One-of-a-Kind Handmade Weddings: Easy-to-Make Projects for Stylish, Unforgettable Details by Laura Maffeo and Colleen Mullaney is a DIY wedding craft and project book.

As with any DIY craft book, the projects are meant to inspire. Projects in this book should be a jumping off point to creating something that is unique and your own.

One-of-a-Kind Handmade Weddings: Easy-to-Make Projects for Stylish, Unforgettable Details offers paper crafts from cocktail napkins to place cards. Many of their projects are paper because as they say, “paper is versatile and easy to work with and can be cost-effective too,” all things that make for the best DIY projects!  Picking out paper from a store like Paper Source would personalize and update a lot of the projects in this book as well.

The Vintage Post Card Save-The-Date project is a cute idea. Collecting the post cards along the way is half the fun! They recommend printing your information onto the card. If you find, or purchase, a fun vintage font online to match the style of the postcards it would complete the look.

I also like their Rehearsal Dinner Coaster (which I think could be used for the actual wedding as well). Buying a stack of simple paper circles for the coasters (thick card stock would look the best, but may be more expensive) saves time on having to punch or cut them out yourself.  They recommend buying a bride and groom stamp, as well as number stamps for the dates. I think making or buying a custom stamp (you can find cool ones on Etsy where they make a stamp from a photo of the two of you!) would add more of a personal touch and make the coasters a fun keepsake that people could bring home.

The Hanging Stars project is really pretty and a nice departure from the tissue poms that are everywhere right now. A bonus is that they’re made from colorful bags, so they’re a “green” craft project which is always nice. These stars are fully customizable too, from the color to the size. Another idea for these stars would be to to make them with three different colors which would make a cool pinwheel affect. Because these fold flat they make great props for a destination wedding too!

One-of-a-Kind Handmade Weddings: Easy-to-Make Projects for Stylish, Unforgettable Details has clear step by step instructions with accompanying photos as well. It’s easy to follow and to expand upon to make your own creations as well. With a variety of styles and projects this book will inspire you to create your own one-of-a-kind wedding.

Rebekah owns the even design company A & B Creative. Read Rebekah’s blog.

If you’re seeking a book with projects that are modern and stylish, look no further than Paper + Craft: 25 Charming Gifts, Accents, and Accessories to Make from Paper. The cuteness extends past the most adorable Frenchie on the cover, into 25 paper crafts that range from hanging mobiles and tissue stars to custom silhouettes and flower gift tags.

The photos (by Johnny Miller) are gorgeous and all of the instructions are clearly illustrated and described making for a confusion-free crafting process. Just about all of the 25 projects could be used for a wedding too, which is a bonus.

In the intro of Paper + Craft: 25 Charming Gifts, Accents, and Accessories to Make from Paper, the authors put the idea behind crafting perfectly into words:

“We hope you undertake the projects in a spirit of inspiration rather than mimicry. The allure of crafting is that it fills the mundane with substance, and regardless of the imperfections or irregularities that will happen along the way, it is still entirely ‘yours,’ no matter how simple the object.”

If any of the techniques or project descriptions weren’t clear enough, there is a section in the back of the book dedicated to the materials, tools and resources that you may need.

One of my favorite projects from the book is a keepsake paper box that would be perfect for bridesmaids and groomsman gifts. The pinwheel name cards are also adorable and would be perfect for a playful outdoor summer wedding. The delicate tissue paper flower headpiece  would be gorgeous on a bride for a rehearsal dinner or for your flower girls. It looks relatively simple and quick to make and the result is stunning!

The mini goodie bags are simple, but incredibly chic and stylish as well, and would be perfect for favor bags. I especially love that you can make them out of any patterned paper that you like and that fit your theme. The book includes the template as well, which is helpful. The authors offer additional ideas, such as sealing them with a pretty label or adding ribbon to create handles if you’re looking for something a little fancier.

Another craft I love, and probably wouldn’t have even thought about, is paper pocket squares. Just think how creative you can get with your groom and groomsman’s pocket square patterns!

