DIY bridesmaid hair sticks

I have vowed to post about all my wedding DIYs but as you can tell its taking me longer than I thought, but I will get there, eventually...

Deciding on hair accessories for my bridesmaids was a bit tricky, I knew for a fact I didn't want anything floral. I've said it before, it's not that I hate flowers but I just wanted to minimize the floral elements in my wedding as much as possible. I just wanted to move away from the misconception that a wedding needs overdoses of flowers to survive. I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to have their hair up, because there is just something so elegant and sophisticated about an updo. With that in mind I decided the perfect hair accessory would be hair sticks. I've always loved hair sticks and loved customizing them as a teen. For some reason I used to think they originated from the Chinese culture, but realized later they have origins all across the world, from ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt and Japan. Another reason I was attracted to hair sticks is because they are so versatile, they can be worn in many different ways, unlike the standard hair clip worn by bridesmaids which is usually always worn behind the ear.

Originally I thought I would order a set of delicate crystal embellished hair sticks for my bridesmaids, but when I searched online everything I found was either too plain or way to glittery for my liking. I've always been a simple girl, and I'm attracted to minimalist designs that have a quiet elegance. I was on the verge of just crossing the hair sticks off my list, when I came across an old pair of my own hair sticks that I had customized with ribbon several years ago. It reminded me that I could just make my own crystal hair sticks for my bridesmaids. Coincidentally at the same time I had come across a lot of blog posts that featured brides "blinging out" their wedding shoes with flat back crystals. That's when it hit me, I could use the same flat back crystals for my hair sticks! All I needed was to buy plain hair sticks and then I could embellish them myself. I already knew that Sally's stocked two-tone hair sticks by DCNL and since these hair sticks have flat sides like a square I knew they would be perfect for my project!

A flat back crystal is basically what the same suggests, a crystal with a flat back so it can easily be glued to a flat surface. They are available in many different shapes, sizes, colors and styles.Some of them are heat set crystals so you need a heat tool to activate the adhesive. I decided to start out with the professional pack by Crystazzi This pack has clear colorless crystals in multiple sizes so I could experiment with them. I also knew I would need more then one size since the hair sticks get narrow towards the tip.

Next I had to decide on the type of glue to use. All the information I saw online seemed to recommend E6000 glue as being the strongest and best glue for this kind of project. However when I actually picked up a pack of it at Michael's I was turned off by all the warnings on it. It is a really strong glue and gives off toxic vapors that can be harmful especially if used in a room with poor ventilation. Since I did all my wedding DIY projects in a tiny room with not so great ventilation, I just didn't feel right using this glue. I decided to make my life even harder by using my hot glue gun for this project.

The hot glue gun makes it ten times trickier for several reasons. Firstly the hot glue cools down extremely fast so its virtually impossible to position the tiny crystal perfectly on the hair stick before the glue dries.  In fact its impossible to even get the hot glue on the back of the crystal without the glue getting extremely messy, especially if you have a  large glue gun like mine. A mini glue gun would probably have been much better. I also tried putting the glue directly on the hair stick, but if you have worked with a large glue gun and a slippery surface such as these hair sticks,  you know how stringy, messy and difficult it can be for projects that require precision.  Needless to say it was a tough project. Just handling the crystals was difficult, I had to get out my tweezers because they were very hard to pick up with my fingers and I only had nanoseconds to pick up a crystal and position it in the hot glue before the glue cooled down and dried. 

It was a slow and tedious DIY task and I burnt my fingers more times than I care to remember, but I loved the challenge, and it was exciting seeing my vision come to life. After I completed the first pair I was really happy with how it turned out and I knew there was no going back. They sparkled in the light, but weren't too loud or too overdone.  In all, I  made a total of 10 individual sticks (5 pairs) but by the time I was done I felt as though I had done a thousand.

There were definitely moments when I wanted to just give up on this project because the amount of time it took just didn't seem worth it, but I'm glad I pushed through it. The look on my bridesmaids faces when I gave it to them the night before the wedding was worth it. They kept asking if they could really keep the hair sticks after the wedding and refused to believe I made them myself. I forgot to take pictures of the finished product so I recently sent a text to one of my bridesmaids to ask if she still had the hair sticks and if she could send me a photo for this blog post. Within minutes she sent me the awesome photos below! Its been 2.5 years and she knew exactly where they were and they seem to be holding up pretty great except a few missing crystals. Bridesmaid of the year? I think so!

