Travel Themed Wedding Inspiration

Travel Themed Wedding favors @ Polka David

Travel Themed favors @ Beau Coup

Travel Themed Wedding Invitations at Custom Paper Works

Rock n Roll Wedding Inspiration

From Cakes by Paula Surrette

From Earlene's cakes

From Ask Ginka

From Good Things Wedding Favors

From Offbeat Bride

These awesome dresses are part of the 2009 Rock ‘N Roll Collection by Designer Claire Pettibone

Chakra ~ Ecru embroidery with nailhead embellishment:

Gothique ~ Jeweled corset with velvet and tulle chevron skirt:

Midnight ~ Antique embroidery with amethyst straps and black rose:

DIY: Kissing Tree

From Style Me Pretty

As an alternative to the clinking of glasses, the guests approach the tree and pluck off a matchbook. The MC then reads aloud what they have to do to have the bride and groom kiss. Things like answering bride and groom trivia, singing a love song with your table and preforming a charade of a “wedding” movie…

To Make the Kissing Tree…

Insert tall, sturdy branches into the base of a vase (using the green styrofoam). Hang matchbooks that have been adorned with fun tasks, to each of the branches. Make sure to only have about 25 matchbooks on the tree so that the game doesn’t get boring or redundant. And, make sure to prep your dj ahead of time so that he understands his job!

DIY bird cage veil

credit: care04 on theknot.com

credit: care04 on theknot.com

I found a fantastic tutorial online by “care04” (From theknot.com!) who created her own bird cage veil and was nice enough to share the instructions with us!

You will need…

• 1 yard of Russian Netting (9″ wide for a smaller veil like care04 created OR 18″ wide if you plan to cover your entire face)
• 2 small combs for a smaller veil to be placed at each side of your head (with optional 3rd small comb to place in center to better hold the veil in place and further shape the netting) OR 1 large comb for a full face veil which would be placed at the top/middle of your head
• invisible/white/ivory thread, depending on the color of the netting and your preference (Care04 recommended and used button thread)
• hair pins to further shape veil once finished and placed on your head
• Scissors
• Optional: String to use as a guideline when cutting the veil shape

Let’s create a bird cage veil!

1. Lay out the netting so that the longest part is parallel with your body and decide on the veil shape. (Care04 used string to get an idea of the veil shape she wanted to cut and give the scissors a guideline to follow).
2. Cut off the hard corners of one side of the veil. Cut along the string line with sharp scissors so that you have one long edge with hard corners and one long edge with a rounded edge.
3. You will start your sewing at the hard corner and sew along the edge, through the rounded corner and across the top, then back down the opposite rounded corner, and finish at the hard edge opposite to the first hard edge. (This will pull the edges of the veil up so that it is a more rounded shape around your face.)
4. Using your thread (Care04 used button thread because of its strength), loop it once through a “diamond” of the netting at the first hard corner and make a very small knot so that the thread will hold. Use a running stitch through the open weaves of the netting. (Make sure to thread in between the diamonds that are complete - when you cut your netting, some of the “diamonds” will be cut, so if you thread through those broken holes the thread won’t stay!)
5. As you pull your thread for the running stitch, bunch up the fabric on the thread (it will be sort of like a drawstring) to your desired width. (Care04 used a 3.5 inch comb, so she gathered it to 3.5 inches - gather to the width of your comb(s)!) When you have gathered to the width you need, finish with a small tight knot.
6. Next, using your thread sew the bunched edge of the veil to the comb using a looping stitch, through the material and around the top/head of the comb and in between the teeth).
7. If using 2 small combs and wrapping, repeat step to attach the second comb to the other side of the veil.
8. Lastly, add embellishments! Scatter pearls or crystals as you see fit, attach feathers or even a flower (a silk gardenia would be pretty!). Be creative! (Note: You may also choose to make smaller embellishments on the veil itself, and then save the bigger ones like feathers and flowers for a separate comb to use along with your bird cage veil. This would allow you to place the larger flower/feather pin to hide pins or combs and also the ability to remove the bird cage veil after ceremony and wear only the flower/feather clip at the reception!)

