How To Tuesday: Elegant Chair Covers DIY

I would like to thank my friend Laura for this great and simple idea to make a great contribution to your wedding decor. Chair covers are something that can so easily be forgotten. You may have ones already provided in a simple white or black colour from the venue but what about adding your own little pizzaz to tie the whole theme together.

Chair covers are a quick and easy way to add a sparkle and glam to the table setting. They’re a fun way to show your personality and there are many different ways to make them. It’s a good idea to use your theme color palette in order to ensure consistency. Chair covers instantly transform boring reception chairs into luxurious thrones for your guests to sit comfortably in. Most chair covers are inexpensive as well, ranging from $3-8 each. 

First you’ll have to choose which type of fabric to be the cover. There are many different types such as: spandex fitted, loose drop, and self-tie covers. It all depends on the overall look you want to achieve.
Once a fabric has been chosen, choose a color. Most wedding chair covers are white or black so the accent piece will show better. 

Once the fabric and color have been chosen, there are many ways of placing the cover over the chairs, depending on which type of cover.
The spandex fitted and loose drop covers are easiest to place onto chairs because they are made to fit the chair. The self-tie covers require an extra step of tying the cover onto the chair but create an interesting look. 

The next step is to add an accent piece to the upper half of the chair. This can be a sash, bow, puff, ties, pearls, flowers, crystals, feathers, etc. The accent piece depends on the overall look you want.
There you have it, inexpensive, luxurious and glam chair covers to spruce up your wedding at a lost cost.

How To Tuesday: Flowers

The centerpiece: most times beautiful, sometimes awful, always a conversation starter. One thing you don’t want it to be is expensive. Today we’ll show you how to create an elegant, simple and classy centerpiece for your wedding.

Begin by gathering a few materials:

·       Shallow dish, found here

·       Soaped floral foam, found here

·       5-7 hydrangeas (found in grocery stores and floral shops)

·       Scissors

·       5-6 pink medium sized roses (found in grocery stores and floral shops)

·       Pearls, found here, and here

·       Crystal pins, found here

Once you’ve found the materials you can get started on creating your one-of-a-kind wedding centerpiece.
Begin with the dish. Make sure it is freshly cleaned in order to ensure a glossy finish. Fill the dish with floral foam and water.
Cut off each hydrangea flower and place them around the edge of the dish into the oasis. Make sure the hydrangeas are covering the edges of the dish and that the floral foam is invisible.
Next, place some roses in the center. Cut them with a knife or scissors and at a slant. Fill the remaining foam with roses until the piece looks full.
Add some finishing touches such as pearls around the flowers and/or crystals into the center of the roses.

There you have it, an elegant centerpiece that is sure to please and get your guests talking.
To view a video of this piece in production, click here.

How to Tuesday: Invitations and Paper

There are so many things to be sent out, mailed and made for the big day. Whether you are a crafty bride with everything DIY, want to help out with the design and get your creative minds flowing or just want to choose a great theme, there are different ways to get involved with paper made goods.

1. The Craft Maven

Supplies

Card stock

Envelopes

A tutorial of your desire or your own creative idea

(ribbon, paint, stamp press letters and so forth.)

OR... a crafty computer generated design on InDesign or like software.

A team of hands to get your invitations made and on the road

Your a craft maven, if we gave you directions on what to do you would taken them and run with the wind... making invitations is what you were born to do. But if you want somewhere to start, here are a few ideas....

http://www.inspiredbrides.com/

http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/diy-wedding-invitation-kits.htm

http://www.etsy.com/shop/idoityourself

2. Creative chaos without the mess

Supplies

A internet ready device for online shopping (Stop, do not pass go, do not go to Ebay.)

Stamps

A colour printer (or ship off your personal design right to the website!)

Paint for crafting

Ribbon

Envelopes

Stamps

If you are interested in still creating everything on your wedding invitations and thank you cards don't be afraid to use a site such as www.weddingpaperdivas.com  where you can pick and choose your back grounds or card stock but still have all the creative liberties at your disposal you can imagine. You can even order in the stock in your special colour and shape and print your own artwork or personalize it with stamps and embellishment. This option allows you to get crafty and creative but leave the fussy work up to someone else. 

