Photo: Anna Williams © More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, published by STC Craft | Melanie Falick Books, 2010

What do real brides have to say about the wedding planning experience? Well, it's not all happy tears at the bridal boutique and indulgent cake tastings. Over the next three weeks, guest blogger Anna Maltby will share the ins and outs of narrowing down your bridal style, snagging your dream wedding location, taking the perfect engagement photo, and more.

A sad fact I've had to face in the wedding planning process: I'm not a crafter. Like, so not a crafter. This doesn't in any way affect my everyday life, but I'm planning my wedding in the age of Pinterest—and I live in Brooklyn, for Pete's sake—so it's hard not to feel like our celebration will be somehow lacking if I don't sew the bridesmaids dresses myself and our guests leave without handcrafted favors using locally-sourced materials.

But it turns out, you can plan a fun, down-to-earth, and—dare I say it—quirky event even if you don't collect glue guns and pinking shears. So if you're feeling like I was, here are a few things you can do:

Personalize the invitations. There's no rule that you have to send out perfect letterpress invites on buttery-soft ivory paper with one of those fancy little pieces of tissue paper. (Side note: still not clear on what those things are for.) If that's your dream—or what your mom is insisting upon—then great! They'll be gorgeous. But if not, consider opting for a cool design from an artist on Etsy, or customizing your own invites on Wedding Paper Divas or Minted. We selected a pretty, feathery design on Minted and were able to customize the wording, layout, and colors to fit our specifications. Sure, we aren't going to spend hours laboring over a handmade stamp, but the invites are pretty, personalized and, well, pretty dang cool. Bonus: Minted also sent us tissue paper inserts, so we'll get to stick them in anyway! Double bonus: Our invitations ended up being less than half the cost of fancy letterpress ones. Cha ching.

Consider the escort cards. Because of their small scale and simple, personal purpose, escort cards are ripe for the DIY picking. A thoughtful escort card was my favorite personal touch at several friends' weddings. One stand-out was my popcorn-obsessed friend Lauren's Mason jars of popcorn kernels and flavor packets, tagged with guests' names and their assigned table number—and they doubled as favors. For our Bronx Zoo wedding, we were considering attaching name tags to boxes of animal crackers, but settled on something else altogether—which brings me to...

Pick the experts' brains. My favorite pseudo-DIY touch at our wedding (so far, anyway!) actually came from our florist, Kea Morgan of Sweet & Flower. She suggested incorporating gold spray-painted animal figurines as part of our decor. All you have to do is buy mini-animals in bulk on a site like The Big Zoo, and spray paint. (Check this Pinterest inspiration board for more on the project.) I may not know what to do with stencils and knitting needles but I'm pretty sure I'll have no problem with spray paint. The animals will serve as our escort card holders—if your name is attached to a little golden poison dart frog, you'll go to the poison dart frog table. Yes, I did just say, "poison dart frog table."

Do easy stuff! Knowing that I liked the DIY aesthetic but not the DIY process, my day-of coordinator, Sojourner Auguste of Erganic Design (who sort of serves as a wedding planning guru throughout the process), suggested narrowing down possible projects and doing test runs to make sure they're feasible by about six months before the wedding day—giving me time to make adjustments and/or completely scrap DIY ideas in favor of store-bought stuff, should that seem wiser. It's brilliant advice: Pick stuff you can actually do. For inspiration, check out this great list of 31 easy and insanely clever DIY projects—several could be adjusted to make awesome wedding gear.

Outsource your projects. My friend Eran—who is pretty much the most crafty, handy, creative, all-around amazing person I know—did an incredibly wonderful DIY wedding right on down to the food, which was a stunningly successful potluck! (Actually, E, I'm wondering if maybe I should blame you for some of my DIY guilt...) Anyway, one brilliant move she made was enlisting friends, family and coworkers to help with her myriad handcrafting projects. Through a series of really fun get-togethers (including her bridal shower and random weeknights at her apartment during which we filled the entire place, floor to ceiling, with paper chains), we helped assemble the blankets upon which guests would sit during the ceremony, cute candle holders made from old aluminum cans, and bags of coffee beans for tossing at the "You may kiss the bride" moment. I'm sure she could have made it work even without her army of crafters, but having backup made things go much more quickly and smoothly—and it was actually fun!

Skip it altogether. Guess what. If you don't DIY, no one cares. Here's what your guests probably actually remember: Your dress, whether your groom cries during the ceremony, the looks on your faces as you recess, whom they get to sit with at dinner, whether the food is awful (but probably not what they actually eat), whether the bar is open or cash, and how awesome the dancing is. Personal touches are great, but face it—your wedding day is going to totally rock, with or without them, because it's yours.

