The Projects

Along with the invitations I had many projects on my DIY list. It only made sense to make whatever I could to save money. I wanted to make kids packs to keep the littlest guests busy during the reception and began scouring the web for ideas. I found a few coloring books that people had made for their reception which gave me a few good ideas. I found mazes, word searches and crossword puzzles which I added to our personalized book. Here is what the final product looked like.

I had so much fun putting together the kids packs! I got the boxes, coloring mats, mini books w/crayons, make a face sticker sets, games and candy from http://www.orientaltrading.com/. I got 50 glow bracelets for 9.99 from http://www.save-on-crafts.com/. I also picked up some noisemakers and misc toys from Wal-mart and Party America.


I made these cute little matchbook "mintbooks" that hold two mints in it out of plain cardstock I got from Wal-mart. I put my favorite picture on it and I think they came out great! These were so easy to make. The only tough part was making sure I stapled both mints in correctly so they would both stay in. It was a cheap project that I thinks adds a great touch of personalization.



I got boxes of bubbles for 4.99 per box of 48 online. I made tags for them that say "Please shower the Bride and Groom with bubbles as they return down the aisle as man and wife" and just tied them to the bubble wand.



I designed these tri-fold programs early on in the planning stages and left them alone until I was ready to print them.



Here is what a finished program with the bubble wand tucked in front would look like. I planned on having these placed in the chairs so I wouldn't have to worry about some poor niece stuck holding a basket of these with her little arms, lol.

I have since then decided I wanted to change the programs into fans since it will be still very hot in September and the ceremony is outdoors at 5 in the evening. I am still working on the look but here is what I've got so far:


We are having a candy buffet table and here are the bags I made for guests to fill up. I got these bags at Hobby Lobby, 50 for under $2. I made the labels from some UPS shipping label paper that I had left over. I have a whole box of the stuff and ended up using it for various wedding projects.



I also made water bottle labels from the UPS paper I had and printed two different kinds using our wedding colors. I just cut them with a paper cutter and they were easy to stick on the bottles. I got my water from Sams Club, it was the cheapest I could find. They sell 30 packs for 3.88 and I got 10 packs. I ended up with 300 water bottles for around $40.




Coming soon...
Favors, Ring Bearer pillow, birdcage, Centerpieces, Cameras

The Invitations

I pretty much did everything myself to save money. I got all my papers and cardstock from Hobby Lobby, mainly when scrapbook paper was on sale. I printed everything on my Kodak and Epson printers. I would suggest using a laser printer if you plan on printing pictures on vellum, I learned that the hard way. I spent a little more than I should have because I didn't keep an exact count of what I had and what I needed. I ended up with too much and not enough of some papers.

I printed the cover on burgundy linen cardstock, my favorite picture on vellum and the invitation on white linen cardstock.

I punched two holes at the top and tied ribbon through it.

I glued the "info card" on the back of the wrap I made from burgundy cardstock with the orange background for a pop of color.

I tied the whole thing together with a burgundy sheer organza ribbon.

I even made matching envelopes, which ended up being a pain because it was trial and error with finding an actual glue to keep them sealed.

I got an offer from http://www.vistaprint.com/ for free postcards so I made these online. The offer was for 100 postcards free, no shipping. I ended up paying 4.95 for them because I opted for color on the back to match our wedding colors. These cards came out great! I was so thrilled to find the calla design on the site since that is my wedding flower. I included these for the few people that may not have access to a computer or the internet. I did not include postage for these because I made it clear that we prefer RSVPs online and if they chose to mail back the postcard then they could do so if they provided the postage. To me, it would've been a big waste of postage to have maybe 5 people mail it back.


To save on postage, we are hand delivering a majority of the invitations and are mailing the out of state and out of towners. It may not be etiquette but I really don't care about that and looked for any way to save money for us.