OBT member "iLiveinmyLab" posted this great step-by-step on one of her wedding planning updates.

This is for those brides who want to know how to make one of the kick ass floral head wreaths that they sell at the Renaissance fairs without paying lots of money. I used to make these all the time but this shall be my first in about ten years. They can be customized in many different ways to be made in a larger style or a smaller style. They'd be great for flower girls (and if your flower girl has a favorite doll that wants to walk down the aisle too, you can make it using small rosebuds instead). For this one I'm going to start off with an easier variation of the floral head wreath.

Here is the list of supplies you need:

Continue reading "How to Make a Kick-Ass Floral Head Wreath, by iLiveinmyLab" →

OBT member Jordan Roberts wrote a great tutorial on how to make your own paper flower bouquet!

So I have finished my bouquet and I am really happy with how it has turned out. After taking some inspiration another OBB and using this tutorial and doing a practice run, I was finally ready to start my own.

Firstly these are made from pages torn from a French novel, I decided that instead of blotting the paper with paint on a sponge, I was going to do a streaky wash of bright red acrylic, thinned down heavily with water.

These are the pages I painted, drying on my clothes rack!

This is my table, halfway through making the roses…

Continue reading "French Novel Flower Bouquet Tutorial, by Jordan Roberts" →

This OMG OBT post brings us a tutorial from OBT member lepapillonvert on how she and her husband made their beautiful handfasting cords.

There is no right or wrong way to make handfasting cords, and they can be as elaborate or simple as you want them to be. It really comes down to what you want to represent yourselves, or what is easiest for you.

The only time the cords are to be dismantled/unknotted is in the case of a hand parting, so please remember that anything you use to decorate your cord is to remain with it for as long as you are bound to each other.

Your cord should be long enough to loop over both wrists as well as being able to make the knots.

We've read that if you are using a single cord, that a generic rule of length is ideally no less than 6 feet.

Again, it's up to you.

Continue reading "How to make Handfasting Cords, by Lepapillonvert" →

And in case you missed my two part series, here 'tis! "Planning A Wedding from Afar Part I and Part II". Tips and tricks galore.. now dive into our wedding!

The offbeat bride: Shrie, Sign Designer/Music Writer

Her offbeat partner: Brett, Senior System Engineer

Location & date of wedding: YWCA in downtown Fort Worth, TX on Friday March 13th, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: I didn't wear a white dress… or a wedding dress! We had a close female friend become ordained to marry us (much to the chagrin of my family) and our dog was our ring bearer!

Continue reading "Shrie & Brett's Vintage 50's Mexican Fiesta Hitchin'!" →

"How to plan a wedding from afar: part 2"… GO!!! Here are even more tips and tricks to planning a wedding from a location far far away (and not freaking out in the process)! If you missed it last week, here's Part 1!

3) Venue!
Your venue should be among the first things you consider. Planning our Texas wedding from Seattle definitely had it's challenges venue-wise. I had to be dogged about internet research and on the ball with my organizational tools (see "Tools!" section) in order to keep my sanity. I did have to fly to Texas for the venue search, but before I left I scoured the Internet, contacted venues (including rock clubs, outdoor gardens, parks, theatres, sports stadiums, museums, private farms etc.) and started a spreadsheet with possible options broken down into categories.

Because I was only going to be viewing the venues once before choosing the right one, it was imperative to start a list of questions about each venue: capacity, rehearsal times, cleanup rules, parking situation, decorating stipulations, extra costs, kitchen availability…

Continue reading "How to plan a wedding from afar: part 2 (by Shrie)" →