Weddingbee Blog

As the wedding was closing in, and the giant to-do list I taped to our office door wasn’t going anywhere, Cinnamon Buns asked if it would help if we had people over to craft things. I was a little out of it in the time leading up so I think I said, “Sure yes no maybe you decide,” which he (rightly) presumed to mean “yes.” He called all the bridal party, and his mum (my parents don’t live in town) and everyone but our one out-of-town groomsman could make it over to our house for the Sunday before our Saturday wedding.

I planned a couple projects that could be done by many hands on that day—nice, easy things that we could do with a glass of wine nearby. Cinnamon Buns and I got some snacks and drinks in, and we crafted the day away.

We had people help fold our books to get that beautiful fanned look (fold every other page in half, and they look like that! Magic!).

Others were in charge of making the toppers for our tables - we had white tablecloths, but wanted to get a bit more bookishness in there.

And others decoupaged glass IKEA candle holders with book pages for tea lights.

Our plan was for two types of centrepieces: half the tables would have a pile of old books with a tealight on top of the pile, and half would have a fanned-open book on them. All tables would have one of the marvelous toppers. I love the table toppers because I found the idea (pictured as a table runner on Offbeat Bride), showed it to Mr CB, and he was the one that took care of the logistics of making them all! He was the trainer in charge of that project on Crafty Sunday—he had the list of how many of each size we needed. They made mostly square ones, with a couple long runners for our ceremony decor. I coached people on the candle holders (ModPodge + paintbrush + pre-cut paper strips + candle holder), and when we were done those anyone with a free hand folded some books, while I finished up more complicated things like the wedding flowers.

It was great to get (almost) everyone together before the wedding, and OMG did it take the stress off. I can’t thank Cinnamon Buns enough for seeing that that’s what I needed, when I just couldn’t let go. Everything looked gorgeous, and we still have some of the items out in our house right now! Plus, it was a fun bonding day for most of the wedding party. What’s a better gathering than some crafts and some drinks?

This is what our coffee table has looked like since we cleaned up the house after the wedding. I saved a few more of the paper mats for when this one gets too tatty.

Have you had a crafting/making day for your wedding?