TO DIY OR NOT TO DIY?

My dream was to have a crafty wedding. I knew from the start that Shawn and I would be collaborating on a lot of things for this festival of love and we turned out to be SUCH a great team. I wanted to look back and not regret putting the work into it and I look at it am SO proud of all the touches! If you want to DIY for your wedding know these two things: ITS REALLY HARD WORK and ITS NOT CHEAP. Dont mistake the two.

Here is the rundown of what we crafted and what other people crafted!

The Brooch Bouquets. I sent out a call to people's jewelry boxes for old or unused brooches for these delights. My mother, Shawn's mother and a few trips to Haight street were able to secure me enough to make 7 for my bridesmaids. Each had about 10 pieces.

The Table Numbers. Okay, I lied. Some of these were cheap! We bought picture frames from Ikea and my bridesmaid Jenny came up for a long weekend in SF where we painted them grey and glued on tiles from the game Bananagrams. Inside we simply put our invitation chopped up cause let's be honest: it looks cute. These are also Shawn's books but he did not write them.

The Love Preserves. The saddest revelation post wedding was that NO ONE KNEW we made all the Jams and Jellies that were the wedding gifts! Sad sad sad. Anyway, we made 125 of them in 5 different flavors: Balsamic Onion Marmalade, Strawberry Rhubarb, Blueberry Apricot, Apple Butter and Lemon Ginger and Rosemary Curd. Sososososo good! Yum!

The Bunting. My grandma made the bunting with my mom! Like a deconstructed quilt.

Name & Table Assignments. We orded tags online, hand wrote them and stamped the acks with cute owls and forks and knives. The best part of the setup was the white stand that my grandfather made!

Cute Sign! Where people were from. My mom made this! Sorry to Kris and Darcy for not putting Atlanta, GA. You moved after I gave the names to my mom.

Hair Piece. My cousin Emily made this for me for my big day! Loved wearing something my cousin made.