3. A step towards DIY

Supplies

Your info and dates

A list of people to invite

A little creative spark and theme

Some time to change your theme around online

If you want to pick and choose what you would like but don't want to go through the entire creation process, paper goods makers are ready and willing to hold a consult with you and take your idea and make it come alive. Check out our vendors post to see some of the great creations they can come up with. If you head back to http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/thermography-wedding-invitations.htm

there are some wonderful ideas for getting started and creating your own idea online by picking and choosing what you want and seeing it come to life on the screen before evening making it and having it printed. 

How to Tuesday: Personalizing Dresses

With so many dresses to choose from it is hard enough to find the perfect fit let alone one that speaks true to your own identity. We have compiled a how to list to give your wedding dress and bridal party the ability to add a little spunk and personalization to the big day.


The Brides Dress

Adding a little personalization to your white or not so white wedding dress adds a new spark to tradition. 


Personalization options:

Add a pop of colour
Supplies: Grosgrain ribbon, flowers, safety pins
Adding your own personalized detail to your dress gives you the creative liberties to do anything you want. Pick your favourite colour or theme colour of the wedding and add a little spark to your dress. Have a favourite flower? Incorporate it into a headpiece or on a sash. Even a simple ribbon in an unexpecting colour or pattern worn as a sash creates a personal look all your own.


Sneaky details

Supplies: Iron on embroidery patch or applique
Do you have a specific saying or message you want to be close to you during the wedding?
Sewing may ruin the dress and be hard to do but a small applique or iron on patch on the inside of your dress, grooms tux or bottom of your shoe will add a small personalized detail that only you know about.

Supplies: 
- bright and funky garter
If you are keeping to light and elegant colours for the wedding and your accessories, add a sneaky detail of a bright garter under the dress. It will be your little secret until it is revealed.

The Wedding Party

 

Supplies:
- every girl to use their favourite little black dress
- a theme colour
- a few rolls grogain ribbon in the theme colour
- various other accessories in the colour (flowers, headbands, earings, necklaces.)

Tired of having far too many bridesmaids dresses tucked in the back of your closet that you will never wear again? Let the girls in your bridal party have an outfit they can wear over and over again. Every girl has their own little black dress, or could find this classic staple in a flash. By letting the girls pick out their own simple little black dresses they will feel confidant and have a dress to use again and again. Give them a specific outline (ie: knee length) and let them go.

By choosing common elements to tie the dresses it creates a unified theme with personalization from each member of the bridal party. One colour ties the look together and they can create their own completely unique look!

If you don't want black dresses, pick another colour that is more vibrant (such as purple, red for good luck or striking orange) for the girls to choose their own dresses and choose unique accessories for the girls to pick out in silver or gold.

Another option:

- every girls favourite little black dress
- choose one type of ribbon and pumps and have the girls choose their own favourite colour of the bunch and use those accessories to personalize their outfits.

Whether it is personalizing your own dress to represent your unique flare, or giving your bridal party a creative outlet to spruce up their outfits in nontraditional way, getting crafty and creative on the wedding day will make you feel involved from the peep toes all the way to the headpieces!

How to Tuesday: On Planning

Planning your wedding can be hard work, from start to finish you need a place to organize your research, thoughts, process and every little detail. Making a personal wedding planning book is a great place to compile everything you need! Along with the book for your visual ideas it is always a good idea to keep an accordion folder labeled with the different areas you will be focusing on. It will keep your papers all together and will be a one stop resource for everything you need. Such as; venue, dresses, catering, decorations. Even if you are having a small quaint wedding, there are so many details that will get lost if you don't keep track from the beginning!

