A Perfect Spring Wedding…..DIY Style!

Well the wedding season is well and truly upon us! This week kick starts our bookings for this busy season and one thing that really suits spring weddings are DIY touches.

There are many ways to add DIY touches to your big day

We automatically think of pale colours - greens, pinks and yellows with birds, butterflies and vintage inspiration. Weddings can be expensive and you want to keep the cost down without cutting corners and having to miss out on those extra little touches which make your wedding day perfect. Here’s a few tips on how you can have a perfect Spring wedding, at a price you can afford....

Let’s start with the invitations…

For a spring feel, simple and elegant with splashes of those pale colours. Pay a visit to your local craft shop they are bound to have a selection of different papers and decorations that can be used to make those invitations more affordable and even a bit more personal. You could try layering different textured card and paper, stencils and borders, diamantes and beads to add that bit of extra sparkly detail. There’s so much to choose from! So go and explore and see what suits you best.

Craft shops can offer an endless choice of inspiration

Place Cards

There are so many different ways that you can produce name placements and seating plans for your guests to make them quirky and unique. I’ve seen plenty of cards simply folded over with guests’ name written on the front but why not jazz it up with a print or attaching little objects that are symbolic to your wedding and can be keepsakes? How about making small cupcakes and writing your guests name in icing or even writing their name on a flag and sticking it in? The opportunities are endless.

Seating Plans

Seating plans are yet another one of those all-important necessities at weddings. We all have certain members of family and friends that need to be seated separately…a drunk uncle cracking inappropriate jokes to a group of children is never a good mix. The way you want your seating plan to look will effect how much you need to spend. So, here are a few tips… If you decide you want a paper/card layout then you can buy this in bulk from arts and craft shops as well as any decorations you may want to add. You could buy stencils for the text or create it on a computer and print it out. If you want to add bits of fabric and ribbon then the best place to go is a fabric or haberdashery shop.  These can all be stuck together using glue so it’s relatively easy it just takes time and patience. How about having a get together with close friends and family who may be willing to help you with your DIY cost effective wedding preparations for brainstorming sessions? Then you could have arts and crafts get togethers to have a good old gossip about your wedding, whilst adding those personal touches at a bargain price. The seating plan needs to be displayed for everyone to see and can be mounted and placed on an easel, put in a large photo frame or simply stuck or hung to the wall…whatever suits you and your venue.  

Confetti

You say “I Do”, walk back up the aisle with your loved one, head outside and you’re congratulated with shouts and showers of rice confetti! All shop bought confetti can get a bit repetitive….it only seems to be full of hearts and horse shoes. So how about making your own confetti to give to your guests to throw over you? You could make your own confetti shapes using paper or even rose petals can be romantic. Rose petals can be bought in huge bulks from online shops such as eBay for reasonable amounts and then you could make the packets to put them in. For example, paper cones, paper bags and organza bags. Paper confetti can be cut out using hole punchers that can be bought online and from craft shops in specific shapes and sizes.

Personalise your confetti, you can even make it environmentally friendly

Decorations

Lots of brides want mismatched decorations and furniture at their wedding but aren't sure where to look. For example, a vintage tea party theme. You want old, worn out, flowery patterns, intricate detailing but it’s difficult to find these in a shop today. The best places to look for these items are antique shops, boot sales and charity shops! You’d be amazed at the old treasures you can dig up and all for a thrifty price tag too. So get out there and get digging…You never know what you’ll find!

There are loads of other decorations you may want at your wedding….bunting, personal signs and messages, table decorations, ornaments etc to hang if you have an outside wedding…the list goes on! For nature inspired weddings you could go and collect pine cones, acorns and etc that have fallen from the trees…for free too!

Vintage themes work brilliantly for DIY touches

Cake Time

Cakes are a must have at any wedding! Unfortunately, they can be a bit pricey but everyone seems to have that one person in their family who offers to make theirs, so why not take them up on it? Or if not, why don’t you give it a go yourself? You can practice with different types of cake…fruit, flavoured, Victoria sponge, chocolate or one of each. There are lots of online tutorials on how to make icing decorations or look out locally for cake making classes that can teach you the basics. Or perhaps, instead of having one big cake, you could have a tiered cupcake stand and they could be decorated individually…The choice is yours. 

It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it

Favours

It always nice to give your guests a token gift to say thank you for helping you celebrate your special day. The most popular favours are sweets and chocolates but flower seeds of flowers used at the wedding are an excellent tooth friendly alternative. The way you present them can be up to you…organza bags, paper bags, gift boxes, mini jars etc. Sweets and other small gists can be bought in bulk (just look on Ebay) and then you can divide them between your guests and keep your costs low. You could also include little messages which could be hand written or printed off.

For bridesmaids, best men, page boys, flower girls and so on, it may be nicer to get them something a bit more personal. Items of jewellery are quite popular and you could get them engraved with their title for the day and the wedding date to make it more personal.

Sweets and chocolates make a nice little treat for your guests

Bouquets

Flower bouquets can be pretty pricey and only last for a couple of days before they die. Why not make your own non-flower bouquet using brooches, beads, diamantes, butterflies, shells, feathers, bits of fabric and so on. You could also make origami flowers to make it look a bit more quirky and fun. They can work out cheaper and last forever….another beautiful memento from your special day. You could ask family and friends to donate objects to add, so it makes it that bit more personal. Alternatively go to craft shops, jewellery sales, charity shops and boot sale to dig up a few treasures. You can make it any size you want, add as much or little decoration and have as many colours as you like. 

We are in love with these alternative boquets!

You can look online for more examples and inspiration on everything mentioned above and so much more! Have a look at how other DIY Brides have kept the cost down and then DIY away to your heart’s content!

Charms & Keepsakes,

BBF & Guest Author, Chloe Tomlinson

xx