DIY Flower baskets, centerpieces,etc..need help!

[gingersnaps2002]

Ok..the wedding is just 6 months away...we haven't decided on the rings yet, we haven't decided the invitations. I have a dress picked online but can't order it yet..no money for that and I'm trying to diet. My goal is to have it ordered by February.
I have decided instead of buying flower baskets it can be cheaper to make my own. My plan is to find 2 medium sized wicker baskets with a handle and decorate them myself. I picked up some small red and white rose flowers, the tiny ones with movable paper stems sort of..and I was planning on sticking them through the weave, and getting red and white ribbon and wrapping the handle and make it come down on either side in a big bow.
The ceremony is going to be small and we might have 2 flower girls..so one will toss red petals, the other will toss white. For the most part I'd like to leave the base of the basket alone instead of having too much frilly lacy stuff.

I don't know yet where the reception will be. We are getting married at my parent's place but I really don't want to. It's small, bad parking, not able to have a good reception there because there's no way to set up a dancing area. I was thinking for centerpieces just get mason canning jars, get some pretty colored pebble sor whatever for the base and fill with my wedding flowers. I have NO idea what to do for favors....it's a small,laid back ceremony and reception. I know I want personalized napkins but there needs to be more..something I can set out on each table so everybody can take something from the wedding.

I feel like I am behind..it's only 6 months now. We have the maid of honor and best man picked, if the best man is able to come for it, I know what I want in my bouquet and the flowers used, I have a dress picked but not bought.
As far as the reception dinner..also have no clue! LOL:blink: It doesn't help that we are on a super tight budget either. Might have to postpone the wedding.:bbconfused:

Any ideas on how I can decorate the baskets and do the centerpieces and what favors would be nice to use? I'd like to save as much as I can by making my own things if possible.

[gwenshack]

Hey there! :)

I can't help you with the DIY stuff - which I could but I'm SO not good at that stuff. Fortunately these other ladies are awesome.
I did want to say one thing in regard to the dress though - I don't know where you intend to order from but just make sure that the place can get it to you in time. I ordered my dress last May and I received it in December. I'd hate for you to not allot yourself enough time!

Best of luck! :flower:

[gingersnaps2002]

I am ordering from a wholesale company located in China, but the dress is custom made to fit my measurements, the company has nothing but good reviews and it said it takes about 3 weeks total. I plan on getting the dress ordered by February, or earlier if I can.

Another question is....is it better to have the wedding and the reception at the same place? Or does it not really matter? I have a reception place picked out, but I don't think I want to have the wedding there, it's the town community center, with only one large room. But if the reception is in a different location, will there still be people show up at the reception afterwards? I want everyone to go to the reception too.

[hmz819]

I can't help with the DIY stuff either! I am not crafty at all. AS far as the reception and ceremony....we are having the ceremony on one spot and the reception site is about 20 min away.

[EarlyBird]

so, i definaly reconize the panic in your post. i was engaged for 2 years and had that panic, the no money, no place, no anything panic... many times..
and it did come through.. but i needed to be patient... and i was.. the girls here helped me.. alot of them did beautiful flower girl baskets, i personally chose flower balls - got them cheap with coupons and it became a toy for fg at the reception. Please search flower girl baskets.. alot of girls on a budget chose to do them for themselves... and you can too :) beautifully!

[dearmissie]

Wow, a few more months (5 right??). I can understand the stress. For me, we're having the ceremony and reception at the same location. We're getting married at a golf course at a beautiful gazebo and having our reception in their beautiful banquet center. I personally don't like driving too far for a reception so I'm just assuming my guests wouldn't care for it either. Plus a few weddings I've been to, people got lost to the reception. But other people don't mind if its a short drive. Not a really big deal, either way I'm sure the place is going to be beautiful.

I'd love to help with some DIY stuff. Could you tell me more about your wedding?? For starters what colors do you want? Is there a theme?? How many guests will you be having?? And if you don't mind me asking, how much are you looking to spend??

[stabone]

First off I'd like to congratulate you on your wedding, second I have some very easy DIY and budget saving suggestions for you. Just so you know I don't really know what you are aiming for so these ideas may or may not work for you.

Let’s start with the location. As for having the reception and ceremony in the same spot, that's all up to you and the locations you end up choosing. (Some ceremony spots won’t let you hold a reception.) However, if you do have it in the same spot you can cut down on your transportation coast. As for location, have you thought about doing it in a local park? Perhaps you can find a water feature, or stream/brook, or even a tree to get married under. Depending on the type of park, there may be a gazebo or pavilion as well. For decorations, just some basic flower balls (they can be made out of paper too) for the chairs that line the isles and some petals can be sufficient. As for the reception, if the park has picnicking area you can have it there. Some even have BBQ stations (can you see where this might be going?) where you can have a nice homemade BBQ reception.

