DIY Ikea Wedding Decoration Inspiration

You know that feeling when you get something for free? Or when pick up the gorgeous dress you've been wanting for months for half price in the sale? That's the feeling I got when I spotted these pictures. Because every item in them, bar the flowers and food, is from Ikea. And you know what that means, don't you? Yup, you two can create the wedding look of your dreams for next to nothing. {Pics via fab decor journal A Lovely Being}

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Custom Vintage Wedding Postage Stamp

Brides looking to personalise literally every details of their wedding day, will love these bespoke wedding stamps. Follow Studio {possibly my favourite wedding stationer in the world} have created these gorgeous stamps, inspired by vintage postal marks. Each one includes your name, the date of your wedding and the location. They're the perfect addition to your wedding invitation envelope, or you could even use them to add a DIY touch to a simple white wedding invite or Save the Date.

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Unique Etsy Weddings: Peach Blossom UK

Every day this week I'm going to introduce one of my favourite UK Etsy sellers. If you haven't discovered Etsy yet, you are M-I-S-S-I-N-G out. It's an amazing website, filled to the brim with creative people selling their handmade crafts or vintage finds. I've been known to spend entire days lost on Etsy in a world of imagination. Most importantly, it's the best place to find original and unique items for your wedding day, and pick up some fabulous wedding ideas along the way. Today's seller is Peach Blossom UK. This colourful online boutique offers stylish and pretty party products and decorations to make your wedding sparkle. Here are a few of my favourite products, but do check out their site for more wedding inspiration!

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The New Wedding Trend - Naked Wedding Cakes

Have you considered getting naked for your wedding day? Getting a naked wedding cake, that is? It's the US wedding trend this summer season, {Hilary Duff even had one at her wedding}, and it looks set to spread across the Atlantic for British brides' autumn and winter weddings. I'm really loving the non-icing look - it's charming and whimsical, and perfect for DIY brides looking to bake their own wedding cake. For decoration, just add flowers, fruit, dripped icing, or succulents, plus anything else that might fit in with your wedding theme. For a glamorous twist on the naked cake look, why not try a French croquembouche wedding cake. We had one at our wedding, and it went down a storm! For more wedding cake inspiration, do check out my Pinterest page.

{Picture Credit} Naked Wedding Cake by Stardust Bakery. Picture by Katherine O'Brien Photography, via Green Wedding Shoes

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Heart Handmade UK Peaches & Cream DIY Wedding Inspiration

{Posting by Claire Donovan, Before the Big Day's DIY Wedding Expert} Well this post is a little mash up of loveliness! Peaches, cream and hessian {burlap} is the theme and this is my DIY wedding reception table look. The DIY idea here is for adding calligraphy onto paper doilies and using clear plates, because it is very cute. ^_^ All of these photos are a peek into my mood board notebook as I knew I was creating this project in collaboration with Before the Big Day Blog. The recipe for the peach cheesecake is from Moje Wypieki and big thank you to my friend Marta and her culinary skills.

The blackboard peg tutorial is very very simple and will be shared with you soon as I try out a few different variations. This is just a peek into my ideas notebook where I store snippets of lace, fabrics, tapes and inspiring images.

Ive been slightly obsessed with the peaches and cream colour scheme for quite some time now and Im always inspired by Leslie of A Creative Mint and her beautiful colourful 'Color Me Pretty' column through Decor8 Blog, so when Georgia from Before the Big Day Blog contacted me about a collaboration I jumped at the chance to work on DIY projects, as I love the creative mood board and planning process!

I had so much fun collecting and raiding through my supplies to work on what I would be creating and how I would style the table. I was bursting to use the peach sequins and ecru hand crochet doily ^_^

My collection of loveliness. I've left all the ribbons on the key because they look so pretty! It's the key for the cupboard that hides our electricity fuse thing {I'm so good with technical terms!}

The peaches and cream crepe paper was just the perfect set of colours and the thing that set me off completely with this colour scheme is my lovely vase of flowers there from Bloom UK.

