Wedding Wednesday with Artline - Wedding favours

I'm still feeling all loved up after the royal wedding celebrations and it's my own anniversary soon so I thought I'd fit in another wedding themed post.  I got married on a beach in Jamaica and didn't have to plan anything other than my dress and shoes as it was all done for me (which I am grateful for!) but it's kind of nice to write these posts and go through the process as if I was arranging my own fantasy wedding now.   

Today I'm thinking about wedding favours, they are a lovely little thank you for your guests who have taken time out of their busy lives to get dressed up and come and celebrate your special day with you.  They don't have to be expensive but they are a nice little touch for the tables at your wedding reception.

Wedding favours and place cards

I love arts and crafts so I would definitely make my own instead of buying premade or filled favours.  I brought some packs of favour boxes and matching place cards from my local Home Bargains but you can find them at craft shops and online places like eBay and Amazon too.  I decided my colour theme would be gold and bronze and I got out my metallic Artline Supreme markers to add some colour to the plain white products.

Colouring in the favour boxes

I have said before that I love colouring and I find it really relaxing so I would do a few of these in batches each evening until I had enough for all of the guests.  I used the Supreme markers to colour in sections of the cut out design on the boxes and then did the same on the matching place cards.  Colouring them in means you can make them fit the colour scheme of your wedding and makes them a bit different to everyone else's who brought the same sets as you.  You can make them all unique to your big day!

I also used the Supreme markers to write the guests names on the place cards after I had coloured them in.

Adding a touch of colour to the place cards

Unless you have a lot of space to store the favours I wouldn't assemble and fill the boxes until much closer to the wedding, I'd probably invite a few friends around to help me as well!  They are easy to fold into shape and fill with some kind of sweets, I went with sherbet lemons because they're my favourite.  Then it was just a case of threading the ribbons through the top of the boxes and tying them with a bow.

I would also keep the place cards flat and unfolded until it was time for them to go onto the tables as this way they are less likely to get damaged.

My unique favours and place card

I think they look really pretty and much nicer than plain white, what do you think?

If you are looking for more wedding inspiration check out my previous posts here and if wedding planning is making you feel a little stressed then I have some ideas about ways to relax for you too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Royal wedding celebrations

I couldn't do a series of wedding posts this month without mentioning the royal wedding!  I am super excited to watch the whole thing on TV this Saturday and see the dress, the ceremony, the outfits etc and have some kind of celebration at home with my girls.  This got me thinking about street parties people might be throwing or celebrations and get togethers that will be happening to mark the occasion.

Making plans for the royal wedding

If you are planning a street party then you probably have everything sorted by now but I have a few ideas for when it comes to adding some finishing touches to your tables or if you are just having a small gathering and want to make it extra special, after all it's not every day we get to celebrate a royal wedding!

Mini chalkboards and Artline pens

These mini chalkboards were only 49p for a pack of four and I thought they would make cute little keepsakes of the day.  Now I could have written on these with my Artline chalk markers but I wanted the messages to be permanent so I used my gold Supreme marker and Artline 999XF metallic pen instead.  

Chalkboard keepsakes

I think these boards will look so cute dotted around the table/s among the food and drinks and the guests can take them home as a memento of the day if they like.

Decorating the milk bottles with chalk markers

As well as the chalkboards I brought some sweet glass milk bottles for us to use and I have personalised them with a purple Artline chalk marker.  I wrote Harry and Meghan along with the date of the wedding on some and on others it just says Royal wedding.  Being a chalk marker this will wipe off with a damp cloth so if you wanted to decorate any of your glassware for the party you could wash it off afterwards.  Artline have glass markers you can use too which are also easy to remove once the event is over.

If you wanted to permanently decorate your glasses then you could use the Supreme markers and Artline 999XF pens I used on the chalkboards instead.

Artline Stix are great for colouring in & playing with

If you are having a lot of children around then you could also print off some free royal wedding colouring in pages for them to do while the adults watch the ceremony or are having a chat.  I found a few different ones online including this one from eParenting.  You could add these pages to the table/s along with a pot of pens to use, I recommend some Artline Stix because not only do they colour really well but they are also really fun to play with!  You can connect them together side by side or end to end and see who can make the biggest construction, they are just like building blocks you can colour with!

Do you have any hints, tips or ideas for the wedding celebrations to share with us?  Leave me a comment below, I love to read them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wedding Wednesday with Artline - Invitation calligraphy

Have you selected your wedding invitations yet?  Are you planning on writing them all yourself?  If you answered yes then you are in the right place!  Last week I shared some ideas about wedding planning and I thought for today's post we could talk about using calligraphy to write and address your invitations.

