Tammy's DIY Planning Thread - at least 20 items, pic heavy & detailed!

Speckles121 · April 5, 2012

Tammy you have done a remarkable job with everything..i cannot wait to see what you come up with when you open your shop! you are truly an inspiration. you have been such a big help in my planning process and pulling my theme together with everything. thank you and best wishes!!

Jamie5280 · April 5, 2012

OMG Tammy!!! Everything looks absolutely amazing!!! You did such a wonderful job on everything...AND everything looks professional and expensive!!!

Thank you so much for sharing!

ps..you should do some wedding booklets, etc... for people. You obviously are creative enough and know what you are doing! Actually too bad you and Coco don't live closer as you two could go into business together!!! HA!!!

ndvidul · April 5, 2012

Bridesmaids Gifts

I really wanted to give my bridesmaids some special items to let them know how much it meant to me that they travelled all the way to Mexico to stand by our side. Taking the time to wrap gifts nicely and present them well adds so much value and appreciation for the contents. Even though it would take extra time to do this and effort on the transport part, I decided it was well worth it.

I decided to put the contents in gable boxes, which I found online at Oriental Trading. When it was time to make them, I put all the gable boxes together before I decorated them for travel. I used the same thick ribbon that I used for the centerpieces, and hot glued one end to the middle center of the gable box, where the tag would go.

I hot glued the burlap trading card to the other end of the ribbon. I used a leftover shipping tag from the invitations and stamped their names on with the same alphabet set I used for the other tags like this. I outlined the tag in shimmery silver sharpee (Michael's), and tied the string onto the tag. Then, I hot glued it onto the burlap.

Then, I unfolded the gable box so it could travel flat in my suitcase. I packed some super glue in a baggie so that I could assemble these in our hotel room and just superglue the tag onto the other end of the ribbon. Voila!

Each bridesmaid recieved Coach Poppy flipflops, AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL foot jewelry by Red-I by Chelsea, a bridesmaid rhinestone tank (from theknot.com), a Wedding Day kit, and a hand-made card (of course... pictured below). The shoes didn't end up fitting in the boxes, so I gave them separately.

I just have to say, one of the most pleasant parts of this whole wedding planning process was working with Chelsea from Red-I. She made me the most stunning jewelry and was amazing to work with. I highly recommend her workl!!

I got the bags and charms from Hobby Lobby. I even got a bride one for myself and got bride and groom charms and one that said, "I Do!"

These are the tags I made for the bags in Microsoft Word.

Here's what I put in the bags. Contents all from Wal-Mart in the toiletry travel section/make-up and hair section.

These are the cards and envelopes I made for them. I also made ones like this for our parents. I got the idea of the design of the card from a picture I saw at Michael's, and then made it totally my own. These were some of my favorite things I made! (Stamps all from Michael's... heart silver charms from Michael's, too.)

My girls super appreciated these gifts, and LOVED their jewelry. They looked fab wearing their tank tops while we got ready, and looked amazing at our wedding with their foot jewelry. They all say they wear their Coach flip flops all the time!

Now, I can't wait to be a bridesmaid! LOL.

Xoxox,

Tammy

tkuzma · April 5, 2012

Wow!!! What a remarkable amount of love went into all of your projects! Congratulations on your wedding Please keep all of us posted about your shop opening!

ndvidul · April 5, 2012

Shells & Chest (For Ceremony Blessing)

For our ceremony, I decided to include a blessing that's usually a stone blessing, but change it to shells. I thought it'd be a beautiful keepsake and reminder later on, and something interactive and unique for our ceremony. (I initially wanted to do a sand ceremony until I realized that the sand would get all mixed-up in our suitcases on the way home.)

Here's the script for our ceremony, so you understand where the blessing fits in. I color coded the sections - LOL, I'm so organized, it's ridiculous - so it would make it easier for the officiant to read. THE SCRIPT IS NOT ALL ORIGINAL! I took almost all of the script from scripts I've seen on here (in particular, one bride's stunning video of her ceremony that I LOVED... I can't remember your name on here, but THANK YOU SO MUCH!), blessings I saw on here and online, etc.

