The Art of Love

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This is my newest collection of illustrations, drawings and art that brides and grooms have created to showcase their personality through the arts. It brings such a whimsical, fun element to the wedding and makes the wedding so personal.

The drawing can be an abstraction of personalities (see cupcake and beaker), tasteful profiles, or a literal portrait. Some of theses were created DIY by a talented bride or groom, some were created by a friend and others were commissioned through an artist. Regardless of who creates the art, it brings something special to the wedding!

Images collected from 100 Layer Cake Blog, Davina + Daniel, Harmony Nixon, and Melissa Bumstead.

Real Weddings: Terri and Sean

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I think you'll agree- Terri and Sean's wedding is amazing. I was somewhat disappointed in the latest Bride magazine for downplaying DIY/Outdoor weddings. It's true, they take a lot more work, but clearly Terri and Sean did an amazing job pulling it off, though they did have help from Shay Brown Events to make everything flawless...but even more so, the bride completely poured out her heart into this wedding.

Terri and Sean were married at the The Inn at Half-Mile Farm in Highlands, NC. They made their amazing wedding chock-full or personal touches. Every detail was thought out, making their day not only elegant but really memorable and personal. Such as dancing her first dance in her great-grandmother's wedding dress. Or using the bride's collection of antique tins for the centerpieces. And acorns from local trees in the centerpieces, napkin rings and boutonnieres. These are the details that bring your guests in and make them feel like family.

Brides did have some great Menu tips for outdoor weddings that I'll share. I've been to many outdoor weddings that I had wished taken this advice! Especially in sunny CA!

Best outdoor menu items:
Yellow tomato gazpacho shooters, vinaigrette green salads, grilled seasonal veggies, pan-roasted fish, fondant iced cakes.

Worst outdoor menu items:
Cheese displays, anything with mayonnaise, vegetables in heavy cream, heavy or braised meets (such as lamb, beef), butter cream frosted cake.

The wedding was planned with the help of Shay Brown of Shay Brown Events in Asheville. The amazing photography is by Woodward and Rick Photography. Menu tips courtesy of Brides Magazine
and Food For Thought Catering

Preston Bailey's DIY

Talented Ms. Khris of the DIY Bride has some exciting wedding news to share! Preston Bailey, the uber-talented wedding planner is offering a complete how-to guide and resource manual to create the Wedding Bell (the table setting above) from his book “Celebrations.”

On April 06, 2009, Preston will offer a limited number 1,000 of copies of Wedding Bell for sale to the public. To get your discounted copy be sure to visit the DIY Bride
Blog to get your coupon code.

Wedding Wands

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Many of you probably read the "other than throwing rice" post where I talked about wedding wands. I wanted to share with you how beautiful it looks in real life! Selena made her own DIY wedding wands for her wedding after reading the post on this blog. She found ribbons matching her wedding colors and hot-glued them onto small wood dowels.

The wedding wands were then used instead of rice as they exited the church and back at the reception the wands were used on the dance floor for fantastic pictures!

Image courtesy of Mary Jane Photography.

Vendor Parade: Savadelis Films, Part Two

Savadelis Films has a great opportunity to share. To help brides and grooms who are on a budget or who have the desire to film and/or edit their own wedding video, Savadelis has created Movie Me, a DIY seminar packed with tips from my two favorite videographers!

Jewel wrote, "As we look forward to 2009, we notice a lot of brides and grooms are looking for ways to stretch their wedding budget without compromising their vision, the quality of products or services. After receiving numerous requests, we are offering a DIY seminar on How to Film and How to Edit Your Wedding."

Sun, March 22, 1 PM - 5 PM
Julia Morgan Ballroom
465 California St, San Francisco
Website: Movie Me
Blog: Movie Me Blog

The seminar will consist of a series of enactments, with humorous narration, of parts of the ceremony and wedding reception. The enactments will be filmed and displayed through a live feed in real time so that everyone can see how to frame each scene, get interesting angles and avoid the biggest no-no's. Then they will demonstrate the basics of editing. They've already received a lot of interest and they can't wait to share.

I really think this is a unique opportunity! If you're at all near the San Francisco area, be sure to make your reservation today!

Guest Blogger on A Savvy Event

Please be sure to check out my guest blog on A Savvy Event blog! I was so excited when Kelly of A Savvy Event invited me to create a DIY Project for her continuing DIY Thursdays. I really had a lot of fun. I'll give you a sneak peek picture, but you'll have to visit her blog to get the full how-to!

Personalized Wedding Photos

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I adored Martha Stewart's Magazine's article called "Moving Images" in this month's magazine (see page 142). Bringing photos of you and your fiance is so personal and sweet- but I also love how Martha used this opportunity to incorporate photos of your parents, grandparents and friends.

The yellow accordion paper kit from Paper + Cup is really a great way to honor family and influences in your life. One per table would make a very friendly centerpiece or could be used with a number in one of the photo slots as a table number.

I loved the idea of a "tying the knot" flipbook as Save the Date cards. I found you can have them made through Flip Clips.  To create a personalized flip book, bring a digital camera with video capabilities to your engagement sessions. You'll want to record 15 seconds of video and at the very end, hold up a sign saying, "Save the Date" (with the date and location below).

Martha also showcased photo playing cards, which are a fabulous favor. You can find them through the Kodak Gallery shop. I'd love to see engagement photos, baby photos- and how entertaining for guests if there's any down time to start a friendly game of poker!