DIY Ring Bearer Pillow

The very talented Mrs. Spring Roll from Weddingbee has given instructions on how to make this super cute ring bearer pillow.

Supplies needed:

• ½” yard silk fabric
• ½” yard chantilly lace
• Paper to create template
• Good pair of fabric scissors
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Fiberfill
• 1 ½” thick ribbon
• 1/8” thick ribbon

Steps:

1. Create a square template using a sheet of construction paper. (I made my square 8”x8”).

2. Trace the template onto the silk fabric and cut (you should be left with two squares). Then, cut two pieces of lace with a border of approximately 8”x 3”.

3. Using one piece of square fabric, place one piece of silk, border facing the top, about 1” from top. Place the second piece of silk, border facing the bottom, about 1” from bottom. Pin silk into place.

4. By hand, sew the edges of the lace to the square fabric.

5. Pin the square fabric with lace to the other square fabric. Make sure that the good sides are facing “in”.

6. Sew square together, leaving a 2″ gap to insert fiberfill into.

7. Reverse pillow so that the good sides are now facing “out”.

8. Fill with fiberfill until you are happy with fullness.

9. By hand, sew 2″ gap close.

10. Cut 1 ½” thick ribbon approximately 8” long. Place ribbon on the center of lace. Sew ends of ribbon to the edge of pillow.

11. Cut 1/8” thick ribbon approximately 16” long. Tie ribbon onto center of thicker ribbon. (This will become the hanging ribbon that rings are tied onto)

12. Cut 1 ½” thick ribbon approximately 16” long. Make a bow, cutting the excess ribbon off. Sew bow onto center of 1 ½” thick ribbon.

DIY: Hand-painted Parasol

These beautiful hand painted parasols are perfect for a garden or beach wedding.

The “Thank You” parasol in a photo would make a great thank you card for after the wedding



You’ll Need..

* Paper parasol in your choice of size - just make sure that the paper is slightly transparent to allow you to see your pattern through it, most brides go with a simple white parasol (See Paper Lantern Store or Oriental Trading (bulk purchase) to order online)
* Acrylic Paints
* Pencil
* Tape
* Fine Paint Brush (Don’t go too cheap here, you’ll want a soft fine brush able to glide along the paper and paint intricate lines…In other words, don’t use the paintbrush from a kids watercolor paint set!)
* Computer/Printer to print pattern
* Optional - Embellishments such as swarovski crystals (and glue!)

Some suggestions for designs…
Just Married
Flowergirl
Bride
Groom
Bridesmaid
Groomsman
We Did!
I Do
Thank you!
Love
Your Monogram
Your Wedding Date

Making the parasols are extremely simple! Just gather your materials and steady your hand..here we go!

1. Decide what you want on your parasol. You will want to prepare your pattern on the computer to use as a guide for painting. How you do this depends on the programs you have available on your computer, however most brides seem to use Microsoft Word to type out the words/letters they want in the font style of their choice. Enlarge the font size (or design) till you get the size you want - you’ll have to play with this (and test print) till you get the size you are looking for. If the lettering/design is small you may be able to fit a word per sheet of paper. Some designs may require one letter per sheet..and some designs (a monogram perhaps?) are so big they may require several sheets of paper taped together. When you’ve successfully printed the letter(s)/design(s) for your parasol in the size you want you are ready for the next step!
2. Take your printed sheet and some scotch tape and GENTLY tape it to the underside of your parasol where you want the design on the sheet to be. The printed design should be face up so it peeks through the see through paper of your parasol - this is why your parasol -must- be see through to some degree and not opaque! This will act as a guide for painting onto your parasol.
3. Gently trace the design with a sharp pencil using the pattern you taped underneath as a guide.
4. Next, begin painting! Take your fine paint brush and begin painting your design using the pattern you traced. guide. Don’t rush this! Be very slow and gentle to fill in the pattern you traced. Some suggest using small strokes to avoid botching the design when you paint over the parasols ridges/bumps. If you are painting with more than one color, be sure to allow the first color (and each thereafter!) to dry before starting a new color.
5. Once your painting has dried you are done! You may now choose to further embellish your design to further customize your parasol. (Some swarovski crystals glued in select areas of the design could be very pretty!)

