In Japanese culture the origami crane is considered good luck and represents longevity. I created these place cards with the guests name on the front and the table number on the back with the origami crane sitting on the top. They looked very nice all lined up on the table. 

Notes

• Use a glue gun to attach the crane to the place cards
• Place them on a tray for easy transport and cover with tin foil so they don’t blow away

Resources

• Origami crane folding instructions by Aidan Dysart

This is a project from my wedding.  Our ceremony was outside in the sun so I thought it may get a little hot for the guests.  I attached our programs to a fan with a ribbon and placed them on the chairs.  I stamped the fans with tropical leaves and flowers to add a little color.

• Use a thin ribbon to attach the program so that the fan can still close
• Make sure the ink dries before you close the fans
• I used several small stamps in different colors so it took a lot of time to do each fan.  I suggest using one or two large stamps instead if you want to save a little time.
• Other Ideas:  Get a custom stamp created of your monogram, your names, or wedding logo
• Alternatives: fans with a preprinted design,  sandalwood fans

Resources

• Paper Fans
• Personalized Paper Fans
• Sandalwood Fans

MORE PHOTOS FROM KAREN’S WEDDING ON FLICKR

If I were to do everything over again, I probably would have been a wedding planner.  Although it was stressful at times, I loved planning our wedding!

My husband’s family lives in California, and mine live in Japan, so we decided to hold our wedding halfway between both locations in Hawaii. Although it was a bit pricey for us, we decided to have our wedding at the Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii.  It was such a beautiful location, but I knew that meant I was going to have to keep a close watch on our budget.

I went through many wedding magazines for ideas, but nothing came close to the Martha Stewart Weddings magazines.  Each magazine had creative and stylish ideas throughout and I wanted everything in them.  I especially loved all the invitations they featured, but was sad to find out how much it would cost. When I took a look at things in our price range, the only things they had were the typical white and black font invitations with white ribbon.

That’s when I thought I’m just going to have to make them myself and while I’m at it,  I’ll do the place cards and programs.  I looked around the Internet to try and find some instructions on how to make invitations from scratch, but there wasn’t a lot out there.  This is what inspired me to start up this website.  Thanks for stopping by!  More about me