Saturday, February 16, 2008

DIY Give Away!

Are you ready for another give-away?! Chronicle Books sent me, "The DIY Wedding. Celebrate Your Day Your Way," by Kelly Bare to offer to one lucky reader! After I received it, I really didn't want to part with it and I seriously wish I had a book like this when I was planning my wedding. Here's the 411 from Amazon.com:
"Goodbye, caterers. So long, wedding coordinators. Here is the bride's guide to thinking outside that robin's egg blue wedding-industry box. In this, the only comprehensive do-it-yourself wedding book, you ll find everything you need to pull off a personalized celebration. No cookie-cutter weddings here! With how-to info on flowers, invites, food, the ceremony, and more, The DIY Wedding makes it easy to spend less and create an event that is entirely original. Inspiring ideas, countless resources, budgeting tips, contract templates, plus start-to-finish projects ease the planning pressure."

Just to put the cherry on top, the book was printed on 70% recycled, wood free paper and printed with soy ink!

To enter, leave a comment with your name and e-mail address and any DIY you've ever done, wedding related or not. A winner will be chosen on Wednesday February 20th and will be announced Thursday, February 21st. (Contest open only to residents of U.S. and Canada)

Good Luck!

31 comments:

Lee Bee said...

I'm planning to DIY my centerpieces (wheatgrass and "flowers" made from guitar strings).

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I'm using herbs such as sage, thyme, basil, etc as my centerpieces, favors, and place cards. The herbs will be planted in small Ball jars all saved by my Great Aunt.

Anonymous said...

creating party invitations, growing hydrangeas for centerpiece arrangements, sewing table linens...so many DIYs to talk about!! :)

Thanks for the opportunity to win this book! Great contest!

Anonymous said...

DIYing invites and all printed matter and favors for the wedding, possibly flowers as well-- previously have sewn, knitted, baked and cooked everything from flan (who needs store-bought?) to 15th-century Venetian courtesan dresses (who needs a seamtress?).

Emily Takes Photos said...

Hmm I'm planning on doing a lot now that I think about it, making my dress and veil, designing and printing my own invitations, flowers, cake, favours...yikes I need to get cracking!

Rebecca said...

Wow. I would love this! I'm planning to DIY all my tablecloths & centerpieces as well as all the food.

Anonymous said...

as i write this, we are DIY-ing our save the dates, we plan to DIY our invitations (with the help of a graphic designer friend), centerpieces will likely be DIY-ed, as will our polaroid photobooth. and last week i DIY-ed my valentines!
nlemperle at gmail dot com.

Kena said...

I'm DIYing many little touches, including my bouquet (tissue paper flowers), as well as the cake decorations (marshmallow fondant leaves and branches, and a little bird's nest for our cake-topper birds to sit in).

It's a bit time consuming, but I feel that those little touches are what makes our wedding "our own".

Tami Parks said...

Last DIY I did was invitations to my
SIL's baby shower. I hand-knit mini baby sweaters for the front of each invite.

I want to win this book for my assistant, Rachel, who is planning a wedding for this September.

Aletha | Pearls Events said...

I don't want to win this book, but wanted to say SWEET BOOK! Thanks for the post :)

katkins said...

We're organizing a DIY outdoor summer wedding in Sonoma county. I'm making my own cake, creating and making a dessert buffet, and doing all the flowers (including a floral necklace for our dog who will walk us down the aisle!

Unknown said...

I'm DIY-ing all the paper goodies, the bridesmaids dresses, the flower girl dresses, the favors, some of the centerpieces, and maybe table runners. The FI is DIY-ing the music mix (mixing the music and burning it onto CDs for another DJ friend to basically hit play with). Always looking for more ways to personalize the big day and save some money (maybe!) :)

Anonymous said...

I love making things all the time, so our wedding is going to be no different. Perhaps the largest endeavor we're taking on is printing all our invites, STD, programs, and any other paper/printed needs - I've bought a Gocco just for these purposes...though I know I'll use the heck out of it after the wedding too!

east side bride said...

DIY save-the-date website (saving a tree!), invites, music (iPod + friends to play live), wildflower centerpieces in recycled glass containers, gluten-free cake (to be baked by one of my bridesman), local organic vegetables and free-range beef (to be grilled by friend of FH).

Anonymous said...

I am going to make boutonnierres from felt and recycled fabric from my mother's stash.

