Our Preppy Programs: A Labor of Love!

Last night, we got to mark a BIG one off of our wedding to-do list when we finally finished our programs! I started working on the design for the programs months ago, and made more and more samples until I got exactly what I wanted. I have always thought that the program was a really important part of the wedding because you get to acknowledge everyone who will play a part in your big day, and it is the first tangible thing that your guests will receive to set the tone for your wedding. I hope no one takes offense to this, but a folded printout piece of paper just doesn't set a great tone, in my opinion. So, I wanted to create something that went along with our overall theme and color scheme. Here are some pictures of our final product (please excuse the ugly blurring!) :

We really started working on these over our Thanksgiving break when Ryan & I made a little assembly line of cutting the white cardstock, cutting the pink cardstock, rounding the corners, etc. We finished most of that part over Christmas break, and at that point they just needed to be assembled. For this part, I used Therm-o-Web Tape Runners to secure the white card to the pink, and then to secure the top of the second white card. I used some other tape runner brands when I would find them on sale, but I would not recommend anything but the Therm-o-Web. The others were not as permanent as I would have liked, and the tape would get caught up and ruin the whole roll. After all 200 were assembled, it was time to apply the ribbon. We used green satin ribbon in 5/16" size. We went back to our assembly line technique for this part, and Ryan would measure & cut the ribbon and then I would apply the ribbon to the program, again using the tape runner. This process took forever. But each time I would finish one, I would tell Ryan how I was madly in love with these programs, so it was definitely worth it. The cost breakdown went something like this:

• 100 Sheets Pink Azalea 105# Metallic Cardstock from Paper & More : $32.99
• 200 Sheets White 100# Paper Company Cardstock from Michaels : $20.00
• Therm-o-Web Tape Runner & 12 Refills from Michael's : $67.00
• 6 Spools Offray 5/6" Green Satin Ribbon from Hancock Fabrics: $2.12

Total= $122.11, or about 61 cents per program.

Was this process headache-inducing and seemingly neverending? Yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I am SO happy with the result of all our hard work... and even happier to mark a BIG project off of the to-do list!

More D.I.Y. for M.E.

Last week, I made a 5-page list of everything that I need to do over the next 250 days (yeah I know, it seems like a lot of days) before the wedding, and feeling overwhelmed, I decided to get a few of the easy DIY projects out of the way. Here's what I crossed off the list:

A sign to put in the center of the candy buffet with a quote about candy or sweet or something:

Naturally, I had to go with "Sweet like candy to my soul, Sweet you rock and sweet you roll" from Crash by Dave Matthews Band:


I also finished my coloring books from DIY Bride:


Honestly, whoever created that coloring book file deserves an award or something. It has been used so many times, and is still such a great touch! My final project was my Program Basket:

EDIT: The "Programs" thing on the front of the basket is not actually crooked, I just took the picture before it was glued on for good! It does look a little shabby in the picture!

More on my actual programs when I finish them.. I am in love with them! It seems like a small amount of things, but just crossing 3 to-dos off of my 5 page list felt like a huge accomplishment!