This book is a huge trend setter too; they jumped on the mustache decor bandwagon before there even was one to jump upon. Their mustache drink toppers are adorable and so much fun for guests.

Paper + Craft: 25 Charming Gifts, Accents, and Accessories to Make from Paperis such a good book because it is beautifully designed and photographed and all of the projects are very current and applicable to so many different occasions. For DIY wedding decor, this is an amazing crafting resource that inspires you to create not only what you’ve seen in the book, but also to make it your own and take it even further.

Rebekah is a DIY obsessed, wedding and event styling wizard who loves hunting her bay area  homeland for clever craft ideas, vintage gems, bargain buys, new pieces for her vintage rental line  and blogging inspiration. She and her husband live and write in Oakland. Read her blog.

I refuse to believe that snail mail is dead – neither do the creators of Handmade Hellos: Fresh Greeting Card Projects from First-Rate Crafters, a book that offers both inspiration and instructions to create fabulous stationery.

If you are in need of  cute and crafty thank you cards, invites, or bridesmaid cards for your wedding, look no further! Handmade Hellos features DIY tutorials for twenty-seven unique card projects. Although the projects are for a variety of occasions, many the projects could easily be modified to be wedding specific. The projects range in levels of difficulty and involve a variety of materials. Handmade Hellos teaches you to collage, screen print, string a garland, make pop-ups, use a Gocco machine, embroider, bind a booklet, emboss, stencil and stamp just to name a few.

Handmade Hellos is the first book by Hello!Lucky creators (and sisters) Eunice and Sabrina Moyle, their second book Handmade Weddings: More Than 50 Crafts to Personalize Your Big Day was just as much a hit as their first. Their style is clear and easy to follow. The Moyle sisters gathered their favorite fellow paper crafting artists to contribute the projects in this book.  At the end of each of their projects, you can read more about each of the artists – from their favorite crafting tools, to fun facts.

Creating a handmade card is a soul-satisfying endeavor – it’s also a cost-effective one. As the sisters say: “The abundance and affordability of supplies are a huge part of why we love making cards by hand. Why buy a $9, albeit charming, birthday card from a boutique when you can achieve the same “aww” factor yourself for next to nothing?” Agreed!

With a grading system in place, the authors have created a guide to help you know how much time to set aside for each project. A “basic” grade would mean that the project is easy and doesn’t require much skill or practice. Generally cards that are rated as basic will take fewer than half an hour to make. Bonus: these are also great cards to try making with kids.

“Moderate” projects need to be done with a little more focus and concentration and there are more steps and techniques needed as well (like tracing or sewing on a button). These projects usually take around one to two hours to complete.

The “advanced” projects are for the “motivated card maker” meaning that to make them look their best you will need more hand-eye coordination and patience. You may also need to learn a new skill such as silk-screening or block printing. They suggest that you set aside at least an afternoon to make these cards. The benefit with these cards however, is that you learn a new skill set that you can use for future projects as well!

I have to say that I generally would not describe myself as having the steadiest hand or the best hand-eye coordination, but I made the “Paper Portrait Friendship Card” (which is an advanced project) as a donation for a fundraiser a while ago and I was able to make these look like how they described and they turned out beautifully. Here is my finished product. This project is based off of using a photograph of someone and then cutting out and layering the paper to look like that person in paper form. I used photos taken on a research trip and made these paper card replicas of the children from the photos. It took some practice and making it detailed was difficult, but I couldn’t have been happier with the end result!

Handmade Hellos is designed so that each project offers  a clear step-by-step guide with enough instructions that don’t leave you reading and re-reading thinking that you’ve missed something. The book also comes with all the templates you may need, as well as a section in the back with suggestions for any materials or tools you may also need and further technique instructions.

Handmade Hellos is a great inspirational tool for cards that you may need for you wedding and for everyday after that.

Rebekah is a DIY obsessed, wedding and event design wizard who loves hunting her bay area   homeland for clever craft ideas, vintage gems, bargain buys, new pieces for her vintage rental line  and blogging inspiration. She and her husband live and write in Oakland. Read her blog.