Supplies:
- Blank Scrapbook or photo album (great place to slide in loose elements).
(I always see great ones at Home sense or on sale at Chapters)
- Glue, ruler, bright coloured markers, sliver and gold for titles are very neat!
- Pencils for the subject to change details and pens for concrete ideas
- Scrapbook and construction paper
- Templates to print off or use as guidelines  http://www.niagaraweddinghelper.com/wed_plan_book.htm

1. Decide on the core areas you want to focus on in your book and create tabs for the specific sections.

2. Create a calendar to be on one of the first pages in the book, a few months before the wedding with steps to planning, create deadlines for yourself and lead up steps.

3. Begin with the big picture, (venue, dates, guests) and work your way down to the smaller details

4. Cut and paste and place in any interesting pictures, quotes or ideas you have for the wedding.

5. When details become finalized start to write them down in the calendar

... and keep adding more details until the big day!

Good luck and happy planning!

With countless engagement and wedding photos left from the big day, there are endless possibilities of what to create and what to do with them. Instead of letting them sit in a box and never re-live their true beauty we have brainstormed a few great ideas and picked out some DIY projects to help you get started on using your photos to their true potential. We have included some DIY tips and steps to create your own great projects with your own photos.


At the Wedding: Create a Guestbook with your Engagement Photos

What You'll Need:

+ 1/8-inch-thick acid-free paperboard
+ White glue, a special synthetic glue available from art stores or bookbinding suppliers
+ Four sheets of decorative or handmade paper and 20 sheets of white, ivory, or cream paper
+ 1/4 yard of bookbinding cloth
+ Two yards of strong ribbon that won't fray easily
+ Needle with a large eye
+ Hammer and four nails
+ Cutting board and metal ruler
+ Your favourite photos

1. Cut the 20 sheets of paper to fit your book's desired size (in this case, 11" x 15"). Your book can be as thick or thin as you like, depending on your taste and budget. I chose this size because it's half the size of the paper I bought, so I could just fold the sheets in half and cut along the fold.

2. Cut two pieces of paperboard for the book's front and back covers. Add 1/4 inch to the size you've chosen for the inner sheets (11 1/4" x 15 1/4" in our example). Then, cut a strip from each cover that measures about a fifth of the cover's width. This book is 15 1/4" wide, so I'll cut off a 2 1/2" or 3" strip. You now have two pieces of each cover. The two thin strips will be the binding strips, the area of the cover where the book is bound together.

3. Cut out two pieces of bookbinding cloth that are big enough to cover the binding strip and extend a couple of inches into the other piece of the cover, leaving one full inch all the way around to fold over. Our cloth measures 13 1/2" x 6 1/4."

4. Lay newspaper over your work area. Align the two pieces of board (binding strip and main board) spaced 1/4 inch apart. Glue the cloth to the board, making sure to leave 1/4 inch between the pieces and allow the one-inch border of extra cloth to hang over. Flip the glued board over, neatly fold over the cloth edges, and glue them down. (Tip: It helps to trim the corners for a neat fold.) Repeat this step for the back binding strip and cover.

5. Next, cut the paper for both book covers. The pieces should overlap the point where the bookbinding cloth ends by an inch; leave an inch on the other three sides for folding over (for our book, 11 3/4" x 13 1/2"). Glue the paper to the front of both covers, then fold it over and glue the one-inch edges to the inside. At this point, you have one side of both the front and back covers completed.

6. To make the inside of the covers neat, attach a sheet of decorative paper to hide the folds. Cut two pieces of paper (about 1/4 inch less than the size of the covers), and glue one piece into each cover.

7. Whew! You made it this far -- now it's time to put everything together. It's a nice touch to use a sheet of decorative paper for the first and last book pages. Gather the papers for your book and place them, like a sandwich, between the two covers. Make sure they are neatly arranged. Hammer four evenly distributed holes in the center of the front cover's binding strip. (Tip: Leave a nail in each hole to keep everything lined up.) Tightly thread ribbon, jute, or string through the holes, as simply or as elaborately as you like.

8. Now add your photos with double sided tape within your guest book. You can also add photo corners to add an extra special touch. These can be purchased at Walmart, Michaels or any scrapbooking store.

