DIY: Rustic Table Numbers

What good is a reception without a nice, theme-inspired centerpiece? That's why I'm bringing another wedding element made with love---table numbers! Making these is definitely one of the easiest among all the DIY projects we’ve done so far. These vintage-looking framed table markers only took a trip to the surplus shop, a spree in the bookstore for some craft supplies, and a visit to the hardware store. I let the fiancé take charge in this one though, because he was accusing me of not knowing how to use the spray paint. Whatevs.

Anyway, we used wooden frames (NOT plastic frames that look like wood) that we bought from MSM American Surplus, some specialty paper and double-sided tape from National Bookstore, and plastic numbers painted in copper paint, both sourced from Handyman.

Here they go:

Love the distressed texture of the frames. You won't get that with plastic ones.

Easy, right?

Estimated project cost: Php160/number

Breakdown:

• Wooden frames: Php50/pc
• Numbers: Php88/pc
• Spray paint: around Php200
• Paper + tape: around Php60

We still haven't finalized the total number of guests so we might add more numbers depending on how many tables will be set up. 

Obviously, this project’s a little pricey, but that's because we wanted to stay away from the regular printable templates that can be easily downloaded online (though it was actually our first option). Printed numbers look flat and boring when framed, so we opted to put some texture. As you can see, the numbers look 3D. LOL. Despite the price, the outcome looked exactly how we wanted it! Good job, fiance!

For those who don’t want to spend anything else besides printer ink and paper, you may check out sites like Hello Lucky and Wedding Chicks, to download available templates and print away!

Designing Our Own Wedding Invitation

It’s only a little over 4 months to go before the big day so the smaller details are now underway. We’re now working on finding wedding favors, looking for custom bridal shoemakers, scheduling our CANA seminar, finalizing our guest list, and of course, making the invites. We didn’t want the traditional, formal-looking, scented wedding invitations that most classic couples use because they look a little old for us. Thankfully, more and more wedding invitations are making use of fun graphics and incorporating out-of-the-box ideas so there’s plenty of inspirations to take advantage of.

Because we didn’t want to spend much on the invitations, we opted out ordering custom-designed invites from famous personal invitation stylists. Being a professional (motion) graphics artist,  the fiance has been  appointed (by me of course) to design our invites. 

We wanted something that looks like these (all photos lifted from Google Images): 

 

http://www.missmoss.co.za/2012/01/24/love-vs-design/

And in two days, he was able to create a draft that incorporated typography.  For obvious reasons though, I won’t be posting the finished template. =p

Once all the details have been finalized-the names of the sponsors, the location map, etc- we’ll just send the design over to a cheap printer somewhere in Recto for production.  Even though we’d still be spending some amount for the printing, at least we didn’t have blow out a hefty price to hire a graphic designer to personalize the design. It really helps if you make use of your (or your friends’) intangible resources A.K.A mad creative skillz if you want to save up some cash.

But for those who feel they're not artsy enough but still want to do their own wedding invitations, there are sites that offer custom wedding printables and downloadables for free. Two of the most popular sites to get your free downloads are Wedding Chicks and Martha Stewart Weddings, which scrimpy brides can explore for more options.

I’m so excited to get our invites printed and sent out to our guests! The fiancé better finish the final prototype soon!