Lace bridesmaid dresses...

 

 

 

Lace is definitely the fabric of choice for 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Size matters!

Lets be honest, nothing is ever overdone and elegant at the same time because elegance and moderation go hand in hand. To keep the wedding effortlessly chic  it’s important to choose the right size bridal party. Read more about what the right size is here. In case you need added motivation here are a few more reasons...

 A lot of people claim they simply cant leave anyone out  because they have so many friends...think of it this way, imagine if every single competitor in the olympics was given a gold medal, it would defeat the entire purpose of competing. The same principle applies, if you ask every single one of your friends to be a bridesmaid or groomsmen and you end up with a bridal party of over 20 people, it kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a bridal party at all; it doesn’t feel like much of an honor to be chosen and everyone gets lost in the shuffle

 Having attended a sinful amount of weddings myself, I can tell you there is nothing worse than sitting through an extremely long processional  with  12 couples {12 bridesmaids & 12 groomsmen}  strolling down the aisle, followed by 7 flower girls, and 4 ring bearers and then a mini bride and groom.  I have seriously attended a wedding with this many people!!! By the time the 5^th flower girl appeared I was stifling a yawn!  Who needs 7 flower girls? Better yet who needs 4 ring bearers when there are only two rings? The bridal party of this wedding came to a whopping 37 people not including ushers or the bride and groom themselves. A bit much? Indeed.

 Even the most experienced wedding photographers dislike shooting mammoth bridal parties because its hard to keep the shots from looking like a class of 99 year book shot. Wedding photos should be classy, stylish and a true reflection of the people in the picture.. but with so many people in each shot, the pictures can quickly become stiff, cliche and crowded.

Coordinating and transporting the bridal party is so much easier and less stressful with a smaller number.  Plus most sleek stretch limos only seat up to 22 people so if your total number exceeds that you might have to fork out extra for a party bus.. and truth be told they don’t look so hot from the outside.

 Any true fashionista knows that less is always more and quality trumps quantity,  unless of course you are aiming to get into the Guinness book of records like Laura Tolley who had 103 bridesmaids, sadly they denied her application on a minor technicality and she did not make into the book. Moment of silence for her loss? Nah...

Weigh in my darlings and tell me what you think? Do you agree to keep it small or do you believe "the more the merrier"?

xoxo

Alfred Angelo bridesmaid collection

Four lucky brides this month will win up to six bridesmaid dresses from Alfred Angelo absolutely free! Read more about the details of how to enter to win here

A few reasons why brides should enter this contest

Reason number 1... Alfred Angelo gowns are beautiful! Attention is paid to the each detail, the dresses are well cut and flattering, getting them for free is such a steal!

Reason number 2...They have a wide selection of styles, lengths, fabrics and colors there is definitely a dress in their collection to please every bride

Reason number 3...Your bridesmaid will very much appreciate not having to pay for their gowns, perhaps that money towards something else wedding related?

Reason number 4...Six FREE gowns are on the line ... hello.. I think thats reason enough!

Below are some of the gowns available in their bridesmaid collection

Maid to love!

Br

We've all heard the horror stories of bridesmaids having to wear awful dresses that they couldn't wait to take off, burn and then grind the ashes! Frilly contraptions with dollops of ugly lace, cheap satin and horrendous sleeves are now a thing of the past. At Nordstrom, their bridesmaid collection is full of chic and modern designer dresses that combine great silhouettes with amazing color choices. Thanks to their current sale, their prices have been completely slashed bringing several stylish gowns to under $100! Some of them even as low as $40.

Does it get better than that? Yes it does; their online wedding shop allows you to browse through their entire collection and view the most up to date price reductions without leaving home. What I love the most of the Nordstrom website, is the dress guide which is a saving grace for all women; it clearly spells out the different body types and the best dresses that flatter each body type. Every woman needs a dress guide like that!

Why spend thousands of dollars on designer bridesmaid dresses when you can get the exact same labels at astoundingly lower prices? At the sale prices,  the total cost of all the bridesmaid dresses together would be less than the price of one dress at other bridal stores. All the dresses shown are under $100.