The Winners of the DIY Wedding Contest!

The results of our DIY Wedding Contest are in! Congratulations to Meredith and Ben Little and their "Whimsical Wedding" in Bluffton, South Carolina!

As the prize for winning our contest, Meredith and Ben will enjoy a three-day, two-night stay at the romantic Princess Anne Hotel in Asheville, NC! Thank you to our sponsors Cannon Green and Ooh! Events and Out of Hand!

"I love making things and being creative with decoration. Our wedding was a real testimony to that. Ben and I spent the three months of our engagement (yes! we were only engaged three months!) building things, painting, crafting and creating a wedding that was cost effective, but also beautiful. There were so many aspects of the ceremony and reception that we intentionally thought about. Details that were specially chosen in order for the day to be a reflection of both of us. From hand-lettered signs to strands of sewn paper shapes, we created a whimsical wedding from a fairy tale!"

"This sign was also made using wood from the barn; there were many different signs for the wedding, but this one was our favorite. We used something old, the wood from the barn, but the words on the sign signify that on that day we were becoming a new thing! All that was used for the sign was the wood and white acrylic paint."

"Ben is a carpenter and furniture builder here in Charleston and built this table for us to eat at for the first time as husband and wife. The wood is reclaimed barn wood from his family's farm in Illinois. He spent his childhood playing in the barn. When the barn was torn down a couple years ago, the wood was saved, and he used it to build this table."

"This was my favorite decoration at the wedding. I made giant 'wreaths' from hula hoops and hung them from a big oak tree draped in moss. I bought three different sized hoops from the dollar store, then spray painted them dark green. After that, I bought some fake greenery that I hot-glued around the entire hoop. On the day of the wedding, we added the real flowers and the burlap, and my dad looped them up in the trees!"

"I wanted to have the look of long tables at the reception but struggled to find table runners that weren't terribly expensive. After some research and creativity, I bought a huge roll of craft paper that cost about $20 for 800 feet. I rolled out 22 feet at a time and used acrylic paint to make designs. Each of the five long tables had different geometric designs. It was time consuming but all in all cost about $25!"

"This cross was also built by Ben and made from the barn wood. I love the simplicity of the roughly hewn cross with the hydrangeas."

Approximate cost of DIY project(s): $200