Weddingbee Blog

It had been quite a few months since I had touched base with my girls about where my wedding planning stood. Sure we would discuss bits and pieces over cocktails, but never all together and never exactly what I was thinking. Plus, since my last email to them, I had changed my colors and also changed the look of what I wanted them to wear. I had made a couple of trips to Hobby Lobby (which PS, is a 50-minute drive across state lines…yes, I have to venture to New Mexico, a whole different state to get craft supplies). I had visited Hobby Lobby and picked up some basic crafting supplies—paper cutter, stamps, card stock, bone folder—and I was itchin’ to do some craftin’. I decided I would create something to give to my girls showcasing my ideas. Being that I got too anxious and asked my bridesmaids to be in the wedding either via a phone call or an email, I thought this could make up for it.

I will preface this by saying that I did NOT have a clear vision when I started and, because of that, it took me four weekends to complete, with numerous hours devoted to how I wanted this something to look. There were three ideas I knew I wanted to portray to the girls: 1. My Vision, 2. My New Colors, and 3. the Bridesmaids’ Dresses.

I started with My Vision:

I created the collages through Mosaic Maker and printed everything on neutral-toned card stock. After I printed and cut them, I mounted them on another color of card stock.

I introduced My New Color Palette:

I saved the color swatches from 100 Layer Cake’s Inspiration Binder and then just bordered them in Microsoft Word, separating out the main from the accents.

And then the Bridesmaids’ Dresses:

I made another collage with eight pictures of mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses to get them to see that my lack of control on this issue would turn out perfectly beautiful.

I used stickers to accent their names and stamps to add a little decoration; adding a picture of myself and each girl put icing on the cake:

{Front}

{Back. Yikes, sorry for the blurry photo.}

{All together}

Then…I was stumped. I wasn’t sure how to present the card. Do I just mail it as is? Will they wonder why the hay I’m sending this to them? Another weekend passed…then I was making a card for a friend’s birthday and came up with the idea of creating my own card and ended up with this:

{Front}

{Inside}

I hand wrote a note to each girl also, you know, to make it personal. I customized the one for MOH Honey saying “maid of honor” rather than “bridesmaid,” and I made one for my parents that said “and we have your support as parents and future in-laws.”

I created this little explanation flag to tie it all together:

Then I literally tied it all together with some yarn:

I signed, sealed, and delivered dropped them in the mail. I think the girls appreciated it. Even though it wasn’t necessary, I felt satisfied giving them something personal.

Sure, it wasn’t the most efficient DIY project, but it helped me get some crafting jitters out before I began working on the real wedding projects.

How did you touch base with your bridesmaids? Anyone else use a crafting project as a “practice run”?