Rebellious Idea: D-I-Y

Manila Bulletin feature

"Everybody wants a unique wedding - even the more conventional ones. But most do not know how to do it right. Most couples think it's more expensive to have thematic or personalized weddings so they choose to go the traditional route instead. But the truth is it all boils down how dirty you want to get -and by dirty, we mean sucking the marrow out of your creativity. The truth is, sometimes a non-cookie cutter wedding can come out the more practical option -especially if you go D-I-Y (Do It Yourself)." -by Tricia Morente, excerpt from today's Manila Bulletin article entitled Wedding Rebels with a Cause

When Marc proposed February of this year, I eagerly visited as much wedding sites as I could. And I found myself gravitating towards the D-I-Y sites because, well, they felt more fun and personal. It was like an in-depth look into the labor of love put into the couple's wedding. I simply adored the unique and handmade details.

So armed with a conviction to D-I-Y (and a reasonable amount of money), I ask my uber creative friend Bonsai Fojas to go on a Divisoria adventure with me. We bought felt fabric, buttons, ribbons, tulle and anything purple.

And then it was time for our D-I-Y Parties/Sessions!

I had a total of three sessions with my sisters and girlfriends. Each and everyone had a hand on the wedding designs. Any free time I had, I poured into cutting, sewing, glue-ing, etc. I kinda got addicted doing arts and crafts for the wedding. Hehe.

Here are some of the D-I-Y stuff we did for our wedding:

1. Bridal Bouquet. This was a true labor of love. My friend Bonsai Fojas designed the pattern for the petals. She was head of the 'assembly line.' My sisters and bridesmaids all helped make the individual flowers you see her. Then wedding stylist Badang Rueda added potpourri (it smelled good!) and shaped it into perfection. I even added purple shoe laces to make them look kiddie!

Photo by MangoRed

2. Boutonnieres. My friend Mia Villanueva made the pattern for this and I slaved away doing all the sewing.

For the entourage.

I made these for my dad and for Marc <3

3. Pins and Clips. I made these for all the kids at heart. 

4. Bridal Shoes I even glued wings on my Zoey & Ziggy ballet flats!

5. Name Cards. I had so much chalk and purple popsicle sticks that our coordinator Mae Villanueve decided to do some art & crafts herself. The name cards were a hit!

6. Arts & Crafts area. My friend Nonie Tobias-Azores designed almost 50 picture frames. All the other details were made by moi.

The flowers on that backdrop were all handmade by us :)

7. Paper Flowers. This was really  challenge since we had to make 200+ Japanese Paper flowers. But we did it! And Patty Yabut, a friend of my sisters, even volunteered to help because she found it relaxing :)

8. Centerpiece elements. All other abubots went to the tables. So each table had different elements.

9. Table Names & Cake Topper. Inspired by Little Rascals, we named our tables Ballerina, Go-Kart, Hopscotch and Clubhouse. Then I dressed up our Munny Dolls to look like B & G!

10. Neckties. My mom even made neckties for the entourage!

Talk about labors of love! We had six months to D-I-Y but if you put your heart into it, nothing is impossible.

Do you have any D-I-Y weddings you wanna share? Or any D-I-Y ideas for your other brides? Let us know!

I super heart D-I-Y! Woot!

Mica Tuaño-Fuentes
follow us on twitter! @RebelliousBride

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