With spring in the air it is coming are to wedding fair season again. With this in mind I wanted to share the full range of crafts and design work I did for wedding back in October 2018.

I have a previous blog post where I talk about some of the crafts but here I am going to go into it in more detail Wedding Craft Part 1

Wedding Stationary

Invitations

As everyone knows the wedding invite is your guests first look at what your wedding is going to be like. Some people go with an elegant invite, some more simple. We had 2 themes in our wedding, Music and Vintage. With this in mind we went with a ticket style invitation. With the RSVP being the ticket stub. By doing the design myself we saved a lot of money.

Mass Booklet

When we got engaged I had a friend do a caricature of the two of us to use on simple thank you cards. I was so happy with this I asked her to do something similar for the mass booklet. The very talented Rebecca Carmichael was more than happy to help us again and I have to say she did a great job.

On a side note in relation to the Mass booklets I have 2 pieces of advice. No 1. Do the content as early as possible, I left it a bit last minute and it was unnecessary stress coming u to the last few weeks. No 2. Get an external person to proof read the booklets to check for spelling and grammar. We had an unfortunate, but funny when we think of it now spelling mistake at the end of one of the readings. “Thanks be to God” turned into “Thanks be to Good”. Luckily my friend that was due to do the reading spotted it a few days before hand and we came up to a sticker plan to cover it. She also did that for me that took a lot of pressure off.

Bridesmaid Gift

I couldn’t decide what to do for the Bridesmaids gifts, so I decided to do it all ?

I made a personalised gift box for each bridesmaid. I got the boxes from IKEA and using the Teal from the theme from the wedding to decorate it. I used teal tissue paper in the box. I put a strip of teal ribbon at the bottom of the lid and using vinyl I put each of their names.

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Inside where Pyjamas with the girls name subtly printed on them. I also got some printed for myself.

For the night before a small bottle of Rose Wine branded with a sticker. For the next morning a personalised mug. A personalised Makeup bag with some essentials, Lip Balm, Mirror, hair ties etc.

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I had my fried Ali in A Little Idea custom make a necklace for the 3 of us. 3 small cups representing each one of us on a beautiful chain.

Lastly I did some personalised hangers for the dresses, I have a blog post on how I made these here.

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Headpiece

With me going for a 50’s style short wedding dress a long vail wasn’t really an option. A headpiece with a small mesh vail would work best. Being the crafter that I am I wanted to have a go at making one myself but I had zero experience in making a headpiece so I went to a Fascinator work shop at The Design House in Dublin City Centre.

In this class I learned how to make a base to hold the design. I also learned how to make fabric flowers with some metal in the petals to make them bendy.

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Of all the things I made for the wedding this was the hardest and I was still making it the night before. I would leave this to the professionals if ever I need one again or make it the only craft thing I have to do for the day.

The Bicycle

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in my house as both my parents like to make and create things also. My Mam gave my Grandmothers old bicycle a new lease of life for the wedding. Granny’s bike was an old style black heavy bike with white trim. Mam painted the black with a lovely shade of blue as well as cleaning up the white trim , seat and handles also.

She got a new basket for the front and put some flowers in it for the day. I also added a welcome sign and the bike was placed at the front gate of the church.

Paper Flowers

During the Pinathon I had on Pinterest before my wedding looking for crafty ideas I came across these beautiful origami paper flowers. A lot of people used them to make their bouquets but I wanted real flower for that so I decided that I would use them on the church pews. I talk about them more in Wedding Craft Part 1 and I also have a step by step on how to make them in the Easter Basket. My good friend Maeve at Home Grown Sustainability helped me make the flowers and they where then used at her and her sister-in-laws wedding also so they where worth all the effort.

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Centrepieces, Seating Plan, Cake table

I talk about the Centrepieces in the Wedding Craft part 1 but I just wanted to show how they tied with the seating plan and cake table

Music and vintage where the two themes we had in our wedding. For the seating plan I created tables based on bands myself and my husband had been to see or love their songs.

