Teacher Talons: Summer Bucket List: Wedding DIY Edition

I saw this "summer bucket list" idea on Miss Kindergarten for school. Lucky me! I get two big projects this summer! I get married August 4, so I have plenty of to-do's for that, and I go back to school later in August to a different classroom and level to teach, so I have plenty of to-do's for that. The first "summer bucket list"/to-do list that I have is my wedding one. I'm doing a lot of DIY for the wedding, so I have just over two months to do...well, a lot of things. Thanks to Pinterest, I have tutorials for many of them. As I complete these, I'll post and add links to them.

(sorry, had to take this down for a bit to fix the links, but now they should all be fixed)

Here is my overview of wedding to-do's and DIY's for summer, with deadlines:

Stamp invite envelopes and send them: By June 1
Bridesmaid's wedding shower: June 2
Create veil using mom's veil: By June 6
Make ring pillow and decorate flower girl basket: June 11
Send bridesmaid's shower thank you's: By June 15
Aunt's shower: June 16
Finish decorating cake toppers (either dinosaur or panda bear salt shakers): June 20
Send aunt's shower thank you's: by June 26
Gone in Washington DC for NEA RA: June 27 through July 6
Second dress fitting: July 7
Work out some kind of toasting flute: by July 9
Guestbook set up: by July 11
Finish ceremony and send it off to Piper: July 12
Bachelorette Party: July 14
Programs: July 16
Card box: July 18
3rd and hopefully final fitting: July 20
Start table numbers/favors/escort cards: July 21
Seating chart: July 22
Finish and practice vows: July 23
Sometime over summer: printing more I Spy, vow gag, all of the fabric flowers in the world, prettified hangers, bridesmaid gifts, gift for the groom, parent gifts, centerpieces

After the jump, see pictures of project inspirations with links to my pins.

Send extra wedding invites to celebrities. Working on collecting addresses. I love scrapbooking, and I think it would be a cute addition. The President and Mickey Mouse are in the following.

I need to make my veil from my mom's. Mine will not be Cathedral length, but I like how straightforward this tutorial is. It even has labels and letters!

Ring Pillow - Using fabric from my mom's dress (that I have slowly deconstructed) and from my alterations. Also, a flower girl basket, but I haven't found one that I like enough to pin. I figure I can work that one out easily enough on my own.

I also need to get together something for a guest book. I'm bored by the idea of a traditional guestbook, but we have too many guests for something like a fingerprint tree (with almost 350 guests, that tree would need to be HUGE). I had toyed around with the idea of doing a guest book quilt, but that involves lots of work and it would probably never be completed. Instead, I think I will be doing something like the following, then scrapbooking the pieces (which I already plan to do with my mad lib RSVP's). I would add a place for the guest's name on the bottom.

For the escort cards, I think something like this would be pretty, and easy to do with white crayon and watercolors on cardstock.

For favors, I think these coasters look like a neat (and cheap!) idea.

Seating chart - the following is a great way to get it organized. Also, I am addicted to sticky notes.

Reception I Spy. I've actually done this one already, and I'll post sometime with the ones I printed through VistaPrint. I based mine mainly on the following two:

Vow gag - I'm not exactly short on words, and my friends and family would find this funny.

An absolute crapton of fabric flowers. My bouquet, 6 bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres for future husband and his 6 groomsmen (plus my dad and brother, his dad, grandfathers and uncles), many many corsages (moms, grandmas, sisters, and close aunts), then possibly some for table decorations. Thank goodness I have Netflix and lots of candles. There are many tutorials like the following, but I like this one best. I am using many different types of polyester fabrics. I buy a little bit first, and check to see if it lights on fire or melts. If it melts, I go back and buy more of the fabric. The ladies at Hancock Fabrics think I'm nutso.

Source: delightingintoday.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Some kind of prettified hanger. Something near to either of the following:

Source: offbeatbride.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: jarringimpact.blogspot.ca via Amanda on Pinterest

Some kind of cutesy groom's gift. He may not appreciate it fully, but I sure will.

Source: classicpuppylove.wordpress.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I haven't decided if I'm going to make or buy parent gifts. I have of course been told that I should embroider handkerchiefs for both sets of parents...but chances of that happening are low. Instead, I'll probably paint something at the ceramics place in my town. They are wonderful and immensely helpful there. Don't know what I would make for FH's parents, but mine I would probably make a frame inspired by the quote on the following two. The ceramics place sells an awesome two-sided frame that would work well. Although, I do love how both of these work, so I will probably end up just buying one of them.

Source: etsy.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Actually, now that I look at it, I may just buy that second one. We'll see how far I get on the DIY checklist.

Oh, centerpieces. There are all sorts of ideas floating around here. Over the months, I collected glass bottles and jars from friends and family. I've also been slowly collecting candles. That's as far as I've gotten on planning for the centerpieces. My idea right now is to have none of the tables match, but keep the elements of glass, candles, and yarn common. I have also floated around making yarn puff balls or tissue puff balls to put in some of the glasses...but we'll see.

I love these for table numbers, but with matte paint. and also maybe with love quotes on the other side.