179 days!

I am getting so excited for next summer to come, but with that is the stress. from day one I have never wanted to skimp on the decorations I am a very visual person and I love to create so this was a perfect opportunity for me to let my imagination soar. after about a billion times of changing my mind Rob and I settled on the colors we were going to use, so we went about getting quotes from decorators and EEKK! no way not on the budget of two students thats for sure. DIY it became! I googled my heart out, the venue we chose is awesome except for a few tacky little parts the mural behind the head table being one, so I wanted a back drop and of course not one of those simple white satin ones I wanted one with pink satin and up lighting and 15 feet tall to cover the mural..... ya $800 for a back drop is NOT in our student sized budget. It was very hard to find a DIY style back drop but in the end I found one idea. PVC pipe its rather cheap and very easy to fit the pieces together. I don't have real instructions as I have not tried to do it.

i'll try to explain.

   pvc pipe can be used to build the frame(use elbow joints for connecting the top part with the sides) when you first put it together DO NOT glue the pieces all together. make it as tall as you will need it (using smaller pieces attached together rather then one long piece) and then find large heavy weight flower pots putting the bottom of the frame into the pots one for each side, the flower pots will be the base that will hold it up. you can use anything in the pots to keep the pvc frame standing like dirt or regular old gravel even basic cement from a home hardware store if the frame is heavy and needs it(fill it full but make sure there is a connecting joint somewhere not to far out of the pot). 

   next go get your material make sure you measure how much you will need to drape from the top to the bottom and cover all the way across. also get enough to wrap around the flower pots so they match and just sew it around the top of the pvc pipe stand (make sure to hem the edges first so you don't get loose strings on the sides and bottom)  pull in on either side to go down the elbow joints at the top just a little bit this should cause it to cover the pvc frame so it isn't noticeable. 

   now the reason you don't want to glue it and you want to use smaller attached pieces rather then one large one is so you can dismantle it obviously for transportation if necessary. if you made it so there is a connecting joint just above the pot sticking out of what ever you filled it with then you can break it down from there and not have to lift super heavy pots with huge pvc pipe poles coming out of it.

If this made any sense at all lol.

Turns out after all this googleing I could have just talked to my reception site because they have a backdrop....free of charge at that! now it is not as large as I would have liked but I also know that you can't always get what you want and that its not worth 800 dollars to have a backdrop for one night. now that, that is figure out I am e baying for some other stuff I found table runner (cheaper then table clothes and site provides white ones) 60 dollars for 10 pink and 10 purple around the same prices as renting in my area and you can re sell them after to make some money back! 

centerpieces are total DIY getting plain small wooden boxes from the dollar store spray painting them pink and purple, alternating, and arranging pink and purple Gerber daisy's in them (silk can be ordered in bulk on line cheap!) with simple tea candles around them lit, nothing like candle light. there was also the idea of doing 8 margarita glasses filled with pink and purple candy and one silk flower sitting on top which can also double as favors for everyone at the table.

the more and more I realize how expensive the vendors are the more and more I realize how DIY this wedding will have to be.