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On each table I had the name of the band on a record in the centre of the table. To wrap up the music theme I then had cassette tape chocolate wedding favours at each guest seat.

There was a vintage part of the centrepieces also. I talk about the doilies, flower jars in the Wedding Craft Part 1.

Here I will talk about the china teacups and tea lights. I picked up a mix and match of some cups and saucers in the local weekly outdoor market as well as some in charity shops. I wanted to put tealight in each on the tables. I decided to go with the battery-operated ones as this they they would stay lit for hours. I also upcycled these at Christmas and made them into scented candles as gifts. Blog post here

I kept with the vintage tea party aspect when it came to the cake table also. I found a cute tea set that matched my grandmother’s old tea pot and arranged the table for tea for two.

We decided to go small with the dress cake so this fit in well on the tea table. We had our fab cakes made by our friend Ciara  at Ciara’s Cistin

The cake stand was a gift we received a few months previous and fitted in perfectly

And there you have it, that is all the crafty bits and bobs I did for my wedding. Id like to thank Sonja Smith Photography for letting me use her beautiful photos as well as doing a fab job on the big day

I visited my cousin a few years ago after the birth of her second child. I gifted her one of the beautiful baby-name-frame that I make. She asked if I did something similar for wedding gifts. Here is what I came up with.

What you will need

• Box Frame – I got this one in Home Store + More
• Cutting knife and board
• Coloured Paper and Card
• Scrabble tiles
• Wood embellishment
• Small piece of Lace.
• Double sided tape
• Silhouette Cameo Cutter

Method

Firstly I took apart the frame. I sometimes find the mount is a bit small for what I want so I cut it using a sharp cutting knife and cutting board.

once I am happy with the size I put the background paper that I want to use in place. I usually tape this into place using regular tape.

Now to start arranging the decorative elements on the background and make sure I have enough space for everything.

Next I turned to my trusty Silhouette Cameo cutter. I found some templates for a little brides dress and grooms suit. Putting in different card, I use the cutter to cut the different shapes I needed.

I arranged these on the background make sure I was happy with the size. I cut a simple dress, trousers, jacket, shirt and collar.

I found some templates for a little brides dress and grooms suit. Putting in different card, I use the cutter to cut the different shapes I needed.

I added some extra little bits to make the dress pretty. I used some lace at the bottom and some pearls around the waist. I also cut a little tie for the suit.

I added a small wooden embellishment as well.

Once I am happy that all the elements are in place I secure them down with doubled sided. if I feel like the double sided isn’t strong enough I use a dot of PVA glue.

Here is another one I did. On this one I added the date I just printed it out on paper using a nice font and secured it into place using double sided.

Personalised Engagement Frame

I also did this Engagement one as a gift to another cousin of mine.

I have got to the stage in my life where a lot of my friends are getting married. As part of the wedding gift to the bride I make these beautiful personalised wedding hangers for the bridal party. Here is how I do it.

What you will need

• Wooden hangers – Pail wood colour is best
• Pencil and eraser
• Thin black permanent marker
• Embellishments to decorate

Method

Pick a hanger that is well made and the join at the top is even. It will be easier to write the text across if it is nice and flat.

I usually type out and print the name in the type of text I want to copy. Like you had in school I make two guide lines for the text in pencil across the large part at the top of the hanger. Again in pencil I draw the text. Doing this in pencil means if I make a mistake its easily fixed again. Once I am happy with the text I can go over it with a thin permanent marker.

I let the text dry before I erase the excess pencil marks. As you can see in the above picture I didn’t put a dot on the eye as I put a pearl embellishment on it.

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I did the same to do the text for on each side of the hanger. Bridesmaid on one side and the date of the big day on the other.

Last of all I added some embellishments. I always check with the bride to see what colour the bridesmaids dresses are and try to match the them with the decorations.

Here is the finished product, beautiful aren’t they.

Pro Tip

A few years ago I invested in a Silhouette Cameo. Now to do the text I cut the font out from black vinyl. It is tricky to work with when using very script fonts but it gives a more professional performance.

