Wedding Bells: Getting Crafty

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When Mark and I began to plan our wedding, we knew that we wanted it to be charming, rustic, fun, and very representative of who we are as a couple. We are both crafty and creative types (and also have a blast decorating our home together), so we knew that the best way to see our vision come to life would be to get our hands a little dirty! We spent almost 18 months cutting and sewing and folding and planting, but seeing it all come together with our family and friends there to share it with us was well worth the effort.

Invitation Suite

Mark designed and printed the invitations himself (with a little creative input from me too, of course). The print that we used on all of pieces came from the cover of one of the same vintage books that we used in our centerpieces, and the cursive typeface was Mark’s own design. We hand-painted all of the little aqua branches with acrylic paint and a tiny, tiny, paintbrush. I also occupied myself for many hours by cutting and pasting envelope liners out of the prettiest fine paper from India. Our invitations were probably one of the bigger creative undertakings we took on for our wedding, but we were so happy with how they turned out.

Folded Books

Mark discovered his penchant for book art a few years back when he folded a heart book for me as a Valentine. Each book takes him approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete, and he folded a total of about 50 for our wedding day. You can buy one of his folded books on Etsy if you like them, and we also rent them out through Bookend Events.

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Pennant Flags, Fabric Bunting, and Matching Cake Topper

Mark’s sister works as a costumer, so she led us on our trip to the garment district for all this fun fabric. We had wedding colors in mind before we began the great bunting project, but it really helped to firm up our palette. We cut all of the triangles out using pinking shears, and then Mark’s mom helped us with the sewing over the course of several months.

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Terrarium Centerpieces and Succulent Escort Cards

We waited until the week before the wedding to make these two elements so that they would be as fresh as can be for the big day. I may not have given the cacti enough credit though; while I was sad to say goodbye to my beautiful bouquet a mere three days after the wedding, we still have several centerpieces sitting in our living room almost five months after the fact.

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My advice to brides now would be to have fun with the planning process because the more you’re willing to take on, the more personal your wedding day will feel. We had a lot of handmade elements that we spent a lot of time working on during the year before the wedding, but the effort definitely paid off in my book.

P.S. Stay tuned for more on our wedding here on Hooray Hurrah, and also check out our feature on 100 Layer Cake! You can read our wedding vows in this post.

Photos: Love Me Sailor

About Ilana Saul

Hello there! My name is Ilana Saul and Hooray Hurrah is my lifestyle blog. Hooray Hurrah is a place for the things that inspire me from fashion to weddings to decor and much, much more.
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7 Responses to Wedding Bells: Getting Crafty

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  3. ashley says:

    I love the books! What a great idea!!

  4. Jessica says:

    Hello,
    I’m a future bride and I love the look of the bunting! When you made them did you double the fabric to have the pattern on both sides?

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