I was recently able to help a friend decorate for her daughter’s wedding and it was so much fun! I wanted to show off the things that I put together. Maybe someone will take an idea or two!
Most of these pictures were just taken with my phone but hopefully you can still tell how great things looked.
First up are these coffee filter wreaths. I got the pretty pink/almost peachy color by dying the coffee filters first in “red tea” 3 tea bags in a cup of water, then after the bags come out add 2 or 3 drops of red food coloring and stir.
To help the filters dry quickly and also not loose their shape, I put a stack in a glass cup and worked on it with my hair dryer.
Cut a ring from white poster board about 14 inches across with a hole about 10 inches across so the ring is about 2 inches “thick” Take 4 coffee filters to make one blossom. Stack 2. Gather 2 into a point, then put those in the center of the two others and pinch them all together. Cut off about 1 1/2 inches, spread hot glue on the cut edge and place down onto the ring holding in place until glue sets.
Continue until the ring is filled up. Mine took 12 flowers, but yours may take a little more or less, depending on how close you put them together. After they are all glued on, you can separate the layers a bit, making them poof out a little more or add in some single filters.
They were hung on wooden frames that had been “washed” with some paint and then on these cool old doors.
The centerpieces were borrowed glass cylinders that had been wrapped in tea-stained sheet music and some sheer ribbon in a couple of the wedding colors. Clear marbles, a tea light and a single (fake) flower went in each one.
Near the sign in table we had this name sign hanging. It was the first item I made, and the newlyweds got to take it with them to their new place. It’s simply a wood board that I darkened with some watered-down brown and black paint (wood stain would work too of course, but I wanted to use what I had!) Then the name and date are just white vinyl. I made “Reserved” table signs the same way for a couple of the reception tables. I attached a small piece of 2×2 to the back of each one with E6000 so they would stand on their own.
Continuing the infusion of the music theme, I took this oval paper mache box and used Mod Podge to attach torn pieces of sheet music all over it. I wrapped gray ribbon around the box and added one of the pink coffee filter flowers. The lid got a piece of gray cardstock and was labeled “cards” — and by the end of the evening it was overflowing with cards for the happy couple.
Finally I made several of these coffee filter poofy things 🙂 I don’t have pictures of the process, but basically you just ball up a bunch of paper towels, secure it with masking tape, and then hot glue coffee filters all over it. We made some in a few sizes, and I’ve tucked the idea away for kids room decoration some day maybe. And they could by dyed in any color.
It was a lot of fun coming up with ideas and putting everything together. And in the end, the bride and groom looked deliriously happy…and that’s what matters most 🙂
Are you DIYing any wedding stuff this summer? What color themes are you seeing this year?
