Creative & Budget Friendly Wedding Ideas

Planning a wedding on a budget can present challenges but with some creativity, time spent checking out YouTube ‘how-to’ videos, you can save a tremendous amount of money and achieve the perfect affair. Or you can hire me and I’ll do it all. 😎

However, to cut costs of your wedding without sacrificing style, here are some of my creative ideas worth trying.

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  Vintage flea market frame with chalkboard seating chart.

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  Search YouTube for easy DIY lettering projects!

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  Birch bark table numbers and signage.

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  Vintage painted furniture as wedding altars.

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  Fabric pennant garlands.

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  Make your own cake topper with craft store finds! PS-I made the little paper mache birdies. How to video coming soon.

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  Give a tree, plant a tree favors. Greenworld Project.

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  Create a custom rubber stamp on Zazzle!

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  Grab a leaf, glue two rocks together and voila!

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  Using your home printer, create your own programs and signage.

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  Place your drink list inside an open book.

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  Globe card drop.

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  Painted globe guest book.

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  For outdoor parties, cut some wine bottles and use them as lanterns.

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  Vintage bottles filled with flowers and greenery.

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  Centerpieces of plant nursery potted plants wrapped in burlap and twine.

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  Table numbers using glass frames with pressed botanicals.

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  Craft store wood rounds painted and hand lettered make the perfect seating chart.

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  Vintage flannel glued to paper leaf cutouts as guest favors.

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Jackie & Jeff’s Spring Wedding

This gallery contains 14 photos.

One of the reasons I love planning and styling weddings is the opportunity to think out of the box and to create unique venues for clients. Fortunately, my clients have allowed a little design craziness. And as expected, some cockamamy ideas … Continue reading →

Lynn & Quin’s Mountainside Wedding

This gallery contains 23 photos.

I’m convinced I was a butler in a former life. And like Mr. Carson in the TV show, Downton Abbey, I appreciate and expect order. With proper planning, agendas, and lists what could go wrong, right? For Lynn & Quin’s … Continue reading →

Melissa & Dave’s Wedding

This gallery contains 26 photos.

What a privilege it was to plan and style Melissa and Dave’s woodland themed wedding at the Rodale Institute farm. For months I was fully immersed in planning every detail along with designing the invitation, styling the entire event along … Continue reading →

Repurposed Pantry Jars As Party Favors

Hello crafters! A while back I posted a project titled, Repurposed Jars for the Holidays. It was a big hit on my blog so I decided to repurpose MORE jars but this time as tiny terrariums. I think they’d be awesome as wedding favors!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Jars from your pantry
• Craft store acrylic paint
• Tiny succulents
• Potting soil
• Small pebbles
• 18 gauge aluminum wire
• Card stock paper
• Tiny spoon or twig
• Wire cutter
• Pencil

With the exception of the jars, succulents and potting soil, you can pick up all project ingredients from your craft store. The succulents and potting soil can be purchased at your local plant nursery.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Empty, clean and remove label from the jar.
2. Paint jar lid your favorite color.
3. Add about 1/2 inch of soil to the bottom of the jar.
4. Remove the succulent from the store container and remove any excess soil that is around the root system. Don’t worry about hurting these little guys, they’re super resilient.
5. Insert the succulent into jar and secure the roots of the succulent in the soil using a small spoon or twig.
6. Add a layer of pebbles.
7. Cut a section of wire to wrap and twist around the neck of the jar.
8. Using a pencil, curl the other end of the wire around the pencil to create a coil – this will hold the name tag.
9. Create a name tag with card stock paper, slip it in the coiled end of the wire and your done!

This project is super easy and inexpensive to make. And best of all, it makes a super and unique gift. Oh, and caring for these little lovelies is a breeze:

Check every couple of days to see if your terrarium needs water. If it is dry add a tiny bit of water.

If your terrarium is closed, take off the top every couple of days to air it out. If you see lots of condensation or have added too much water, leave the top off until it has had a chance to dry out.

Pull off any leaves that show signs of yellowing or damage and prune plants if they grow too large.

Don’t fertilize your terrarium because you don’t want to encourage growth.

