Hi my partner and I are planning our wedding for June 2016. I am going to do the wedding stationary myself: Save the dates, Invitations, table plan, place cards, confetti and menus. I'm also making the bouquets for myself and bridesmaids. I'm considering doing the cake as a joint effort between my sister in law and I. We have a very small budget and our theme is alice in wonderland. What else could I reasonably do myself? I have a few awesome friends and family members that have offered to help.
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Hi Ashleigh, I sent you a friend request as we have the same date and my wedding is also very DIY due to low budget.
I did comment on the 2016 brides discussion, but don't know if you have seen it. What about table decorations, centre pieces and room decorations?
We have a village Hall for our reception so its a blank canvass. Originally we decided to spend £750 on an indoor marquee, but have decided that kind of money is better spent elsewhere and we can put our own creative stamp on it!
CommentAuthorSammi_with_camera
Ooh nice theme! You can make the table placeholders look like playing cards. That would be fairly easy? I love a bit of diy I'm going to diy alot! Confetti cones is another diy idea xx
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
I haven't seen the other post, I'll have a look thanks. I was planning on doing the centre pieces and decorations myself. I was thinking maybe a different character for each table. Put pocket watches on the white rabbits table and a tophat on the mad hatters? I'm making bouquets out of playing cards. Also thinking of table croquet for the little ones, with flamingos? I have so many ideas I dunno what to do with them all!! x
CommentAuthorMidgetGem89
Hi weve set our own sweet table up. My dad is making my main cake stand we r going to paint it and then cover it our self i cant wait to start on that!
Weve made guest book signs camera signs and games daft little betting slips n stuff
If i had a better budget your wedding sounds like my type of thing bt the bigger budgrt wud be for a 2nd dress thats ttaly crazy to fit the theme haha :-)
Well I don't think you need a big budget for alice theme, That's why I'm going for the diy stuff. I really fancy a tea length dress vintage style, and I'm thinking white dr martens which I already have so it's costing me nothing. I have three children and the traditional wedding isn't really suited to me and my partner, I can't imagine trying to entertain the kids during a sit down meal so we're going for high tea instead. Thanks very much for your ideas. I was thinking of a diy guestbook, but can't decide how to do it. My partner's nephew is in a band and he had a white guitar instead of a guest book, everyone had to sign the guitar which they've hung on their wall, it's a great idea so I'm trying to think outside the box for our guest book too. x
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Character themed tables sounds amazing and your dress will match the theme beautifully! Such awesome ideas, your wedding is going to be amazing!!
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
I'm a bit worried about my mam. She likes traditional and when I mentioned my theme she said she didn't want to go to a ramshackle wedding. I guess I didn't explain it very well, humph ah well. What's your theme Carrie? x
CommentAuthorMidgetGem89
Ohhh u dnt need a big budget but i meant mine is 2k so if i had more i cud do more with it lol
We have 2 kids n we r missin out the sit down 3 course faffy meal n just going onto evening/nighttime! :-)
dont worry bout your mam im sure she wil come round to the idea.. itll be fun!! :-)
CommentAuthorIrishbride2be
I'm thinking of making my own table favours or something because each idea iv had, someone else has had at a wedding iv been to! so many place sell the same ones etc so i want something unique! my mum is very creative so hoping to get her involved to help lol xx
Met my dream man on Halloween 2012
Proposed to me in Spain 22nd July 2014
Getting married 12 september 2015
Marrying my forever best friend :-)
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Butterflies and sparkles and our colours is our theme. Originally we were going to do knights and fairies. H2b was going to wear full suit of armour, but we would have to save for so many years to get married in the castle we wanted and it just wouldn't work in the village hall. Our current theme sounds really boring compared with yours!!
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
My budget is the same midget gem. Really small but I begrudge paying loads of money on a day when the important part is marrying my fella. I'd rather spend the money on my boys. Have you got your dress yet?
Carrie I think the theme is the easiest thing to put your own stamp on, H2b and I have always been a little different and I thought it would be fun for the little men too. What colours are you going for? Getting married in a castle would be amazing but bloody expensive!!
Plymouthbride i know what you mean, all brides want something at their wedding that will set it apart from everybody else's. I like the idea of being crafty with the favours. I was thinking 'drink me bottles but it might be expensive.
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
We are going for fuchsia pink and powder blue (there are a few colour theme pics in my albums) with the traditional black and white. It's not something I have seen often but the colours really compliment each other.
Drink me bottles would be awesome! Could be worth looking on the bay of e for little bottles, you could fill them with whiskey for the men and maybe "eat me" cakes for the women? You could make them a little in advance. Some cakes you can freeze too and just ice a few days before. I guess some might find that a bit sexist, I think my partner and I would swap! But it would just look amazing!
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
The castle was far less expensive than many hotel venues we looked at! Plus accommodation was included on site for around 50 guests, which could be payable by guests, but it's a lot to pay out initially and a good hour from where we live and we are closer to it than any of our guests.
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
The bay of e! Haha I like it, yeah I've looked on there and found someone from Germany who sells shot sized bottles. Perfecto. I'm going tonight to sort out a local working men's club for the evening. It's only £25 for the room and a refundable £50 deposit. I'd love a castle but it's not realistic for us. I was thinking of mars den grotto, which is a local cave at the beach which has been made into a restaurant, you have to go down the lift in to the cave (down the rabbit hole). I have too many ideas and not enough time!!! x
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
You really do have some amazing ideas. I will definitely be picking your brains!
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
I'll have to upload some photos of my ideas it would be nice to get some opinions of some other brides. x
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Oh yes, please do and let me know when they are up and ready. I put a link on your wall this morning as links are not allowed here. Found the page on my travels and thought of you.