Having a vintage wedding? Why not incorporate some DIY vintage wedding projects!

Vintage Paper Crafts offers up heaps of inspiration for your paper crafting needs.

Author Anna Corba began as a painter and while scouring flea markets, she fell in love with vintage paper products and began incorporating them into her paintings. From there, the paper obsession spread and she began experimenting with paper craft art from the treasures she brought home from junkin’.

Corba offers tips on where to find the best vintage treasures. She also warns that it can take some serious digging to find the good stuff. In fact, she confesses that some of her favorite paper treasures were found at flea markets and garage sales, buried beneath strange looking bags and in dark recesses below tables.

The best part of wedding decor is the detailing and Vintage Paper Crafts gives lots of great ideas for vintage finds you can use for embellishing your projects. Ribbons, fabric measuring tapes, chandelier drops and vintage handkerchiefs are some of her favorites. She also suggests great vessels to use for display: muffin tins, glass pudding cups, enamel saucers and jars with or without their lids are all great.

The author shows you how to take an old choral music book and turn it into your guest book or a blank book gift for your bridesmaids and just about every other paper related craft you could imagine.

In Vintage Paper Crafts you can also find a list of commonly used tools for the crafts and general tips. Corba recommends finalizing collage projects (such as her ‘keepsake envelopes’ which would be perfect if you included those as part of your invitation suite) with beeswax. Beeswax mutes the colors you’re using and adds warmth and depth as well, and unlike varnish (another finishing option) beeswax actually smells good.

Tea dying is a technique she recommends for aging something that isn’t quite old enough. This is extremely affordable and a useful technique when you find a piece of ephemera that you love but that just needs to look a little older. Corba recommends adding two tea bags per gallon of water. Simply boil the water and pour it over the tea bags in a flat pan. The desired darkness of the paper will depend on the time that you allow the paper soak. Light stains will take about an hour, for deeper colors you can double the tea bags and the soaking time. This technique would be great for invitations to give them a more aged look!

In the back of the book you can find patterns for creating paper cones (perfect for flowers girls to throw their petals from) project as well as vintage artwork that you can scan or photocopy to use however you like.

While some of the styles in the book may be bordering on “out of date”, the ideas and applications are still classic; all it takes is a little imagination to modify the projects to your own liking.

One project that would be perfect for a wedding is the ‘gift adornments’ project. This is essentially a group of tags with vintage pictures trimmed with vintage ribbon, type-writer keys, ric-rac or vintage buttons. These tags would be amazing as escort cards with a variety of old family photos copied onto each card.

The vintage hanger project would be a great gift (and photo op) for your bridesmaids. This is a super easy project that only needs a set of rubber stamps, some vintage ribbon and an old wooden hanger.

Whether you make a cake stand, gift tags, hangers, a guest book or any of the other projects in Vintage Paper Crafts, there are great tips and no shortage of inspiration to help your wedding decor look vintage-influenced and personal to you and your spouse.

Rebekah is a DIY obsessed, wedding and event design wizard who loves hunting her bay area homeland  for clever craft ideas, vintage gems, bargain buys, new pieces for her vintage rental line  and blogging  inspiration. She and her husband live and write in Oakland. Read her blog.

Want to know how not to piss off a bridesmaid? Be kind. Be grateful. And read Siri Agrell’s Bad Bridesmaid: Bachelorette Brawls and Taffeta Tantrums–Tales from the Front Lines.

Bad Bridesmaidgives an inside glimpse into the mind of a bridesmaid. How does she feel about all of those obligatory bridesmaid outings? What does she really think when she hears you obsess over napkins, pew bows and cake toppers? How does she feel when she walks down the aisle in a dress that’s too tight, too sweaty and really not her colour?

If you’re a bride-to-be, Bad Bridesmaids will remind you that a little appreciation can go a long way. Sure, your ladies are there to help, but it’s good to keep your demands in check and realize that your wedding is not likely the most important thing in their lives.

