It has been months since the wedding but I am still on wedding high! I would like to write articles as my way of showing my gratitude to the people who made our wedding special and of course to give inspiration to soon-to-be brides and grooms. If you would like to do a DIY Wedding, make sure you have enough time, good support from your loved ones and you should start NOW. So, here are the 10 DIY creative and personal wedding projects we made!
1. Cookie Bag Stickers and Gifts
I am grateful for the godparents who made the cookies as their gift for us! All I had to provide was the cookie bag and labels! I hand painted with watercolor the design on sticker paper. I drew our logo and my groom, Joel, wrote the ¨thank you¨ messages. Since I am already doing another 1000 things (LOL), my uncle, who’s also a god parent, gladly placed the sticker tags onto the cookie bags while his wife, my tita, baked the most delicious chocolate chip cookies which all the guests loved, by the way! Thank you, My Bitesize Kitchen!
2. Proposal Candles
I love supporting local products so as much as possible, I purchase from them! For my proposal gifts to the entourage, I ordered scented candles from Candeluna! They gladly also prepared the tags, then I asked them to leave a space for me to write the names. Then, I also placed stickers labels with their names onto the candle jar. It was indeed a sweet gesture! Watch my Wedding Vlog Part 1!
Wedding Preparations Part 1
3. Center Table Placemat
This piece was sort of last minute! My friend Carol and I thought of having real leaves as the center table placemat but somehow, we didn’t like how it turned out when we were staging it! Since my friend loves to make crochet crafts, she volunteered to create it! So, ya, she made 10 placemats! It is okay to ask for help, remember that when you are planning a wedding!
4. Center Table Jar and Flowers
I want something I can really DIY because sometimes, floral arrangements for a wedding costs a fortune. While I still hired a florist for the church and venue, I opted to DIY the centerpieces! My friend Carol and I bought the dried flowers ahead at the local public market. As for the jars, I asked my friends and family if they have empty cute bottles. So, I got it for free! Again,with the help of my lovely friends, we made the centerpiece dried flower arrangements the night before the wedding. I know I should be resting then but I am so hands-on, plus it was a great bonding moment with my friends and cousins.
5. Gift boxes for gifts
I bought gemstone bracelets for the secondary sponsors and bridesmaids, and a necklace for the maid of honor. I got it from a small local online shop called Ely and Rose Ph. I bought small brown boxes from Pandayan Bookshop, then I got shredded paper from my friend as fillers for the box. I wrote their names on each box. When I gave it to them during the photoshoot before the wedding and then they wore it right away!
6. “I Spy”Card
Do note that this one can be a hit or miss! Haha! Only 1 guest tried this out! Anyways, we thought this would be a fun add-on to the table as we took inspiration from some pins I saved from Pinterest. I edited the card on Canva and had it printed at the printers.
7. Invitation
My cousin, Trisha, created the whole aesthetic of the invitation from the design, to font style. I gave her a mood board and pegs and she knew what I wanted. She helped me out on this since she also does digital design and she is creative, too! She used Canva which was helpful because when I had to make a few revisions, she just shared it with me to edit. I added a simple map, QR code of the map and I edited the attire for guests. The photo, by the way, came from our prenup shoot! Again, I had these printed at the local print shop.
8. Personalized mugs with Coffee
We forgot to give these as gifts during the grooms’ and boys photoshoot so I only have a few pics that I got from them after the wedding. Oops! But anyways, this was actually last-minute as well! We bought mugs at SM then I personalized it with their names on it. Then we added coffee from Stay Grounded Coffee. Perfect pairing as a gift!
9. Backdrop
One of the highlights of the wedding is definitely the backdrop! It is my favorite part of the reception! My cousin, Ida and her husband helped each other to design the backdrop. Then my uncle, Tito Baby and his team brought Ida’s design to life! They did all the woodworks for us! Ida also told me to order the neon lights of our names. We ordered it online and had it shipped to Baguio City. Just a bit of backstory; the night before the wedding, my cousins placed fresh flowers all over the stage but the next morning, my florist said that the flowers withered so she initiated to repair the floral design of the stage. Thank you, Ma’am Donna Cuanso for the sweet service! Of course, to all my relatives who helped us out on this beautiful backdrop!
P.S. There is nothing wrong with hiring a stylist to do this. I just really want to DIY it to stay on the budget, plus, I got so much support from my relatives. Again, try to ask for help! Also, you really have to stick to the design that you want to make the whole reception design cohesive.
10. Signage for Mama
I made this simple illustration and quote a few days before the wedding. I took inspiration from some wedding DIY Instagram reels. It must’ve been a nice frame or a canvas but because of time constraints, I just used an illustration board then I painted using watercolor and the calligraphy was brush pens. I painted some roses as it was mama’s favorite flower. Then I placed this signage with her photo on the table during my glam session and also placed it at the dining table during reception.
That’s it! Those were the projects we made for the wedding. We hope this has been helpful for you! These ideas can also be for any occasion!