I Also fell in love with these peach stripy straws from Pipii. The calligraphy names written on a doily idea was originally seen on Martha Stewart {where else?!}

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Introducing Heart Handmade UK's DIY Blog Posts

Exciting news! As part of the Before the Big Day expansion, I'm delighted to welcome the huge talent that is Claire Donovan from Heart Handmade UK. Now if you haven't discovered Claire's fabulous blog yet, you must check it out right now! It's full to the brim of amazing shabby-chic DIY ideas, which are bound to inspire you to new wedding DIY heights. As a DIY bride myself, I understand how important it is for you to make your wedding original to you, and the best way to achieve that {while saving a few pennies}, is to DIY as much as you possibly can. So that's why I'm thrilled to welcome Claire as a regular Before the Big Day blogger. She'll be getting you up to speed on the best way to DIY your wedding, with posts on how to use mood-boards and scrapbooks for wedding inspiration, how to create your own calligraphy and tonnes of DIY decoration ideas. Click back tomorrow for her first DIY Wedding Blog Post, and make sure to follow Heart Handmade UK on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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DIY Bride - Homemade Spray Painted Vases

Tempted by the sunshine and a spray-can of gold paint, I felt inspired to try an easy DIY wedding project yesterday. I've seen tonnes of spray-paint DIY projects on Pinterest, and I figure it couldn't be that difficult. So out came an old jar, tonnes of newspaper and a lovely bunch of ranunculus. Three minutes later, I had the perfect gold vase - it couldn't have been easier! Take a look at the instructions below and please excuse my dreadful pictures - I'm definitely not a budding photographer. P.S. This would work just as well with pastel paints, or whatever colour suits your wedding style.

1. Prepare your work space by spreading out tonnes of newspaper, cleaning any old labels of the jam-jars and shaking up your spray-paint. I bought my spray-paint locally, but you can pick up every colour in the rainbow for £3.20 each from GraffCity.

2. Don't do this on a windy day. The paint has a tendency to drift in the breeze.

3. Pick the jar up by spreading your fingers wide in the brim, so you're not touching the outside of the jar.

4. Evenly spray on the paint, from a distance of about 12cm. The secret is in keeping it even. Too much and you'll get dribble marks, which can look quite cool, but I wanted a matt effect. Twist the jar around so you can spray every side.

5. Leave to dry for much longer than you want. I didn't do the bottom of the jar, so I left it sitting on the newspaper in the sunshine.

6. And now you're done! I hardly used any paint, so it's a seriously cheap and easy wedding DIY project.

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Wedding DIY With Washi Tape

Huge excitement! My washi tape has just arrived in the post {I love my postman, he's so friendly and he never mentions that I'm always in pyjamas}. For those of you not in the know, washi tape is extra special Japanese tape, designed for making things pretty. I've been plotting for months to buy some, but it's reasonably expensive, so I made myself created a Pinterest board of Washi Wedding DIY projects first. Now I have tonnes of wedding ideas to try, and a wonderful selection of 12 tapes to play with - woohoo! P.S. I bought my washi tape here, but you can buy it here too.

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Simple Shabby-Chic Wedding DIY Idea

If you've been reading this wedding blog for a while, you might have spotted I've got a bit of a thing about paper doilies. So imagine my excitement when an email from Papermash appeared in my inbox, with an update on their new stock, and there, in technicolour glory were these amazing patterned doilies. I'm loving the floral wonders for a shabby-chic wedding, and the heavenly polka-dot hearts for a light-hearted modern wedding. Which would you choose? Striped paper straws and blossom paper cups also available from Papermash. For more DIY wedding doily ideas check out my Pinterest boards for tonnes of wedding inspiration.

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Here Comes the Bride Wedding Signs

One of the wedding details I left till last was my Here Comes The Bride sign. I'd spotted them on Etsy, and I figured I could easily DIY one myself, but I left it a bit late. If you look at the second set of pictures, you can see my nephew holding my DIY sign, prettily stuck together with black tape! The idea for my wedding was that he'd walk down the aisle ahead of me holding the flag, but he fell asleep before the ceremony and failed at his task. So when you pick your pageboys, make sure they're older than two, and have a good snooze before the wedding ceremony! If you're not so keen on designing your own flag, my favourites are from The Ritzy Rose and Larkspur & Linen. Along with Here Comes The Bride you could also have practical instructions like Cake Cutting or First Dance or even Please Take Your Seats. What would you choose? I'd love Happily Ever After.

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose & my nephew at my wedding by Caught the Light

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose &  Larkspur & Linen

{Product Credit} The Ritzy Rose 

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Seriously Cool Modern Cake Toppers

Got something to say? These seriously cool cake toppers will add a dollop of Danish chic to your cupcakes and canapés. Whatsmore, they'all double up as fabulous photo-props for your guests - particularly the moustaches, which come in several styles and sizes, from Mexican to Bearded. Designed by crafter Sarah Goldschadt from her home-studio in Copenhagen, you can buy them from her Etsy shop, Goldylocks, or pick up the DIY templates from her website.  

