If youâre planning on DIYing part of your wedding, chances are itâs not because youâre already a professional at the thing youâre making. If youâre a creative person, itâs more likely that youâve figured wedding planning is a convenient excuse to teach yourself new things, and to get your hands dirty making stuff you would normally like to make, but wouldnât normally have the budget for. (Weddings: enabling superfluous crafting since the invention of the glue gun.)
The biggest hurdle in DIYing anything is, of course, learning how to do something new without any formal training. For me, this process often looked a lot like scanning the Internet for some good ideas, taking a stab at what Iâd need to execute those ideas, and then suffering for hours on end as I slowly realized I had no idea what I was doing (aka all of our flowers died the morning of our wedding, because ignorance). Pinterest fixes this in a lot of ways, but as PinterestFAIL so elegantly demonstrates, thereâs no comparison for learning in a classroom environment. Which is why I was really excited to hear that CreativeLive (one of my favorite resources for online classes and video tutorials) was launching a series of wedding themed classes-on-demand, and that theyâd be offering them for just twenty-five dollars.
If youâre not already familiar with the CreativeLive platform, they provide online classes on everything from photography to graphic design to entrepreneurship to calligraphy to photoshop, and the list goes on. Because CreativeLive believes that education should be accessible to everyone, their classes are offered for free as part of a live broadcast, and then made available for on-demand purchase once the live class is over. (When I was first teaching myself photography, I learned almost everything about building a business by auditing their free live classes.) Which means you get the best of both worlds: free classes from leading experts on topics you actually care about, and on-demand classes available for when you want to learn at your own pace. Classes run from $25 for an hour or so up to $150 and beyond for multi-day intensives.
This year, knowing how many couples set out to DIY things like flowers and envelope addressing, CreativeLive is adding brand new courses specifically geared at couples looking to DIY parts of their wedding. These hour-long(ish) classes, which are broken down into easily digestible five-to-fifteen minute segments, are only $25 and give super in-depth overviews on things like making boutonnières and bridesmaid bouquets, DIYing floral garlands, and mastering the basics of calligraphy. Hereâs what I learned when watching some of these classes for myself:
1. CreativeLive is different from YouTube. CreativeLive has a few distinct advantages over YouTube tutorials. Firstly, even though CreativeLive classes are technically video classes, the original recordings are done in a classroom setting with a moderator and a small class audience. So as the tutorials progress, the audience and moderator get to ask questions you might have asked yourself, such as: how do lefties write calligraphy? Not to mention, CreativeLive classes arenât filmed in someoneâs bedroom.
2. No shooting in the dark. CreativeLive is first and foremost a platform for education, so they do everything they can to arm you with as many resources as possible, before you even hit play. For example, the Introduction to Calligraphy course comes with free printables that you can practice your letters on, plus a shopping list so you know exactly what kinds of pens and paper to buy.
3. Advice from experts. One of the things Iâve always loved about CreativeLive is that the classes are taught by some of the smartest people in the industry (aka the people Iâd be buying from if I werenât DIYing). Which means that when Farmgirl Flowers is teaching you about how to make a bridesmaid bouquet, youâre actually learning so much more about how florists work, how floral arrangements come together, and why certain flowers are popular. (For example, I learned that greenery isnât actually all that cheap, but most florists use because it protects your flowers against the elements. Well, that and itâs really pretty. So if youâre doing a lot of moving around on your wedding day, you may want to choose a bouquet with lots of greenery.)
4. A new perspective. One of the perks of CreativeLiveâs multi-camera format is that you always have the best seat in the house. We invited intern Kelsey to take the CreativeLive course on making a garland for your wedding, and hereâs what she had to say:
As a crafty person, I loved the way that CreativeLive used different camera angles for different parts of the project. Especially for a large-scale project like a flower garland, being able to get a birdâs-eye view of the detail shots was very helpful to understand the steps. I also thought the different examples of garlands presented in the class were good inspiration for future projects, much like a video Pinterest, if you will.
5. CreativeLive videos are cheaper than the movies. The kinds of classes offered by CreativeLive are the kind that would cost at least a hundred dollars if you attended in person (and possibly five times that, depending on where you live). But CreativeLive is offering their wedding classes for only $25. Which is cheaper than date night, and you donât even have to show up half an hour early to get a good seat.
Here are some of the $25 wedding classes you can get from CreativeLive now:
Boutonnières & Attendant BouquetS: Wanna know why so many couples DIY flowers? Because they seem like they should be easy. (And they often⌠arenât.) In this class youâll learn to make stylish, custom floral accessories for your wedding party and anyone else who gets a special flower on your wedding day. Farmgirl Flowers will show you how to select, process, and assemble flowers for big, beautiful organic-feeling bouquets and boutonnières. Youâll get tips on sourcing local flowers, assembling boutonnières, creating a hand-tied attendant bouquet, and adding finishes to your design, like fancy ribbon.
Using Calligraphy for Addressing EnvelopeS: This is the class I was most excited about (as someone does a lot of swooshy writing in the margins of notebooks). Combine the introduction to calligraphy course with the calligraphy for addressing invitations course, and youâll be set on invitations. In this class, youâll learn how to create unique calligraphed artwork and signage, use a variety of colored inks, and address an envelope the post office can deliver (that last one is⌠kind of important).
Decorative Floral GarlandS: Floral garlands are super hot right now, on top of being incredibly versatile. In this beginner-friendly class, youâll learn basic garland-making techniques from the ladies at Farmgirl Flowers. Christina and Rhiannon teach you every step in the process, like how to select and handle your tools, how to prepare and choose flowers and foliage, how to assemble a base and add flowers to your garland, and how to adjust your garland for a variety of uses. They also share timesaving techniques and unique design ideas so that you can make awesome floral designs without spending a whole month (or a whole monthâs paycheck) on them.
There are lots more classes available on CreativeLive that arenât listed here (including longer courses on DIY centerpieces, creative floral arrangements, and paper crafting.) So if youâve been dying to try out some of those projects you keep seeing on Pinterest (or even some of the ones youâve seen here), but have been having a hard time wrapping your head around the how of it all, then go browse CreativeLiveâs available wedding courses and sign yourself up for one (or five) today. In the grand scheme of things, $25 and a few hours of your time is worth it when compared to the several hours of meltdown youâll be saving yourself later.
Click here to browse the CreativeLive wedding catalog and sign up for a class today!
