Five Fun Wedding Detail DIY Projects

Let’s face facts- weddings are expensive. You may want a Mercedes Benz wedding, but be on a Honda budget. That’s totally fine, you just have to know where you can save and where you should spend. If you’re doing your dream wedding on a budget, we can help you save a few dollars here and there. These five DIY projects for your wedding will help you save some cash and still make the big day special.

Custom Stationery

One big expense that can rack up faster than you realize? Stationery and mail-related products. There’s a quick way to get around the high costs of printing out certain things. You can download free templates online and create your own return labels or guest address labels. It’s quite cheap to get label stickers from any sort of customized label you’ll need. Return address labels and guest address labels are probably the easiest thing to make at home. They can be quite costly to custom print, so just do it at home!

Bridesmaid Bouquets

You may want to spring for an arrangement for your bouquet, but for your bridesmaids it’s easy to actually do at home. Do some research on pinterest or flower blogs and go downtown to buy some loose flowers the day before or the morning of. It’s best to task this to one of your bridesmaids. It may feel a bit tedious, but it can seriously save you some money. If you want to get super fancy, you can do boutonnieres for the groomsmen too!

Have Your Friends Marry You

It can be a surprise cost to hire someone to marry you- you may not realize it but there can be a cost associated with almost everything. It can save you some money and make it much more meaningful to have a friend or family member do the ceremony. It can be sweet to ask whoever set you up or aided in you two meeting, or whoever has known you two as a couple the longest. It can be pretty cheap to get certified to officiate weddings, so you can save a few dollars here.

Lower the Lights

Renting or buying big extravagant candles can be seriously pricey. Candles are so beautiful and romantic, so it’s kind of hard to skimp on them. One easy way to get around the cost of something too extravagant is to take the same concept and shrink it- literally. Skimp the huge pricey candles and buy a few packs of tealight candles. You can get a ton of these for seriously cheap. Arrange the tealights on different levels to create depth and a sense of flow or drop them in water to have floating candlelight. It’s super romantic, creates gorgeous lighting, and is cheaper than springing for huge candles.

Stencil Yourselves

A quick way to ‘brand’ your wedding favors is to create a stencil and paint it over blank favors such as cards and small gifts. If you’re thinking of doing a little favor such as a tote bag, a candle, a selfie stick, any sort of favor for your guests- it will almost always cost a little more to put your name and/or date on it. You can actually get discounts or better rates on items to get items that are blank or not marked yet. You can make your own stencil using cardstock and some creativity and brand everything at home. It’s a fun art project that can save you money!

 

Designer Wedding Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon

Well, it is a bit after lunch here at BHL headquarters, and we are always searching for something sweet and savory to eat.  Today, something sweet and amazing has landed in our inbox which we can not stop drooling over. So, if you are  just getting back from lunch or an afternoon snack, we like to share some phenomenal cakes for your wedding loving hearts…or dessert loving hearts. We’ve got Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon here to make your afternoon a bit sweeter, and make your mouth water. Alexis Sturgeon is a fabulous and talented cake designer based out of Los Angeles, California.  These cakes are not only beautiful, but they are so delicious that our eyes roll back in our heads. So often, that we sometimes miss the fantastic art pieces in front of our eyes. For real though, when we are not enjoying the mouthwatering treats, we can stare for hours at these designer cakes. That is why we  had to devote an entire afternoon for admiring, loving, and drooling. We have also picked Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon for our vendor hot pick!  Make sure you save enough time to read all that Alexis had to say about the thrill of cake design, before your sugar-induced coma sets in. She is such a sweetie!bridal-hot-list-vendor-hot-pick

Alexis Sturgeon tells us…

My mission as your appointed cake designer is to give each couple the most unforgettable experience when designing, tasting, customizing and finally unveiling to see the most beautiful cake for their wedding. Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon will create designer, artistic, sculptural, classic, and romantic cakes that will truly be a work of art. Each design is hand made using modern and trend setting techniques, keeping conscious that the inside of the cake should be just as beautiful as the outside. Only quality ingredients will be used! As a professional cake decorator with a pastry chef background, I offer a delectable cake menu for you and your guests.

