I didn’t necessarily plan on blogging about this, but I’m finding that my personal life is crossing paths with an exciting sub-sect of the DIY world that’s new to me. Not basic auto repair. Or silkscreening. Nope, not home renovations either (although someday I hope to try all those out).
That’s right – we’re talking DIY wedding planning. About three weeks after he proposed Read left for Italy. That was smart on his part – he crosses the Atlantic but leaves me with the ultimate girl-project to occupy my evenings. I haven’t nailed down very much except that Samson will be coming to the wedding and he will most certainly be wearing one of these. There are a lot of wedding-themed blogs and a bazillion vendor websites out there. So far here are some of my favorites for idea-gathering:
Green Wedding Shoes: lots of real-wedding inspiration from folks with great taste. Like this couple’s barn wedding or couples who go all out with the DIY
Snippet & Ink: More real-wedding inspiration. This site encourages you to do follow through with those quirky ideas you had in your heart by showing you other couples who did. I love this invitation map. I can pull something like that off, right?
I’ve already decided that one thing I won’t DIY is my dress. I was absolutely impressed that my friend sewed her own for her wedding last month, but I feel like I wouldn’t make it through the effort with my sanity. Or my sewing confidence. Bethany – I’m going to be in Cincinnati around December 17th. Do you want to visit this dress store with me?
Foxflat 
Here’s my advice: Recruit your aunt to do the flowers, your cousin to help with the table decorations, your mom to do as much of the catering as possible, and your mom’s best friend to do the rest of the catering. 🙂 At least, that’s what I did! Oh, and I used “Bridal Bargains” too, as Molly said before. I’m happy to help with what I can from SLC!
Awww thanks Missy! 😉 You had a beautiful wedding, which I think speaks to the many talents of our friends and family members. I’ll keep you in the loop on the plans.
To both you and Molly – thank you for the book suggestions…I’ll check those out.
Congrats, Katie! No specific web site recommendations, but there are some great books out there with a lot of DIY suggestions — “Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot” and “Bridal Bargains” are two I used in my planning. Both have good ideas and lists of resources. I look forward to hearing more about your plans!
btw the wedding map looks like you … how did you find that?
katie! i would love to go dress shopping with you … personal shopping is my dream occupation. this is such exciting news … i can’t wait to see you! i am so jealous of the diy wedding – count me in as a ‘helper’ because you know you’ll take too much on *smile*
Best wishes…can’t wait to see what you come up with.
I approve of Sam wearing a formal outfit. My two cents….he seems to actually like hats so you should totally opt for the top hat/ tux combo. Also you did a smashing job on the fake wedding invites- ever think of doing your own? They would be super cute …and awesome.
yeah i think i’m gonna try doing our own invitations…just need some inspiration on the image. so far we don’t really have a “theme” or anything.
Samson wears a hat. I like that idea.
Hooray for DIY wedding planning! Here is my favorite site in the whole world: http://www.apracticalwedding.com/ It’s not all DIY-focused but lots and lots of good inspiration and advice on having a sane but fun wedding.
We also have a plan-your-own-ceremony book if you are interested in doing that; we could send it to you.
And good call on NOT DIY-ing the dress…I think that would be way stressful.
Congrats! 🙂
Your wedding (from what I can tell in the photos) was beautiful Kara. I loved the setting. thanks for the website suggestion – I was poking around on there yesterday and saw a lot of good ideas! 🙂
Ooooh… I can’t wait to see Sam looking so sharp. I refuse to be embarrassed by our pet nerdiness.