Browsing Tag

wedding planning

DIY Tutorials, Entertaining, Wedding

Sequin Letter Garland DIY

When it comes to throwing parties the more festive the better!In this post I teach you how to make your very own sequin letter garland one of many things I did as I was planning the biggest celebration so far… my own wedding! With that came a lot of planning, expenses and things that need to be pretty-fied! Since I had an ongoing complete home remodel my wedding needed some tender loving care full of a lot of DIY projects to keep cost low without loosing the festive and fun look I was going after. I am a Pinaholic and this DIY comes from a pin I saw originally on Beautiful Mess.

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If you are a bride to be or simply someone who loves to entertain at your home this pretty and easy to do sequin garland will make any room look more festive. You can opt to change the phrase to whatever you would like. I selected the word LOVE as my garland. I plan on using this at my wedding possibly decorating either the dessert table or maybe a table with our pictures. Who knows, but I am sure it will make any basic table look better.

So first of I hit up my favorite craft store. Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. Make sure to check online for their coupons and simply bring in your phone. I had a 50% all items so I scored and saved a lot! Here is a quick list of what you will need

 

Supplies:
stretch sequin gold trim (I bought 5 yards. You can use any color of your choice)
-scrap cardboard ( go to the back of a grocery store or any department store to find some ready to be rescued)
X-Acto knife
hot glue gun
– Metallic Gold Trim of your choice.

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First you’ll want to print each letter in your phrase so you can use it as a template. I used Photoshop to be easier than Microsoft Word. Photoshop allows you to easily set the font size. I chose to make my letters 10″ x 4″ in width. My sequin that I bought was 2″ thick so the trim would nicely fit in two layers. Tape each letter to your scrap cardboard and cut out the letters with an X-Acto knife. As your template.

 

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To make the ends of the trim look as neat as possible, you’ll want to fold and glue the ends under so the trim doesn’t unravel and drop sequins. I learned this by making a mistake on the first letter I made. So, at the end of the outside edge of your letter, use the hot glue gun to glue the trim end face down going away from your letter.

Fold the trim back the opposite way and continue to glue the trim all around the outside edge of the letter. When you reach the other end, cut the trim so it hangs a little past the end, fold the trim under and glue in place.

Very important: Make sure both lines of trim are going in the same direction so they will look more like one piece instead of two.

If you have a letter with intersections, don’t worry about doing the folds on places where you can cover those ends with another row. So on the “V” I just cut and glued the middle horizontal lines, then covered those cut ends with the vertical lines that had folded ends.

Once you have all your letters completed, you can line up your phrase (backwards of course!) and glue your hanging cord to the back of the letters. Once the glue sets, you’re ready to hang your garland!

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Did you try it and make one? Share with us what phrase you made! xoxo- Adriana

Buzz & Bella, Love & Marriage, Wedding

San Diego Engagement Photo Locations

There are hundreds of beautiful locations for San Diego engagement photo locations. Where else in the world can you be surrounded by hundreds of miles of coast line, beautiful country sides, cozy mountains and stunning desert scenery! And all within 45 minutes away from each other! Makes for one killer engagement photo shoot location. We took our engagement photos last summer with Dan Rice Photographey after interviewing and viewing tons of San Diego wedding photographers I ended up going with my very first choice. He was the very first photographer I met at a Bridal Bazaar and happened to shoot in the style I was looking for. Casual. Romantic and Dreamy. At least that is what it looks like to me! So now the challenge was where to shoot.

I read tons of post and yelp reviews of locations to pick the very best location for my shoot. I wanted to do a beach photo shoot and I was also envisioning a beautiful field shoot kind of like this:

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So my photographer Dan suggested Marian Bear Memorial Park in La Jolla. At first look I was well….under impressed and thought how the heck is this going to look pretty in pictures.

park Not very pretty huh? Well do not be fooled!

That day my fiancé had forgotten my other outfit changes at home. Let me tell you something: Things will not go perfect! This was my learning lesson and we made the best out of it!

I originally was planning on wearing a very casual look my white Abercrombie & Fitch dress with my favorite brown cowboy boots that my fiancé Mark bought me…but because of our little mishap and I ended up keeping on the gold sequin dress. I bought the dress on Tobi for under $50. I wanted something form fitting to show off and preserve in pictures what I think is a pretty fit body! Lol hey I am going to want to show my kids mom has always been hot!

This is how our engagement pictures turned out:

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Our second San Diego engagement photo location was Del Mar Dog Beach. Mark & I LOVE it here so it was a very special place to us. There is no other beach in San Diego that captures beautiful shoreline and the amazing multi colored cliff formations and where we could bring the two loves of our lives, our Boston Terriers Buzz & Bella. We decided to go to the beach an hour before sunset so we can capture sunlight and the amazing San Diego sunsets. We took our engagement photos in July so the days are long, but make sure to check sunset hour during the time of the year you want to take photos. Also, check the tide…. We didn’t and as you can see by some pictures it was a high tide! The high tide made for a very interested and fun photo shot. We had so much fun shooting here! Our dogs were having a blast and Dan was amazing photographer willing to capture and pretty much do whatever it took to get the shot. I am talking about getting all wet and ruining his shoes! I am telling you he is a great photographer.

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Click here to visit our engagement photo shoot gallery.

Some of my other favorite San Diego engagement photo shoot locations include:

  1. Balboa Park – Love it here! I have reserved this location for our wedding day!
  2. Sunset Cliffs Beach – Beautiful secluded beach one of the best places to view the sunset. Cliffs says it all so you need to be daring to climb your way down to reach the beach
  3. Pacific Beach Board walk – great for traditional California beach boardwalk shoots
  4. Belmont Park – Right on the beach. Carnival rides & all!
  5. Gaslamp Quarter – Historic downtown area. Beautiful buildings.

Ask your photographer for more and remember chose what best suits you! Do you have any favorite San Diego photo shoot locations you love? Share with us!  Comment below.