Planning a wedding? Here are some easy wedding DIY ideas and projects! Check it out…

Wedding Table Setting Barn Wood Vintage - Perfectly Disheveled

Wedding Table Setting Barn Wood Vintage – Perfectly Disheveled Photo By Leah Lee Photography

I am having serious wedding DIY withdrawals. Exactly 7 months ago today, Peter and I got married at the beautiful Apple Creek Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley and if I’m being honest, the thing I miss the most about that day:  Planning for that day. It truly consumed me. Because of the barn setting and the open fields, it was so important to me that the decor reflected the venue and the overall whimsical and backyard-family like vibe we were going for. I coined it as “Grapes of Wrath Chic.”

For table settings and decor, we (okay, *I*- because let’s be honest, Peter wasn’t exactly spending his days and nights obsessing on Pinterest like I was), opted for long rectangular tables where food could be served family style. We used a white floor length table cloth and down the center of the table, ran a kraft paper overlay/runner. Through a recommendation, I found an incredible shop on Etsy that made me reclaimed wooden boards (approx 60″ x 14″) for the center of the table. (**Sidenote: If you’re looking to buy these, I still have them! Contact me!) We used kitchen towels from Ikea for napkins, mismatched crystal punch cups for votives and of course, the famous “vintage” cans that I nearly burned my house down making for flower vessels.

Wedding Table Setting Wood Table Runner Vintage - Perfectly Disheveled

Wedding Table Setting Barn Wood Vintage – Perfectly Disheveled Photo By Leah Lee Photography

For table numbers, I decided to stencil mismatched china that I found at local thrift stores. The process was so much easier than I expected, and turned out to be a subtle detail that really brought together a lot of the decor elements. Here’s what I did:

We ended up having 10 tables. But of course, before the rsvp’s came in, I got started on the DIYing. So I purchased about 20 plates total (and used the other ones for a cookie bar. Details on that below).

Wedding Mismatched China - Perfectly Disheveled

At a local crafts store, I bought a packet of number stencils. All the plates were a little bit different in size, so I chose the plates I liked and matched them with the numbers that fit the best. Next, I cut the stencils and taped them with painters tape to the plate.

How to Stencil a Plate - Perfectly Disheveled How to Stencil a Plate - Perfectly Disheveled How to Stencil a Plate - Perfectly Disheveled

I purchased like 5 bottles of Martha Stewart acrylic craft paint (found it in the “stencil aisle”). In actuality, I only needed about 2 bottles for the entire project. My colors were navy, white and beige so I found a paint in a very dark navy and a white/eggshell like color for the plates with a dark background. I dumped a little bit of the paint onto a paper plate and then basically experimented with different stencil brushes. I ended up liking the flat brushes best and had to push down the stencils even more than the tape to make sure there wasn’t any “slippage.”

The paint starts to dry pretty fast, so after about ten minutes, I carefully lifted the tape and stencil off. Now, here’s the deal- it wasn’t always perfect. In fact, even with the tape and pushing down on the stencil, there was some paint that bled a bit. Here’s where it got a little “hands on”… I dampened a paper towel and basically rolled it up into a hard point. Then I wiped the edges that bled and also sort of pushed the paint into a shape or line that I wanted. If I wanted more paint or I didn’t like the number, I would free hand painting but then always clean it up with the paper towel. In essence, the stencil really gave me the over all shape / size to follow.

Stenciled plate - Perfectly Disheveled

I purchased small black wired plate stands at the craft store and since I had extra white paint, I painted them all so they wouldn’t class with the plates.

For escort cards, I found another amazing person on Etsy who wrote out guest names on Kraft paper tags (I provided guest names and table numbers to her). We purchased a bunch of mini apples ahead of time and using antique upholstery tacks that my mom had saved, we stuck the kraft paper tags into the apples. They were placed on wooden planks (made by our Etsy friends) through an old ladder that my mom had and painted.

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Escort Tags in Apples- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Once guests had their cards, they found their table numbers and the rest… is history!

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Perfectly Disheveled-Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Perfectly Disheveled-Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Perfectly Disheveled-Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Perfectly Disheveled-Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Of course, the bride and groom need a place to sit too… So I stenciled an “H” onto a fun plate for our sweetheart table.

Wedding Sweetheart Table- Stenciled Initial Plate- Photo by Leah Lee Photography

Wedding Table Setting Stenciled Plates- Perfectly Disheveled-Photo by Leah Lee Photography

FILED UNDER: DIY & Crafts
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Comments

  1. Wednesday, October 29th, 2014
    wow! What a beautiful decor, I love all the attention to detail! You are so talented, it looks amazing!
  2. gail frese
    Monday, April 30th, 2018
    Hi,
    I love, love your wedding tablescapes. You mention that you still have the wooden boards. Are they still for sale?

    Thanks!

    gail frese