My wedding was absolutely awesome. Alas, we had no extra money so literally everything from the cake to the smoked pig to decorations were done by family members or close friends - which made it even more special!

Wedding decorations are SO expensive especially if they have that 'wedding' label. For centerpieces, we got bulk flowers from Cosco and Sprouts (due to a wrong delivery and last minute need for flowers...). We got a lot of random decor from oriental trading company and the burlap on sale at Joann's Fabric. I always wanted to get married at our local ski hill, but due to the time of wedding, I just got a thin-fallen aspen tree, cut it up and my dad and I drilled shallow holes with a drill press & 1.5" spade-bit (I call them paddle bits?) in the pieces. A tea candle fit perfectly. It was really cool to do a project like that with my dad, fairly quick, looks great, and really economical.

We used the paddle bit again to make birdhouses. This time my husband used it as a drill attachment, which I highly recommend clamping whatever you are drilling into securely or it will spin and be well, dangerous..

This candle went perfectly with our burlap/sunflower wedding theme.

Each of my nieces and nephews made these, their individual styles really shine through!

Brenda Fleming | New Mexico Art