Wedding crafting seems to be a right of passage these days when organising your big day but it can become a total nightmare! Today our Crafty Bride Katie has a whole heap of crafting advise. Over to you Katie.
The Crafty Bride Kate’s Crafting Advise
I thought I’d share with you all my wedding craft mishap that happened to me this week! For those of you that don’t know me, I like to consider myself to be a true crafter, I love nothing better than strolling around Hobby craft, making bespoke gifts for my friends birthdays, and perusing on the Pinterest app. If there’s anything to be made, rather than paying top dollar for someone in Taiwan to mass produce it, I’d much rather roll up my sleeves and make one myself, now with 10 months to go until the wedding I’ve now stupidly surrounded myself with what feels like a never ending cycle of unfinished wedding projects, I will now finally admit … even I have bitten off more than I can chew!
As I type this I am currently sitting in my craft room (aka my tip of a Back bedroom!) surrounded by, 5 unfinished wooden gift boxes for my bridesmaids, 3 half painted wooden initials, 1 half sketched “Finger Print Tree”, 5 mock ups of our order of service awaiting my decision, 4 half decorated confetti cone holders, 100 unfinished wedding invitations, 500 Tiffany blue embellishment buttons (for what purpose even I have forgotten!), 300 recently varnished vintage key pendants ready to be applied to a nonexistent seating plan, and finally 1 wedding mood board (of which half the content upon it I have changed my mind on!) … all I’m missing now is a Partridge in a Pear tree!
None the less after having throwing a huge wobbler and downing a glass of wine (…. or two) I have now regrouped my thoughts and developed an action plan to get them all sorted.
On reflection of this I thought I’d devise a “What NOT To Do Guide” with a few hints and tips for getting crafty with your wedding DIY projects … So to avoid any wobblers and mini breakdowns along the way follow my easy guide….
Firstly Ask Yourself….
Do you have the right skills to make the craft you want?
Be open and honest with yourself; don’t embark on an oil painting if you struggle to draw stick men! Confide in an honest family member or friend that isn’t afraid of telling you straight if your craft piece is not looking up to par! My Mum has defiantly saved me making these mistakes on many occasions! It’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’re crafting skills are not on par with Picasso, but I’d much rather not have the craft piece in my wedding than make it myself and have my guests thinking to themselves on the day “OMG what was she thinking that looks awful!” … Or “OMG did a 3 year old help her make that?”
Do I have the time to make it?
It’s all well and good making 100 wedding crafts yourself, but do you realistically have the time to do it? Try and set a goal, Make a check list and go through them one by one, try and do it during your spare time, and do it at a time and place where you can focus 100% and not be interrupted.
Does the craft fit in with your wedding budget?
There’s no point making something yourself, if buying the completed craft in the first place will cost less than the materials to make it! The only exception to this rule I would say is; if you need somthing personalised and bespoke to your needs, for example; my wedding theme is an odd colour (Tiffany Blue), so the majority of my little touches for the wedding, I have to make myself to get the right colour, If you can buy what you need/want and its cheap enough on its own, Don’t make it just for the sake of it and make more work for yourself.
REMEMBER….
The Pinterest App can be your best friend and your worst enemy!
Like most people, I have a wedding Pinterest account currently holding over 6000 pins mostly containing fab wedding ideas! Most of which I will never have the funds/time/skill to make! (A girl can dream though!). Be aware of Pintrocities! (This is a slang term where ambitious Pinterest ideas/crafts can turn into something ugly!) I myself have had my own “Pintrocity moment” where I followed a “Heat-less beach curls” tutorial, the result of which turned me into Diana Ross tribute act over night! – Heed my warning; follow the step by step instruction, if it looks too fiddly for your unskilled hands, save yourself the time/stress and don’t bother!
(Ummmm….Oh Dear.)
DO NOT start another Craft project until you finish the current one!
Simple one really, but it’s easier said than done! I know I’ve been there! Some crafts can be more enjoyable than others, but persevere with the task in hand, it will make the next task even more enjoyable knowing that the previous task is all completed! Just make sure to be strict with yourself, do not deviate from your list!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
No woman is an island! Don’t be afraid to get some help from friends and family, any excuse to have your bridesmaids over for a gossip (get an assembly line going!), just make sure that the wine isn’t flowing too much whilst you do your crafts! That has disaster written all over it!
And Finally…
HAVE FUN WITH IT!
Crafting is meant to be fun and enjoyable experience, if it’s causing you to pull your hair out then it’s probably not worth doing, it’s pointless adding more stress to what already can be a stressful time for us Brides to be!.
I hope my hints and tips have been helpful for someone, all the best with your crafting, wither you buy it or DIY it; I hope everything turns out fab for you all.
Katie, this is wonderful! So many good tips and advice, as well as admitting to those little faux pars! Brilliant, thank you so so much for sharing xx
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