Wedding Post #39: Self-Inflicted

I have a tummy ache right now, from eating too much chocolate.  We received our candy sample today.  Yes, dear reader and possible wedding guest, I am putting chocolate into the favors.  Cliched, I know, but I’m too exhausted to do anything else.  I hope no one is allergic!!  The favors will also have butterscotch (my dad’s favorite candy), and a little something else – that’s a surprise though.

We didn’t plan the chocolate from the beginning, though.  At first, I didn’t want to do a favor at all.  Most people just throw them away, so they end up being a bigger waste of money and energy than they’re worth.  Somehow, during the wedding planning, I changed my mind (big surprise, eh?) about favors.  I decided that we would have favors, if I could find a super inexpensive and non-tacky/non-pointless way to do it.

The first thing that came to mind was a donation.  But to whom?  And how would we let our guests know?  We’d still have to throw some sort of favor thing together, announcing the donation.  We may still do a donation, but we still have to figure out which charity organization we like the most.  We’ll probably end up donating to a veteran’s or military-supporting group.

Next, I came up with the little surprise portion of the favor, that I can’t tell you about… sorry

Lastly, I wanted to recycle all of the paper that was being used on the other wedding projects.  The carbon footprint of our wedding is astronomical, and we’re having a small one!  Anyway, I saw a tutorial on the Internet about how to DIY recycled papers, and then I saw seeded recycled papers, and then I saw IT!  Shells that were made out of recycled paper AND they had seeds in them!  They went with the whole “beach” theme, and they were biodegradable.  So, if someone did throw them away, they would grow into something beautiful… awww…

Fast forward about 10 months, and we finally attempted to actually make seeded paper shells.  Egad.

We waited for the paper blobs to dry and decided to go with candy.  Luckily, we found some chocolate seashells, out of Virginia Beach, no less!  What a great coincidence

Other wedding projects have ended in a similar fashion.  I have grand plans only to realize that they were pie-in-the-sky dreams, because Martha Stewart, I am not

I hate to say this, but I do not recommend DIY weddings, unless you know how to do what you are doing ahead of time.  Your engagement is not when you want to learn how to crochet coral or sew a wedding dress.

I can’t let this recycled paper setback, or the epic Invitations™ episode, deter me from completing tasks at hand.  But I’m not feeling very confident in my abilities right now.  As a result of my low self esteem (and my lack of time), smaller DIY projects have made the chopping block.  So far, I’ve gone from using homemade soap and treats in the Out of Town bags to purchasing stuff from whatever dollar store is nearby.  It’s all about presentation.  If I could make the discount products look nice, then no one will notice the difference.  I’ve changed the “antiqued-by-hand” guestbook papers to old vintage papers that I can find at flea markets and thrift stores.  I also have some left over scrapbook paper that I could rough up really quickly.  And, I’ve changed my mind about my DIY mini-veil/fascinator idea.  Actually, I change my mind about that on a daily basis… lol!  However, I have tried and failed to make a veil, and that part of the budget has been exhausted, so no new veil for me, if I happen to change my mind, yet again.  I’m stuck with the veils and/or attempted veils that I already have.

I still have a long list of DIY projects to complete (in a little over a month), including wedding party flowers and reception table runners.  Not to mention, a bunch of other projects need to be finalized, such as reception decor and John’s grooms cake.  Needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be quite busy.  I’m just glad that my semester is coming to an end.  Finals week, here I come!

If I could just make it to June, I’ll be free of self-inflicted struggle and stress.