DIY Wedding with Papel Picado

This is why I love DIY weddings, they are so darn sweet and homey. How cute are those centerpieces? And so simple... Ideas are brewing...

Absolutely in love with the all white papel picado banners and twinkley lights.

Ay Mujer! handmakes these in Indo, CA and you know I'm going to be ordering some. They also have some beautiful photogrpahy from the Coachella Valley. Check it out!

Family Tree

For a wedding gift, I have been asking the families to put together a list of names and dates and hopefully even some photos for a marriage family tree just like this one!

I know I am corny, but I am so excited about this idea, and the more I research it, the more interesting ideas I find. If I had my way, I would commission a giant wall tapestry a la The Noble and Most Ancient Family Black from Harry Potter, but I think our budget and lack of magical powers might require we stick to paper.


I originally had in mind this sort of picture tree, found at (named appropriately) ClassicFamilyTrees. You order the tree itself and then put in the pieces yourself at home. DIY baby!


There are also classic family tree fans such as this one from Martha Stewart but I feel like only J and I would ever be interested in looking at this one...


Once I started researching more I found funkier stuff like this arty photo tree on a design blog called PoppyTalk and this actual tree-branch with photo charms from Heirloomery. While they both definitely look neat, neither contains any written info...


Etsy has a few good sources, although I was surprised their weren't more. Here are a few really pretty ones from katleminvitations and SimpleSweetDesign. Most of these are for new babies though, and would have to be altered to be a marriage tree.


By far, the most amazing ones I found were by JennyLeeFowler on Etsy. While they aren't really family trees, she takes a photo or a bunch of photos that you mail her and makes these amazing paper silhouettes. I'm completely in love with her stuff. Amazing...