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Wedding Lace Theme & DIY Doilies

Doilies! They're back! Yes, the must-have item of the seventies has made a return, but with a 21st century twist. It's amazing, add a touch or colour, or a few more swirls, and all of a sudden you've got a classic-gone-modern. Add them to your wedding day in every which way - tie them to jam-jars like the pic below, make them into bunting, use them to line the inside of hurricane lanterns, or add one to each table setting. Alternatively, you could always just use them the old fashioned way, to pretty up plates. Throw in a couple of the lace accessories below, and you've got a match made in heaven. Big love to Papermash, where you can find all the products below.

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Amazing Sparkly Tassel & Tissue Wedding Decorations

For some some time I've been looking for a wedding decoration that could be the next DIY pom pom. They need to be versatile, cheap, chic, fun and easy to DIY. It's a tall order, but I think I might have just found them, in these gorgeous tassel banners. Created out of tissue paper and glittery mylar {shiny paper}, they'd fit in with every wedding colour scheme, gussying up every boring wall. Layer them up to create an altar area or to decorate the cake table, or create super-long garlands of them to streak across the ceiling. Buy these gorgeous combinations from The Flair Exchange or check out the DIY tassel tutorial on a pair and a spare blog. P.S. You can also make these out of material, as in this blog post by Delightfully Tacky.

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Easy Lavender Wedding Favour DIY Project

Copying doesn't come easily to me - I was never one to look over my classmate's shoulder during a maths test, but when something as gorgeous as this tumbled into my Inbox, I couldn't resist! Cotswolds-based textiles designer Charlotte Macey sent out a DIY project for cute lavender sachets via Daily Candy, and I simply have to pass it on..... Wouldn't they make the best wedding favours? Charlotte promises it's easy-peasy, with no crafting experience required, so check out the instructions below. Never picked up a needle? Buy ready-made hearts from Charlotte here!

You’ll need:
Handful of lavender ♥ An old shirt or patch of fabric ♥ Needle and thread ♥ 1 cute button ♥ 1 pretty ribbon ♥ Piece of card approximately 15 cm by 10 cm ♥ Pinking shears

1. Pick a handful of lavender from the park {don’t get caught, and don’t blame us if you do}, bunch it together and hang it upside down to dry in a cool, dark place for a week. Once it’s dry, remove the buds with your hand.
2. Make a heart-shaped template approximately 9.5 cm wide and 13.5 cm high using a piece of folded card. Trace around the template onto two pieces of fabric, then cut with pinking shears. Sew button onto the middle of one.
3. Lay one heart piece on top of the other and loop ribbon in between to create a hook (any length you like), then pin it all together.
4. Sew around the heart, approximately 0.5 cm in from the edge, leaving a 4 cm gap on one of the long sides of the heart. Remove pins.
5. Fill with the dried lavender buds and sew the last few centimetres of your heart to seal it up.
6. Hang your creation inside your wardrobe to keep hungry moths away from winter clothes or place it under your pillow for a peaceful night’s sleep.

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DIY Bride Wedding Stationery Ideas

Every now and then I stumble on a website that makes me feel like it's Christmas Eve. You know that feeling of butterflies in the tummy? That's what I get about the online stationery boutique Wonderland Room. Before my wedding I went slightly crazy and bout tonnes of treats, including the boxes you can see below, plus the roller stamp and tonnes of washi tape. I used the rolling stamp to spell out my guests names on their place cards - a super easy DIY wedding project.

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DIY Wedding Fortune Tellers

One of the best things about meeting all the brides-to-be at The In-Wedding Show, was finding out what themes you are considering for your own wedding. Shabby-chic and vintage weddings are here to stay, as are butterfly motifs and vintage key themes. Wedding DIY projects were hugely popular - not least pom-pom making, and I'm predicting DIY weddings are a definitely a trend that's here to stay. One of the items on my stand that caught the eye of most brides, were my DIY fortune tellers. We included these at our own wedding, and my lovely husband designed and made each by hand - all 100 of them! The fortune tellers included fun facts about us as a couple, and inside, the menu for our evening meal. It was fantastic to see people working out how to use them as they sat down to dinner - they acted as a brilliant icebreaker. Make your own, by following the simple instructions below, or buy them via an Etsy seller like A Bespoke Touch or Kat's Crafts.

How To DIY Your Wedding Fortune Teller
★ First things first! Early on in your wedding planning, choose a signature font, and use it for all your DIY projects. It'll make everything look pulled together, and professional. At my wedding, we used a font called English which I downloaded for free from the internet. There's tonnes of free fonts available online, but be warned, once you start looking, it's impossible to choose which one!
★ Click for a fortune teller tutorial. When you click on the link, it'll automatically download the template onto your computer {the file is called 'cootiecatcher'}.
★ If this doesn't work, go to this link, click on 'Resources' and scroll down until you see Cootie Catcher {quite far down}. If you click on the link, it will automatically download the template.
★ Once you've downloaded the template and tutorial, all you need to do is open it in PowerPoint, and start adding your own details. Huge thanks to Gail Lovely for making this available.
★ You might have to practice a few times with the positioning of the words. Remember you can add pictures or symbols too! We added the name of our venue, the date of our wedding, and I Do!

