The Recessionista Bride’s DIY Guide

Posted May 3rd, 2010 | 8:30 am | By Emily Wood |

It’s a pretty safe bet to say that we’re far from having the biggest wedding budget in the world. So when times are tight, what better way to save money (and have far too much fun!) than to attempt many brides’ favourite thing: DIY projects!  I know I’ve been talking about my über-nerdy cake toppers for a while, but they’re not the only thing we’re doing ourselves. We’re also making our invitations, and centrepieces too. So without further ado, I bring you my DIY Guide for the Recessionista Bride!

Project #1: The Centrepieces

In my last post, I mentioned the centrepieces we’d ordered on eBay. I was initially looking for some white or silver branches, but after scouring the Internet, I found the cost to ship them to Canada was exorbitant. And no matter how committed I was to DIY, I wasn’t spending a weekend collecting twigs off the ground, spray painting them silver and covering myself in more glitter than a night with Adam Lambert in Vegas. So luckily, what they say is true—you can find anything on the Internet if you know where to look! We found these beautiful faux twigs on eBay—perfectly wintry, mess-free, and light enough to be incredibly reasonable to ship. We stocked up on vases from the Dollar Store, ordered votives in bulk, and hit the local Safeway for a few bags of sugar with which to fill the vases. Because nothing says “Winter Wonderland” quite like a trip down the baking aisle. What do you think?

Project #2: The Invitations

I’ve been fortunate to have had experience in graphic design for several years, as well as in the printing industry, so I had a bit of a heads up on where to look for supplies. We found a great deal on pearlescent card stock at the Blue Dot Paper Shop, who cut it all according to our specifications and had it on our doorstep within the week. I designed the invites, and we printed them on the card stock at Staples. We matted a shimmery white stock onto a sparkling ice blue, and adhered little rhinestones, one by one (note to self: when DIY-ing finicky projects, skip the gel nails!), to the printed snowflakes.  We made the same design in English and French, ordered a custom snowflake return address stamp for the envelopes, and finished up with something we were rather proud of!

Project #3: The Nerdfest Cake Toppers

Now, I realize some of you may have never encountered a Dalek before. For those of you that have—yes, we went there. For those of you that haven’t? A quick lesson in sci-fi: Doctor Who is a British show that’s been running since the 1960′s, and currently holds the record for the longest-running science fiction show in the world. The Doctor travels through time and space with various companions, battling villains, saving the Earth, and generally being just about the most awesome thing ever.  Generations have grown up “hiding behind the sofa”; some episodes have had me thoroughly chilled, while others have had me jumping up and down, clapping with excitement (did I just lose all my street cred?). There are a few repeating characters, the Daleks being one of the original baddies, their goal being to “EX-TER-MINATE” all non-Dalek life from the universe.  They’ve become synonymous with the name Doctor Who, the show that’s kept us both thoroughly entertained on Saturday nights since we’ve been together. So on top of entering the reception to the theme tune, we decided to give the traditional bride-and-groom cake topper a bit of a twist. And make them into Daleks.  I ordered two action figures, and used the extra tulle I had from my nightmare eBay veil to make a miniature one, along with an old ring as a headpiece. I bought some faux flowers and ribbon, and made a miniature bouquet, and some felt to make a bow tie and a little top hat for the Dalek Groom.  Any girl whose fiancé is willing to indulge his inner geek along with her is a lucky lady indeed!

Overall, I think our projects were a hit! Are you attempting to DIY anything for your wedding? And are there any other nerd-brides out there?

Tags: blogger search, budget, cake topper, centrepieces, diy, ebay, invitations, traditional, winnipeg

Posted May 3rd, 2010 | 8:30 am | By Emily Wood |

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