The chocolates and the confetti are available from Chocolate Graphics and PhotoFetti,  but they'd be quick to create with an inkjet printer and a scrapbook punch.  

It's the cake that takes all. They've used royal icing to attach ribbons to a basic fondant cake. They cut a photo into a circle, wrapped it with a pleated satin ribbon and attached it to the cake. It's truly amazing, so personal, and very fun!

Detail by detail...the Centerpieces

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Danielle did her research for her Coney Island themed centerpieces. She began with visions of paper toys and even went as far as to assemble a paper Ferris Wheel , but they proved to be immensely time consuming. Knowing her centerpieces should have lots of lollipops, salt-water taffy, candy apples and popcorn, she created the inspiration board to help her visualize the final product. Then she went shopping!




Danielle wrote, "My mom & I have been on the hunt for anything that could work for centerpieces. I'm totally cool with the tables not all having the same thing, but it's been pretty hit and miss, very frustrating. We've found some neat stuff though. For all of these things, we'll probably be putting candy and/or doughnuts, or possibly candy apples on top of them. I also want to work some vintage Coke bottles in as well. Our tablecloths will be black & white stripes to give some context."

One of many variations of the final centerpiece is on the left of the collage above, you can see how yummy they turned out to be!

DIY Wedding Favors

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Martha Stewart has these great favor monograms available for downloading and use here. Simply print out and cut out with a three inch punch. You'll notice Martha used a strip of matching paper to wrap the box. It's simple but so elegant and able to be used with so many types of favors. Organic soaps, handmade chocolates, a beeswax candle- with or without a box!

Simple Ambiance

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Candles are a great way to create simply enchanting ambiance to your wedding, and DIY candles can be fabulous personalized favors. There are several DIY candle kits available through Michael's Craft Store, such as the orchid gel candles.

A simple arrangement of oil lamps in vases like those available through West Elm are stunning. Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart. Whimsically strung hanging flowers and candles add delicate grace to your wedding. Either attaching or showcasing Dahlias in a vase creates a festive parade of blooms. Use wire to string along these votive candles fromCox & Cox. Try your hand making DIY candles like those by Craft Gossip Blog.

DIY Banner

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Martha Stewart is always one to inspire creativity! These banners can be downloaded here and used for bridal showers, engagement parties, the cake table, or wedding itself. It's simple but old-school festive- I love it!

DIY: Bottles of Wine Favors

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This is a charming favor and it's especially easy to do, but sophisticated in style. As my bottles of wine are high-quality (Red Carpet Vintage from the Academy Awards, no less) I didn't want to cover the labels that were already on the bottles, besides; creating your own wine labels has already been done, I prefer to add flair to a beautifully designed bottle instead. And lined in procession, the white flowered bottles create a festive favor table.


I used the computer and printed out nice thank you notes on thick card stock paper. Then I used the "Tall Tags" punch from Block Head Stamps to create the tag shape. The Water Lily Stickers
were bought at Michaels Craft, along with the decorative brads and ribbon. It took me all of thirty seconds to assemble, and the result is an elegant favor that guests will truly enjoy.

DIY Stationery Accents

Looking to dress up your wedding stationery? Charms like these (found at a bead store) are a great way to add extra thrill to your stationery. I cut 4" stripes of sage green paper and wrapped it around the invitation and then complimented it with brown ribbon and the charm. It can help even a basic invitations shine.

DIY: Attendant Gifts

What to do with the mass of bridal magazines you've been hoarding? Create your own wrapping paper! This little DIY tip makes for lovely personal attendant gifts; using homemade soaps, a box of gourmet chocolates, or even a gift card box (with gift card inside) can be beautified.

First I wrapped the gift in plain paper. Then I used my paper cutter to cut 4" strips from a pretty magazine page. I followed it with a 2.5" strip of coordinating colored paper. After taping them I wrapped them with a ribbon and tucked in a small flower.

Downsizing your wedding? Read and Win!

(send in your DIY and money saving tips to win a copy of "The DIY Bride" by July 1, 2008)

I was sent an interesting article from Orli of Time Magazine about wedding downsizing.

The article says, "Because planning for many of this year's weddings started long before gas and milk hit $4 a gallon, some couples have had to scale back. 'Every dollar counts,' says Tammy Li...'I had really wanted a night wedding,' says Li, but it was hard to argue with the $15,000 savings they'll get by holding it on Saturday afternoon."

My question to you readers, what money saving tips have you done, be it DIY or a slight shift in your planning to save costs? Send me your most creative money saving tips and DIY ideas and you'll be entered to win a copy of The DIY Bride: 40 Fun Projects for Your Ultimate One-of-a-Kind Wedding.

This contest has closed.

Ideas sent may be published with sender's first name on this blog according to the editor's discretion. Winner will be selected from a random draw of names.

DIY Favors

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Creating your own art stamps makes DIY favors fabulous. Be sure to create your own artwork or get written permission to use other's art before submitting your drawing to rubberstamps.net. Then use your stamps on favor bags, on cookies (using food coloring) or to create your own personal guest book. Photos by Allyson Murphy's Blog and Martha Stewart.

DIY Favors from i-Village

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I was alerted by Izzy today of i-Village about these tasty DIY favors. Do-It-Yourself favors are a great personal touch and can make your wedding cohesive, but they're also a great excuse for a girly party. Set aside a night before the wedding and invite over your bridesmaids and other girl friends for a night of popcorn, movies, gossip, and creating favors. You'll have your favors done in a snap and great memories of you and your girlfriends.