One of my 2009 brides had a flair for creativity. Not only did she have great craft skills but a motivation to keep within her budget. Her ability to craft many parts of her wedding reception herself saved her money and gave her the chance to make her wedding her own. Here are a few of the great ideas she used:
Place cards – This bride found a template to create place cards with a cut out for a swatch of fabric to show through. Each of her twenty-two tables had a 14” square of unique fabric at the center of the table. The fabric in the place card matched the fabric for those guests’ table. Ingenious!! She also added a handmade table number for each table which was also printed on the place card for that table. See the link to get your template and directions for making these place cards.The place cards were then attached with straight pins to a foam core board which was covered with fabric. As guests came and picked up their place cards, the pins were pushed into color coordinated pin cushions.
Centerpieces – Many brides will use a square beveled edge mirror for the center of each of their reception tables. So you already know this bride used the twenty-two different fabric squares for each of the guest tables. These served three purposes: 1.) Fabric squares were color coordinated with the guest place cards so each table was unique. These also echoed the wedding colors. 2.) Each served to be the base for the three potted plants that were the floral centerpieces for each table. All the plants, some flowers and some culinary herbs, were potted by the brides and friends before the wedding. The potted plants also served as an additional favor for guests to take home at the end of the night. 3.) The fabric squares were gathered up at the end of the evening and then given to an aunt of the bride. The aunt had promised to make a quilt of all the squares as a gift for the bride and groom, to be displayed in their home.Favors – These were a square two piece glass picture frame that doubled as a coaster. This bride inserted various pictures of her and the groom into these and tied them up with a ribbon. The picture frames gave the guests a dual use. One as a framed memento of the bride and groom and two, as a coaster which could be used for protecting their own tables at home from water marks. Guests, if they chose to, could switch out the picture later and color coordinate it to their home décor. Extra frames/coasters were available if guest wanted to have a matching set.