9. If you like, you can also buy pretty paper frames and put them around your photos or around the areas where you want your guests to write.

10. And you’re done!

Read more: DIY Reception Ideas: DIY Wedding Guest Books - TheKnot.com



With your Wedding Photos - Unique Photo Book

Photo books make great memories! If you order digital prints, use them to make one using these following sites. All you have to do is: Upload your photos, edit the content, and click order! They are often customizable to suit your needs, require almost no effort and are gorgeous.

Shutterfly
Mix Book
Walmart Photocentre



With your Wedding Photos - Thank You Cards

What You'll Need:

+ 8.5″x11″ Sage cardstock from Michael's or online at http://www.paper-source.com
+ 5×7 envelopes, also from Michael's or online at http://www.paper-source.com
+ Double-sided tape
+ MS PowerPoint (or Photoshop, inDesign or Illustrator)
+ Color printer

Instructions:

To create the collage:

1. Start by drawing a 5.5″x8.25″ white box in PowerPoint. To do this, go to “Insert –> Picture –> Autoshapes”. This should pull up the autoshape menu. Click on the button with the shapes, select the rectangle, and draw it on your slide.

2.Right-click and go to “Format Autoshape”, which takes you to various options that allow you to specify the size and color.

3. Once you have done this, insert your photos into MS PowerPoint by accessing the “Insert” menu and selecting “From File…” Select the files. This can get a little messy if your photos are very large. You may have to patiently find the corners of the photos and then resize each one so that you can see them all on one slide.

4. Once you have inserted all of your photos and can see them all, you can adjust the size of each image and arrange them inside the white rectangle as you prefer.

5. To insert text, go to “Insert –> Text Box”. Click somewhere outside your white box, and then type out the main message (which was just a simple “thank you” on the front in our case). Highlight the text, right-click, and select “Fonts”. Tip: Try to use a font that matched the one used on your invitations. Once you have chosen the color and sized the text appropriately, click on the edge of the text box and drag it to the location you want the text to appear.

6. At this point, everything on your collage should be in place. Click outside the white box, drag over everything, and let go. This selects every object on your slide. Right-click and go to “Grouping –> Group”. Then right-click again and select “Save as Picture”. Save it as a .jpg file.

7. The whole collage has now been turned into an image that you can edit and upload for printing. It can also be scaled for 4″x6″ photos. You can now bring your image to any print shop or upload them on their website. Tip: Try using a matte paper or even a paper with a linen finish for a fancier effect.

To create the backing:

1. Cut the card stock to the size of 9″ x 6.5″. Call around, you may be able to find a place that can cut the entire stack for you.

2. In PowerPoint, draw a 6.5″ tall and 9.0″ wide rectangle, in the same way as you did in steps 1-2 for the photo collage. Format the box (right-click on the box) and select “Format Autoshape” to have a clear fill and for the outline to be a dotted 0.25″ very light gray line.

3. Create the text using text boxes (see step 5 under the collages). Rotate the text boxes and arrange them as follows:
(photo 5)

4. Next, do a test print using regular white paper with you printer. This allows you to figure out how to feed your already-cut card stock into the printer.

Tip:
Check your printer for its settings, it’s possible that you may only have the option of inserting your pre-cut sheets flushed to one of the sides of the paper feeder. The test print may help you figure out that the box you draw on Powerpoint needs to be flushed to the other side of the slide (see image above).

5. After you’ve finished your test prints (hopefully it only takes you one try!), insert your pre-cut card stock into the printer and print however many copies you need!

6. And the last step, of course, is to mount the 4″x6″ photos on to the card stock, fold in half and write out your personal messages inside!

Tip: Try using Scotch’s double-sided photo safe permanent tape, it’s less expensive than mounting squares.

Remember, it’s more time consuming to write out your individual handwritten messages than it will be to make these cards, so make sure you allow enough time if you have a time frame in mind for sending out your thank you cards.

Written By Andrée and Heather, Wed By Hand Coordinators