Choose Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon and I personally, will give you an exclusive, one of a kind experience during your consultation. This includes hand drawn renderings of your cake that you will get to keep upon booking with Cakes by Alexis Sturgeon. You will indulge in a tasting that will consist of gourmet Parisian Pastry inspired cake flavors and fillings that you, the client, will have a role in deciding the pairing flavors. Finally, you will receive a desired look to your cake that will forever be remembered and discussed by guests at your wedding for years to come.

I am currently featured as the resident cake artist at the Roosevelt Hotel. I have competed on Cupcake Wars as well as TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off and achieved victory on both shows. 

Are you ready for a look into some fabulous cakes?

  • Art Deco Cake: For the couple inspired by architecture, New York and the 1930’s era. This cake shows bold geometric shapes, vertical and horizontal lines, and delicate lace work. Perfect for a trend setting metropolis wedding, embodying class, art and allure.

art deco 1

art deco 2 copy

Photography: Dalmiro Quiroga 

  •  Chandelier Cake: A recreation of the famous cake featured in the Sex and the City Movie, this gorgeous design is for the couple inspired by old Hollywood glamor. Perfect for the black and white wedding with elegantly dressed guests and bling…lots of bling

chandalier cakePhotography: Martin Willis-Raymondo

  • Something Blue Cake: Inspired by Spanish tiling and detailed motifs, this beautiful cake offers a modern shape. This design is for the couple looking to stand out and make a statement with something unique, different and of course, something blue.

Something Blue

Photography: Dalmiro Quiroga

  • Wedding Cupcake Tower: Simple, sweet and easy going, a whimsical cupcake tower to meet the needs of a couple tying the knot on a beautiful beach day.

wedding cupcake towers Photography: Tyler Freear Photography

 

Custom Wedding ArtWork

Did you ever think that a piece of art can be part of your wedding day? Something so unique and personal, that it creates a lasting memory for you and your guests? Bethany Thomas, owner at Commemory Fine Art shares how artwork can be incorporated into the wedding day. She specializes in creating a lasting memory for important life milestones like a wedding day. A memory that can be shared with not only the couple, but all future generations as well. How wonderful is that! Are you excited yet? At the edge of your seat to find out how? Then let me tell you!

Bethany Thomas creates heirloom-quality paintings that can serve as lovely decor at the wedding day such as a beautiful backdrop for the ceremony and sweetheart table, table artwork for the guest tables, and wedding dress/love story memory paintings. Not only does the artwork serve as a unique and personal decor piece at your wedding, it can then be brought home and be used as home decor. How great is that? What I love is that you bring home a piece of art from your wedding day, display it, and will always remember the wonderful wedding day for years to come.

What I am most excited to share is what Bethany told us about the recent artwork that she created for a couple at their wedding:

  •  My goal is to give the bride beautiful and meaningful textured artwork as decor for her wedding day that becomes a lasting memory of the day as decor in their home. It will last a lifetime and leave a legacy for their families they will enjoy for generations. I specialize in helping brides have a lasting memory of their dress rich in texture and detail.
  •  Amy and Christopher’s 14″x14″ mixed-media painting on canvas is 42 layers of acrylic paint, fabric and paper
  • It features the beautiful picture window at Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes where Amy and Christopher got married
  • Amy’s dress is hanging on a black iron hangar in the chapel
  •  I recreated the calligraphy from the wedding invitation of their names and made a signature ‘W’ “wind chime” hanging from the tree
  • The painting was on display on the guest book table at the couple’s reception

You can see how the painting is reflective of the Wayfarer’s Chapel where Amy and Christopher got married. Check out the photos captured by Beautiful Day Photography.  It is amazing how beautiful and detailed the artwork is, and how wonderful it captures the wedding day.

Are you ready to see how the painting turned out? Just gorgeous!

Here is a close-up. You can see the details of the signature “W” of the wind-chime hanging from the tree. Did you notice the wedding date?

Check out all the details: The colors, texture, and style is absolutely lovely.

If you want to have something very unique and personal which is beautiful, then you should definitely consider Commemory Fine Art when planning the design and decor of your wedding.