Agrell wrote the book after she was stripped of her title as bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding. The reason for her dethronement? Penning a newspaper column in the National Post that highlighted some of the absurdities that go along with the bridesmaid role.

Although there are two sides to every story (I would love to read the column that infuriated her friend), Agrell makes a strong case that bridesmaids are oftentimes used and abused all in the name of wedding day perfection.

Not only does Agrell discuss her own experience as a jilted bridesmaid, she interviews dozens of other bridesmaids who had a less than stellar experience as wedding attendants.

Some of the experiences relayed are pee-your-pants funny, while others are almost painful to read. Sadly, friendships are not an uncommon casualty of wedding planning madness.

Thankfully, I am one reader and former bridesmaid who does not have any horror stories about being a lady-in-waiting. (I just had to buy the dress and show up.) I’ve never planned (or even attended) a bachelorette party and I’ve yet to partake in a ‘themed’ shower. Before reading Bad Bridesmaid I was rather ignorant about the duties that so many bridesmaids are forced to graciously accept – many from brides who have lost their manners along with their marbles. These poor souls have my pity.
Although I found the book a bit gossipy at times (there were moments when I felt like I was stuck inside a bathroom stall  inside a college dorm jammed with sorority sisters), for the most part I enjoyed Agrell’s writing style. She’s brutally honest and very funny. That said, I can’t help but want to hear her friend’s side of the story. Maybe she’ll be the next to write a book: “Bad Brides: How to Fire Your Bridesmaids in One Easy Step.”

Before you drop $25,000, or even $5,000 for your Perfect Day, Read Rebecca Mead’s expose of the American wedding industry, One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding.

One Perfect Day is an excellent read for couples who have recently become engaged. In fact, all ‘thinking’ brides should read this book as a primer to wedding planning – well before the venue is booked, and the dress is found.

One Perfect Daydigs deep into the core of the wedding industry. It gives a behind the scenes look inside an industry that is as sophisticated in manufacturing and marketing fairytales as Walt Disney. (Not surprising Disney is one of the big players in the industry.)

In her quest to understand the American Wedding, Mead travels across the country, attending insider events and meeting with wedding professionals from all facets of the industry – from wedding planners, to officiants, to videographers. The revealing conversations she has with many wedding professionals gives the reader an understanding of just how ‘valuable’ the bride has become in recent years. As one wedding professional put it, she is “a marketer’s dream.”

Mead also travels to a factory in China, where bridal gowns are manufactured for market in the U.S. Her sobering account of the factory conditions and the daily drudgery of the mostly female laborers (they make on average $150 per month working 6-7 days a week) give insight not only into the wedding gown industry – but ‘Made in China’ as a whole. (The question remains, how do we as consumers avoid it when there’s little choice of anything else?)

Mead also challenges the accuracy of the $27,852 price tag placed on the average wedding: a number, she explains that is issued (and promoted) by a major company that publishes bridal magazines.

What’s the advantage of promoting the $27,852 price tag? Mead argues that if a bride is told repeatedly that is the average cost of a wedding, then she believes that spending nearly $28,000 is perfectly acceptable.

One Perfect Dayis an essential read for anyone who wants to create a wedding with authenticity. There’s a good chance that after reading it, a bride will ask herself: Is this the wedding that we really want, or is this the wedding the big white wedding machine has hypnotized us to have? As Mead points out, even the best of us can fall under the glittering, fairytale spell of the American Wedding.

We’re giving away two copies of Kate Harrison’s The Green Bride Guide. (I just wrote a review of the book over here.) For your chance to win go here and read all about the giveaway.

Deadline is 11:59 PM Eastern Time May 13, 2009.

It’s green wedding week here at IntimateWeddings.com. To kick things off, I’ve reviewed Kate Harrison’s The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget. Stay tuned for more eco-friendly wedding posts throughout the week!

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You will not save the planet by having a green wedding (headlines like this one from the Toronto Star bring my blood to a rolling boil.) Using soy ink on your recycled paper invitations, and opting for a second-hand dress is not going to save Mother Earth, but if you are an eco-conscious individual who happens to be planning a wedding, green nuptials are a natural choice. After all, a wedding is one of the most significant events in one’s life and it usually reflects the values of the couple saying ‘I do.’

