Table numbers are a perfect venue to get creative and continue the mood of your wedding. Why shell out more money to your stationer or florist when you can easily put together an impressive looking set of numbers yourself?

Simple fabric numbers, spruced up wooden numbers for your centerpieces.

Whimsical frames, ‘photos of us’ numbers, snapshots around town.

Punched tin luminaries, filled jars (consider adding another element here- vintage wooden spools or buttons would work well), pinwheel numbers.

If you are just joining us for the first time, let me introduce you to Julia, our newest Bride Blogger.  Here on DW, we have two brides-to-be who check in with us regularly to give updates on their wedding planning journeys.  Sarah Christine will be getting married in October, and Julia is planning a January 2010 wedding.

As we’re always looking for great ideas, we love to hear what our Bride Bloggers are up to.

Here’s Julia…

After the excitement of getting engaged, I felt like I needed to immediately ask my best friends to be in the bridal party. Of course, my friends already knew they would be in the wedding since we’d been talking about it for a few months (under the radar, of course). So, there was really no “hoop-la.”

Once I began digging into the wedding planning I regretted not asking them in a unique and formal way. It’s really the first way to show them how important it is to have them involved in my wedding. I started to scour the internet for ideas. Here are some great ideas I found online:

· Send flower arrangements with a card tucked inside asking them if they’d “like to carry some down the aisle at my wedding?”

· I bought them a book about being a bridesmaid.

· Had a girls’ night out and asked them together.

· Go to http://www.uglydress.com/ and print out pictures of the dresses and paste your friend’s heads on them!

· Send a book or keepsake about friendship, like a book of friendship quotes or poems.

· Cookies: http://store.weddingish.com/wiyoubemybrc.html or http://www.weddingstand.com/edible-will-you-be-my-bridesmaid-cookie-cards-personalized-3833

· My best friend sent me a picture frame that held 4 photos. The first two photos were images of us in college. The third photo contained scrapbook pieces of a bride and bridesmaid, with the caption “picture to come, 8/30/08.” The last frame held a little poem that ended with “Will you be my bridesmaid?”

· Pre-made card: http://www.paperstyle.com/is-bin/Product/39-GC2-1

I decided to use a mix of the ideas above.

BRIDESMAIDS: I collected photos from our years of friendship, uploaded them to Kodak Gallery and made 5”x7” collages. Each collage can be as many photos as you’d like, but I chose 9. Then, I bought plain ivory cards/envelopes from Paper Source and used double-stick tape to adhere the college to the front of the card. I wrote a nice note to each girl inside and mailed them off.

FLOWER GIRLS: I bought books from Amazon about being a flower girl and wrote a sweet note inside from Chris and I. One of the books had a necklace in it, so Chris’s 6-year old niece was thrilled.

Thanks for stopping in, Julia.  These are such great DIY ideas for asking your bridal attendants!

If you’ve picked up the most recent issue of Martha Stewart Weddings (Summer 2009), you will have likely seen the gorgeous photos of Cheree’s wedding, held last September in St. Louis, Missouri.  Cheree Berry is one of my all-time favorite wedding vendors.  (She’s the one behind the fabulous logo of this blog!)

Cheree redefines creativity.  She mixes a fun sparkle with a hint of elegance and a taste for flair.  Check out her wedding cake…perfectly decorated with her own paper design…

Photo: Martha Stewart Weddings

So, isn’t that garland SO FUN?  I love it!  It makes the most picture-perfect backdrop against which you could display any wedding cake, or even use it as a backdrop for a Polaroid guest book station!

Here’s the How-To, straight from Cheree…

Tools and Materials
To prepare the Styrofoam balls:
Four 1 1/2-inch Styrofoam balls (Baisch & Skinner)
Two 2 1/2-inch Styrofoam balls
Two 3 1/2-inch Styrofoam balls
One 4 1/2-inch Styrofoam balls
Floral spray paint in red

To string each garland:
Soft-flex beading wire (a little less than 1 yard per strand)
Needle-nose pliers with wire cutters
2 O rings
4 crimp beads
2 1/4-inch red beads
6-inch straight upholstery needle
Fishing line and hooks for hanging

1. Spray paint the Styrofoam balls with the floral spray paint, and let dry.

2. Cut 30 inches of the beading wire. Secure an O ring at one end: Thread the end of the wire through 2 crimp beads, and then loop it through the O ring. Thread the end back through the 2 crimp beads, and pinch them with pliers to grip the wire. (This is the same process you’d use to attach a jump ring to the end of a necklace in jewelry-making.)