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How To Make Pom-Poms For Your Wedding

One of the most popular elements of my DIY Your Wedding inspiration sessions at The In Wedding Show, was the DIY pom-pom tutorial. Everyone got to make a mini-pom, and most brides left the sessions wearing them in their hair! It was amazing to see all the girls walking around the fair with these bright poms tucked behind their ear, or pinned into their ponytail. Everyone wanted to add pom-poms to their wedding, and I promised to feature this DIY tutorial on the blog - so here it is...with thanks to the ever inspirational Martha Stewart Weddings. Of course, if you're not keen on DIY pom-poms, then you can always buy them from the fabulous Pom Pom Factory!

DIY Wedding Pom-Pom Tutorial

You'll need tissue paper and white 24-gauge florists' wire. Click on the links for my favourite {in bulk} stores. I hang them with fishing wire, so they look like they're floating. Do consider the quality of the tissue paper. If you want smaller amounts, try eBay. It might be worth spending a few extra pennies for a better looking pom-pom. They work out as less than 40p per pom, so you're already getting bang-for-your-wedding-decoration-buck!

Hanging Pom-Poms 
 1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.
 2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.
 3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.
 4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging. 

Napkin Rings
 With just a few changes, these follow the same steps as the hanging pom-poms.
 1. Stack four sheets of tissue. Cut a 10-by-5-inch rectangle, going through all layers. Make 3/8-inch-wide accordion folds.
 2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, slip over center of tissue, and twist to secure.
Trim ends of tissue.
 3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.
 4. Bend wire into a loop to fit around napkin, and twist end around loop to secure.

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DIY Bride - Homemade Lace Votives

Before I got engaged, I never really thought of myself as a crafty or creative person. But it's amazing how a wedding can wake up those school memories of glue and glitter. DIYing your wedding details is the easiest way to personalise your wedding, and it'll save you a fortune at the same time. So over the next few weeks, I'll be posting a few DIY wedding ideas, all of which I've attempted myself, with varying degrees of success. I figure that if I can do it....so can you! This first project involves glue, lace {I bought mine here}, and jam jars. It's so incredibly easy, I'm not sure it even counts as wedding DIY.

{First step}                                                                 {Second Step} 
You'll need...                                                                Fold the lace around the jam jar, leave an extra
Glue, lace, scissors, a jam jar                                       2cm and cut, using your scissors

{Third step}                                                                 {Last Step} 

Add glue to one end of the lace                                      Wrap the lace around the jam jar & neatly line
Try not to get glue on the floor like I did                           it up before glueing. Add pinwheels or candle.

And you're done! See - I told you that was easy. For smaller jam-jars just buy thinner lace. For more jam-jar wedding ideas, check out my Pinterest page.

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Fun Origami Wedding Favours & Wedding Cake Toppers

As soon as a spotted these fun origami wedding accessories, I knew I had to feature them on Before the Big Day. There's something super adorable about the hearts and stars, and as a wedding blogger, I feel inspired just looking at them! They'd work brilliantly as cupcake decorations, or topping cocktail stirrers. Alternatively scatter them like confetti on your wedding dining tables, or place on neatly at each place. If you were feeling extremely extravagant, you could given throw them as confetti! Created by Coppleshop and sold on Etsy, they're a super-green wedding detail, because you can make them out of recycled paper. Learn how to DIY your own 3D origami wedding hearts, and 3D origami lucky stars.

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DIY Bride - Homemade Tissue Flowers

My preparations for The InWedding Show are in full swing, and all I can think about are the decorations for my Before the Big Day stand, and the room where I'll be hosting my special wedding inspiration sessions. It's just like planning for another wedding! I've been buying vintage props like this vintage typewriter, old apple crates, and crafting materials like peach tissue paper, colourful inks and heart-patterned straws. I'll be hosting four sessions on 22nd April, on the themes 'How to Make Your Wedding Fabulous {Themes & Colours}' and 'DIY Weddings Made Easy'. As part of my planning, I've been practicing my DIY skills, and I'm particularly pleased with how these little tissue flowers turned out. Made with nothing more than tissue paper, a toothpick and glue, they take less than 3 minutes to make! Check out the tutorial from fabulous crafting blog Oh Happy Day, and make sure you sign up for my wedding inspiration sessions when you buy your tickets for The In Wedding Show {only £3.50 in advance}.

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