Our DIY wedding

My husband and I were married on June 4th, 2011 in the North Georgia Mountains at this gorgeous bed and breakfast that felt like it sat on top of the world. After sitting down and realizing the realities of our wedding budget, we went from having a large wedding of 170 guests, 7 bridesmaids and groomsmen to a ceremony of 27 people and a reception held at a later date of 120.

To accomplish this, we had our wedding ceremony on the 4th at Lucilles Mountaintop Inn. We scaled back and just had our Maid of Honor and Best Man stand with us. We only invited immediate family and our closest friends to a weekend full of wedding festivities. It was perfect, we had a sit down meal, we were able to have a brunch the day of the wedding, and the stress and fuss of trying to get a wedding ready for 170 people went out the window. It was small and intimate. To top it off, there was a hot air balloon convention that weekend, so about 10 minutes after the ceremony right in the midst of picture taking we found ourselves surrounded by hot air balloons! We could not have asked for anything more picturesque.

After the wedding, we headed down to San Destin, FL for our honeymoon. We spent a week relaxing, sun bathing, eating good food, and enjoying each others company. When we got back we held our reception, on a Friday evening. We held it at the Roswell River Landing, a beautiful venue right on the Chatahochee River with an added bonus of supplying your own food, alochol, and linens. Perfect for someone who loves DIY! Needless to say it was another event full of DIY projects! It was casual, laid back and fun. We served BBQ, beer, wine, and Frozen Peach Bellini’s and danced the night away!

Some of our DIY Projects from our ceremony.

"B" Fans. We used fans instead of programs, and I know that our guests so appreciated it! It was 90 degrees at 6 p.m.! It seemed more practical then providing a program that would be tossed in a day. We used the Cricut to create the template and the letter B. I bought the flowers from Michaels, and with just a bit of hot glue, wahh-la!

Total Cost for 28 fans - $35

"Meant to Bee" Place Cards. Our place cards were also our favors. Kate Spade, "Meant to Bee" candles with a special twist. We used a Cricut to make the labels, and I tied them to the ribbon. I hand glued the bee's to each label.

(click on pictures to make larger)



Total Cost for candles and labels - $90

White Hydrangeas and Yellow Rose Centerpieces. The only flowers we had a florist do were the bouquets, and boutonnieres, and they were absolutely gorgeous! Below is a picture of our centerpieces. We ordered 8 bunches of white hydrangeas from Costco, and bought 48 yellow roses. Since we only had 5 tables, we bought 5 vases from Michaels as well as river rock. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and best friends helped assemble them while we were getting ready! We also purchased enough flowers to decorate our cake.

Total cost = $140

Personalized Wine Bottles. We had a bottle of white (Chardonnay) and a bottle of Red (Pinot Noir) on all of the tables, to dress them up and make them match our decor. We ordered custom wine labels. One would think this would be an easy project, but by far the most tedious. We had to soak all the bottles and use goo gone to get the old labels off and the new labels were so hard to put on without wrinkling.



Total Cost of 48 labels = $28

Reception Projects

Sunflower Stuffed Mason Jar Centerpieces. Because we went with a French country theme, we used mason jars, and sunflowers as centerpieces. We bought 2 cases of mason jars, ordered 140 sunflowers from Sam’s Club, and used river rock in the bottom of the jars, and topped it off with a raffia bow wrapped around the jar. The sunflowers came in boxes and quite frankly worried me. I ordered them so they arrived a day in advance, so by the night of the party they were the most beautiful flowers. I gave them away at the end of the night, and my friends said they lasted for over 2 weeks!



Total Cost for 24 centerpieces = $150

Card Box. I created this card box to be used on my gift table. I bought the wood chest from Michaels, a can of black spray paint, and some press on letters from Hobby Lobby. Hot glued the flowers and voila! Custom made card box to match the black, white, and yellow decor!
(picture to come)

Total Cost = $30!