Happy Tears

Bride Society Leave a comment

DIY Tissue Pouch / Pocket

***

We’ve all been apart from friends and family for an unimaginable length of time.  We’ve been unable to properly mark the big moments of our lives with celebrations of a deserving size.  Without hugs, kisses, a pat on the back.  We’ve been an island.  So come your wedding day, when those you treasure most deeply are able to gather in one space…be it a small or large group, outdoors or indoors, distanced or up close…you can be sure the tears will be flowing! 

There’s nothing like a touching wedding ceremony, or a heartfelt speech to get those eyes watering even under normal circumstances (if we can even remember what ‘normal’ is at this stage!), throw in the pandemic-based deprivation and you’ve got yourself a fountain!  I’m not sure I’ll make it through the chapel door before I start welling up at the next wedding on my books!

So, we’re excited, we’re emotionally charged…cue the tissues!  We’re wed-ifying the humble tissue in this week’s tutorial, showing you how to make a little pouch / pocket to hold a single Kleenex that you can hand out to your guests with their Order of Service or on their place settings ready for the speeches. 

Let the tears of joy start flowing!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

—Bride Society

End of the Row…

Bride Society Leave a comment

How to Make Hessian Flower Cones

It can be tricky to decide if and how to decorate the pew ends or aisle for your wedding, especially as costs start to mount up! But this simple DIY may be the answer. Budget friendly and won’t cause a trip hazard!

Our hessian flower cones work perfectly with dried or faux flowers so can be made well in advance. A big bonus for DIY couples. You will just need to nominate someone you trust/ask a member of staff from your venue to hang them on the morning of the wedding.

You will need:

  • Hessian/Burlap – Approx 26cm square per cone
  • Hot glue gun
  • Ribbon/Lace to decorate
  • Card/Pen/Pencil/Scissors/Ruler to create the template
  • Dinner plate/Compass to create a circle
  • Twine to create the hanging loop
  • Dried/Faux flowers to fill! (We wouldn’t advise using fresh flowers for this DIY unless you line the cones with something waterproof.)

Of course you’re not limited to using hessian for this DIY if that doesn’t fit in with your wedding style. Use whatever fabric (or even card) you like!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help.
We’d love to see if you give this DIY a go. Don’t forget to tag us over on our Instagram page if you do! 

-Bride Society

Look in to my eyes!

Bride Society Leave a comment

Origami Fortune Tellers

***

Do you remember playing with paper ‘fortune tellers’ when you were a kid?  Bit of a throwback to an age before iPads I know!  It was a simple folded sheet of paper, usually with numbers and colours and then a fortune/task/truth/dare written inside.  Well this week we’re taking it back to simpler times and reminding you how to make this simple game!  Whether you just want something fun and easy to do with the kids this weekend or looking for some fun finishing touches to add to your wedding, these fortune tellers will take care of business!

Ours are wedding themed, naturally, but the fold instructions are the same regardless!  Making them for your wedding?  We recommend putting them on your guests’ place settings at your reception…a fun little ice breaker and you can give them little challenges inside to complete during the remainder of the wedding day.

All you need is a sheet of paper (ours are 21cm²) and a colourful Sharpie to decorate….or if you want to be extra fancy and raise your fortune telling game (or just aren’t that in love with your freehand skills!), you could print out and stick on your text / images, or even make them on your Cricut!

We hope you have fun making these & reviving your inner child!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your fortune teller photos over on Instagram, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out our origami playlist!

—Bride Society

Spring is in the Air

Bride Society Leave a comment

Simple Easter Place Setting Ideas

***

It’s Mini Egg season! Arguably the best chocolates out there and to celebrate, this week we’ve got not one, but TWO, DIY tutorials for you! With Easter approaching we’re giving you two super simple place setting ideas for your Easter table. Or if you’re planning on celebrating your wedding in spring or around Easter, either of these would work perfectly for your wedding tables. Budget friendly and really easy to make!

DIY 1. Hanging Egg Decoration

Easter trees have become a ‘thing’ in recent years, so why not double up your place setting as a favour your guests can take away and display on their tree?

