What is a wedding nowadays without at least one DIY project?  When I started on the wedding journey the Wedding Bee was relatively new and I was OBSESSED with it.  I only wish I’d discovered it sooner so I could have been a Bee.  *sniff*  I guess it will just be a life-long sorrow that I missed that boat!  Regardless it did spark some creativity and I really enjoyed doing these projects even if at times I was frustrated, covered in glue and had visited every store in the area trying to find a suitable sand bucket.  Even if they were not easy, they made the wedding that much more personal.  I also won’t lie, it is kind of fun to be able to proudly say “I made that” when at the wedding your guests and vendors compliment the item you slaved over.

Photo © Brooke Mayo

Menu

I saw a picture online of a menu and I fell in love with it on sight.  I decided that I HAD to have it and since I had some time on my hands I decided to make it myself as the cost to have the vendor make it was something around $5 a menu.  YIKES!  Finding the supplies and making it wasn’t easy but it was not hard either.  In the end everything came together perfectly and I’m so glad that I did it.  It was the first thing in the series that really tied everything together.   The cost per card for me was under $2.

Photo © Brooke Mayo

Program

I originally wanted a fan-style program but it made no sense to make a completely different item that was paper related.  So I ended up making the same size and style of programs similar to the menu but used a flip style for the pages.  I ended up scoring a pretty good deal on fans so I knew that people would still be able to cool themselves off if it was hot on the beach before/during the wedding.

Fortune Bouquet

Another idea I saw and I had to have was a Fortune Bouquet.  It’s a bit of a spin on the traditional tossing bouquet but a similar idea.  Basically it’s one big bouquet made up of smaller bouquets each with a “fortune” on it and ALL ladies participate, not just single ladies.  I decided to make mine when my florist was a bit confused over what I wanted.  I ended up with 6 different bouquets each with a silver charm that is intended to be a bridesmaid pull charm but worked well as a fortune charm as well!  I LOVED the way this turned out.  The picture above is of 3 of the bouquets.

Photo © Brooke Mayo

Camera Scavenger Hunt

At the time I got married, these cards were all the rage on The Knot message boards.  I know that most people have moved onto the digital realm but not my in laws.  My Mother in Law still shows up at functions with her disposeable camera in hand, despite the fact that over the years she’s been given 3 digital cameras.  I picked up a couple packs of the cameras and had them placed on the tables with these cards.  While we were getting pictures taken and getting settled once getting to the reception, our guests were having a blast with these cards.  About a half hour later though I discovered one tiny oversight in this ‘game’ – there was no prizes.  So I highly recommend having small token prizes if you plan on doing this!  I got some great images from the cameras and I’m actually really glad I decided to do it.  Are they pro pics?  No.  Are they a riot ?  ABSOLUTELY.  Without this I wouldn’t have a lot of shots from the evening due to the above mentioned lack of camera-ness my inlaws have.  While this isn’t for everyone, it worked for me.

Welcome Baskets

By far this was one of the hardest items to put together and one of the only things I didn’t take a picture of!  *head desk*  Each family upon arriving had a sand pail on their bed welcoming them to the Outer Banks.  I created personal guides for the area based on my travels there – one guide on what to see and one on where to eat.  I also had a One Boat Tour guide to Corolla, bug spray, sunscreen, beach ball, water ring and rip current information booklets.  Everyone loved them… but they still called me every time they wanted to go out to eat somewhere.  Ha ha ha.

Flower Girl Basket

Finally my last DIY project was making the shell basket for my flower girl.  I found the plain basket at the Flower Factory and also the mini shells there as well.  I then used ribbon found at Jo-Ann’s and starfish left over from my invitations to make it pretty.  It was really simple to put together with a glue gun but it really tied in beautifully to the theme of the wedding (well the vague theme that I had of blue + starfish + shells).  My 2 year old flower girl also dropped a few!  She also didn’t eat any nor was tempted to – as everyone on The Knot swore she would do.  The bubbles are a different story….