Top 7 tips for a homemade wedding
Have clear ideas
When you are faced with designing features of your own wedding, it can be hard to know where to start. But a bride being let loose in a haberdashery or craft shop is like a child in a sweet shop. Homemade means you have so much choice as you aren’t confined to the readymade options, but this also means you can get carried away and want it all. Ensure you solidify your ideal look, including colours, patterns and styles, so you don’t end up with a mismatch wedding. A good way to do this is to create a mood board with snippets of all your favourite wedding ideas. Once you’ve refined it by creating different combinations or ‘moods’, you’ll know what to buy when you’re let loose.
Use blogs and craft websites
With a surge of interest in crafts and DIY in recent years, there is a wealth of creative blogs to choose from for inspiration. There are DIY fanatics covering knitting, hand stitch, appliqué, tie-die and just general do-it-yourself delights. Bag some tips on how to be shopping-savvy at antique fairs, flea markets and auction sites as well as advice on how to create your own wedding features from existing possessions and materials. Forums are a great way to gain tips too; asking other brides how they achieved DIY dreamland for their wedding is invaluable.
Rope in family and friends
The prospect of hand making just one aspect of your wedding day, such as invitations, is daunting when you have to make them on your own. Many hands make light work remember, so be sure to send texts and emails to your nearest and dearest requesting their nimble hands and spare time. Getting together with loved ones to share in something so meaningful as making wedding invitations or centrepieces will not only get the job done but it also makes for a pre-wedding memory.
Your wedding rings
What could be more symbolic or romantic than making your very own wedding rings? With professional jewellers offering workshops you could make it a day to remember with your husband or wife-to-be by designing and making your wedding rings together. The jeweller or goldsmith will guide you through the design, materials and most importantly, the size. If you only incorporate one DIY feature into your wedding, make it your wedding rings, as these are a lasting item and will be the most meaningful.
Napkin holders
If you want to give DIY weddings a go but you’re not confident to home-make every feature of your big day, try a smaller feature such as napkin holders. Keep things simple with ribbon to match your colour scheme, affixed with a pretty brooch – this would work well for a vintage or traditional wedding. Or, buy some patterned paper and cut into two to four inch wide strips, then simply glue each end together and attach a piece of card with your guest’s name expertly scribed on it. Bunting and pom-poms are also simple ways to add a homemade touch to your big day without spending too much on materials, as are tea light holders made from jam jars and personalised labels for wedding favours.
Invitations & name settings
With so many options for your wedding stationery it can be hard to know where to start. But making your own wedding invitations and name setting couldn’t be simpler. Often, with wedding stationery the simpler the design, the more effective the overall look. So try techniques such as layering up different coloured and sized pieces of card, glueing on the odd diamante or attaching some thin ribbon – or if you’re the crafty type, why not draw out a pattern onto some card and then remove the area around your design with a craft knife to create a stencil effect? Making your own seating plan board to stand at the entrance of your wedding reception is a great DIY opportunity too; simply mount your individual table lists onto some coloured or patterned card and adorn the background with a detail that reflects your theme, be it buttons, bows or butterflies.
Canapés and cake
One of the main features of any wedding is the food and drink. Your preference on taste and flavour are so unique so this is a great opportunity to make this a personal wedding feature. For edible wedding favours or after dinner treats, why not try making some chocolate truffles or fudge? This oh-so-simple confectionery is inexpensive and fun to make. Or why not get your hands dirty by making some simple canapés such as asparagus wrapped in parma ham, prawn-filled lettuce cups or miniature tarts? And the pièce de résistance is of course making your own wedding cake. Not as daunting as it sounds, baking and icing your own cake is probably one of the most satisfying DIY wedding features. Who says wedding cakes have to be more than one tier, anyway? Read more on getwed.com...
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