I'll post the beginning and end of our ceremony here, in case you don't want to view the whole document:

Beginning of our Script:

On behalf of Casey and Tammy, I would like to welcome and thank you all for having traveled to this beautiful location in Cancun to witness this loving couple join hands in marriage. The fact that you all have travelled such a great distance to be here today is a testament to the amazing amount of love and support they have. Many of you have given them much happiness, love, encouragement, and guidance through the various stages of their lives. They would like to sincerely thank you all for being here to celebrate their Big Day. A special and respectful acknowledgement must also be made to those friends and family members who were unable to attend, or have passed on but whose spirit remains alive and strong in our hearts. [pause]

Casey and Tammy, before you met, your lives were on different paths with different destinations. God has brought you together and joined these separate paths into one. Each of your family members and friends here today has chosen a shell that not only represents their unique individuality and their presence at your wedding today but also has a meaningful word on it that represents a value youâ€™d like to honor in your marriage together. You also each have a shell of your own that symbolizes your previous separate lives, separate sets of friends, separate families, and the different lifeâ€™s journeys that you once traveled. I ask that everyone hold this shell throughout the ceremony. Fill your shell with positivity, prayer, wishes, and blessings of good will for Casey and Tammyâ€¦ for the future of their marriage.

End of our Script (but it keeps going after this):

We will now pause to collect the shells that have been blessed with good fortune. [Pause as Cori collects stones in Treasure chest.]

The union of these shells has now symbolically joined your once separate lives. Through you, just as the shells have been combined, so now are your friends and family joined. Your once solitary lifeâ€™s paths are also now one, and all that was once separate is now shared. In this sharing, you both will find new strength and joy as together you forge a new life path. Shells stand the test of time. Over time they can even become stronger and more beautiful. Let these shells be a reminder and a memorial of the love, blessings and support that your family members and friends have provided you here today.

Anyways, I hope you can see how the shells fit into our ceremony now. I think that some people may have forgotten to get theirs at the guest table, so for a future note, it would have been nice to have someone in charge of the guestbook table and make sure everyone got a shell.

The chest. Hobby Lobby has amazing vintage boxes and trunks like this for awesome prices. I got mine 50% off (of course! You should know this by now. ) for about $10. The charm was also from Hobby Lobby. I just tied it on with twine. Later, I also added a shipping tag that hung in front from the clasp that said, "Please take one." You'll see this in the final pictures of our wedding at the end of my posts!

Decorating the inside top was simple. I just cut the map paper I have and folded it so I fit at the top. I hot glued an extra tag from the centerpieces that I made at the top. Voila!

These were the shells for the chest. I got them at Joann's in the floral section. I wrote on them with white sharpee from Michael's. They are the values we cherish most to bring into our marriage.

For the final product, the chest was filled halfway with sand, and the shells were laid nicely on top! Can't wait to show you the pictures.

Cheers to your own DIY projects!!

Love,

Tammy

Ceremony Script.doc

Meagan816 · April 5, 2012

I just got really excited when I saw your fiance in his Cardinals hat! Yay for St. Louis brides!

Originally Posted by ndvidul

Invitations

I did 90 of these babies!! It took me over 6 weeks, several group "dates" of friends/family putting them together, and easily about 35 hours.

Our guests ADORED these. We couldn't hear the end of how awesome they were, and we STILL (post-wedding) hear compliments about them. Lots of our guests have saved theirs!

Again, these were not my original idea. I TOTALLY copied MrsWeiss1211's thread about these invites and just changed a few minor things for ours. Her thread lists exactly how she did them and is amazing. Please check it out!! THANK you for posting your thread, MrsWeiss!!

Here is a list of the materials I used, where to get them, and the cost of them. The cost without shipping was about $360. Shipping was $250 (we hand-delivered about a dozen of them).