For this DIY you will need:

  • Card/Paper – Use plain or patterned card/paper in your chosen colour scheme
  • Pencil
  • An egg template – you can either draw an egg freehand or print a shape from clipart/Google images
  • Glue Stick
  • Ribbon
  • Tag to thread on to the ribbon where you can add your guest’s name
  • Scissors
  • A bone tool to help with folding the card/paper (optional)

Our egg decoration used four egg shaped pieces of card but you can add more if you want a fuller looking decoration. Just repeat the process with more pieces of card!

And if you wanted to go even further with finding multiple uses for this DIY, you could even create your own Easter tree table plan! Decorate an Easter tree near your reception entrance with all the hanging egg decorations. Add the table number to each guest’s egg or maybe colour code the eggs for specific tables. Your guests can collect the egg from the tree and find out where they’re sitting.

DIY 2. Floral Bunny Tail

This super simple idea has the cute factor! We’re using a dried flower to create the bunny tail for our Easter bunny place card. Use dried/faux or fresh flowers for this DIY (although if using fresh we would advise adding them as close to your event as possible). You just want to make sure you have a sturdy stem as this is what will allow your bunny to stand tall.

  • Card (in whatever colour/pattern you would like)
  • A template – you can either draw a bunny freehand or print a shape from clipart/Google images
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Something to add your name – we used stamps and an ink pad but you could also just write this on with a pen
  • Flower of your choice (we used a dried craspedia)

We’d love to see if you give either of these DIYs a go. Don’t forget to tag us over on our Instagram page if you do!
And if you’d like to check out some more spring/Easter wedding inspiration, have a look at this playlist.

-Bride Society

Well, now you tell me!

Bride Society Leave a comment

When planning a wedding, I’m just going to say it quickly so as not to freak you out, there’s a steep learning curve (even for someone hyper organised like me, who already liked planning social events).  For the most part, it’s the first time you’ve planned a wedding and figuring out how to navigate your way through can, at times, be tricky.  Yes, there is of course plenty of sequins and champagne too – fear not, but especially if you’re one of the first in your friendship group to get hitched there may be no one on hand that’s been around this particular mountain to help.  What’s more, is as much as your Mum will want to help you out, the wedding world has changed A LOT in a generation, as my own Mother will happily attest. Cue your new best friends, Bride Society!

I’ve often heard the phrase, and probably said it myself; “hindsight is a wonderful thing” or “live and learn”. Well, and now’s here me saying it again, Laura and I (Rebecca) have both lived and learned the wedding planning journey.  Part of the reason we set up Bride Society!  We have “been there, done that” (though yet to get the t-shirt, but give me a hot minute!), lived the process from “Yes!” to “I do!”.  And with that in mind we feel it would be remiss of us not to pass on the pearls of wisdom learned along the way to the next generation of brides and grooms to be so that you may avoid some of the missteps and pitfalls that we encountered / narrowly dodged.

So, get yourself prepared with today’s video and pave the way for sequins and champagne!

—Bride Society

Hop To It

Bride Society Leave a comment

Easter Bunny Cake Pop Wedding Favours

***

Spring is well and truly here! In usual years, this sparks the start of the main wedding season in the UK and so a super popular time to be tying the knot. Of course, spring also means that Easter is not far away, so if you’re planning an Easter time wedding, you may be looking for ways to incorporate the Holiday into your wedding details.

Well, look no further! We have the perfect wedding favour idea (or even alternative wedding cake idea!) that everyone will love. They’re definitely not just for kids! Our Easter Bunny Geo Hearts will go down a treat. Similar to cakesicles, these are heart shaped cake truffles coated in the chocolate of your choice. Simply turn your heart upside down to create your very own burrowing bunny.

If you don’t want to stop there, check out our playlist of other spring/Easter wedding ideas.

You will need:
– Heart mould – we used this one https://amzn.to/38QAJTP​
– Chocolate of your choice to line the heart moulds – we’ve used both dark and white chocolate
– White chocolate for decoration – melted and used in a piping bag
– Greaseproof paper – pipe your decorations onto the greaseproof paper and it will make it really easy to remove them once they’re set
– Filling is cake of your choice mixed with buttercream/frosting – Use a ratio of 1:4 for the buttercream/cake quantities. Crumble the cake and then mix with your buttercream/frosting. You want the crumbled cake and buttercream mixture to hold together but not be too sloppy with frosting.

