/c I want something super simple (big poofy roses in a silver vessel) and I''ve always wanted to learn a little about floral design.

I just got a Gocco and some paints/bulbs etc. I''m going to design our invites, but have them letterpressed. Using the same design, I''ll Gocco my RSVP cards, envelopes, thank you cards, menus, etc.

So glad to see other crafty ladies doing so much for their weddings! I''m a crafting fiend.

I am so jealous!

 

[CrownJewel]

Nah, don''t be jealous. Come over and we''ll share! I got mine through a seller on etsy. I got the PG-11...I received it so fast I didn''t even get a chance to ask her if she sent it yet. I paid for it late on a Thursday night and it arrived on Monday, 3 days later, from Japan. I can''t play with it until after my exam though!!!

 

[sunnygirl]

Wow, you girls are so crafty! I was all excited to DIY my Save the Dates because I hadn''t found anything I liked. It ended up taking way too much of my time + way more money than originally planned + generally frustrating (issues with my printer, had it printed professionally, had to have them redone by print shop because the colors were all wrong etc). I love how they came out and have gotten lots of compliments but I am sort of over DIY for now! Although I do think I will do my programs....and placecards...the DIY bug always strikes again!

 

[emilina22]

for our engagement party i am
making our center pieces
making our invitations (no longer going with weddingpaperdivas.com

)
making our menus
making our guest book
making this awesome giant floral monogram ( i hope it works out)
making our favors (boxes and filling them)
and yea thats about it for our engagement party

for our wedding i plan on making

our invitations
bridesmaid bouquets
boutineres
moms corsages
flower girl things
my flowers for the church
our menus
programs
favors
and well thats about it for now

yea it seems like alot but its ok i have a full year and some months till our wedding

 

[Amandine]

With help from super-crafty/talented Mom and FI:

STDs...arrived in the mail over the weekend! We did postcards from Vistaprint. FI thinks they are pixelated, but hey, who looks that close? And they were $12--half off for 100!

Invitations...although we may have to change this after speaking with FMIL.

Bird-Cage Veil...have lots of ideas, Mom will execute. She made my sister''s gorgeous veil.

Headpiece...that''s my job, want to be able to wear it with viel and without.

Programs...this is FI''s project.

Some bow, etc. whatever for decor.

Guest "book"...my aunt is making us a quilt and guests will get to sign quilt squares with fabric pens.

I am sure there must be more, but I just can''t think of it right now.

 

[choro72]

Wow, I thought I was a good DIY...You guys are amazing!

My list of DIY that has been decided waaay before I met my FI

Centerpiece: At first I was going to do this. But now I''ve decided to do this.

Favors: Simple snacks in organza bags.
Flowers: Either crystal bouquet or paper flowers for all bouquets, corsages, and boutonnières.
Invitations: Does buying a kit from Walmart count as DIY?

I still have to talk to FI about it, but I''m thinking of nixing the programs and any other decorations. Hmmm, looking at this list it isn''t much...