DIY wedding invitations: Envelope liners

My wedding invitations were partially DIY;  I didn't want to do a entire DIY project from scratch but I definitely wanted to add a lot of customizations to make it as unique as I could with the amount of free time I had available to me.  The complete invitation suite did involve a lot of mini projects and the first of them was the envelope liners.

I ordered my invitations online and they did have the option of ordering envelopes that were already lined with colored paper.   I could have just bought envelopes that were already lined but the styles I liked were way too expensive and the styles that were within my budget were a bit too generic for my liking. Envelope liners are not really a big deal and most guests might not really notice them, but I think they totally change the look of the invitations. For one thing they make the envelope look thicker and feel better quality than clear white envelopes and they just add a little something to the overall inviation suite.  Since my invitations included free white envelopes I decided to attempt to make my own envelope liners. This would save me money and also allow me to choose a liner that fit in better with my vision.

I had seen a roll of wedding gift wrap at my local walgreens in ivory and gold that was just perfect for me. It had cursive font and a repeat print of love sayings.  Exactly what I was looking for.

I bought a couple of rolls of it and brought it home.  Then I measure the inside of the plain envelope to get an idea of what size paper I needed to line the envelope. After much trial and error, I figured it out. Once I had the perfect size of paper, I cut out a template in heavy cardstock and used that as a stencil on the gift wrap.

It was a bit slow and tedious because I have a tiny Fiskars paper trimmer that only cuts about 10 sheets of paper at a time,  but over the course of many days I traced out and cut about 100 liners in printed and plain paper.

Then once I was done cutting, I had to glue the liners into the envelopes. I used the scotch mini glue dot roller which is just awesome. It is probably the best mess-free method of gluing light weight paper.

And this is what the finished product looked like!

DIY Project: Cake stand

Deciding on a cake stand was tricky because I wasn't really in love with any of the options that were readily available. It seemed like I only had two main choices; either a flat plateau stand or a tiered stand. Neither of these really appealed to me. I definitely did not want a tiered stand or the 1980s tower cake look with gaps in between the tiers, so it seemed like I had no other option but to get a flat plateau stand like the popular embossed silver stands used at most weddings these days.

 

 

 

 

While I did like these stands, I wasn't in love with them, and I didn't feel that they really fit in with the rest of my wedding decor. So I was quite pleased when I discovered other brides were making their own cake stands out of wood. I decided to follow their guides and attempt to do it too!

 

 

Firstly I bought an 18 inch round wooden panel from Lowe's, that was already smooth and factory sanded.

 

Then I bought a 12 inch wooden candle holder from Target. It took me several attempts to get this right because many of the candle holders were slightly uneven and I only noticed when I got home that the wooden panel wouldn't sit flush on the candle stand because it wasn't level. I probably should have just carried a level tool with me to the store to be sure the candle holders were straight before purchasing them. Instead of repeatedly buying them, and returning them. Everything is always so much clearer in hindsight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then my fiance attached the candle holder to the center of the round wooden panel. Once this was done I realized it was a bit wobbly because the round wooden panel was too heavy for such a tall  candle holder. On all  the other blogs I had seen these, the brides always used a very short candle holder but I wanted a tall cake stand so I could place our initial letters in front of it without obstructing view of the cake. I decided to make a trip to Michael's to buy a small wooden plaque to attach to the base of the candle holder in an attempt to better balance out the weight of the stand. I wasn't really sure if it would work or not but it did!

 

 

 

 

Once the plaque was attached to the bottom of the candle holder,  the cake stand was now steady and balanced.  It was now time to paint it!  I wanted to go for something really neutral and plain to keep things simple, so I decided to paint it a soft ivory color. I opted to use spray paint since it is so much easier to get the hang of than using a paint brush, and there is not need to worry about brush strokes or streaks. I was also pretty much a spray painting pro by this point after spraying all the wooden letter centerpieces.  I wanted a smooth sleek finish so I chose to go with a gloss finish  Painters Touch spray paint from Home Depot.

