Handcrafted: The Cure For The Common Wedding

July 31, 2008

This morning started one of my favorite annual traditions, back to school shopping. In Georgia, and many other neighboring states, we are having a tax free weekend, which means there is no sales tax on any school supplies, clothing (under a certain amount), or some computer type things. I probably only saved around $7 in total by not having the tax, but every penny really does count. This really isn't wedding related, but I had to share in case I wasn't the only adult who loves to go get new folders, paper, and pens.

On to today's real post. Have you ever looked at a wedding product and thought "How can they get away with charging so much? I could make that for half the price"? Well, that is just what Lydia was thinking when she opened her Etsy shop Brown Ribbon Banners. She offers personalized table and aisle runners, bouquet wraps, and many other items along this line for half the price of many others stores.  Even the giant banner is under $150! You can use a monogram you designed (or had designed for you), or she'll work with you to come up with something. Everything is done in your colors and made to the size you need. She hand paints them using acrylic paints on taffeta giving them a crafted, but not crafty look.

 

Link Love

I've been getting some sweet link love lately and I wanted to say, "Thanks!"

First of all, I was a guest blogger for Wishpot last week. There was a short bio on me and then my take on why using handcrafted vendors rocks. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this site? I add stuff to it regularly.

Then, a new blog started up called Soul Mating with a bang by posting the top 100 wedding blogs. They have them broken down into categories. It's not really a ranking order, but mine was number 8. It's a great list for finding blogs you didn't know about.

Last, but not least, several of our favorite handcrafted vendors made the Indie Fixx Summer Wedding Guide. Talk about an awesome list. Way to go Jen! Keep up the good work.

In Law Love

I have a little tip for anyone looking to thaw the frost between you and your future mother-in-law. Keep in mind that this is not fool proof and won't fix every problem, but it is a nice gesture that will catch her off guard. The next time your significant other's birthday rolls around buy your mother-in-law flowers, get her a card, or find some special way to thank her for all the work she put into giving birth to them. Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and this year I called my mother-in-law at the exact time that he was born, just to have a special moment of celebration between the two of us.  This works really well for son-in-laws to their MILs, too, but let them take full credit for the idea.

Flowers from FTD.com Sweet Dreams Collection

My New Friend

I had a MySpace friend request this weekend that really caught my attention. Now I am wondering how I haven't heard of this site before. From the moment Kee 2 Creativity's page loaded I knew it was going to be good. It was clear that this is someone who loves graphic design, and you know that is going to translate into great invitations.

I was not disappointed. My first reaction was that this was a seriously edgy line, but in a great way. The designs are bold and inviting with great color combinations. They have taken the little extras up a notch to bring us something really unique.

I know it is still July, but take a second to look at the Cherry Cheeks Collection for holiday cards. If you are thinking of ordering personalized cards this year, this is certainly a great place to look. They aren't your typical Santa and snowman collection.

 

Gown Reflections

The local scout for Brides.com in Atlanta wrote about someone on Thursday that I had to learn more about. Stephanie London is an artist that creates paintings and drawings of wedding gowns. They are gorgeous!

This is a great way to preserve the memory of your dress especially if you aren't looking to preserve the actual dress. In addition to the gown painting she has done, she also has a gallery of charcoal drawings as well as some non-dress artwork that might be just the thing to dress up your new home.

The story of how she was inspired is amazing. It is wonderful what great work has come from such a traumatic accident. (She fell 5 stories off her apartment's fire escape). Take a minute to read the whole thing. It brings even more beauty to her work.   

All Tied Up

A great way to dress up those plain tuxes is by adding in your own ties. Etsy seller Toybreaker has some really unique ties and gives a bulk discount to keep this an affordable idea. This shop is full of off beat and striking designs. They already have just about every color under the sun, but if you need more they'll work with you to match your palette.

Craft Fears

Last night I overcame my fear of Photoshop. I downloaded an evaluation copy, asked my husband a million questions, and after a few hours, I was a pro. Okay, not a pro, but I am no longer limited by my lack of PS skills. I've already put my new knowledge to good use, and I can't wait to do more.

Now I am wondering if I should make the big leap to using a gocco for printing. I never really considered it before because I had no idea how easy Photoshop made the whole design process. Now the only thing holding me back is cost.

picture link

Instead of giving advice or recommending products today, I thought I would submit this question to all of you. Do you have a gocco? Was it worth it? Will it make my crafting easier, or just add another complicated step for me to stress over? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

A Gocco is a small printing system made in Japan. I'm not exactly sure how it works except to say that there are screens and flash bulbs invovled. 

Let's Talk Money

I hate to talk about it. It is the least fun part about planning a wedding. It causes more fights, spoils more plans, and adds more stress than everything else combined. The Wedding Budget.

When you start making out your budget keep in mind that even though your wedding is the first day of the rest of your lives, you need to have money for day number 2 and 3 and so on. One of the best things you can do for your wedding budget is to have a "sleep on it" policy. What I mean is, before you book any vendor have at least one good night sleep between meeting them and signing a contract. Take the time to plug the numbers into your budget and see how it fits. This will stop you from making a lot of expensive rash decisions. That amazing cake might not taste nearly as good when you realize it comes at the expensive of that band you had your heart set on.

Another great tool is a priority list. When you start the budget making process, make a list of everything from the dress to the favors. Then put them in order of how important that item is to you. If you go over budget on one of your top items, subtract it from one of your bottom items first. This will help you see, in more than monetary terms, what something is costing you.

The bride in the cartoon above was from You May Now Kiss The Blog. She has a ton of adorable graphics up along with videos, but everything is about a year old. It appears to be the blog of Bridezilla - the show on WE. Anyone know details on this?

I'm a Nut

I have noticed that several of my favorite handcrafted designers have started having two sites. There is a main web page that you can visit, but then to shop they route you over to an Etsy shop. This is actually a very clever idea for small businesses. It helps track orders more efficiently and keeps your site up to date without calling a web designer for every little thing.

One such site is Hazelnut Cottage. They do most of their work with oxidized silver which creates a beautiful vintage feel to every piece. When you add in the white topaz, such as in the earrings above, you have a perfect look for your wedding day.

The hand stamped pendants would make great bridesmaid gifts. They are simple, but say a lot with just one word.  If you look under her "Mommy and Baby" section, you'll see that she does have a custom option, so if the inscriptions she has picked haven't inspired you, request your own.

Something Bold, Something New

After I wrote my weekly Indie Star post. I thought I would go back and check on my first Indie Star. Sadly, they no longer have a shop, so I moved on to the next one. Something Bold doesn't have an Etsy page anymore either, but for much better reasons. They have their own site now!

I love to see the indie shops grow. I also love that she has chosen to focus on birdcage veils in order to keep her prices reasonable. This is perfect for those DIY brides who are making their own headpiece, but lack the veil part. For me, I found making the veil part to be much more challenging and time consuming.