My DIY/Etsy Wedding

Back in September, around one month before my wedding, I stopped making bags and made a little plan: September--wrap up the details of my wedding, which included making a lot stuff. October--wedding and honeymoon. November--relax, prepare for holiday season. December--work on new bag designs. January and February--produce/construct new bags, stock up! March 24th--Debut Spring/Summer 2009 collection.

I'm happy (and yes, a little surprised) that I am right right on schedule. I plan to never have my shop empty for that long again but, hey, I got married 1,000 miles away from where I live! And being the slightly anal retentive person I am, I was fairly stressed out by September after eleven months of planning the event. It was even a very small, informal wedding. I'm pretty sure I would have been a basket case if I had had to plan a larger, more formal affair. Oi! Soooooo, anyway...before March 24th comes around and I become, once again, 100% Pansy Maiden-tastic, I thought I'd share a few details about my handmade/etsy wedding.

I had so much fun searching on etsy in the months before my wedding, looking for inspiration, seeking artist who could help to add that definative look to my special day. I went with a 1950's, vintage theme and if anything, it was hard for me to par down my etsy purchases. There are so many beautiful, unique things to be found on etsy. And, very importantly, my etsy choices helped me to keep my wedding at my $4000 budget. Yes, that does include the rings, my dress, the food...everything. Well, except the honeymoon ;)

Marie at Sew Special Boutique did an outstanding job with my wedding dress. Honestly, I couldn't have been happier. I met with her in person to talk about what elements I'd like to have as part of my wedding dress and she made it happen. It was a 1956 dress via 2008. Perfect-o.

My very crafty bridesmaid, Salina, made this card box for me with my vintage theme in mind. She transformed a large hat box with paint, copies of old family wedding pictures, and decoupage.

And, of course, one part of my gift to each of my bridesmaides was a custom Pansy Maiden bag. What can I say?!

Myra Kim of Twigs and Honey has a waiting list and you should get on that waiting list if you have a wedding coming up. Myra worked with me in order to give me exactly what I wanted and made it fit into my budget. Her work is amazing.

This "Tales of the Future" box sprung from the imagination of my bridesmaid, Salina (yes, the same bridesmaid who made my card box!).

I am happy Eric and I decided to design our invitations. It showed our guests, from the get-go, that our wedding was going to be laid-back and handmade.

Emily of WhichGoose was fantastic to work with. Her designs are so whimsical. I love everything I see in her shop. My bridesmaids wore these and looked oh so 1950's

GooseGrease's cake toppers where the talk of our reception. I am pretty sure every guest I spoke with during dinner commented on how cute they were. They looked just like us.

I happened upon these mini-cards from OneRipePeach in my first etsy wedding search and had to have them. My bridesmaids thought they were too cute.

Nicole at Zahour is a very talented jewelry maker and a great communicator. I really like her nature-meets-industry approach. You should have seen Eric's eyes widen with excitment when he saw our rings.

These round mats in the center of the reception tables were super easy to make and helped to complete the 1950's vibe.

My bridesmaids were THE BEST bridesmaids a bride could ever ask for. I relied on them to take care of so many details, including making our lovely bouquets. They did a great job!

I bought bunches of vintage milk-glass vases from several etsy sellers. They were TheConstantGatherer, Jen'sCloset, and UncommonEye. All three shops come highly recommended.

And finally, my husband created his very own etsy account just so he could order his and his best man's tie from MeAndMatilda. They arrived right on time and were perfect.

If you would like to see some of my etsy purchases in action, check out my "Our Lovely Pizza and Cupcake Wedding" album on Flickr.