I am in love with DIY projects, and our goal has been to have as much involvement from real brides, and have brides-to-be play an important role in our blog! We love Tiffany’s theme, and we are super excited to showcase some of the projects that she is working on for her big day! Here is #1:
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As a bride-to-be myself, I have been researching the millions of ways out there to make my wedding as unique as possible; something every bride strives for on her big day. One thing that kept popping up throughout my search was guest books. Every wedding needs a way for the guests to communicate with the Bride & Groom. Everyone wants to say a private special message. It is also a wonderful way for you and your husband to look back on the day and take those trips down memory lane. So all the more reason to make it one-of-a-kind and special! My wedding is an outdoor wedding with a rustic theme. DIY has become my solution for all aspects of the wedding so far. Below is one style that does not require great crafting skill, and still adds the personal touch to your wedding that you are hoping to have. Enjoy!
You will need:
- Large Poster board, preferably in tune with your wedding colors.
- Small envelopes; small white coin envelopes were used in this project however you may use any size, style or color that you prefer.
- Decorative card stock for the centre of the board
- Alphabet stamps & Ink (The calligraphy pros may want to try that approach instead!)
- Stick Glue, a glue gun, scissors or a paper cutter
- Decorative pieces to ‘pretty up’ your message board or tie it in with your wedding theme
My wedding colors are tangerine and a variety of teals so as my base, I went with a tangerine poster board. I have seen message boards done where the poster board is white and the envelopes are in wedding colors – that also looks nice. It’s really just up to you and how you prefer to do it! After selecting the poster board, I went on a very interesting mission to find small envelopes. This task proved to be a lot more difficult than anticipated! Unless you’re after a bulk box of one thousand envelopes, you may find this to be mission (nearly) impossible. I ended up having a contact in the envelope biz who found me some small white coin envelopes which worked out perfectly. Throughout my research I discovered there are endless options to envelope styles and colors. If you think outside the box you can attain a really unique look. Colored envelopes would look fantastic!
You have your base, and you have your envelopes. Now it is time for placement. I started off by measuring the width and height of the board, followed with measuring each envelope. Depending on the size of envelope you have selected, you may have to try out a few combinations of placement and measuring. Just have patience because you want them to be placed nice and even.
Once you have figured out where the envelopes will be placed, you can started gluing the outside perimeter down. Start with the outside in case you have an awkward number of envelopes to fit across. Once you complete gluing the outside perimeter, simply place more envelopes down to get a visual. You want to have an area in the center of the board to send your own personal message. The size of this area can be dictated by how many envelopes you would like to accommodate on the board and how big you would like the main message to be. I used one style of cardstock here, and then a contrast colour slightly smaller. Just to give it some depth.
Now it’s time for some real fun; break out the glue gun! If you have any decorative pieces or trim, the glue gun is an effective and simple way to get them up on the board. For my board, I went with flowers to tie in the outdoor feel and keep it light and playful. There was not a lot of strategy as to where I placed them. Just wherever you feel compliments the overall aesthetics.
To give my board a little more detail, I added some trim to the center square that is the same cardstock as underneath. This is optional along with the flowers.
The last step here is to print my own message to guests. It’s nice to give your guests a little direction as to what they are supposed to do. I used alphabet stamps and a black stamp pad to write my message. Your message can be whatever you like, and feel free to use whatever medium you like to display your sweet message. If I was a pro at calligraphy I would give that a shot too. I am partial to stamps though. They tied in nicely with my theme.
So now we have a message board! The options for displaying the board are endless. I have seen them on easels, mounted on the wall, lay flat on a table. I will be attaching some balsa wood on the back of mine so it stands up straight, leaning on a table. On the table I will have a basket of tiny pieces of cardstock for guests to write their message on. Then it’s up to them to select an envelope. One of many great ways to involve your guests on your special day!
Ainsley's Affairs 