Another idea on how to cut coast is to have a potluck reception. Everyone can bring their fav dish to the wedding, or you can make it a themed potluck as well (can you say Italian?) This works well if you want a deserts table too. If you’re dead set on having professionals do the food than look to places like Sams Club and Costco. Another way to save on the big day is not to have an evening wedding. If you have your reception around noonish you can served a nice lunch (which cost less) and people are less inclined to drink as much if alcohol is involved.

Instead of having the traditional cake you have DIY cupcake tower. You can even DIY the stand with two or more platters of different sizes and using a goblet or a small vase for the spacers. Or if you are set on a cake try your local grocery store. (You can also opt for a less expensive sheet cake.) Another thing you can get at the grocery store are your wedding flowers. You had mentioned before that you and DIY don't mix too well, so the day before stop in and pick up a bouquet or too. Next step is to remove the plastic and greenery (or leave it if you like) without removing the bands that are holding the bouquet together. If you have roses, make sure there are no thorns left and then wrap some satin ribbon to match your colors and vala, you have an arranged bouquet for under $30 (even $15 if you’re like me).

As for the flower girl baskets I wouldn't do much to them. I personally like look of wicker so the way that I might decorate the basket is with just one simple big bow on one side. Maybe even hot glue a ribbon around the top of it. Weaving flowers works too. I mean this is your wedding day, do it they way you want to. As for other simple DIY projects that you may want to tackle is the decor for the reception. Depending on where you have it, using paper lanterns is a really cheap and fun way to decorate a room. Or hang parasols upside down from the ceiling. Or even stinging a bunch of lights can do the trick (or a combination of them all).

As for having centerpieces well it really depends on your wedding look. You can opt to just have a bunch of pillar candles in different sized vases surrounded by river rocks, petals, or even moss. Or you can have a fish in a bowl of pebbles with a floating candle for a centerpiece. Or you can have a bowl with a single submerged flower wrapped around with floating candles. I personally like the submerged flower looks, but you can also use lanterns as your center pieces. One of my fav centerpieces that I’ve seen was just a bunch of river rocks and a few violet candles. You can even use your mason jars instead of the violets and add a flower bud or two to that. Dollar stores are your friend. They have vases, to candles, to marbles, to rocks, to favor boxes. Take an afternoon and just wander around and see what you can come up with.

As for favors, do you want perishable or non perishable ones? I mean you have those classic chocolate things that people place in a bag or box that you can pick up and any craft store. I don't know how big you wedding is going to be, but you could always make homemade sugar cookies and then decorate them with frosting. Or you can go to the dollar store or IKEA and pick up a bunch of frames and stick a photo of you and fiancée inside. You can even paint (or if you can find stamps) to decorate it. You could also go to Lowes or HomeDeop and pick up a tray of small flowers or herbs, and stick the in small terracotta pots.

As for the music, you can DIY that too. I sure if you don't have an MP3 player (like me) a friend or relative will lend you one for the day. And for the rings... don't worry about it. Instead of the exchanging of rings, try exchanging watches or pictures of each other. Make it something meaningful to the both of you. If you dead set on a ring though you can always buy a cheep joke one (like at party city) and then buy the real ones when you have money again.

Now that I've written you a whole book, I hope that I was at least a little bit helpful. Believe it or not I do have a bunch more ideas and suggestion. If you would like I can give you ones that are more geared toward your wedding vision. But remember, it’s your day so enjoy it to the fullest and good luck.

[The Proper Wedding]

Hi, congrats on your engagement!

My ceremony and reception are going to be about 15-20 minutes away from each other. It's perfectly fine to have them at different locations. It's all what YOU and YOUR FH want! As someone else mentioned, some people do get lost, so the closer you can have them to each other, I'm sure, the better. Most people are familiar with both of my locations, so we're not too worried.

Here's just a few of my ideas. I like your mason jar idea, you could always use them and put pebbles in them and then put tea lights or votive candles inside them as well. I thnk those would look nice.

As for the rings, if you or someone you know are members of sam's club, you can get them on there for reasonable prices! I don't know if they have that section in store, but they have it online! They have some really beautiful rings on there! I think that's where we're going to go for rings!!

I don't have much time right now, or else I probably could give you more ideas. I'll keep thinking and maybe I'll be back to this thread later with some ideas for you! :)

[mariannav81]

congrats on your upcoming wedding!!! i hope you have a blast planning/executing it all!

Just a question - are you thinking of renting a hall for the reception w/out catering and doing the food yourselves (with help from friends) or hall+catering co.? You can cut down a huge cost by doing the food yourselves the day before, if the reception hall people give you the option to cater for yourselves.

I had about 12 people helping with our wedding food, it took like 8 hours to cook/prep/plate everything for the buffet tables and just plastic wrap over it and pop it into the fridge and coolers for the next day.

see pics here:

http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=29524

we bought everything for the buffet at Costco (dinnerware at Ikea).

let me know if this is of any interest and i can help you out with measurements/quantities - this fed a little over 100 people and we had some leftovers to spare for next days family only BBQ.