CommentAuthorVelcro
i DIY'd everything you have listed (bar cake) plus table decs
also, brewing your own champagne is quite easy lol
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Wow velcro, that's pretty impressive. Hadn't thought about brewing champagne, but that is a fabulous idea; I will look into it!
CommentAuthorsALLY
you can do all your decorations, favours, centerpieces. you have plenty of time which is a good thing.
Bunting, pom poms, garlands the list it endless just have fun!!
CommentAuthorsALLY
edited
go to charity shops for tea pots and tea cups Alice is such a lovely theme everyone will love it - H0me b@rgains do tea cup candles
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
I already have some flowers that match my bouquet for garlands etc and a few other bits and pieces I picked up along the way, so have made a bit of a start!
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
Ooh I'll have a look in there thanks appy. I've noticed 4sda have some cool tea stuff in too. It's canny cheap so I'll have a hunt around.
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
I've uploaded some photos... :o)
CommentAuthorsALLY
OOO the card roses are a brilliant idea very unique, I am in love with button bouquets as its something you can keep
CommentAuthorNikkiE58
AshleighG14 Those card roses are amazing! So clever! I had an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party a couple of years ago, and we went all out on the DIY! As people entered the house, we had a wooden signpost that we made from broken fence panels, and painted on the signs from copying the 'Womderland' font that I found online.. So you could do that, pointing to things like your 'UnWedding' ..My FMIL is a seamstress, so she had tonnes of blackout material, so we hung that up, but really low, so it was all dark inside and everyone had to duck like they were going into a tunnel and we just strung fairy lights along the bottom and covered them in mesh..once they got to the other side, they were given a tiny glass vial filled with Sourz with labels on the bottles saying 'Drink Me', and it was supposed to make them 'Small'.. My FH is a carpenter, so he made me a Massive table, about 12 feet long and 4ft high, to make all the guests feel like they had shrunk, and we collected loads of random cheap crockery from boot sales and arranged it on the table along with the buffet and jars of sweets, and put playing cards in their decks spread on different sections of the table, with candelabras and a mirror. We also used chicken wire and papîer mâché to make a giant toadstool that towered above us, then painted it and put a load of light coloured material along the underneath of the top bit to make it look 'real' and put a wooden pole into the centre of the stem and rammed it into the ground, and everyone posed for pictures underneath it! Also, we got a large piece of rectangular wood, the measurements of a playing card but times like 1000 and my FH cut a face sized oval in it, and painted it like a playing card and people could put their faces through and take pictures! We also all drank out of our own teacups all night! I still have people telling me how amazing it was due to the DIY effort! It took a lot of time to put together, probably a whole 2 months, but it didn't cost too much, maybe £400 including food and tonnes of alcohol! Xxx
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
That sounds amazing do you have any photos? x
CommentAuthorSammi_with_camera
Oh my gosh that sounds totally insane and amazing!! Wow.... Where was my invite?! :-) xx
CommentAuthorsALLY
any photos nikki that sounds really good
CommentAuthorNikkiE58
I've uploaded them to a new album on my photo albums! If you had more time than I did, I'm sure you could put a lot more detail into it than I did, as I was rushing to paint the playing card and my FMIL was painting the toadstool about three hours before the guests arrived!! Xx
CommentAuthorCarrieD26
Wow Nikki. Your party looked amazing!!
CommentAuthorSammi_with_camera
Wow, what an amazing party!! Love it!! Xx
CommentAuthorsarah
This post reminds me of a Brilly's wedding idea. She has a lot of amazing Alice and Wonderland wedding ideas on there. Also have you looked at P1nterest? There's bound to a lot of ideas on there.
I've bumped Brilly's wedding diary for you. It's called - 'my diary soo far'
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
Thanks Sarah I'll have a read of that.
Nikki it looks class, wouldn't have guessed it's a rush job! Some great ideas for me to borrow/steal thanks.
Argh I'm so excited about this, the alice books remind me of my grandad. I miss him, he was bonkers in the best way possible. Not sure that h2b is excited about the theme as i am but I think it will entertain my three boys. That's the idea anyway. They'll be 4, 4 and 2 when we get married.
CommentAuthorNikkiE58
Thanks girls! Ahh Ashleigh, I'm sure you'll make it look amazing! Have you got any themed food for it? I bought some playing card chocolate moulds from Ebay, and some edible paint, and made chocolate playing cards that were painted with black and red! I'll try and hunt down some pictures for you! I'm sure there must be loads of food ideas, as I'm sure she ate a lot of cake haha! I'm sure your Parents and Grandparents would appreciate the thoughts of your Grandad on the day, I've seen some lovely ideas (just a thought) where people have put photos of their Deceased loved ones in frames and on a table/chair at the front of the ceremony, so they could be there in 'spirit', that's what I am going to do I think. Maybe leave the Alice in Wonderland book on the chair next to his photo opened to the page that reminds you of him the most? Xx
CommentAuthorNikkiE58
I can't find the photos of my ones, but if you google Chocolate playing card mould, they have tonnes for sale! Xx
CommentAuthorAshleighG14
Ok thanks Nikki you've given me loads of inspiration. I have a silver necklace he got made for me that I'm going to wear and one of his army medals will be my something blue. Also I'm going to have a quote over the top of the table plan that he used to say to me. It's not from alice in wonderland but I think it goes quite nicely. x
CommentAuthorNikkiE58
No worries hun, Ahhh that sounds lovely! I'm sure his presence will truly be felt on the day! Love everyone's ideas on here! Xx
