La's DIY Blog...

[LaLa1116]

Hi Everyone!

 

As we are not technically supposed to post a planning thread until a few weeks before our wedding (which I am so in awe of brides that actually find the time to do this a few weeks before their weddings), I thought I would start a DIY blog of the wedding items I've created so far.  This forum has been so incredibly informative and helpful, that it is only right to give something back. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to post them here or PM me. 

 

Some background info: 

My name is Lauren. My fiancé, John (Buddy) and I getting married at Las Caletas & staying at Dreams PV in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on November 16th, 2013.  We have had a nice long engagement (almost 2 years), so I have had plenty of time work on projects (and save us some money!) for the wedding.   Our colors are mint green and coral.  Our theme is beach rustic with traditional Mexican elements mixed in.

 

Our Save the Dates were luggage tags.  I took one of our engagement pictures and altered it to look like a painting...this was the front of the tag.  On the back, there was information about the wedding.  I also created a stamp on Zazzle.com using the same picture.

 

  

 

Our invitations were made with a cricut machine.  They were made to mimic a papel picado design I saw on Etsy.com, but couldn't imagine paying $450 for 25 invitations.  While they aren't laser cut, I think the end result is just as professional.  I found an AMOR papel picado stamp on Zazzle.com and used it for our envelopes.  The RSVP card was made quickly in Microsoft Word. We had guests rsvp on our website to save money on stamps and return envelopes.  I hand addressed the envelopes by printing on them in very light ink and tracing over it with a paint pen.  I LOVE them and our guests are still talking about them!

 

   

 

Our reminder post cards went out a week before the room reservation deadline as a friendly reminder to our guests.  Again, I used one of our engagement pictures and a stamp from Zazzle.  The front says, "Just a quick reminder."  The back says, "Save these Dates" and all important dates were listed including reservation dates and passport deadlines.

 

 

Our wedsite: Follow the link below if you would like to read about our story or wedding details.

www.weddingwire.com/laurenandbuddy

 

Ceremony items:

On each chair there will be "tears of joy" packets (heart-shaped doilies were folded into envelopes with tissues and a cute poem "Tears of Joy, Tears of Laughter, Tears of Happily Ever After" inside).  I thought the doilies mimicked the look of the papel picado so it worked with our theme nicely. 

 

 

On every other chair there will be mini wooden maracas (left unpainted and natural) and banderas flags to wave and shake at the kiss. I obviously didn't make these, haha. I bought the maracas on Oriental Trading Co. and the Banderas on Etsy.

  

 

I haven't finished our programs just yet, so I will attach pictures of them when they are finished.  I am also working on a sand ceremony frame that I will post when it's done.  I'd like to keep this blog organized, so I will wait to post other pictures (OOT bags, reception items, etc) until the ceremony items are done.  Stay tuned...Much more to come!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AnaSteele58]

I love the idea of a reminder postcard!

[LaLa1116]

Originally Posted by AnaSteele58 

 

I love the idea of a reminder postcard!

Thanks! Our guests definitely appreciated the reminder. Most of them said that they are keeping it on their fridge.  It was also a friendlier way to remind guests who hadn't booked that they better get a move on! I printed them through Zazzle and it was super cheap

[DinaQtobe]

Your invitations are so beautiful!

[Jenny2014]

Love it! Everything looks stunning... your invites are just incredible.

 

We will be staying and getting married at Dreams as well! Not until September 2014 though.... but isn't it just an incredible resort?

 

I am actually going to subscribe to this thread, to refer back to. Some of the details you had on your website were amazing and I might borrow with love to add to mine!

 

Excited for you!
 

[AnaSteele58]

What program did you use to make your engagement picture look like a painting?

[LaLa1116]

Your invitations are so beautiful!

Thank you so much!

[LaLa1116]

Thank

Love it! Everything looks stunning... your invites are just incredible. We will be staying and getting married at Dreams as well! Not until September 2014 though.... but isn't it just an incredible resort? I am actually going to subscribe to this thread, to refer back to. Some of the details you had on your website were amazing and I might borrow with love to add to mine! Excited for you!  

Thank you! We LOVED dreams when we stayed their during our site visit. It sealed the deal for us when we were still making our final decision on the resort for our wedding guests. We saw several weddings take place while we were there and they were wonderful! Please feel free to use anything from the website and good luck with everything! Happy planning!

[LaLa1116]

@anasteele- I used www.befunky.com. It's a free photo editing site that allows you to manipulate pictures to look like sketches, pairings, etc. It's a lot of fun-check it out!

[LaLa1116]

@anasteele- I used www.befunky.com. It's a free photo editing site that allows you to manipulate pictures to look like sketches, pairings, etc. It's a lot of fun-check it out!

I meant to type "paintings" not "pairings" - damn auto correct haha