I got married this summer and wanted to save money and make my wedding unique. I kept some traditional elements, but I wanted some fun activities for guests, as well as things I would want to keep and would actually look at.
Guest Book
First thing I did was decide that I did not want a traditional Guest Book. I saw a bunch of pins showing unique guest books, and I went with a piece of art for our living room. Inspired by this pin.
Materials:
- Canvas (you want this to be just big enough to allow at least one person from every household to sign.)
- Paint pens/sharpie markers
- Some centerpiece, here I chose to have a wooden letter (Last initial)
- Paint, if needed, for the centerpiece
- Adhesive, if needed, for the centerpiece (I used glue meant for wood and fabric)
Directions:
- Create your centerpiece.
- Since I decided to do a monogram theme, I painted a wooden 'M' using acrylic paint. I did about 2-3 coats and let dry for a couple of hours.
- Attach the centerpiece
- I used multipurpose glue and attached to the center, measuring to ensure it was centered.
- Let dry overnight.
- Day of the wedding, set out where you would display a guest book with your selected pens and let the guests have fun!
- After the wedding, take home and put on the wall as is or frame! Now you have a guest book that you will actually see, rather than store on a shelf!
Guest Mad Libs
I used the template from LovevsDesign.com after completing a Google search. I absolutely loved this! You print the mad libs out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (each mad libs is 5 x 7) and then cut out into the individual mad libs. I set these on the tables where guests could fill them out before the wedding started and during the reception. We got some pretty entertaining responses!
After the wedding, you can put them in a book to look at in the future! I still have yet to do this, but I plan on buying a photo flip book to put these in.
Centerpieces
Centerpieces do not have to be anything over the top. Pinterest gives us all crazy ideas about what we should do, like have intricate invitations and decorations at our wedding. Honestly, if you are doing the planning yourself, just like I did, then you need something simple. These centerpieces were perfect and looked nice in the dimly lit theater I got married in.
The image is a little blurry, taken from a guest's cell phone, but you get the idea. It provided illumination without being too bright or too tall, which could block guest interactions. Here's what I did:
Materials:
- Get some sort of glass bowl. These were Ivy Bowls that were given to us. You can get some just like this and others similar at Dollar Tree for $1 each.
- Buy some ribbon that goes along with your colors/theme.
- Floating candles or votive candles.
- Glass rocks (for floral displays).
- Fabric glue
- Small mirrors (can typically be found with the candle holders at craft supply stores, like Hobby Lobby).
Directions:
- Measure around the part of the glass you want the ribbon to go. I put mine around the top of the ivy bowl.
- Wrap ribbon around the bowl and put a dab of glue on the ends to attach them, keeping them wrapped around the bowl.
- Put glass rocks in the bottom of the bowl, as many as wanted.
- Put candle inside.
- Set on top of mirror candle holder.
- You're done! If you want, you can add water to the bottom if you have floating candles when you set up your centerpieces at the venue.
These were a few of the things I did myself. I also made my own bouquets!, which isn't for everyone. A lot of people prefer real flowers, which is understandable. I was on a very tight budget, so buying fake flowers half off (during a sale) and assembling them myself was the best option. I didn't take any pictures of the process, sadly, but I will include a post on how to make your own bouquets soon. If was time consuming to make 5 bouquets, which was the main downfall to making them. And you may need a second pair of hands to help.
I hope you all enjoyed these tips!
