Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins

Wedding Place cards and a little DIY

Let’s see,…DJ, check! Florist, check! Food, drinks, cake, check! All that other junk….ummm….
A few months ago I thought to myself, “man, I am so far ahead of this wedding planning, you might as well just slap “wedding planner” across my forehead and put me in a movie with Matthew McConaughey.” Then I was a giant walrus for a few months thinking I was ahead of the game until I started making small little notes as a to-do for the wedding. Then it hit me, I’m an idiot. Simple.as.that. I honestly was forgetting about all the small details that make a wedding your own.
My goal with this wedding planning was to have almost everything completed by November (before Turkey holiday), so that people aren’t caught up in my wedding when they should be spending time with their families for the holidays (I say that now before Bridezilla spawns mid-November). With that said, I better get a move on, that’s just around the corner!

One of the “small details” I needed to figure out was how I was going to display the place cards. Our wedding is a pretty formal event, not black tie, but cocktail attire and I wanted something that was simple, DIY, yet classy. So I did what any other 2012 bride would do, I started perusing Pinterest… (did you think I was going to say call J.Lo?). Below are some lovely ideas I came across on my brainstorming journey.

All images via my Pinterest account (follow me here)
I love all of these, but they just didn’t seem “right” (or in that annoying budget) for our wedding. So without further adieu, we chose…. wine cork place card holders! Below you can see a simple (and cheap) DIY for them.

#1. Start with razor blade, cork and cutting board. Be CAREFUL!
#2. Cut the tip of the cork flat so it will “stand” upright on its own.
like so…
#3. Take EXACTO knife and trim a small strip in the top of the cork. Make sure it is wide enough for a business card width to fit in. You may have to cut a bit of the cork out like pictured.
#4. Finished, Robeks is invited to the par-tay! Now repeat 224 times.
Excuse my frequent buyer card, I don’t have a business card with me and I don’t have the cards printed yet (also another DIY). I have to admit, I only did this one cork for blog purposes, the other 224 have been done by some of my awesome friends who are kind enough to risk the tips of their fingers to make sure everyone has a cool cork place card. I love you girls!
Here is a pinterest version of what Im thinking: 

Except, I don’t know what we are “naming our tables” yet (another little pesky on the to-do). Is it lame to call them 1, 2, 3….?
Hope you all enjoy, this DIY could also be used for an dinner party, holiday or small get together. It adds a cute little touch to the table. And don’t worry, I didn’t drink 225 bottles of wine myself. One of my MOH’s mom is rockin’ and her card club donated like 100 to me, along with purchasing a few off eBay because apparently cork projects are in high demand. 
Have any of you done any projects with corks? What did you use as your place card holders?

Comments

  1. AvatarKate Harvey says

    This is really cute! I admit, I normally don't like wine cork projects but this one is going to turn out classy, I can tell. 🙂

    We didn't do assigned seating at our wedding, which made things easy on the bride….We wanted our guests to mingle and not get stuck in one spot. My mom also appreciated not having to do seating assignments!

    Kate
    Something Ivory

  3. AvatarAmy says

    Loving the DIY, great job! We named all of our tables cities we had traveled to during our year of engagement. Worked well because we traveled a ton, but also favorite cities might be nice. I brought vintage postcards from Zazzle!

    xx Amy

    Leopard and Lillies

  9. AvatarJocey says

    So cute… if I didn't say so at the craft party over your shower weekend. Another great post by one amazing gal! Love you!

  16. AvatarTheTinyHeart says

    Those came out so cute! I did the starfish ones since we live at the beach 🙂 I was cursing them though halfway through. I didn't name our tables, just numbered them, which is totally fine.

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart

  19. Avatarcardigancrew says

    Ahh we did the same exact thing for our wedding that just passed on July 27th! Only I wasn't as prepared as you…we thought of the idea 2 days before the wedding and was calling everyone we know for corks! They came out great though and we got a lot of compliments on the idea so it will surely be a hit!

  23. AvatarAlly Dewing says

    This is such a cute idea! You could let people take them home and put them in their wine as a little reminder off your big day!! You could name your tables things like 'the grooms gamg' (eg. Grooms family or friends) or 'the old dogs' (eg. Old friends) thing like that! I really like this post. I'm your new follower. Thanks for checking out my blog by the way I'd love it if you followed back 🙂
    popcornandpersephone.blogspot.com
    Ally xoxox

  24. AvatarTara St says

    I really want to make a bulletin board out of wine corks. I don't think it's lame to just have table numbers…especially if you have 225 people. I've gotten frustrated at large weddings trying to find my table. If it's numbered, you know table 5 is next to table 6; however, you don't know what table the love bug or rainbow tables are next to.

    Tara
    Penniless Socialite

  28. AvatarLily says

    wow, you're so creative and prepared! it looks great. good luck and congrats dear! would you like to follow each other? we comment on each other's blogs but it looks like we're not following!

  35. AvatarMegan says

    Oh my goodness, same thing happened to me. We got all of the big things out of the way SUPER early – booking our vendors, choosing our location/colors/etc, and then I felt like I could coast along for a while. All those little details totally add up and are what ended up causing me the most stress close to the wedding!

    Those place cards are really adorable and creative. As far as naming tables, we did types of birds (sparrow, hummingbird, etc) because that fit into our theme. What about the names of different beaches in your area?

  38. AvatarThe Funky Junkie says

    I love what you came up with for this! You are so right, it really is all in the little details that make your wedding your own. It can seem so overwhelming, especially now that you can be flooded by ideas on Pinterest, but I promise that everything will come together and it will turn out to be perfectly you!