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After all the crafting from our own wedding I had a lot of bits and bobs left over. Small bits of ribbon, lace and tea stained paper. I don’t like to throw out anything that I think I might be able to stick on something like an embellishment at some stage.

A good friend used some of the crafts for our wedding for her own special day a few months later. These included the origami paper flowers. I had some strips of the tea stained paper left over and decided to make something using this as a wedding gift to them.

Here is the step by step of how I made this 3D Paper Heart Wedding Gift

Here is what you need

• Box Frame – IKEA frame 23 cm x 23 cm
• Background paper
• Tea stained paper
• Small Heart shaped punch
• Double sided tape
• Sharp cutting knife
• Gift tag label and burlap string
• Letter embellishments

Method

Firstly I punched the hearts out of the tea stained paper. Then I made a basic heart shape using the hearts on the background I wanted to use. Once I was happy with the shape, I stuck them into position using double sided tape.

When I had the heart shape complete, I filled in the first layer with more hearts. I left some small gaps as these would be filled with the second layer.

Then I made the 3D hearts. I placed a thin strip of double sided tape on the back of the heart in the middle top to bottom. then places it on to of another heart. I lifted the two sides to make it 3D.

Using these 3D hearts I made the second layer. Once I had this done I placed it in the frame. I needed to cut the mount in the frame as it was too small. Carefully I cut it using a craft knife.

Once I had the heart in position, I placed the gift tag at the bottom and some string to look like it was hanging from the heart.

I then picked the embellishments I wanted to use personalise it.

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Different options to personalise the gift

Once I was happy with what I selected, I set them in place using more double sided tape. I then assembled the frame and made sure everything was in place..

Ready for Gifting

And here is the finished piece. The couple I gave it two where delighted with the gift and it is hanging proudly in their beautiful home.

Being as crafty as I am it was a given that our wedding day would feature some if not a lot of home made crafts by myself. It was a lot of hard work but when I saw everything finished on the day it was worth every minute.

Paper Pew Flowers

I found a pattern on line to make Origami paper flowers. As the wedding had a bit of a music theme I thought it would be cool use old music paper. to do this I printed off different sheet music and then tea stained the paper. Luckily the summer before our wedding was a scorcher and I was able to do this out side. I was able to hang the paper on the line to speed up the drying process.

The finish affect turned out beautiful. I used different embellishment for the centre of the flower. there was sets of 3 for the pews and 2 sets of 5 for the 2 chairs at the top of the aisle.

Centrepieces

With the wedding having a vintage inspired look I felt the modern centrepieces the hotel where able to supply . I decided I would arrange my own. Firstly I did Jars for the flower. With the help of my mam and neighbour we gathered some large jars perfect in size. I then decorated them in different designs of burlap, ribbon and wood embellishments.

Next was the doilies. I searched everywhere to try and find doilies the right size to match the mirror plate for the center of the table but I was having no luck. So I decided I would make them. I purchased a set of lace curtains from IKEA that had a lovely flower pattern. I cut a paper stencil out and used this to cut 15 lace circles. I then used gathered lace ribbon for the edges.

Lastly was the table numbers. I wanted to do something music related again so I used old records that I picked up in a charity shop. I then picked the names of the bands myself and my husband had seen in concert. using there logos and band fonts I designed a sticker for the center of the record.

The doily was placed on the mirror center plate. Then a jar filled with flowers was put off center. then a silver stand holding the record was placed besides it. To finish off the look we put a vintage tea cup that I got at a flea market. I put a battery operated tea light in the cup to make the cup stand out.

Wedding Favors

Keeping with the music theme I made the wedding favors into mini cassette tapes. These where made from Nestle Animal Bars. I took off the original wrapper and just wrapped the printed cassette around sticking with some double sided.

Though it took a lot of time and effort to make all the elements for the centerpieces, on the day when we walked into the dining room and saw how fab it all looked it was totally worth wile.