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you create!

—Bride Society

Me Time

Bride Society Leave a comment

Clay Tealight Holder

***

With Mother’s Day fast on the approach here in the UK (don’t panic the rest of the world, you’ve still got some time to get organised!), it got us to thinking about gifts that can be personalised, made at home and with equipment that can easily be bought online (counting down the days to lockdown being done over here!). 

With all that in mind, combined with a desire to bring a little luxury to the table, we came up with a DIY air-dry clay Tealight Holder.  Package it up with some spa miniatures and an eye mask and you’ve got yourself the perfect relaxation ‘me time’ gift, making it the ideal Mother’s Day idea, as well as a lovely, indulgent bridesmaid or mother-of-the-bride/groom thank you gift.

And we ticked all the boxes:

  1. Personalised (we went with ‘hugs & kisses’.)
  2. Made at home (yep, that’s my kitchen counter!)
  3. Equipment available to order (all our kit was ordered from Hobbycraft online – links below.)

Whether it’s Mother’s Day prep or wedding prep, we’ve got you covered! 

What you’ll need:

Happy Crafting Brides & Grooms-to-be!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

—Bride Society

The Duke and I

Bride Society Leave a comment

Bridgerton Inspired Wedding Venues

The Regency, romance, Netflix show Bridgerton has taken the world by storm, but did you know you could also fill the role of Duke or Duchess for the day by getting married at one of the many filming locations used throughout the series?

If you’re newly engaged and on the hunt for that perfect venue to say I do, we might be able to help! Whether it’s the wisteria clad Bridgerton House, home to Daphne and her family, or the grandeur of Clyvedon Castle, the marital home of the Duke and Duchess, we’re discussing six of the show’s locations where, alongside exchanging your vows, you can also have a ball (literally!).

Venues mentioned:

We’d love to hear if any of these venues are on your shortlist or if you’ve chosen one to be your wedding venue. Did Bridgerton influence your decision? Let us know in the comments below.

N.B. We are in no way associated with any of the venues mentioned or Netflix so please do your own research if you are interested in any of the venues mentioned.

-Bride Society

Let’s Stir Things Up

Bride Society Leave a comment

Personalised Drink Stirrers

***

The wedding cake has been cut, speeches have been toasted, bubbles are flowing, the music is playing, you’ve carefully positioned some plasters (US read: Band Aids) on your feet and you’re hitting the dancefloor. 

You’ve belted out “Wannabe” with your mates (HAS to be done!) and returned to your table to hydrate – using ‘hydrate’ in the loosest form possible here, before the inevitable Grease medley starts…we are NOT missing that, it’s legit’ my favourite part of any wedding reception.  The cake is a very close second!  But … you return to your table to find another 20 half-empty glasses have appeared in your absence with no obvious owners and you now have zero clue which drink is yours!  We’ve all been there.

Our solution, personalised drink stirrers! Leave them on your guests’ place settings and they can transfer them from drink to drink throughout the night.  Your guests will love extra little touches like this – they won’t be stuck in line at the bar waiting to order a replacement drink missing out on “Summer Lovin’” for a start!  

Really simple & cost effective to make, all you will need is….

You will need:

• Uni Posca Gold Chisel Pen, 8mm

• Rubber Stamp Set with ink (similar alternative to the one used in the video)

• Coloured Card

• Bamboo Paddle Skewers, 15cm

• Ruler

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Glue (aka Pritt Stick)

Happy Crafting Brides & Grooms-to-be!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

—Bride Society

Flying the Flag

Bride Society Leave a comment

DIY Best Day Ever Banner Flag

If you’re nifty with a sewing machine, this week’s DIY idea could be perfect for you. We’ve created a wall hanging banner that, depending on the size you make, could easily be used for wedding decor, your wedding chair backs or even a giant welcome sign. And they look great just hanging in your home as well!

If you’re less confident with a sewing machine, this DIY can easily be adapted by using a no-sew alternative to hem the edges.

