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Chicks Getting Hitched: Have your wedding cake and eat it too

If you’re in the middle of planning a wedding, you’ve probably realized how quickly the costs can add up. Thankfully, there are oodles of chic DIY wedding project ideas that can help you save a few bucks. And, doing it yourself is the easiest way to put a personalized stamp on your nuptials.

Certain things like dresses and desserts are best left to the pros, but many other aspects of your wedding are prime DIY territory. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be particularly crafty, there are plenty of simple DIY projects that require nothing more than a little imagination (and possibly a hot glue gun).

To help get your creative juices flowing, I’ve assembled a few DIY projects that I think would make lovely additions to any lesbian wedding.

Save the date with savoir faire

Your save-the-date announcements are your wedding’s chance to make a first impression, and they can set the tone for the whole affair. Ditch the ivory cardstock with black calligraphy. Postcards with a lovey-dovey photo of you and your sweetheart holding a handmade sign with your wedding date are all the rage — and a lot more memorable than the generic alternatives.

If your budget allows, and you want to give your guests an extra-special treat, think about including a token gift that incorporates your wedding theme or destination. Tying the knot in Seattle? Attach your personalized save-the-date card to a small bag of high-quality coffee beans. If you and your fiancĂ© are wine aficionados, include a split of the vino you’ll be serving at your reception with your wedding announcement.

Just as adorable, but more budget-friendly, is a packet of plantable seeds personalized with your wedding details. Include a note asking your guests to plant the seeds upon receipt, and time your mailing so that the flowers bloom just before the date of your wedding. Say it with me: “Awwwwww.”

Creative table markers

With all of the unique ideas available for free on the Internet and all of the inexpensive technology to assist you, there is really no excuse for generic banquet hall black-and-white numbers marking wedding reception tables. Customized table markers are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to add personality to your wedding. Anything from enlarged snapshots to pretty stationary to old maps can be transformed into quirky and original table markers.

I think vintage postcards are a stylish way to take your table markets from blah to ooh la la. Here’s a simple how-to guide. Put the postcards in ornate mismatched frames for an easy upgrade.

If you don’t have time to scour flea markets for vintage postcards, you can print out lots of cute table markers at idoityourself.com. It doesn’t get much easier than that — and it’s free!

Make your own cake topper

There are some gay-friendly cake toppers out there, but since most toppers still feature one bride and one groom (yawn), I think this is a perfect DIY project for lesbian brides-to-be. Sure, you could buy two poofy white dress-class bride figurines and plop them on top of your cake, but chances are those generic toppers won’t resemble you and your lady (especially if one or both of you is not wearing a dress).

Hit your local craft store for some plain wooden or ceramic doll figures and use paint and fabric to create mini-versions of yourself and your future wife. You can customize the hair and eye colors to match your own, and even create tiny outfits that (vaguely) resemble what you’ll be wearing for your big day. If you’re really ambitious, I think this homemade cake topper is adorable. It’s a heterosexual version, but could easily be modified to resemble lesbians of all varieties.

The only acceptable fake flower

If you haven’t noticed, fabric flowers are everywhere these days — on headbands, sweaters, t-shirts, gloves, and just about everything else that will stand still long enough to have a faux bloom affixed to it. Of course, you should stick to the live variety for bouquets and boutonnieres, but fabric flowers are an excellent way to embellish the sash on your dress, to gussy up a plain satin clutch or to add a whimsical touch to your up-do. And dolls, allow me let you in on a little secret: fabric flowers are the easiest thing on the planet to make. You can use simple satin dress lining (which you can purchase for pennies at any fabric store), or spend a bit more for chiffon and tulle.

Unconventional centerpieces

You can create stunning centerpieces without spending hundreds of dollars on cookie-cutter bouquets. Thinking outside of the vase will save you serious cash on fresh flowers — and give your tables much more personality than any peony or hydrangea ever could. Consider clusters of old-fashioned jars, gem-toned vintage goblets or rustic wooden bowls as the building blocks for your centerpieces. Add colorful fruit or romantic votive candles. Finish your creation with a handful of carefully-selected single stems — and before you know it, you’ve got yourself a one-of-a-kind centerpiece.

The nerd in me is a little bit in l-o-v-e with this literary-themed centerpiece. It’s smart and romantic all at once, and will cost you next to nothing because you can score old (and charmingly-yellowed) hard covers at garage sales and used book stores.

Your turn! What’s your best money-saving DIY discovery? How do you plan to personalize your big day?

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