Yes, I should be punished for neglecting my poor little blog, but I can assure you that I have a good reason- I just got married! Well, not
just- a little over a month ago now, but I am finally getting back into the full swing of things again.
I wanted to post some pictures for you to all enjoy, while focusing on the DIY items I made. We were on a strict budget, so I found many ways to eliminate costs. We had a beautiful outdoor wedding, with an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I tried to incorporate the theme as much as possible without overdoing it. We rented a black and white marbled dance floor to hint at the theme, as well as having flowers, paper lanterns, teacups & teapots everywhere. I gave my bridesmaids silver/rhinestone key necklaces, and the groomsmen received key/heart shaped bottle openers. I ordered a pair of steampunk cuff links from
Velvet Mechanism for my husband to wear, and made a charm bracelet for myself using Alice themed charms from
WinterRoseDesigns.
I made all of my wedding stationery, which you have probably seen in my
Etsy Shop or other blog posts. I made Save the Dates, Invitations, Rehearsal Dinner Invitations, Menus, Programs, Favor Tags, and Thank You cards. These were my Invitations:

Next up, and my favorite, are the favors! I made purple votive candles, and contained them in little inexpensive boxes wrapped with ribbon, silver keys, and 'Take Me' tags. I purchased the ribbon from Michael's, and the keys from
Halolo on Etsy.


I had previously posted about the cupcake tower I planned on creating, and this was also a lot of fun, although I ended up not being available to decorate most of them. We made the tower out of round cake boards, covered with foil paper and trimmed with ribbon. The cupcakes were made in silver liners, and topped with little pearl shoots. Our 'topper' was a pearl J sitting with fresh rosebuds.

We were married under a huge moss-covered oak tree, and we wanted it to really be the focal point. I bought $1 paper lanterns, and hung them from the tree with lavender double sided satin ribbon. Then we spread white rose petals around the base of the tree- I love the way it turned out!


I was lucky enough to have a family member put together my bouquets and table arrangements after I purchased the flowers. I know that this is usually one of the most expensive parts of a wedding, so finding a relative/friend to help is a real money saver!

My bouquet filled with roses, feathers, and my Something Borrowed (a brooch from my Aunt)



Tables with arrangements, flower petals, and teacups. The teacups had rose shaped floating candles in them.

Guest Table with teapot, programs, guestbook, and fresh roses.
It was the perfect wedding, and of course it went by so fast.
If you are on a strict budget, you can always find ways to cut costs. My advice is to sit down and prioritize- recognize what is most important to you, and allow the most money to that. Then go down the list from there.
If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to enjoy my wedding day photos and ideas with me!