For our banner we used:

  • Unbleached calico
  • A paper template – our finished banner measured 18cm x 23cm (at the point) and we used a hem allowance of 1.5cm for all sides and 5cm at the top to create the channel.
  • Fabric scissors
  • Sewing Machine
  • Fabric Pen
  • Wooden dowel
  • Screw eyes

There are so many ways to create the words on your banner, and of course, personalise it to say whatever you want! Maybe your names, a favourite song lyric, or just something meaningful to you both.

If you have something like a Cricut machine you could create the text using that, if not, you could use iron on fabric transfer paper, a stencil, a fabric pen (like we did), fabric paint and a brush or even just a Sharpie! N.B. If you go down the Sharpie route, test it on a piece of your fabric first as the ink may bleed.

The possibilities are endless!

We’d love to see if you give this DIY a go, tag us on Instagram so we can have a nosey.

–Bride Society

Love Letters and Edible Roses

Bride Society Leave a comment

Simple Valentines Cupcake Ideas

***

If you’re looking for ways to treat your other half this Valentine’s Day, our Valentine themed cupcake ideas are sure to be a big hit. We’re showing you how to create three simple design ideas.

Flowers may be a classic, but with our piped rose design you could create your own ‘bouquet’ of roses. These just have the advantage of being edible!

Or if your don’t really celebrate February 14th, these designs would also work well as an alternative wedding cake idea or edible wedding favours! Just alter the colours to match your own colour scheme.

Have some fun, personalise the decorations and we’d love to see your results. Tag us on Instagram if you give these a go.

You will need…

  • Cupcakes – either homemade or shop bought (undecorated)
  • Buttercream – uncoloured and shades of pink and purple (We used Colour Mill Red to colour the buttercream as well as Sugarflair Grape Violet)
  • Fondant – coloured green (We used Colour Mill Green to colour the fondant)
  • Piping bags and nozzles: We used a 2D(or 1M) for all three cupcakes. For the multicoloured cupcake we also used PME 44 small nozzle, a small open star nozzle and a PME 57R.
  • Small leaf plunger cutter
  • Chocolate of your choice to create the cupcake toppers for cupcake 1.
  • Sprinkles – All sprinkles used were from https://www.bakingtimeclub.com​

–Bride Society

You’re the Bomb!

Bride Society Leave a comment

How to Make Hot Chocolate Bombs

***

Hot chocolate bombs have ‘exploded’ in popularity in the last few months so we’ve taken the traditional ‘bomb’ and made it perfect for a valentines treat or even a winter wedding favour idea. 

If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, hot chocolate bombs are chocolate hearts filled with hot chocolate powder and marshmallows. When added to warm milk, the chocolate melts away and the marshmallows ‘explode’ to the top of your mug.

You will need:

  • Heart mould – we used this one
  • Chocolate of your choice to line the heart moulds – we’ve used both dark chocolate and also white chocolate coloured with Colour Mill food colouring to create the pink chocolate.
  • White chocolate for decoration – melted and used in a piping bag
  • Sprinkles for decoration
  • Hot chocolate powder
  • Mini Marshmallows

Instructions for use:

  • Heat some milk and pour into your favourite mug
  • Place the heart hot chocolate bomb into the warm milk
  • Stir and enjoy!

If you’d like to see one of our hot chocolate bombs in action, check out our Reel below!

—Bride Society

And Just Like That…

Bride Society Leave a comment

DIY Neon Sign

Neon signs might be retro, but they are retro cool!  Neon came back in a big way in recent years and even found its way into weddings (no longer confined to raves & festivals!), giving them a cool, edgy vibe.  Yes, I appreciate me using the word ‘cool’, now three times, in one paragraph, makes me very un-cool (four! Fail). 

Prop your personalised sign up against your sweetheart table or rest it on an easel besides your cake table…as night falls it will add a unique effect to your photos and keep your décor look fresh throughout the day (handing out glow sticks = optional!).  Then when the day is over, hang it in your home as the perfect reminder of your Big Day, and as a handy lamp!

You will need:

  • Electroluminescent wire (EL wire), 9ft (always go bigger than you think you’ll need!), red
  • Loctite Super Glue, Power Flex
  • Electric drill
  • Wood drill bit, size 4
  • White water-based paint. We’re using Dulux wall paint, brilliant white matte
  • Sheet of chipboard / MDF, 44×21 inches
  • Pliers
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape
  • Large paint brush

…and don’t forget the batteries!