Browse more wedding favor ideas here.

—Anna Maltby

You Might Also Like:
Find Your Escort Cards
Edible Wedding Favors
Wedding Favors Your Guests Won't Leave Behind

Photo: Johnny Miller

In her new book, Sweet Designs, sweets stylist Amy Atlas offers more than 175 recipes and dessert displays perfect for DIY brides on their wedding day. Here, Atlas takes us through her colorfully crafty idea to transform Necco Wafers into a graphic table runner.

First, a little background on the prosaic little Necco Wafer, an acronym for the New England Confectionery Company, which was created more than 160 years ago. Would you believe that Admiral Byrd hauled two and a half tons of the little disks to the South Pole and that the U.S. government requisitioned a major portion of them for its troops during World War II? The Necco Wafer is practically indestructible, which is good news if you make a table runner out of it (which will give you candy cred for a lifetime)! You might want to approach this project as if you're hosting a quilting bee—invite a few friends over, heat up the glue guns, and start "quilting." I used an Omnigrid straight edge, a tool quilters use to make perfect squares.

MATERIALS

Waxed paper
1 5x3-foot-wide piece of neutral netting or tulle
72 2-ounce rolls Necco Wafers, brown and black separated out

TOOLS

Gridded ruler mat with 1-inch markings, such as an Omnigrid
Hot glue gun

Photo: Johnny Miller

DIRECTIONS

1) Lay sheets of waxed paper on a gridded ruler.

2) Spread the tulle or netting on top of the waxed paper. Measure and mark the tulle 6 inches from each edge to create a frame. You will be gluing the wafers in strips inside the frame.

3) Using the gridded ruler as your guide, hot glue the wafers to the tulle, logo side down, in strips in a rainbow pattern. Vary the lengths of the strips (see Template Index, page 337, and download the tem¬plate at http://blog.amyatlas.com). You will be creating 48 strips. Make certain the glue is dry before proceeding to step 4.

4) With the help of a friend, flip the runner over so that the waxed paper is facing up. Gently peel away the waxed paper from the tulle. Flip the runner over again so that it is Necco Wafer side up.

5) Position the runner in the center of the table. To store, place the runner between two sheets of packing paper and roll into a log. Place in a plastic bag and store at room temperature.

Photo: Johnny Miller

Extra tip: Use a piece of fabric with multicolored pastel polka dots, or white dots on a pastel background. Ideally, the dots should be at least 1 inch wide. Alternatively, you can sprinkle inexpensive confetti dots or Necco Wafers over a solid-colored fabric. Kids love to sprinkle these around; invite them to help you.

—Amy Atlas

You Might Also Like:
Wedding Color Scheme: Aqua, Lemon, and Ivory
11 Cool Wedding Favors
6 DIY Wedding Ideas You Haven't Seen Before, Courtesy Of Pinterest

Photo: Courtesy of Lovely Indeed via The Sweetest Occasion

Like it? Pin it! And be sure to check out our beautiful inspiration boards over on Pinterest.

—Gray MacDonald

You Might Also Like:
5 Adorable Groom Ideas, Courtesy of Pinterest
DIY Wedding Favor Ideas
6 DIY Wedding Ideas You Haven't Seen Before, Courtesy Of Pinterest

Photo: Jackie Bayne via Elizabeth Anne Designs

—Gray MacDonald

You Might Also Like:
6 DIY Wedding Ideas You Haven't Seen Before, Courtesy Of Pinterest
5 Adorable Groom Ideas, Courtesy of Pinterest
DIY Wedding Favor Ideas

Photo: Courtesy of Weddingbee

We love a good DIY idea, especially one that takes minimal time and effort. The Send-Off is always such a moment, and there's nothing like throwing a few sparklers in the mix to make it magical. A personalized card, a few sparkler sticks, a pack of matches and you've got yourself a pretty adorable guest favor!

Check out our DIY Wedding Details Pinterest board for more ideas like this (think burlap flowers, wildflower ice cubes and yarn-wrapped hearts).

—Gray MacDonald

You Might Also Like:
6 DIY Wedding Ideas You Haven't Seen Before, Courtesy Of Pinterest
5 Adorable Groom Ideas, Courtesy of Pinterest
DIY Wedding Favor Ideas

Photo: Brides

This past weekend, Etsy held their first-ever weddings event dubbed To Have & To Hold. Their curators filled a small room in downtown New York City with the best of Etsy's wedding marketplace (see highlights below). The happening was pegged to two launches, both of which are super handy if you're getting married: 1) A re-skinned, re-packaged Etsy Weddings that's much more user-friendly than before and includes style boards from the pros, real wedding submissions, and trend reports all laid out in a Pinterest-like format; and 2) A brand new Etsy registry. It was about time!

