Tabletop DIY

Table Numbers

I had high hopes for producing something unique for our table numbers. I wanted something 3D rather than the typical silver frame holding a printed number. Originally inspired by the floor numbers at the W Midtown, I was set on lucite block numbers. But $15 per number? Cross that off the list.

My next bright idea was to use address numbers, but everytime I found something I liked and multiplied it by 35 (the # of digits for 21 tables), the total cost hardly seemed worth it.

It was a few weeks before the wedding when I was nearing creative burnout that I stumbled upon these. Again, I didn't want to spend ~$175 on stupid table numbers, so I took matters into my own hands.

Several days later, I was armed with poster board, a roll of silver glitter wrapping paper from Paper Source, a craft knife and a glue stick. Using templates printed with 0-9 in one of our invitation fonts, I traced and cut* 35 digits from poster board. I then traced and cut** a front and back for each digit from the wrapping paper. I glued the fronts and backs to each poster board digit and then spread them out all over our apartment to dry under heavy books so they stayed flat.

I felt victorious for about 2 seconds before realizing they weren't sturdy enough to stand or lean on their own and would require a stand. Our caterer couldn't provide any, they were beyond cheesy at Party City and rush deliveries from restaurant supply companies cost more than my dress. So I MacGyvered it and made stands out of binder clips.

This is a textbook example of me making something more difficult that it needs to be, but it was worth it. I loved how they turned out and they only cost about $1 each!

Menus

Not much to say about these. They were produced just as I stopped caring. I was sick of spending hundreds of dollars at Paper Source and Alphagraphics. So I used leftover paper and printed and cut them at home, choosing to make them smaller than ideal so I could fit 4 to a page.

Looking at pictures, I'm disappointed. I know I half-assed them. I should have listened to that nagging voice in my head saying, "If you're going to do something, do it right***."

Placecards/Favors

These made me so happy. I can't even tell you how much thought, time, love and family labor went into creating these. Buckeyes are a traditional Ohio dessert that my family has been eating as long as I can remember. When I introduced them to Ed's family Thanksgiving 2005, I think they fully accepted me as future sister-in-law (or demanded that Ed marry me or hijack the recipe). They are now used to celebrate just about everything - holidays, birthdays, Mondays, Tuesdays..., so I knew it couldn't be our wedding without them.

Over the course of a weekend, my mom and aunts rolled* and dipped** 500 of these peanut butter and chocolate balls. Days before the wedding, my parents and I placed them in paper liners and cellophane bags, tied the placecard tag to them and organized them by table. The tags and twine were the same as those on our invitations.

*Carpel
**Tunnel
***My mom's version of "Go big or go home."