Crafty touches can make your reception decor personal and fun.
Do-it-yourself brides can make a statement with crafty wedding reception details. Though you won't always save money with craft projects at your reception -- some craft ingredients can end up being as expensive as purchased items would be -- you will add plenty of charm and personality to your wedding reception.
Reinvent the Idea of Flowers
Craft projects can make a refreshing change from flowers at your reception. If you're a scrapbooker, paper flowers made in a mix of playful prints can be a fun project. Knitters can enlist assistance from their knitting groups to make centerpieces of knitted flowers. Sewers can have fun stitching together flowers out of starched and stiffened fabric or felt. If jewelry making is your thing, you can make funky flowers out of beads strung on wire.
Add a Personal Touch
An easy way to add crafty charm to your reception elements is with a personal motif -- your new initials, a meaningful Chinese character, or a special pet -- that you can add to everything from favor bags and water bottle labels to banners and cake toppers. Pick up a special stamp or order special stickers to decorate flat surfaces and get creative coming up with ways to transform your motif into three dimensions for centerpieces.
Embrace the Walls
Crafty details really shine when you highlight them on walls or -- if you're outdoors -- buildings and trees. Sew up festive buntings in your wedding colors to define the reception areas, and paint fancy, vintage-inspired signs directing people to the dance floor, bathrooms and other must-see areas. If you have a photo booth, cover a metal sheet with pretty fabric or paper and sprinkle it with funky magnets so guests can add their favorite photo sheets to your decor.
Show Off the Tools of Your Trade
Think beyond finished projects and show off the stuff that makes the magic happen. If you've knitted your wedding bouquet, decorate the reception tables with balls of cheerful yarn and knitting needles. Sewers can track down vintage spools and patterns to top playful layers of pretty fabrics. If you're a scrapbooker, your scrapbook essentials, like printed paper and ribbons, can mix with framed photos to make a creative table scape.
Tags: your reception, your wedding