Happy crafting!

 

 

Simple Flower Arrangements & Flea Market Finds

 

Last week I had the privilege to do some floral styling for a video shoot. The photographer we worked with was photo journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient, Matt Rainey. The images he captured are exquisite and Matt was kind enough to share these photos with me so I could share them with you.

For this assignment, I used simple and elegant thrift store vessels to compliment the freshly cut spring flowers. There’s really no need to spend big buck on vases … let the flowers express themselves.

How To Make A Unique Spring Wreath

Spring is here and what better way to celebrate than to make this unique and elegant garden wreath. Simply gather nature’s gifts and start creating!

 

With the exception of the plants, I found all my project ingredients at A.C. Moore craft store.  You’ll need:

• A wreath – an inexpensive and sturdy grapevine wreath will do just fine
• Small plants of your choice – I am using a tiny fern and two Forget-me-not plants
• Sheet moss
• Green florist wire

Here’s how you do it:

Expand the wreath by pulling apart the vines to create a nest for the plants.
Remove the plants from their pots and gently remove most of the soil from the root ball. Not to worry, these little guys will survive just fine.
With your hands, create a small ball at the base of the plant by molding the roots and the remaining soil.
Cover the root ball with sheet moss and tie it securely with florist wire and insert into your wreath.
Your done!

It’s so simple and to keep your creation fresh, simply water when the moss surrounding the root base is dry to the touch.

Happy spring and happy crafting!

Pink…Feminine, Soft, Sweet

Last August I had the honor and privilege to design and create the bridal party bouquets for the sweetest of brides. For Tina and Miguel’s wedding, Tina requested pink for her bridal party. For me the hardest part of her request was focusing on the perfect combination of flowers and since there are a gazillion to choose from, I needed to create the perfect recipe for a perfect pink bouquet. Anyone who knows me knows well that I’m a gigantic mess before any wedding or event. This wedding was no exception and ultimately, Tina loved the bouquets….phew!

Tied with pink fabric remnants from the bridesmaid dresses, Tina’s bouquet recipe included:

Pink Garden Roses
Dusty Miller
Calla Lily
Pink Dalia
Deep Pink Cockscomb

Tina and Miguel you are beautiful and thank you Candid Moments Photography for providing these stunning images of their special day.

Styling & Planning a Wedding

Creativity is a drug I cannot live without. — Cecile B. DeMille

Last fall, I shared a blog post about my dear friends wedding. As with any event, I was honored to have the opportunity to help plan and style Jessica and Ryan’s special day. Since there are so many moving parts to wedding celebrations, planning can sometimes seem challenging but with great resources, creativity, fantastic and dedicated helpers (who I love and adore), and many, many to-do lists, events like this all come together.

Jess & Ryan recently shared ALL of their wedding photos with me and I pulled a select few to share with you. The photographer, Farid Widjaya, brilliantly captured every magical moment. Enjoy!

Jessica’s bouquet, sunflowers, thistle, craspidia, spray roses, scabiosa pods, white hypericum, silver brunia, and ferns

Birch slabs painted with chalkboard paint.

Sweet little Cora.

We’re ready for our closeup Mr. DeMille.

Vintage cobalt blue bottles under a glass cloche. These were the table centerpieces.

A Fall Wedding for Jessica & Ryan

About a year ago I was asked by my dear friends to help plan and style their fall wedding which they were planning to have on the magical Rodale Institute Farm.

The day was perfect. All of the prop hunting, hard work and support from my loving friends and family, coupled with the beautiful Jessica and her dashing husband Ryan, made for an absolutely enchanting day. And, Rodale Catering & Events‘ fried chicken, mac & cheese, and scrumptious pies and desserts were to die for.

Enjoy a few snaps shots from Jess & Ryan’s special day.

The altar by the pond.

Guest seating by the pond.

Vintage church pews and comfy pillows.

A special wedding guest.

Bar menu in vintage encyclopedia.

Bar menu in vintage encyclopedia.

Scrumptious organic apple pie.

More scrumptious organic pecan pies.

The beautiful couple.

One of two giant photo display tables in the barn.