Weddingbee Blog

I had a DIY mission not long after we were engaged. A wedding-related DIY project. For our wedding. Which was in, you know, over a year.

But it’s not every day that a photographer from the Chicago RedEye comes all the way to your house in the ’burbs to take a photo for an article they are writing about DIY weddings. I needed to bring my A-game in a big way.

So, after thinking a lot and asking some (not very helpful) friends what I should do for my DIY-a-year-out project, I decided on cupcakes. Because, you know, we like to DIY and might want to make our own homemade wedding cupcakes for the big day.

Never mind the fact that I am allergic to the kitchen and hate, hate, hate all forms of baking and cooking.

It may look like a deliciously fun time…

…but that is what we ended up with.

Thirty bucks worth of supplies and 18 cupcakes later, you get a hot mess that doesn’t taste that great covered with more frosting than necessary. It took so much time and energy making these few cupcakes, we are refusing (REFUSING!) to even think about making our wedding cupcakes. Although the yin-yang one is very cool, right? That was totally a team effort.

And here comes the thrifty tip of the day: Order plain, frosted cupcakes for your wedding (and do not tell the bakery that they are for a wedding…you could get charged more!), and decorate them yourself with some ooh-la-la chocolate toppers.

I’m talking about the decoration things I have sticking in each cupcake (an initial, flowers—whatever your little DIY heart desires). Super simple, uber creative, and 100% customizable for you crafty guys and gals.

All you do is melt milk-chocolate or white-chocolate chips, throw it in a Ziplock bag, cut a teensy hole in the corner, draw out whatever designs you want onto wax paper, and toss it into the fridge to harden. If you want to get really fancy, cover your designs in sprinkles or pretty sugar before they set.

I was hungry and made extra designs to chow on, and let me tell you: delicious and cute. How on Earth could it get any better than that?

Will all of the supremely motivated cake or cupcake DIY-ers please step up? What did you do to customize your treats? Do you have any hair left after pulling it out in fits of stressed rage?