Wedding invitation and calligraphy pens

It doesn't matter if you haven't tried any kind of calligraphy or hand lettering before, all you need is a pencil, a calligraphy pen, a notebook and some spare time to practice your letters.

If you look online there are hundreds of calligraphy lettering styles to choose from, find one you like that shows the complete alphabet and use this image to copy each letter.  You will also need to find a style of numbers you like for when you address the invitations.  If you aren't confident with a calligraphy pen to begin with then practice with a pencil until you are used to writing the letters in your chosen font and then move onto the pen.  

Practicing and trying out different pens

When you are using the calligraphy pen remember you want to press slightly harder on the down stroke of each letter and lighter on the up stroke.  This gives you the basic calligraphy look for your lettering and then you can work on the flourishes and embellishments.  

If you find yourself struggling with a calligraphy pen then you could cheat and use a pen or marker instead.  You just need to make each down stroke line a little thicker.  In the image above I have used a silver metallic marker then a calligraphy pen and a bronze metallic marker in the large notebook.  When I was using the markers I just went back over the down strokes once I had finished writing each set of letters to make them look wider and like they were done with a calligraphy nib.  

Muscle memory will make you want to write each letter in your normal handwriting to begin with so the more you practice writing in the new style the easier it will get.  It might be worth carrying a calligraphy pen and pocket size notebook around with you so if you find yourself with a spare five minutes during the day you could get them out and fill that time with lettering.  Little practice sessions soon add up and you will find yourself becoming more confident and start to write the letters naturally when you pick up your pen! 

Retraining muscle memory

If you decide to go with a calligraphy pen then Artline have lots of different colours to choose from so you can match them to your colour theme or you can go with a traditional black calligraphy pen on your invitations.  If you are looking for something a bit different then I love the metallic and rustic sepia shades but there are also pastel colour calligraphy pens available if they are more your style.

Addressing envelopes

Once you are happy with your lettering then it is time to get started on the invitations!  It is a good idea to do them in small batches so your hand does not get tired and you are less likely to make mistakes if you only do a few at a time and then take a break. 

Here are my top tips

• Practice as often as you can

• Go slowly and take your time

• Write the invites in small batches 

• Try writing any complicated words in pencil first on a scrap piece of paper before you move onto pen on the invitation or envelope

If you want a few more hints and tips check out my previous lettering post here and if you do have a go at using calligraphy on your invitations please let me know how you get on!

Artline Monday - Wedding planning ideas

Tomorrow is the start of May and you know what that means, wedding season will soon be on us!  With this in mind I thought I would share some ideas about wedding planning today and I have come up with a twelve month checklist of things you need to do before the big day.

Wedding planning with Artline

So you have found the perfect partner and decided on a date, what do you need to do now?  Plan, plan, plan! You can buy yourself a fancy wedding planner or organiser or you can grab a notebook and get to work.  As long as you make plenty of notes and lists so you don't forget anything important, everything should go swimmingly.   

Wedding checklist

I made this wedding checklist using an Artline Stix brush pen, a Supreme metallic marker and an Artline 200 fineliner so it would look a little special.  

Twelve months before

• Work out your budget
• Book venue and officiant 
• Plan your guest list
• Choose wedding party
• Dress shop

Nine months before

• Book vendors
• Honeymoon ideas
• Book wedding cars
• Gather your guests addresses
• Buy wedding outfits
• Make or buy invitataions

Six months before

• Finalise details with vendors
• Save the dates
• Wedding cake
• Buy rings

Four months before

• Hair and make up - find stylist
• Menu
• Finalise guest list
• Book honeymoon
• Vows
• Wedding favours

Two months and counting

Two months before

• Buy accessories 
• Send out invitations
• Photo ideas for photographer
• Give notice of your marriage
• Sort out ID and paperwork needed

One month before

• Call anyone who hasn't RSVP'd
• Seating plan
• Song list for reception
• Finale dress fitting
• Make final vendor payments
• Hen and stag party ideas

Two weeks before

• Hen and stag parties
• Collect wedding outfits
• Start honeymoon packing

One week before

• Finalise seating plan
• Beauty appointments
• Make arrangements for after the reception - who will collect wedding gifts etc

Two days before

• Finish honeymoon packing
• Get nails done
• Sort out everything you need for the big day

One day before

• Call all vendors to confirm everything
• Try to relax!

Now, not every wedding will take 12 months to plan so you can adjust this list to fit your own time scale, leave out any of the steps that don't apply to you and add in any extras that are specific to your event, this list is just a starting point for you to work with.  I hope you find it helpful!