Craft your own wedding!
Counting down to your wedding day? Give your special day a ‘crafty’ wow factor by making your own decorations.
With some help from some of our favorite bloggers, here are some fun and fabulous creations that are easy to make and guaranteed to give your wedding a creative flourish that’s uniquely you.
Embrace bunting
Makery Mill’s Becky created this pretty Mexican style bunting, known as ‘papel picado.’ Head over to her blog to find the template for this craft. Use a variety of colours and intricate patterns for an authentic Mexican effect. All you need is tissue paper, scissors and plenty of time!
As Becky wisely says: ‘You have to be a bit patient as the tiny bits are fiddly to cut out, but it looks really effective in the end.’
When blogger Elena’s friend asked her to create some bunting to accompany their sweetie buffet, she rose to the challenge! Fancy a go? You’ll need a cardboard template, pinking scissors, garden twine and your choice of fabric.
‘I cut out my triangles and felt lettering...and appliqued the letters on by stitching around the edge. Then I sewed the triangles onto the twine.’
We love Elena’s clever use of bottles and canes to keep the bunting upright.
Hanging Decorations
Sonia of Want that Wedding created these paper flower fairy lights by folding and cutting small squares of vellum paper. We think you’ll agree that they make a pretty alternative to traditional bunting.
Simply choose paper that complements your wedding colours, then pop over to Sonia’s blog for full instructions. Once you’ve created your flowers, you’re ready to attach them to the lights. Sonia’s tip?
‘Layer a few paper petals in different colours on each fairy light. Attach the flowers above the bulb on the plastic wire so the bulb is left exposed.’
Place Names
We love this wedding favour and place card rolled into one! Blogger Kat from Laydey Katabella designed these charming cards for her own rustic bohemian styled wedding. Why not adapt her design by substituting your choice of coloured card? Full details are over on Kat’s blog, so go on, dare to doily!
Place Settings
These wonderful watercolour placemats will wow your guests. All you need to make them is some watercolour paper, a paintbrush and a tube of water soluble paint. Add a splodge of undiluted paint to one corner of the paper and simply work the paint outwards with your wet brush. If your first attempt doesn’t quite hit the spot, Kate of the National Vintage Wedding Fair has this advice*:
‘Watercolour paint is quite forgiving, so if it’s not looking right, you can wash it out, or add more paint as you wish. Then just turn it round and start working on the opposite corner!’
To stop the paper from warping, make sure you keep your finished mats flat until fully dry - sandwiching them with plain paper and pressing between books will do the trick.
The guys over at Wolf and Ink were shocked to discover that it would cost £1 to hire each napkin they needed for their wedding. So they decided to make their own! The great thing about these is that you can pick fabric in colours and patterns that suit your wedding. They also make a fab alternative to a favour.
‘They were a huge hit and lots of guests ended up taking them home as a little keepsake. If you are good at embroidery you could even sew people's names on and use them as place settings!’
Keen to transform your wedding venue in an eco-friendly way? Ann-Marie of Paper Tree has some fab ideas:
‘With a little creativity, party and wedding decorations can be both stunning and eco-friendly.’
We love these pretty flower pots made from reused food tins! Cover the tins with your choice of wrapping paper and fill with flowers, small plants or even herbs. At the end of the night, recycle the pots by inviting your guests to take them away. This canny craft recycles the recycling and saves you money!
Say farewell with a favour
Blogger Charlie’s Spring bulb favour idea is inspired! Take a selection of spring bulbs and some squares of fabric or vintage hankies. Wrap a handful of bulbs in the fabric, and tie it into a bundle using twine or string. Finish off by popping on a thank you label. Charlie says:
‘I think these make beautiful spring wedding favours and they’re quite eco-friendly! Plus, just think of all those jolly flowers that will come up in your guests’ gardens for many years to come.’
If your favours aren’t suitable for kids, you’ll need to find an alternative. Step forward crafter and wedding stylist Jane. She recommends filling traditional school milk bottles with brightly coloured straws, tying on a funky ribbon and and adding a name label. In her experience, these milk bottle favours go down a storm with younger wedding guests and it’s an easy idea to adapt for adults too. Jane says:
‘Vintage milk bottles are wonderful for a few stems of flowers tied with raffia or pretty ribbons. They can also be used for sweets and cocktails if you want the vintage twist.’
Wedding decorations from dotcomgiftshop
Looking for stunning wedding decorations, but don’t have the crafty touch? You’ll find something lovely at dotcomgiftshop. Here’s just a small sample of we offer:
Hanging decorations
Pictured (from left to right): Vintage floral washable cotton bunting - £5.95 (was £12.95), Hanging glass posy vase - £2.95
Table decorations
Pictured: Place setting white heart - £1.95, Pale blue honeycomb tealight holder - £12.95, Pink Regency teacup and saucer - £8.95
Feeling creative? Show us your original wedding day crafts on our Facebook page. We’d love to see them!
*Thanks to Carrie Southall Design for the inspiration & tutorial for the watercolour placemats.