DIY Wedding Planning | Materials We Are Collecting | Our Queer DIY Wedding









Ever since (and okay, we’ll admit, a little bit also before) Cole and I got engaged in 2018, we knew we couldn’t wait to start planning and creating and collecting and saving for our dream wedding together. We also knew there were several items we wanted to start collecting right away that would be essential to making our DIY dreams come true:

    • glass jars & bottles 
    • clear plastic containers 
    • cylindrical glass tube containers 
    • metal tampon tins
    • fresh, dried, & pressed flowers & leaves
    • rocks & shells
    • crochet everything
    • glass jars & bottles = centerpieces




glass jars & bottles = centerpieces

Every time we finish another jar of sauce or bottle of wine, I get a tiny bit excited to scrub it out and add it to the growing collection stashed on one of our pantry shelves! These are great for a number of different styles of centerpieces, such as sectioned with painter’s tape and metallic spray paint, or glued and rolled with a glitter rim. These mini green ones are going to be strung up and used as fairy light toppers.



clear plastic containers = wedding favors 

The medical dispensary that I frequent stocks their product in a particular style of clear plastic container with screw-on lid that is absolutely fabulous. It’s the perfect size for creating little wedding favor jars and filling with candy or some similar stuff. And the real icing here is that the labels don’t leave any sticky residue to scrub or soak off. 


cylindrical tubes = send-off glitter 

Okay, just one more dispensary-sourced gem before we move on. These little cylindrical joint tubes are just begging to be used as vessels for the send-off glitter (or similar such substance of your choice!) They come in all sorts of styles and we are still experimenting with what type we like best. Glass tubes and cork tops are a few favorite features. 

All of these recycled cannabis containers are washed and sanitized well before use, just like any recycled materials that we use for projects. 




tampon lids = decor

Moving from one area of inspiration being drawn from personal reuse, and on to another! For some reason L. Organic Tampons has found this to be a profitable business model, and I can’t decide if everyone else just doesn’t know yet, or doesn’t care!

But as far as I’m concerned, these tampon tins are just maybe my favorite opportunity for creative reuse in this whole post. They are the questionably necessary packaging for surprisingly affordable and comfortable organic tampons. They are gorgeous, sturdy, and washable. They come in a variety of sizes depending on what count container of tampons you bought.. And they’re copper, which is one of the colors we picked for our wedding!?  Totally meant to be. Not entirely sure yet what we will use them for, but does it matter? They look good everywhere they go. Probably coasters. Or trays for holding small items. Or suspended from the ceiling in nesting formations and dripping in plants. See? Anywhere. 


nature items = everything 

Speaking of dripping in plants…Since we already always have plants growing in our apartment, we figured why not experiment with pressing and drying? 

Cannabis leaves press up nice and flat and dry without being too fragile or crackly. They lend themselves well to lamination, sealing, and printmaking. 

This spring we have plans to plant different flowers and see which ones dry well. Flowers are such a huge budget-suck for a lot of weddings, and growing enough fresh ones ourselves at the time of the actual event might involve some tricky timing! So we’re planning to supplement with ones we grew and dried or pressed ourselves. They have a longer storage capacity and can be mixed in with fresh ones or kept separate depending on the look we decide to create. 

We already know our colors are going to be sage green and copper, with pops of an additional to-be-determined third color. Dried or pressed leaves and stems tend towards muted sage green hues. Perfect for our overall wedding aesthetic of nature x enchanted forest x gay. 


crochet = everything else 

Since we already love, and sometimes even live and breathe crochet. it just seemed natural that we would incorporate that element into our wedding. A quick chain stitch in the appropriate color is a handmade solution to lots of wedding decor dilemmas, such as stringing up photos or decorating tree branches. 


rocks & shells = gifts, glitter, & fillers

A large smooth wishing stone or a mini jar of sea glass would both be perfect table gifts or favors. Crushed shell glitter might just be the ideal send-off solution. And beach-combed treasures will also be perfect fillers for centerpieces or planters.