Bunting - a really easy way to add that 'handcrafted' touch to your venue!

Bunting

This can be a really inexpensive way to ‘uplift’ a venue, if you make it yourself!  Typically a really nice piece of personalised bunting can cost you £5 a triangle or basic ‘off the shelf’ cotton bunting £10-£15 for 10 meters.  If you make it yourself you can cut this cost by at least 2/3rds if not more.  

You will need:

Patterned fabric of your choice, ideally to match your colours and theme.   You can buy these in quarts, ready cut squares or if you are alternating between two colours the cheapest way is per metre.  Ebay is a great place to start searching, but can be expensive.  Check out your local fabric shops, markets first and if you are feeling flush then some John Lewis stores stock lovely fabrics.

Binding ribbon (at least 40mm wide)

Threads

Felt (for letters)

Embellishments

Decorative ric rac ribbon, satin ribbon or lace ribbon

Embroidery thread.

Method (for basic bunting):

Take your strip of fabric, double the length you want your bunting to be.  I suggest that this is at least 50cm (to make 25cm bunting) which is a good size for decorating a large room, go smaller for a more intimate setting. 

With the roll ends vertical to you, lay the fabric so the right side is facing up towards you. 

Make sure your edges are perfectly straight and fold the fabric over in half, along the long edge, so raw edge should meet raw edge.

Iron along the fold (both the ‘right’ sides of the fabric should be facing each other)

On the folded edge measure every 22cm and make a mark with a fabric pencil

On the raw edge, make the first measure at 11cm and then every 22cm after that.

Draw lines between the points, making triangles.

Using some good fabric scissors cut along the lines, pinking scissors are good to use here as they prevent fraying.

Using pins secure both sides of the fabric together, one-three pins should be enough, depending on how proficient you are on a sewing machine.

On the triangles that still have a folded edge, cut along the fold to separate the pieces.

Option 1: Clean edge bunting, best for larger, cotton flags.

Then take all the pieces to your sewing machine, and with the ‘wrong’ side facing outwards (I once made a whole strip the wrong way! Grrrr) sew along the two long sides of the triangle to the point.  DO NOT SEW the short edge.

Once you have sewn all the triangles, turn them inside out (which is why you didn’t sew the short edge) using a pencil to push out the point.

Iron each triangle so it’s nice and flat

Option 2: pinking edges bunting; best for narrow flags and thicker fabrics

Take the cut flags to the sewing machine and place with the ‘right’ side facing outwards, towards you on both flags (wrong sides touching each other).

Sew a good centimetre from the edge of the flag

Take your pinking scissors and cut up to the sewn edge, but be careful not to snip your lovely stitching.

Continue…..

Get your binding ribbon, fold in in half, length ways and if you like iron along the crease

Put your triangles with the raw edges, in-between the fold of your binding ribbon and pin to secure them in place. Space your triangles as you feel fit. Do this until all the triangles have been placed.

Sew a clean line along the binding ribbon securing all triangles in place; if you want extra strength do a second sew a few millimetres above the first.  You now have your bunting!!

For more elaborate bunting with letters and embellishments, I like to use piece of felt for the back or in-between in you are making a double sided bunting.  I cut out equal sized triangles of fabric with pinking scissors and sew on my decorative ribbon, embellishments and letters before securing to the felt with more running stitches and then onto the bunting.  This method is much lengthier, but is very effective.

In these pictures I have used cotton photo fabric, personalised with our own photos.  This is unique to the handcrafted wedding.  If you would like me to make your own cotton, photo bunting then get in touch: joannamcastor@gmail.com (my website www.bespokebunting.co.uk is currently under construction), prices start from £18 for 12 flags (6 photographed, 6 pattern/plain)

The Drinks

‘A glass of wine and I’ll be fine’

I have to say that the one thing I am most looking forward at my own wedding is that first glass of cool, bubbly prosecco.  The guests, unless they are T-Total, will probably join me in that. 

When I was looking for venues, I came up with this saying (I have no idea why I put it in German, it just came out that way!) Hunger, Pee pee, Durst!  I had come to the conclusion that if my guests are well fed, had nice loo’s to frequent and had drink then they would be content.  As we have already covered the food, here are my top tips for the booze:

1.    Bring your own!

Check with your venue if you are allowed to supply your own wine/booze.  Most venues will charge corkage-expect £10 per bottle for wine and £16 for prosecco and champagne.  This is expensive, as this is almost pure profit so it might be worth having a go negotiating this down.  If you are wine buffs and want to serve up some very nice wines/champagnes then this will probably work out cheaper for you.

2.    Break down the ‘drinks package’

Just because the venue have labelled up ‘drinks package’ don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting a fair price.  Break the package down so you can see what the price per glass is.  For example : £25 per person drinks package includes, 1 x sparkling wine on arrival,  2 x glasses of wine with the meal and 1 x sparkling wine to toast.  This works out an average £6.25 a glass.  Ask ‘what is the wine?’ from the wine menu and ‘what is the sparkling wine?’.  Then, what are they classing a glass standard 175ml or large 250ml? Sparkling wine, champagne is usually always 125ml.  Look at the advertised ‘menu’ price of these wines per glass and see if you are paying extra, if you are then you have your cue to negotiate.

3.    Buy by the bottle it may be cheaper!

Once you have done the above step it is a logical progression to see if buying the bottle is cheaper.  Rule of thumb is 750ml bottle of champagne will give you 6 glasses and 750ml wine will give you 4 glasses.  This is how I approached my venue and it has saved us £600 on alcohol costs from ‘the package’.  Not only did I ask the venue to charge me by the bottle (which was MUCH cheaper at £22 a bottle instead of £37.50) but I also asked for discount.  I managed to get even more money off.

4.    Don’t forget the kids, designated drivers or plain healthy T-Totals!

It is also a good idea to ask the venue to supply plenty of jugs of water, squash and orange juice. That way everyone can stay hydrated and guests don’t have to battle through a busy bar to just get a squash or glass of water.

5.    Be Creative!

Don’t let the standard drinks package stop you being creative! I love these Prosecco Pops! Really fun! But there are loads of other ideas out there that you can add your individual style to. Margaritas, Mojitos, the world is your cocktail bar!