That said, just because you are environmentally conscious does not necessarily mean you know how to navigate the foreign land of veils and vendors with a ‘green’ compass. And that’s where Kate Harrison’s The Green Bride Guide comes in.
The Green Bride Guideis a comprehensive guide to help eco-conscious couples of all budgets make green decisions in all phases of wedding planning. The book covers everything from finding a ‘green’ venue to choosing the most eco-friendly wedding favors. In every chapter, the green choices that are offered are divided into price categories ranging from the least expensive to the most expensive.

According to Harrison, the size of a wedding has the biggest influence on how ‘green’ it is.

“The size of your wedding is the most influential factor affecting both the cost and sustainability of your wedding. Generally speaking, the smaller the wedding, the less expensive it will be and the less environmental impact it will have. A fifty-person wedding at $100 a head is $5,000. A two-hundred person wedding at the same location is $20,000 and has roughly four times the environmental impact,” she writes. {Chock another one up for small weddings!}

Harrison stresses the importance of communicating your vision of a green wedding to each of your wedding vendors. She includes an anecdote from her own wedding that highlights the importance of clear communication.

“My new husband and I were waiting with our friends for the arrival of what was supposed to be a biodiesel shuttle, when up pulls a pimped out (faux-leopard interior) SUV limo – pretty much the least environmentally friendly form of transportation you can imagine … We had been unwittingly ‘upgraded’ by our well -intentioned but environmentally uninformed transportation company,” she writes.

Harrison also discusses ‘greenwashing’ and advises couples to be vigilant about choosing vendors. Terms like ‘green’, ‘eco’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ are not regulated by the US government and can be used by anyone. (Just think of all the ‘organic’ shampoos on the shelves that are loaded with parabens.) ‘Green’ has become a giant money-making industry and oftentimes it’s difficult to know who is legitimate and who is simply out to make a buck. Harrison’s book and website help couples choose legitimately sustainable businesses that the author personally recommends.

One of the most important points that Harrison makes is that a green wedding is not only about making eco-friendly purchasing decisions, but also about spreading the gospel – in a non-preachy way.

” … in the same way that a wedding is an opportunity for you and your fiancé to showcase your tastes, it is also a unique chance for you to showcase your values.”

When it comes to creating a green event,  it doesn’t have to be all or nothing: trying your best is what counts, says Harrison. And The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budgetwill help you do just that.

Sharon, who is currently working on her 40th book (titles include 1001 Ways to Save Money … And Still Have a Dazzling Wedding, The Bride’s Survival Guide and The Complete Outdoor Wedding Planner), wrote a lovely blog post about Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style.  Thanks so much Sharon! You are one talented and generous lady.

Sharon’s website is a fabulous resource for anyone planning a wedding. Not only does it highlight all of the wonderful books she has written, the blog offers heaps of great ideas and tips for planning a wedding. Check it out.

I am so glad that the rules have changed about wedding attendants. You can have five bridesmaids. You can have one. You can have no bridesmaids. You can have male friends stand up for you. Your dog. Your cat. Your guinea pig. And it’s all okay – no matter what the size of your wedding.

I had a maid of honor and no bridesmaids. I cannot relate to the drama that oftentimes surrounds bridesmaids. To get a better understanding of this topic, I read Siri Agrell’s Bad Bridesmaid: Bachelorette Brawls and Taffeta Tantrums–Tales from the Front Lines.

Bad Bridesmaid: Bachelorette Brawls and Taffeta Tantrums–Tales from the Front Lines gives an inside glimpse into the mind of a bridesmaid. How does she feel about all of those obligatory bridesmaid outings? What does she really think when she hears you obsess over napkins, pew bows and cake toppers? How does she feel when she walks down the aisle in a dress that’s too tight, too sweaty and really not her colour?

Sound interesting? Check out my book review of Bad Bridesmaid over here.