If you’re painting the lettering by hand with us (alternatively you could use vinyl):

If you’re hanging the sign:

Happy Crafting guys!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

—Bride Society

Hostess With The Mostest

Bride Society Leave a comment

DIY Personalised Coasters | 2 ways

This week’s craft couldn’t be more perfect (yes, tooting my own horn, but hear me out…)!  Firstly, we’re knocking out 2 birds (sorry!) as this covers off both your name cards/place settings AND your wedding favours.  I know what you’re thinking, we’ve already hit the jackpot, what else could there be? …Well… this is a craft that will be there for you through champagne wedding toasts to a cosy cuppa in front of Netflix.  Yes, all this from a simple, yet on point, craft project…Personalised Coasters!

What’s more, even if you’re reading this and not planning a wedding…erm, hello dinner party ‘hostess with the mostest’, #hostgoals!

The spoils continue this week as we’re bringing you TWO mini tutorials on how to make your coasters!  First up, the ‘handmade’ method and secondly, for those of you who have taken the leap in to the crafting world that is Cricut, we have the ‘Cricut’ method.

What you’ll need (no affiliate links)…

For BOTH methods you’ll need:

• Acrylic Discs, Clear, 10cm

• Gel Dots, 8mm

• Pebeo Mixtion Gilding Paste Tube, 37ml

• Gedeo Gold Gilding Leaves

• Humbrol Evoco Brush

• Scissors

• Masking Tape

For the ‘Handmade’ method:

• Uni Posca Gold Chisel Pen, 8mm

….and a printer, unless your handwriting is already on point then feel free to fly solo!

For the ‘Cricut’ method:

• Cricut Maker

• Cricut Premium Vinyl (White, Permanent Glossy)

• Cricut Transfer Tape

• Cricut Basic Tool Set

• Cricut Fine Point Blade (usually included with the Cricut Maker machine)

• Cricut StandardGrip Mat

YouTube: Personalized Coaster Tutorial

Happy Crafting guys!

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments & we’ll do our best to help. Tell us how you got on & tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you chose to do with yours!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

—Bride Society

To Top It All Off

Bride Society Leave a comment

Cricut Cake Topper Tutorial | How to design, cut and assemble your own cake topper.

It may well be one of the most challenging Januarys on record, I’m calling it!  But no matter what is going on out there, we are still here for you, crafting away, bringing you plenty of tutorials, inspiration and advice to help you prep for your big day…no matter when that might be (we have everything crossed for you that it ends up being on the date you’ve planned and in the way you hope it to be!!). 

If like us, you’ve decided the only way through a long, cold and dark lockdown is to get your craft on, then, hello!

This week we’re whipping out the trusty Cricut machine to show you step by step how to make your own personalised cake topper for your wedding (or, let’s get real, any celebration will do…the cat’s birthday? Sure! Surviving a full week of e-learning? Knock yourself out!).  A great project you can tick off your list well in advance of the big day seeing as they aren’t perishable and take up next to no space to store.  If you were lucky enough to find a Cricut under your Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago (I know, only a close second to finding an engagement ring!) and are still getting to grips with it, this is the perfect, low stress, place to start.

Here’s our list of supplies:

• Cricut Maker (other Cricut machines can be used to make this project too!)

• Cricut Shimmer Paper Sampler (or card of choice)

• Cricut Basic Tool Set

• Cricut Fine Point Blade (usually included with the Cricut Maker machine)

• Cricut StrongGrip Mat

• Lollypop sticks (10cm)

• Hobbycraft Mini Glue Gun

….and cake(s) of choice!

If you’re in the United States, you can get your Cricut Shimmer Paper here and for Canada here.

Happy Cricuting….and cake eating!!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this YouTube playlist. If you’ve got any questions, leave us a comment and we’ll try to help. Don’t forget to tag us in your photos over on Instagram, we’d love to see how yours came out.

NB. This video is not made in association with Cricut or Hobbycraft. There are no affiliate links listed here. If you choose to use other materials or equipment to make this project, please refer to the cricut website as instructions will vary slightly.

—Bride Society