Weddingbee

Holla, hive!

It’s pre-wedding madness here at chez Cherry Pie, especially as we are leaving for Glacier National Park THIS FRIDAY and will be AWOI (Absent W/O Internet) until the wedding. Or at least mostly… I will schedule some posts to reach you and check in from the wi-fi friendly Montana Coffee Traders in Columbia Falls.

I’ve been working on a slew of DIY projects, most of which I’ve already blogged about (can lanterns,raffia-hanging jars, and favor tags, to name a few). But I’m not done yet! Today’s project is brought to you by this photo inspiration, which I have had forever on my hard drive:

It’s tiny, but the cursive message inside that lovely photo frame says “Please find your name.” I loved the look from the start, but I also thought it was a great way to give your guests directions when presenting them with something non-standard, as we are doing with our river rock seating “cards” and mailbox/vintage-postcard guestbook.

But I needed something more vintage and natural. So I turned to my local Michael’s Crafts for help.

There, I found unfinished photo frames for super cheap - only a few bucks apiece, ranging from $2 to $6 each:

I liked the way they looked bare, but as we’re using khaki linens over white, I thought a darker finish would provide a nicer contrast. I purchased an oil-based stain (ideal for softer woods) off of the clearance table, and a fast-drying matte finish for the top. One coat of each later, I had a nice, rustic, uneven finish:

Then, I popped open Adobe InDesign (though you could do this equally well with MS Word) and whipped up some text. The serif font is Copperplate, which many people hate, yet I love. (Quoth one blogger: “Just look at it, with its puny, teeny, sorry serifs, pretending to be engraved. It looks like a sans serif in a cheap hooker’s costume.”) The embellishments are from the free font, Panhead, using the bracket ([]) characters.

I’m using four of these frames total. The fifth, mismatched frame, I’m reserving for a photo of the two of us to put on one of the guestbook/escort tables.

The first frame says “Find Your Name,” and will go near the river rocks.

The second frame says “Delicious cookies for you to eat, savor them now or keep the treat.” We’ll use that to set by the favors if they aren’t distributed by table. If they are, it’ll be set by an extra-large jar filled with cookies!

The third frame says “Write a postcard to the bride and groom, they’ll get it after their honeymoon. (Put your cards in the box, too!)” This is to go near the mailbox.

The fourth frame is a drink menu that will hang by a ribbon near the cocktail table. It has all of our beverages, including the bottled coke (!), infused liquors (which I forgot to tell you about!!), and suggested cocktails.

These were terrifically fun and easy to make. As a low-key and cheap DIY project, I can’t recommend them enough!

What are you using to give your guests instructions?

• Let’s Brunch!
• Mad for Mantilla