3. Slip a 1/4 inch bead onto the wire from the other end, and slide it next to the crimp beads; this will keep the O-ring from cutting into the Styrofoam ball.

4. Thread the free end of the wire through the eye of the upholstery needle, and begin stringing the balls, piercing the balls through the middle with the upholstery needle. Once all balls have been strung, finish off the end of the garland by adding a red bead and slipping the wire through the 2 remaining crimp beads, and then loop it through the remaining O ring and back through the crimp beads, shortening wire so crimp beads are close to the red bead. Then pinch the crimp beads to grip the wire.

5. Use fishing line to tie multiple strands together end to end. To hang, attach removable self-adhesive picture hooks to the wall, and slip O rings over the hooks.

Photos & Source: Martha Stewart Weddings

I’ll be back soon with a new batch of amazing Real Wedding photos!  In the  meantime, thanks for your patience as I slowly answer your emails.  I promise to respond very soon!

First, congratulations to Ann H. — the winner of our Paper Shouts & BRIDE WARS giveaway! Next, scroll down for a list of lucky readers who have won tickets to the Julianne Smith launch party!

Now, today we have a special update from our special bride-to-be.  I just think this is a FAB-U-LOUS idea.  Check out this great DIY project from our DW Bride Blogger, Sarah Christine…

From Sarah…

Face it, after everyone is asked to be in your bridal party, the amount of emails that eventually goes out to them is enormous. Well, maybe this isn’t the case for everyone, but it sure is with me.

So what can you do to make things a little easier for them?  Of course, Martha Stewart has the answer for us!

Several years back, Martha Stewart Weddings created this handy template that helped organize the bridesmaid attire for each gal.  The details include the name of the dress, shoes, color, jewelry, when everything should be ordered by, and, most importantly, a great contact information tear-off of names, phone numbers, and emails.

To be honest, I tore the page from the magazine back in 2007 and have been eagerly awaiting the day until I could make my own.

What you’ll need:

Martha Stewart’s Maid Service Template 

Perforator blade

Images of the dress/shoes/jewelry you wish your ladies to wear

Double stick tape

Swatch of the dress (contact the designer of the dress and request samples)

8.5 x 11 paper

Envelopes

And…Voila!

So useful and so fabulous!  Your bridesmaids will thank you a million times over.  A big thanks to Sarah for sharing this helpful project!

Here are our lucky DW readers who will be attending the Julianne Smith launch party…Lizzie N., Lisa K., Alicia, Melissa D., and MK!

See you there! xoxo

M & J Trimming is a little taste of heaven on earth for me.  With walls and walls of ribbons, buttons, and tassels, this store is filled with inspiration for all things wedding-related.  From invitations, to favors, to napkin rings, DIY wedding projects are oh-so-popular right now.  Not only are they fun, they also can considerably trim your budget.

M & J Trimming is located in the Garment District in NYC.  I was visiting New York last Friday and I had heard so much about this special store (it’s one of Martha Stewart’s favorites, apparently) that I went out of my way to see it.  I walked out with 14 different samples of blush colored ribbon.  It was LOVE.  I used my phone to take the pictures below…

I can’t wait to go back, but in the meantime, I’m spending hours browsing their website.  Honestly, it is just as great as the store — lucky for all of us who live here in D.C.!

With so many ribbons to choose from, think of all the fun wedding projects you could do!

Photos: Martha Stewart Weddings

Photo: Jeff Greenough

Using the same black chalkboard paint, spray a round piece of wood (also available at a craft store).  Write each table number on the wood with chalk — then hand them down to your sister or best friend to re-use!  Much more environmentally friendly than throwing away paper at the end of the night!

Paper Wedding: The Wedding Suite will be held at all four D.C. area Paper Source locations (Georgetown, Reston, Alexandria, Annapolis) on Thursday, March 5th from 6:30pm – 9:00pm. Even if you aren’t much of a DIY-er, this workshop is bound to be full of ideas for every bride.  Not to mention there will be champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries!  Such a fun time!  Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased online at the Paper Source website.

A special thank you to everyone who’s signed up for District Weddings In Your Inbox.  I’m so excited about the first issue coming out tomorrow.  I can’t wait to hear what you think!  

I’ve had such a wonderful response to the lip balm offer that I’ve decided to continue it through the end of the week.  Anyone who signs up for In Your Inbox this week will receive a (highly addictive!) District Weddings lip balm.  I’ll be emailing everyone for your mailing addresses this weekend, so be sure to sign up by the end of the week!