P.S. If you look at MrsWeiss's thread --- I used the scented oil WAY too early for the corks. I suggest that if you're going to do that, then do it at the very end before you seal the boxes and ship them.

I did the brads/fasteners a different way - vertical -- so I ended not cutting off the ends, which apparently saved me that "nasty job." I designed the labels. And I handwrote the "pull tag" copying a font that I downloaded for free called "Treasure Map Deadhand."

What it looks like with the bottle inside.

The ribbons ended up being 13 in long. I also handwrote the addresses instead of putting them through the printer since it seemed easier and more personal to me. Mainly, I think I didn't want to go through the aggravation of any misfeeds with the printer --- that's one of my worst nightmares!!

The raffia length was about 5 inches each. Then I used a pencil to roll up the invites and did a knot with the raffia. Then, I trimmed the ends. You can kind of see it here.

I designed these as well. I got the antique map of the Cancun area from googling "antique map Cancun," and got the idea from another MIB thread on here. Again, the fonts I used were "Treasure Map Deadhand" and "Caslon Antique Italic" which I downloaded off the internet for free.

I did 3 different types of Pull Tags since I ran out of starfish & sand dollars. Although the starfish were my favorite, I realized that some of the starfish might have broken as I closed the boxes. So, I would actually recommend using the mini shells instead.

These are the 3 different types of sand I used (since I couldn't find a pink sand suggested on this thread). I used 1/4 tsp white sand, 1/2 tsp coarser darker sand, and 3/4 tsp of fine beige sand.

We also started putting 2 starfish and 2 sand dollars inside. BUT then the sand dollars turned out to be too big, and we started filing each and every one down to fit the bottles, so then after a bit, we switched to putting in just 1 sand dollar. Also, then we started putting in 1 starfish + 1 sand dollar for like the last 10 bottles so that we'd have enough to glue on the Pull Tags. I would recommend ordering more starfish or sand dollars if you want enough to put in the bottles and for the Pull Tags. Plus, I would look into smaller sand dollars for the bottles, if they're available!

Our dining room table that was convered into a DIY space for 6 weeks!

Soooo many, haha!!

Casey (now my husband!) burning the edges of the invitations --- took about 5 min per invite! Nasty job!

Me putting the messages in the bottles. The most satisfying part!!

And VOILA!!! A final tip --- get lots of help if you can!! They are soooo worth it.

Wedding Invitations.xls

Soon2bMrsT · April 5, 2012

Wow, you are so talanted!!! Everything looked absolutely amazing. I feel so bad for my guests. lol

ndvidul · April 6, 2012

Petal Cone Holders

I got this idea from another bride on here who made her own and also from the book The DIY Bride by Khris Cochran. I figured they were a decoration in themselves that isn't too expensive.

I wanted the paper for them to have embossed designs to make it look more expensive-looking than just a paper craft. I found the paper at Michael's, and it reminded me of shells. I wanted to add a design around them since they looked so plain, so I added twine and a silver heart charm to each of them (also from Michael's - wedding favors section).

We didn't use a template or anything to make them, we just twisted one piece of paper into a cone, measured where we wanted it, cut off the excess paper, and made a template! Then, I measured where to punch holes for the twine to weave through, and voila! Once the cone was twisted into position, I hot glued the end of the paper to make sure it stayed.

All the petal cones made it in one piece to Cancun. And I LOVE the picture of us walking down the aisle as people tossed petals (the beginning pic of this thread).

Here's to you walking down the aisle!

Tammy

ndvidul · April 6, 2012

He/She Frame

I saw this idea either in a magazine or online somewhere and loved it! I put my own spin on it by using a picture frame.

The frame is from Michael's (got it for about $10 - 50% off). The background paper is from Hobby Lobby, and I just designed the wording in Microsoft Word. (Font = Caslon Antique Italic)

I really loved this personal touch for our guestbook table. Now, we're using the frame to host our wedding pics in our dining room!