I will probably do my own wedding day make-up as a DIY project, since I enjoy doing my own make-up and it’s an easy way to save money. I usually wear my everyday make-up to look natural and I was happy with the way my DIY make-up turned out in my engagement pictures.

By Sargent Photoworks

To perfect my wedding day look, I plan on practicing over the next 5 months and taking pictures inside and outside to see what looks best. I also plan on writing down step-by-step what I am doing on these practice runs so that I know exactly how to recreate my perfect look, when I find it.

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Taken by me!

Envelope liners are a simple way to add a pop of color to your mailings. I made these to go with my DIY thank you cards. They’re so simple, I bet a kindergartner could make them!
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When we started wedding planning, I had grand plans about all the DIY projects that I was going to contribute to the wedding.  Sadly, none of them have worked out yet.  Well, to be honest, I haven’t even tried any of them yet.  I have to be honest and say I’m not the craftiest person in the world.  I know that some of the projects would have taken me a while to get right.  And before I began working on them, I found other solutions that were not too expensive and definitely time savers.

For example, I want to incorporate pattern into the reception decor.  I thought votive candle holders wrapped in a patterned vellum would be a good way to do this.  I started researching printing on vellum, various free patterns, and making templates of the right size to wrap around the votive holders.  Before I finished even reading about what I had to do, I found a seller on Etsy, Damask Diva, who sold the perfect votive holder wraps.  I talked to her about color and size, and they arrived pre-printed and sized.  All we have to do is wrap them around the votive holders and secure with double sided tape.

Another thing I thought about making was a card box.  I loved the look of the decorated boxes stacked on top of each other to look like a pile of gifts.  But again, just when I had begun to research what I needed to do I found a just-married bride who was selling the card box she had made for her wedding.  It happened to match my wedding colors, and it was made of photo frames.  It will be a great way to display some of our engagement photographs.

From theperfectcardbox.com

I had also thought about making the ring bearer pillow and flower girl basket as I hadn’t really found anything for sale that I liked.  I even went so far as going with my aunt to buy the fabric.  But then she offered to make them for me.  And I could tell that it would really make her happy to be able to do that for me.  Plus, she is much craftier than I am.  How could I say no to that?  And they have turned out amazingly beautiful.  Better than if I had made them by myself.

I have to say, at first, I felt kind of badly about myself that I wasn’t making all these wonderful projects like I see all over the bridal communities.  But I’ve come to realize that we all have to do what works best for us.  So to my fellow not-so-crafty brides, I would like to recommend keeping an eye out for sites like Etsy, communities (wedding and otherwise) where people may be selling slightly used wedding items, and friends and family who would be happy to help you.  And of course this doesn’t mean that I won’t eventually get around to making things for my wedding.  I’ve just realized that I don’t need to do everything when there are so many other (reasonably priced) resources out there!

If I could give any piece of advice for couples getting married, it would be to get the digital files/negatives for the photos on your wedding day. That’s all our package included really. If you have any basic editing skills or knowledge with a basic editing software, you can certainly save some money by converting pictures to different tones or touching up some puffy eyes a bit.*

One way we saved during this economic crunch was to create our own album.  Our photographer’s albums ran upwards of $1500.  While I’m sure they are absolutely gorgeous, Honeysuckle Dude and I don’t have that kind of dinero.  We also wanted to have a few albums and prints to give to family and friends, so putting together an album needed to be less expensive.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I am a bit of a DIY newbie. I did seriously consider DIYing our wedding invitations but in the end, decided that it would be too complicated/stressful. But making my own thank you cards is much simpler and in the end, allows me to put my stamp (har-har!) on some of our wedding correspondence.

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I have been seeing so many great DIY projects around the web! They are not my ideas, but I thought I would share some things that are $ friendly and way cool!

First up, tealight covers:

From C(oi)n:purse

I love this idea! I have lots of extra yarn hanging around the house and plan to try this over the next month. Since the ceremony space is dimly lit, I’m going to try to give some lighting this way. I think it produces a dim glow compared to a single flame.

Next up organza flowers:

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I may have mentioned before that I am a DIY novice. Basically, if a project requires a lot of manual dexterity, artistic ability or complicated steps, it’s probably not for me. I may have the ability to visualize what I want to do but my hands rarely cooperate! With that said, I decided that decorating gift bags for a Valentine’s Day wedding shower would be a good project for me.

Taken by me!

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I’m a knitter and someone who enjoys spending time on quality projects. When we decided to get married, I knew I wanted to make some kind of wrap to wear over my strapless wedding dress since our wedding is in October in Wisconsin, where it could be 90 degrees or 20 degrees.

Personal Photo

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My shower invitations went out this morning. Oh yeah! Shower me with goodies in exactly 1 month!

How do I know my shower invitations went out this morning? Because I put them in the mail myself. That’s right- gasp all you want. I made my shower invitations. I know, I know… my shower is not in my control. (That’s what you all think!) Why did I do it? Well, first and foremost because I take great joy in designing and crafting, I also did it because my maid of honor is still a student while she works full time and my mother (the two women hosting my shower) is crafting-functionaly-retarded. If left to their own devices I would end up with some doilies glue sticked to napkins with lots of glitter, scanned and then printed on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets. I adore them both, do I want to stress them out by forcing them to do things neither of them are comfortable with? Usually, yes. This time, no.

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Four wooden embroidery hoops with the letters W-E D-O embroidered on them. I’m going to make them and they will be out at one of our tables.

Embroidered by ChezSucreChes on Etsy

They would be really cute in photos. Especially if he held “we” and I held “do”!