We are going to have a veggie buffet too :)

Marissa said...

I am DIYing all paper and web materials: save the dates, invites, programs, escort cards, and the wedding website.

Cruicin’ Thru Life said...

I've been married 7 years already and we had 175 guests! I had all my girlfriends help me with my DIY projects. We made all the Mardi Gras themed centerpieces, the goody bags for out-of-town guests, the aisle decorations, the cake-toppers, the wedding favors, save-the-date cards, wedding programs and my bridesmaids outfits came from Walmart to boot! (Noone was the wiser because they wore that gorgeous black holiday material and we jazzed it up with matching jewelry.)

I'd love to win this book for my friend who just got engaged last week and does not want a big wedding, but something more intimate. She is already stressing and I told her that if I could DIY things for my large wedding back then, she could certainly do it now. I know this book would be very helpful to her and make make things seem less stressful at a time where she should be enjoying. Thanks for sharing! :-)

Cin D. B.

K said...

I'm planning DIY centerpieces and table runners. But I could really use this book for tips on DIY invites also!

Le said...

We are thinking about making our own centerpieces including GROWING the plants.

Kassi said...

I am planning a wedding for around 300 people, and I am going to be doing all my own decorations, flowers, invites, and probably even use an ipod for our music. I keep trying to find ways to save money, so this book would be SO helpful to make my wedding beautiful, and very unique (we have had over 10 other couples around us get married in the past 3 years, so its time for something NEW)

Shana said...

I'll be making our save the date cards and invitations, and with a yet-to-be-determined ceremony date sometime in September I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more DIY projects.

Inna said...

I'm working on having as earth-friendly of a wedding as possible and that includes doing as much myself as possible so I know where everything is sourced and what everything is packaged in.

We are designing our own menu to be fulfilled at our farmer's market, buying flowers from a local grower and assembling them ourselves...we are even turning a weed ridden patch of gravel into a native plant garden for our ceremony site!

Inna cityeco@gmail.com

roopa said...

In the past I've DIYed cards and baked goods (I'm a semi-pro baker). For my wedding, I'd like to DIY the flowers/centerpieces, cake, and all paper goods.

Leslie McNabb said...

Leslie McNabb
lesliemcnabb@cox.net

I have knitted scarves, shawls, and hats, and make my own cards and jewelry.

Katherine said...

I sew (as a job, as a hobby) so much of my life is DIY, haha. That being said, we are planning to DIY lots at the wedding. I will likely be sewing my own dress (or thrifting and doing the alterations myself), my fiance plans to make our desserts (especially so we can have vegan and gluten-free desserts for friends and family). I'd also like to DIY our centerpieces and invitations. I flipped through this book at a store recently and for some reason didn't buy it, but I keep seeing it again and again and think it would be so helpful in my planning!

ley said...

Oh goodness- ANY DIY I've ever done?? I bake and sew a bit, so my DIY experiences have been making party desserts and just about every costume my sister and I have worn! I'm actually making almost all the desserts for my upcoming wedding, and I'm REALLY looking forward to it! I have to do alot of other DIY projects, too, for the wedding, so I NEED this guide! lol.

(dulcebelleza721@aol.com)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers...love them!

the weavers said...

How exciting! I love DIY projects, and I am relishing the time I have before my wedding in August to produce as many as possible. I just finished creating tank tops for all of the women in my bridal party... maid of honor, bridesmaids, flowergirls, my mother, and the groom's mother! I created a collage of modern paper, a vintage photograph of each of these 'roles', and a graphic of two watercolored pears (my wedding theme is 'the perfect pear'). I added the respective 'title' for each girl to their collage and ironed the image onto a shirt. It was a really fun project, and we are all going to wear them the day of the wedding as we are getting ready! It was also my 'official' way of asking my closest girlfriends if they would be in my wedding party. Thanks for the opportunity to share! I loved reading everyone's diy ideas.

Amy said...

Hi! I am knitting and sewing a chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy)for an upcoming wedding for friends. It is made from linen napkins and 100% hemp yarn. They are having a green wedding by using 100% post consumer paper invitations, mostly organic and local food at the reception, and planting trees instead of giving guests favors.

Thanks for the contest!

Anonymous said...

For Christmas this past year, I made a lot of scarves with pocket in them. The scarves were made out of felted sweaters sewn together and the pockets in them were to keep hands warm!

RachLeeNye@yahoo.com

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