Last week, I was working with an old-fashioned printing press, with lead type and just a step beyond what Gutenberg was using five hundred years ago. I came home with my hands covered in sticky printers' ink. "That is going to wash off before the wedding, right?" Mle said, mostly joking, but with the tiniest twinge of real concern in her voice. I assured her that it would and, with the minor exception of a bit still clinging to the edges of the fingernails, it has. Now my hands are stained with paint.It was inevitable, given the temperaments of both my Lovely Intended and myself that our wedding would have a strong DIY aesthetic. Thus far, Mle has folded a metric ass-ton of origami cranes, created a whole bunch of tissue paper pompoms, sewed four bridesmaids' dresses, constructed a beaded hair ornament for herself and probably a ton of other stuff that I'm forgetting besides.
I have, of course, created some pretty damn kick-ass invitations, created a website, designed table cards, escort cards and a program, constructed a custom cake topper, and have just finished painting some "how to get there" signs.
It's been a lot of fun for both of us to work on all these projects. I think the best part, ultimately, is that the wedding is really going to exude our personality. The wedding industry wants you to buy a whole bunch of crap for your wedding, have your names or initials and wedding date printed on all of it (at incredible cost), so that your "special day" will feel "individual," since it's your name on the mass produced crap you're using. Instead, we've created something that really is ours, unmistakably.