That’s it!

From DIY Wed Central

How to make a wedding garter

Keep in mind that many brides choose to have two garters if they are planning on doing the garter toss. One to throw and one to keep! Some element of blue such as blue beads, trim, lace or ribbon is also often used for the "something borrowed something blue" tradition.

Materials

• Fabric strip - 3 inches wide by one and a half times leg measurement
• Lace - any lace is fine, this is used as trim, same length as fabric strip
• Elastic - 1/2" wide
• Charms, etc - You can add personalized charms, beads or other trims as you wish. These can be sewed on or glued on with a glue gun.

Instructions for How to Make a Wedding Garter:

Be sure to measure your thigh where the garter will go. Use this measurement plus 1/2 to get the correct length of fabric and lace trim.

• Fold fabric strip in half lenthwise with the wrong side out. Sew this edge then turn inside out so the correct fabric side is facing out and the sewed edge is in the center of the fabric tube.







• Iron the tube so the seam is in the back center (which will be hidden against your leg) and then sew the lace onto the bottom edge.
• Slide the elastic into the tube. If this is difficult you can put a safety pin on the end of the elastic to help glide it through. Wrap your bridal garter around your leg and trim the elastic to where it is a comfortable fit. Sew the elastic edges together and finishing by hand-sewing the ribbon and fabric ends together.
• Lastly, you can sew on additional charms, beads, bows, rosettes or whatever embellishments you like!








From Do It Yourself Weddings

DIY Wedding Programs

From Style Me Pretty

Materials

Two types of fabric (both of which we incorporated into a variety of other DIY projects)
Satin ribbon
Cardstock Paper
24-lb Paper
Pinking Shears
Hot Glue Gun
Paper Cutter
Sewing Machine
Computer/printer

Instructions

1. We only had a limited amount of fabric, so the first decision we made was the size of the programs. They ended up measuring 5.5 x 7″. In order to incorporate two design themes we were working with, we used two types of fabric - one on top of the other on the programs. The fabrics were used on the front cover of the programs only, so we cut pieces of fabric that matched the dimensions exactly (although the “top” variety of fabric was slightly smaller and had a decorative edge).

2. Next, we wrote the content of the program and formatted it using Microsoft Word. The document size matched the program dimensions, but we made sure to leave extra space on the left margin of each page for the seam of the program. We printed the pages using my home printer, front-side only. Because the paper was too big, we cut the pages down to size (5.5 x 7″) using a paper cutter. The back cover of the program was printed on cardstock, to give it some heft. (We didn’t use cardstock under the fabric in the front because it made the program too difficult to flip through!)

3. We then collated all the individual pages together, with the fabric pieces for the front cover and the cardstock sheet for the back. To hold them together, we machine-sewed a seam down the left margin. (Note - this was a thick booklet, so it took some tinkering to get the right needle and machine settings!)

4. Finally, we tied a bunch of bows using 3/4″ satin ribbon and hot-glued one to the corner of each program.

5. Voila! All done!

DIY: Lacy Saucer Centerpieces

From Once Wed

What You'll Need

Terracotta Saucers

Spray Paint (two colors)

Paper Doilies (smaller in diameter than your saucers)

Spray Adhesive

Newspaper or Butcher Paper (to cover your work surface)

Candles, Blooms and Leaves (to trim your saucer)

Scissors

Latex Gloves

Respirator/ Mask

Resources:

Terracotta Saucers are available at craft stores, home improvement stores, and garden supply stores and Ikea.

