{Beach Wedding Week} DIY Save the Date - Message in a Bottle

Welcome to Thrifty Thursday here on Beach Wedding Week! We've got some great DIY wedding projects that can add a personal touch to your wedding! As I mentioned in yesterday's practical wedding planning post, do it yourself projects are awesome for brides; they are fun, save money, and get people involved. But you have to remember to limit yourself because you just can't do it all. Aiming for five big projects and achieving three is a great completion rate.

When choosing DIY projects, start from a wedding branding perspective; what theme, color, look and feel do you want to carry thoughout the entire celebration? Is your beach wedding retro (hey it happens), vintage, rustic, casual, or traditional? Next, choose at least one or two projects for each phase, pre-wedding, ceremony, reception, to help create the cohesive look and feel of your specific wedding brand. Project options are limitless and social media inspiration sites such as Pinterest are a great way to get your creative juice flowing. (Come check out the de Lovely Affair Pinterest boards)

Today, we've got two easy projects perfect for your beach themed wedding. This one is SUPER simple and relatively inexpensive to create. This is the post 1 of 2, so make sure you come back later today. Our friends over at Valley and Co. had this great idea so many thanks for letting us share it.

Pre-Wedding DIY Project: Message in a Bottle Save the Date

Items you will need: small bottles with corks | sand and tiny shells | a strip of decorative paper with your information typed or written, about 3″ x 1″ | a tiny rubber band | a 2″ strip of ribbon | glue

STEP 1: Place your sand and shells onto a sheet of paper and then pour into your bottle. Of course, make sure all your shells will fit through the mouth of the bottle.

STEP 2: Keeping with your wedding branding, include small pieces of sea glass, stones, or beads in your wedding colors. You can find these at your local craft store.

STEP 3: Cut out your typed or written message in 3" x 1" sections. Fold the 2" inch strip of ribbon at about half (one side should be a little longer than the other) and glue the rubber band in the ribbon crease. This will help prevent your message from getting stuck in the bottle. Roll up your paper like a scroll and cinch it with the rubberband.

 STEP 4: Place the note in the bottle, leaving a bit of the ribbon outside. Cork the bottle securely and VOILA, you have your DIY Save the Date.

Photos by Elle G. Photography for Valley & Co.

As an additional step, you could design a creative address label with your names and wedding date to stick on the outside of the bottle. For a little extra sweetness, tie a small word charm, love, joy, happiness, around the neck of the bottle with a thin piece of raffia.

Save the Dates are an excellent way to give guests a sneak peek into your wedding and this project is no exception. What says beachy fun more than a message in a bottle? Plus people LOVE to get packages in the mail! :) Just remember to pack them securely with packing peanuts and pretty tissue paper.

Hope you enjoyed this first of two DIY Beach Wedding Projects. Remember to stop back by for the other one...you won't want to miss it. Thank you again to Valley & Co. for their wonderful idea. 

Make it de Lovely!

 xx

Fine Paper + DIY Invitations = splash of culture and color

Fine paper, such as that found at Paper Source, is a great source for wedding design inspiration. It is also one of the easiest ways to add a quick burst of culture and set the stage for your entire wedding. It is a visual cue that says formal, playful, ethnic, romantic or modern and immediate brands your celebration.

{source: paper source}

We love the idea of DIY Wedding paper products - invitations, place cards, programs/favors - that incorporate finely crafted, colorful paper. And being that this is the end of South Asian wedding week, here are some DIY projects and examples to help show off that beautiful culture and add your personal touch.

DIY Wedding Invitation
I have expanded this DIY Wedding Invitation project I found over at Marigold Events and thank them for letting us share the basics with you. Most of these product pieces are from Paper Source but you can find them at any local craft store.  For this project, we will be using the Half Moon Enclosure but the same techniques apply to other types of enclosures.

You will need: 

• Decorative Paper - The Paper Source has a gorgeous collection of culturally inspired designs that would be a perfect addition to any wedding paper suite - Indian, European, Italian, Japanese, Thai. As they say on their site, “Lovingly crafted in different parts of the globe, each design is unique and inspiring.”  Here is a selection from the Indian Papers collection that I am personally grooving on these days.  The sheets vary in size so do the calculations before you buy.

                                       

Paper Source - Indian Collection

• Half Moon Enclosure  - 5″ x 7″,  The half circle cut out allows a portion of your invitation to peek through the top – a great place to include a small graphic element.
• Flat Paper (white, ivory, cream) 8.5″ x 11″- Choose between COVER or TEXT weight, depending on how much dimension you want.
• Flat Card in color of your choice  A7 (5″ x 7″) Go for a less light shade so the colorful paper and light invitation will pop in contrast.
• Outer Envelope A7 (5 1/4″ x 7 1/4″)
• Satin ribbon in color of your choice - One to two inch is a good width.
• Paper Cutter, Scissors, Double Stick Tape or glue stick, Pencil, Ruler

Steps to create the invitation:

1. Open a Word Document in Microsoft Word and change the orientation to landscape.
2. Make two text boxes, each 4 3/4″ x 6 7/8″ in dimension.
3. Type out your invitation text into the text boxes, using your favorite font. Da Font has some great choices not regularly available in Word.
4. Print out the document on Flat Paper (8.5″ x 11″) and using the paper cutter, cut along the edges of each invitation. You should get two per page.
5. Mount the Flat Paper on the A7 Flat Card using double stick tape or glue stick. This creates a contrast and a layering effect.
6. For a triple layer effect, attach a rectangle of decorative paper at 4 3/4″ x 6 7/8″ to the Flat Card. Make your invitations 1/4” smaller and mount onto of the decorative paper as in Step 5. You leave a hint of culture and color peeking around the invite.  
7. Cut out a strip of the decorative paper about 3-4 inches wide and long enough to wrap around the half moon enclosure completely.
8. Adhere the decorative strip around the enclosure with double sided tape or a glue stick. This adds a beautiful accent to your envelope.
9. Now take the wide satin ribbon at 2.5 times the length of the half moon enclosure (approx. 12.5″). Cut the ends of the ribbon into a “V” shape, so the edges don’t fray. It also add a professional feel.
10. Wrap the ribbon length wise along the invitation card, right in the middle, and insert it in the half moon envelope. The invitation can be pulled out using this ribbon and adds a nice touch to the invitation.
11. Now put the invitation in the outer A7 envelope and send off to your guests.

Here are some inspiration pictures for other ways to use decorative paper to brand you wedding- meaning carrying the theme or color scheme throughout the entire celebration.

This is a super cute DIY Tea Favor using decorative paper as the closure. For instructions on how to create this, head over to de Lovely Affair's DIY Projects and Freebies page.

Paper wrapped sweet treat as a place card. Simply add a tag with the guest's name and table. We {heart} this...a lot.

{Source: Once Wed}

Decorative paper can serve as the background for the reception menu.
Follow the same instructions as the invitation to created a dimensional layered look.
{Source: Jean M}

Now create to your heart's desire! And remember to join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

See you next week for more deLovliness!