 

 

 

 

It took about three coats of paint to get a smooth uniform look for the entire cake stand. After each coat of paint I allowed the stand to dry thoroughly for a few days before adding the next layer of paint. In no time  I had my very own, one of a kind ivory cake stand! The pictures below show the cake stand in action at the wedding reception hall.

 

 

 

 

I was very pleased with how it turned out. It was truly simple and chic, stylish yet understated, unique without being overdone.  Several people asked where I bought it from and refused to believe that my husband and I made it ourselves. I take that as a compliment!!

Melissa Sweet collection at David's bridal

 

 

It's hard not to like David's bridal... despite their horrendous customer service at certain locations, the giant chain store still manages to keep up with the ever evolving world of bridal fashion. They deliver what brides want; stylish gowns and accessories by renowned designers at an affordable price. Their most recent collaboration is with bridal fashion designer Melissa Sweet, whose gowns were once marketed under the prestigious Priscilla of Boston line.

 

Like many other 2013 collections, the recurring theme in her first collection at David's bridal is lots and lots of lace. All but two of the gowns are covered in lace, and all three veils feature a lace trim. These new gowns really do live up to the Melissa Sweet name and are much more breathtaking in person than in the photos online. It is definitely worth taking a trip to your local David's bridal for a chance to try on the dresses and be blown away by them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much ado about engagement rings

Like any other girl I can appreciate the beauty of a nice engagement ring although they are not really my style, which is why by popular request I started the rings & rocks series to shed some light on the process of choosing a ring. However I'll start by saying I personally do not wear an engagement ring.  That's right. I love all things wedding related except engagement rings.  I guess you could call me the scrooge of engagement rings?
 I'll tell you why. 
Firstly aside from my wedding band, I don't wear any jewelry; no ear rings, bracelets, necklaces or rings.  I've never been that girly girl that has to desire to be sparkly at all times so engagement rings never appealed to me in that sense.  Secondly engagement rings seem a tad outdated to me and  if I must be 100% percent honest I don't really understand the point of them. 

-From my understanding, engagement rings symbolize the fact that you are betrothed; promised in marriage to another, so then why do we continue to wear them once the wedding is over and we are officially married.  If they symbolize engagement then maybe we should only wear them during the engagement period?
- I do understand that they hold sentimental value and that's why people wear them for a lifetime in combination with their wedding band,  but why are they more expensive, more valuable and more of a big deal than the wedding band? To the extent that people actually spend all their savings or go into debt for the perfect engagement ring, but spend only a fraction of that amount on the wedding band. Is the promise to marry, more important than the marriage vow itself?
-In my traditional West African culture, both rings are really only meant be worn after they have been presented to the bride on the day of the traditional marriage ceremony, at which point since you are already married, what is the purpose of the engagement ring?

All in all I like a nice classy ring, but I'm not convinced that engagement rings are worth all the time, money and worry that goes into them...

And while we are on the topic of engagement rings, I can't help but comment on the newest celebrity engagement ring: Kelly Clarkson. I love her voice and style of singing and even had one of her songs in my wedding, but I have no words for her engagement ring!  She managed to combine all the features I like the least.  I guess she wanted to be original with the colored stone but the combination of the halo, size, color cut and band, is just way too much going on.  Sorry Kelly but my eyes are offended.. Congrats all the same :)

 

 

 

 

 

Lace bridesmaid dresses...

 

 

 

Lace is definitely the fabric of choice for 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pnina Tornai Fall 2013

As usual Pnina Tornai's new collection contained many "shock factor" gowns that a lot of brides wouldn't understand. Pnina's bridal collections always have a few gowns that are sexier than your average wedding dress, usually featuring a sheer bodice that is very reminiscent of lingerie. In fact the sheer bodice, combined with lace up corsets and super size ball gowns have become her signature style. This season she used less corsets on her gowns and instead many of them featured daring open backs with crystal embellishments. I guess you could say Pnina has made it her mission to infuse as much 'sexy' into the bridal world as possible. I love the first gown, that's my absolute favorite in the collection, its sexy and stylish with out being ridiculous. I would totally wear this for a beach wedding or a vow renewal..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xoxo