Paper doilies are found at party supply stores, and craft stores. (look in the cake decorating section).

Ikea has just about the best prices on candles.

For this project, you should work outside, or in a well ventilated space. When using spray paint and spray adhesives, it's best to protect yourself with a respirator mask. Please follow all safety instructions on spray cans.

Directions:

1. Start by covering your work surfaces with newspaper or butcher paper.

2. Place you saucer face down, put on your gloves and mask, and spray paint the bottom and sides of the saucer using either of your two colors. Allow time to dry and apply a second coat if needed. (see fig 1)

3. When the saucer has dried, flip it over, and paint the front side using the lighter paint. Apply a second coat if needed and allow to dry.

4. You'll be using the doilies as your stencil for the trays. You can use a whole one, or you can take your scissors and carefully cut away the center, and just use the lacy border. (see figure 2)

5. Take your doily and lay it upside down on your protected work surface. Spray a light coat of spray adhesive on the back of the doily. (see figure 3)

6. Allow the adhesive to dry for a minute, then place it in the center of your dry, painted saucer, and smooth it down. (see figure 4)

7. Using your darker paint color, spray a coat on the saucer, over the doily stencil. Keep the can parallel to the saucer as you spray. Touch up, or spray a second coat if needed. (see figure 6)

8. Let the saucer set for a few minutes, then carefully lift your doily stencil to reveal your lacy pattern. (see figure 7) (You will be able to use your stencil for several more saucers. Just allow it to dry between uses, and spray a little more adhesive on the back if it starts to lose it's stick. )

9. Place a cluster of candles on your saucer and trim with loose blooms and foliage.

How To Make Your Own Wish Tree

From Here Comes The Bride

Here is what you need to recreate the tree shown in the picture:

8 Manzanita Branches: You can spray-paint them gold or silver, or you can leave it the way nature intended.
Crystal Garland for use on the tree and in the vases
2 Large Glass Hurricanes or Floral Vases
Ornament Hooks
2 pens for guests to write with
2 Large serving trays which can be used to display the wish cards before the guests hang them on the tree. (If you want the guests to be able to access both sides of the table you will need 2 Large serving platters 2 frames and 4 pens.)
1-2 frames: The frames are placed between the hurricanes on either side of the table. Inside the frame, place card stock with the wording: “Best Wishes Brides Names & Grooms Name.”
Wish Tree Notes: To keep it simple, you could have your invitation vendor create the notes in the same style and card stock as your wedding invitations, place cards, programs and guest cards. Or, you could choose card stock in any shape or color you want to fit the theme or look of your wedding. It could look like an actual leaf or it could be done in the shape of a sea shell or snow flake. You just want to make sure there is enough surface space on the card for the guest to write her message.

Useful tip: Make sure to get 15-20 extra notes more than your total guest count.

Here is how you would construct your Wish Tree:

1. Wrap the inside the hurricanes with the crystal garland in a circular direction so that you get a good base in which to place the manzanita branches.

2. Place the two hurricanes about a foot apart from each other on the table on which the wish tree will be displayed.

3. Arrange the manzanita branches in the hurricanes.

4. Take the remaining crystal garland and drape them throughout the branches. This could take some time and you might need to make adjustments. You just don’t want to have any huge holes.

5. Place a ornament hook on each wish card and display them on the table. You can use the a serving platter to display the cards on, like it is in the picture, or you can just spread them on the table itself. (This step was the most time consuming for me.)

6. Place the frames in the center of the two hurricanes

7. Place the pens on either side of the serving platter

Useful tip: To get the most sparkle out of your tree place it near a great light source or add a few votive candles around the tree.

Scottish Wedding theme

Picture from The Scottish Weaver

Above 2 pictures from Scottish Wedding Flowers

Picture from Truly Madly Weddings

Picture from Design Wedding Cakes & Toppers

Picture from Hearts Desire

Picture from Honeypot Sugarbush

Picture from The Scottish Nook