Table numbers are essential to help guests locate their seat at the reception. Once again, Michaela wanted something more unique than what was being offered by the wedding stylist. With their official engagement photos only recently taken, she and her fiancé decided to create memorable table number using these photos.
Her plan was to have the table number on the front and choose a selection of their engagement photos to go on the back. But she didn't want them just glued on; she wanted them to be transferred on. So here's how she went about it. We forgot to take photos of this process but there are many tutorials online which show you how to do it. Here's one from DIY Cozy Home that she liked.
Here's how Michaela described the process:
Preparing the Timber
I bought a long plank of pine and cut it to size. We ended up with around 12 pieces measuring 130mm wide x 185mm high x 20mm deep, with one extra wide one. I painted only the one side plus the edges white (then gold over the top of the edges), leaving the photo side unpainted.
Applying the Image
I used ordinary craft glue and let it dry for 24hours. When we did the wet and peel stage, I realised that the ink wasn't meant to transfer to the wood itself but the layer of the paper that had the ink on it was meant to be glued to the wood and we were just meant to "peel" the other layers off, leaving that one layer of paper behind. I found the easiest and most successful (visually) way to peel was to wet the entire piece in one go (otherwise the ink ran) and to peel off in strips, not rubbing or going in circles. The photos were printed onto ordinary copy paper using an Epson printer.
The images are soft, and romantic looking, just the look Michaela was after.
Then she turned her attention to the front of the blocks. She'd found some brass house numbers at the variety store for just $1 a piece.
They came with tacks but she glued the numbers on to the painted surface and discarded the tacks. At this point, they were a bit front heavy so she added some screw-in brass hooks which helped the table numbers balance.
And this is how they turned out: on the left is the front and on the right is the back.
Each table number had different photos. In all, there were 10 photos for everyone to admire. It was a great talking point amongst guests and a wonderful way to have the two families intermingle and get to know each other a little better. It was another very special touch that she added which made her day such a memorable one.
I'll be back with more Wedding Collection projects in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for the updates.
'Til next time.....
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