Making your own wedding projects can be a great way of adding your own personality into your wedding and some say it also cuts costs. This is true, but for the inexperienced crafter. some things are harder than they appear and it takes more time to make them then it would for a crafty person.

As a crafty person a would like to share with you some of my top tips for making your own wedding projects so you know what to think about before you start racing out to the shops buying all those materials. It is great when you make something yourself. You get that sense of pride and satisfaction, but if you are not crafty, trust me –  pay a professional and do something else that you are better suited to.

Mel from The Crafty DIY Bride – ribbon wands here

Here’s my DIY Wedding Tips:

Timeline

Make sure you have a time line of what projects you want done, and the date they need to be accomplished by, and stick to it.

Time to devote

How much time are you willing to devote to making wedding projects. If you are not the crafty type then limit the amount of projects you are going to make. It’s all great, thinking, ‘I’m going to make this and that’, but you don’t want to be sitting up making things on the eve of your wedding for your wedding day, when you should be getting some rest!

The test run of a project

Before you even make your final decision on making something for your wedding and run out and buy all the materials, try a test run making session and see how much time it takes to make one project and then times this by how many more you need. This is especially important if you have never made this project before. The seasoned crafter will probably make this in half the time compared to someone that is more inexperienced.

This is particularly important when making wedding stationery. Wedding stationery can be tricky, cuts need to be straight, wording needs to be spelled correctly etc, etc.

Research

Know what you need before you go to the shops. Make sure that you have taken the time and written exactly how many of each item you need. If you have a photo of the project take it with you just in case the shop assistant can tell you of something you have missed. Also if you’re wanting something out of the ordinary for centerpieces like different bottles to use as vases, you will need to scour through many different second hand shops to find these items. Make sure you give yourself an ample amount of time to drive around the countryside looking for these items.

Costs of items

If you are wanting to do everything on the cheap remember the saying ‘you pay for what you get’. So expect things to be of lesser quality. You can get really cheap vases at chain stores but remember the glass is usually very thin. This is the reason to buy more than you need, as they chip so easily and it’s guaranteed it’s around the lip of the vase where everyone will see the chip! If you can afford to buy the better quality try to, as it looks better, feels better and presents better.

Ask for advice

If you are buying your supplies from a specialty store, no matter how good you are at craft, just quickly run it by the shop assistant and explain to them how you anticipate making this project. You never know, they may be able to offer you some advice on how to make it better, quicker or even see something that could arise as a problem.

Buy more than you need and make more than you need

Contrary to the point where I have said buy exactly what you need, always buy a few extra bits to allow for mistakes and breakage. What happens if you cut incorrectly and have no more paper? It means another trip to that shop for more material. Also what happens if the store has run out of stock and can’t get anymore of that paper? What happens if you break a vase that you were going to make your table centerpieces with? Always have an extra to use as a replacement.

Have a system in place for constructing

When the day comes to make your wedding projects make sure you put all the materials you need to make the project, together ready and waiting in one bag.

For example –  making wedding invitations – get all the paper, ribbon cut to size etc, get your self a pack of plastic lunch bags you can buy at the supermarket and place all the base materials in the bag and seal. Why? There is nothing worse than finishing one project and then starting the next project having to look for the three different types of paper, mum have you seen the envelope box, Susie can you pass the parchment paper? By doing all the prep work first it will eliminate all the mess. If you don’t finish the project on the day you started it doesn’t matter. Each day you can go to your project box and pull out one bag to complete the project.

Transporting your items

How will you get your items to their destination especially vase style wedding centerpieces? You cant just stack in the car. These will need to go in a box with cardboard or towel to separate each vase so they don’t move around and break. Take into consideration how you are going to transport your wedding items to your wedding venue and the size of the car needed to do this. Also make sure you have a helper – more hands make less work.

Storage

Where are you going to store all of these extra items while making them and where will you store them after the wedding? We are all guilty of starting a project on the kitchen table and then leaving it there for months, pushing it from one side of the table to the other side! Make sure you have a room to make your projects away from everyone. If you don’t have this, then at least a shelf or a good storage box with a lid. Once the items are made where will they go? In the spare room on the bed? Think again -when we have guests coming to stay this means they have to be moved. Find a space in the house where they can be stored for the next 6 months without getting in everyone’s way.

Alicia’s jam jar labels here

The wedding is over! What will you be doing with those twelve vases, or one hundred tea light holders? Well I am about to save you with some suggestions:

– Sell them on a wedding forum.
– Keep them for special occasions and if you’re having a summer barbeque spread them around the garden and light them up – they will look fantastic.
– If you want to keep them, store them properly where they won’t be in the way. Cover them properly so the dust doesn’t coat them and spiders don’t make new homes out of them.

I  have a craft storage cupboard in which I store the bits and pieces to re-hash for other occasions.

Finally have fun, invite a few friends get some snacks and drinks and have a making session. This is a great way for family and friends to feel as though they have made a contribution to your wedding day and something that you and they will remember forever.

Ms Polka Dot says: Nicole from Coast to Country Weddings has given us some really sensible tips that we may not have thought about in the excitement of planning our wedding projects. The best bit about DIY projects is that they can be so much fun! Thank you Nicole for sharing these tips with us.

Coast to Country Weddings, is everything you need to plan your wedding in regional WA. Our wedding services are divided into regions across Western Australia – Coral Coast, Goldfields / Esperance, Great Southern, North West, Outer Perth & South West / Margaret River wine region.