A Thrifty Wedding?

I'm doing this post now before the wedding because after this i'm back to a positive, keep calm attitude and I don't want to ruin my wedding blog post moaning all woe is me at you all.

When my OH decided we should set the date I had hoped he would give me at least a year to get used to the idea to plan and save etc. Obviously such is my attraction and my apparent 'meh' attitude he decided the get- wed-quick route was the best. Five months the git gave me, five blinking months.

With all families at the mo, extra pennies are few and far in between but being thrifty and pretty happy with the idea of a 'small do' we figured what we couldn't buy we would make, and what we couldn't make or buy we would do without. Of course this sounds like a lovely idea but weddings have a sneaky way of snowballing... for instance a small family BBQ has turned into a vintage themed hall do complete with hog roast! Gasps of horror at not wearing white, no cars, no honeymooon, no first dance, no over the top speeches... no top table OMG no top table! (we caved and now have a top table lol)

Over the last five months we have brought what we could afford- outfits, rings, crockery, cutlery until the money ran out and what was left on the list was for me to somehow conjure up using my making skills. In the last month I've turned from cake decorator to fabric florist, to table decoration specialist. To be honest i'm pretty much burnt out. Thankfully my mum has been a diamond and helped where possible making favour bits and other much needed items but I've made the following:

Bouquet
Bridesmaid Posy
Hair Accessories
Buttonholes
Favour bags
Favour sweets
Cupcakes
Cake decorations
Bunting
More bunting
and yet more bunting
Place cards
Invitations
Table decorations
Tablecloths.... the list is endless

Now I love making and even if I could have afforded a package wedding I really don't think I would have done it. Although a little part of me wishes that I didn't have to, that I chose to do it because I love making and thrifting and not because it would have been such a simple sterile day if we didn't put the effort in. Of course i've done myself no favours, i've overstretched and over researched and i'm paying the price for having so many ideas. I just wish that after yet another night being left despairing and crying at my latest cake disaster it wont have been in vein.... and that the guests love it and more importantly get it!

On the positive side I love my OH and this is totally going to be our and our childrens day... well its a bit like Christmas isn't it? if you haven't got it by the night before then you cant do nothing to change it!

9 days and counting...

Lavender Heart Place Cards

Lavender Heart Place Cards, a photo by Handmade and Heritage on Flickr.

The conversation in our house last week went a bit like this...

Me: What do you think of these instead of place-cards?
Him: Why cant you just fold a piece of card in half and write their name on it like everyone else does!
Me: *GLARES*
Him: Oh they are lovely.

So since he liked them so much here are my place-cards for the wedding hehe. I brought a vintage tablecloth from my local charity shop a while back and whilst it was a little tatty to use on my table it was perfect to cut up and make into little lavender hearts with little name tags on them. I thought they would look nice placed in a vintage tea cup and everyone could take it home as an extra keepsake.

'Him' the moaning ol' git will just have to put up with my unorthodox, thrifty and crafty ways. He is marrying me after all...

My favour bags

My favour bags, a photo by Handmade and Heritage on Flickr.

As money is tighter than a ducks behind at the mo and a wedding three weeks away I am busily making things to save pennies. I bought packs of brown paper bags from Home Bargains (89p for 10) and decorated them with my own lino cutting design.

Everything in the bags will be handmade and i'll be blogging about it over the coming weeks.

I do have to put a major shout out for my mum who is a legend. Not only does she think of things I really should be thinking about, she's been helping make lots of goodies including at least 40 cutlery wraps! I think she's enjoying it more than me...

Trying New Ideas

As you are all prolly aware by now I have slight obsession with birds, lino cutting and embroidery so it figures to combine the three doesn't it?

Well actually no, the idea seemed cool in my head and at first glance maybe it doesn't look as bad as I see it, but I really think i'm in that less is more mindset today. Lino printing makes sense to create a pattern for embroidery the blocky nature makes it ideal. However the beauty of lino cutting (which my dad drums into me all the time) is that its supposed to be a bit messy, a bit hit and miss, paint in places you necessarily didn't expect or want. I'm guess i am trying to screen print using lino and that's never going to work.

Here is my three for the price of one attempt...

I've also messed about with tea/coffee staining and embroidered highlights to see if that works.

I think some where amongst this mess is a workable idea. Once again i'm putting too much pressure on myself to create something wonderful and once again its dragging me deeper into disheartenment.

Wild Boar Lino Print

I'm experimenting with different ways of presenting my lino work and seeing what results different mediums bring. This design has been printed onto tea dyed cotton and then put in an embroidery hoop for hanging. 

I'm also working on some lino/embroidered mixed media pieces but they need more work.