Photo: Brides

—Denise Penny

You Might Also Like:
Sophie Dahl's Must-Have Registry Items
DIY Dessert Stands
Brilliant Registry Find: Kim Seybert Glassware

Photo: Lovely Indeed

Get thee to ETSY

Why spend weeks folding a thousand origami cranes when artisans from this online marketplace can do the heavy lifting for you?

Hire a pro

Kari Adams, a craft concierge and the brains behind The Handmade Event—yes, there is such a thing—designs and produces personalized DIY projects.

Hire an intern

Tight budget? Advertise for help via a university job board or a site like agentanything.com, where students bid for short-term gigs.

—Sarah Rose

Photos: Yelena Moroz

Last night, a few of my friends and I went to Brooklyn to roll up our sleeves for Etsy's Hands-On Valentine's Day event. Participants had the opportunity to craft their own Valentine's Day cards using Etsy's letterpresses [they have two types: tabletop and Vandercook presses (below)]. Prior to last night, I had always wondered why letterpressed cards were so pricey. Now, I get it.

When I arrived at the Etsy Labs in Dumbo, the room was buzzing—almost 350 novice printers were on the scene to try their hand at letterpress. I thought I'd start small. Breck Hostetter, co-owner of Sesame Letterpress, showed me how to print a sweet message onto a coaster—turns out, many of her clients use the coasters as wedding save-the-dates and favors. "They are so utilitarian and not terribly expensive," Breck says.

To print them on a tabletop press (above), first, you place the design, ink the press, and carefully line up the card stock. Next, you pull down a lever, pressing the design into the card (which creates a deep impression in the paper); this also transfers the ink onto the card. Easy! However, I can certainly see how making 100 coasters can be labor-intensive—each piece needs to be hand-fed into the press. All in all, it was great to learn how letterpress works. But for me? I'll leave the heavy lifting...umm...pressing to a professional stationer.

—Yelena Moroz

Photo: Courtesy of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Oh, ombré, my love for you is still going strong. We've blogged about the stylish wedding color trend several times this year: wedding cakes, cake balls (sounds weird but trust me, they're gorgeous), and even more cakes, but this is a first—ombré cookies! I spotted this DIY ombré cookie tutorial on the baking blog The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle—the treats would make a perfectly coordinating favor if you're featuring an ombré color scheme. The project seems fairly easy if you're a semi-experienced baker; or, bring a printout of the tutorial to your local bakery to see if they can replicate the project. —Heather Lee

See more edible wedding favor ideas or visit our local listings to find a bakery near you.

Photos: Eric Lundgren

If you're inviting a lot of children to your wedding, it's a good idea to plan a few activities to keep them entertained. These chalkboard wedding cakes, spotted on photographer Eric Lundgren's blog, are such a brilliant idea for the kids' table! The bride and groom created the cakes from cardboard and painted the tiers with a chalkboard finish; the cakes were displayed at the reception with colored chalk so their littlest guests could have a blast coloring them. Such a clever idea! Have you thought of any activities to keep the kids entertained at your reception? Let us know in the comments below! —Heather Lee

Photos: Courtesy of Chow.com

A couple weeks ago, my good friend Christine Gallary, an editor at Chow.com, texted me photos of homemade Pixy Stix (OMG! Remember those?!) she'd made. Christine and the Chow.com team developed recipes for gourmet versions of the sugary childhood treat for Halloween, but I think they'd also be great as a DIY wedding favor. Below is the recipe for Chile-Tamarind Pixy Stix (they called 'em Trixy Stix over there)—a grown-up spin on the classic orange flavor. Other amazing flavor combinations they created include:
-Black Sesame Trixy Stix Recipe
-Yuzu Trixy Stix Recipe
-Spruce Tip Trixy Stix Recipe (Sounds like Christmas in your mouth!)
-Beet-Rose Trixy Stix Recipe (pictured above)
—Heather Lee
Read more ››

I've been a bridesmaid more times than I can count, and I always take my duty very seriously. Having been known as the flighty friend in my earlier years, once my girls started getting hitched, I vowed to be the responsible bridesmaid, ready for any unforeseen mishaps on the day of the "I Dos."

So I devised The Bridal Bag: my emergency kit of any- and everything a bride or bridesmaid could possibly need on the wedding day, all contained in a white, lace, drawstring bag. Safety pins, fabric tape, sewing kit? Check. Tissues, Q-tips, hairspray, breath mints? Check. Tylenol, Tums, tampons, Tide-to-Go stain remover. Check.