Wedding Diaries: DIY table numbers

Some people do a lot of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects for their weddings for many reasons. To save money, to add a personal touch, to copy something they saw on Pinterest... I was not planning on doing any (or at least not a lot) of DIY projects for our wedding, but that all changed when a few weeks ago I went in The Paper Source on a Saturday afternoon just for something to do while Chuck was at a group meeting. Everyone should visit this store (they have them all over the country) but be forewarned- you WILL buy something and you WILL become obsessed with the idea of taking on a project that isn't really necessary but totally seems like a good idea at the time.

My project? Table numbers and place cards. One of the employees at the store gave me some tips on what products would work best for what I was doing, and then I came up with the design and the rest is history. I tracked my progress with pictures so you could see what I started with and ended with.

Step 1: Buy the materials at the Paper Source. I decided to keep the cards mostly black and white with a touch of our wedding colors. So I purchased 4x6 black cards, 3.5 x 4.875 white cards, and 3 different color stamp pads. I pulled 3 colors that will be in our bouquets- the dark purple which is our main wedding color, and then a pretty bright pink and green. I bought two stamps- one large and one small of the same flower. I used the large one for the table numbers and I plan to use the small one on the place cards.

Step 2: Get to work. I started by picking out a few fonts I liked and then had Chuck make the final decision on which one to use. I adjusted Word to make the paper size that small 3.5x4.875 size and enlarged the numbers, printing them each one at a time. 

(I sat on the floor to do this because Chuck was sitting at the desk doing homework.)

Step 3: I planned to overlap the colors, so I started stamping with the lightest color first- the green.

Step 4: Once they are dry (with the kind of stamp pad I used, they were dry almost instantly) stamp the next color.

Step 4 was briefly interrupted by the amazing sky art happening outside my window. I (obviously) had to stop what I was doing and take a picture.

Step 5: Stamp the final and darkest color! 

I then took a break, mainly because this took awhile and I didn't have all the materials needed for the next part. Also- I don't know that we will have 25 tables but I made more than I thought we will need just so I don't have to do just 1 or 2 of these later on.

A couple of days later, after I had purchased double sided tape, I started on the next and final step. 

Step 6: Tape the white cards onto the black cards. I chose to go with tape rather than glue because I didn't want them to get crinkly and end up looking like a 6th grade art project. 

I also watched "My Best Friends Wedding" while doing this step, because I like to watch that movie a) when I'm doing something and want background noise b) when I can't find anything on TV to watch and c) when I'm doing wedding related things.  Wait, who am I kidding? I watch this movie all the time for absolutely no reason at all. It's just my all time favorite movie ever.

I could literally act out this entire movie by myself and be every character. I know all of their lines. 

Step 7: Done!

Ta-da! I think they turned out great, if I do say so myself! (See that part of the movie on the screen right there? That's when they're at dinner and Kim suggests that Michael quit his job and work for her dad for a little while and he gets all mad 'cause he loves his terrible, low paying job and Jules is all like "well Michael I think you should listen to what she has to say" 'cause she's trying to turn him against Kim so they'll break up so she can marry him.)

So that's it for my DIYing until it comes time to make the place cards. And unfortunately I can't do that until we know who is coming to the wedding! 

To anyone reading this who is coming to my wedding- make sure when you're sitting at dinner and you see the table numbers, you say to someone else at the table, "Oh aren't those the most beautiful table numbers you've ever seen!? And when they agree you can be all like "I heard Rachel MADE them herself!" K? Thanks.