Hi There, I’m Jules Mounteney. Like you I was a DIY Bride, now I’m a DIY wife and mum and owner, artist, and blog author at Wine Bottle Crafts.

Now here’s something you’re probably all finding out for yourselves right about now… Weddings are expensive! I mean, mention the ‘w’ word and the price trebles right? When I got engaged and started costing things out I thought we’d never be able to afford to get married, but with some careful research and planning and lots of DIY I got the day of my dreams (I mean ‘we’ got the day of ‘our’ dreams) for less than a sixth of the £18,000 average spend.

Two thirds of our budget was spent on our venue, drinks and food. The rest went on rings, outfits, decorations and all the little bits and bobs I need to make everything else myself. I made the invites, the flowers, the jewellery, the tiara, the table plan, the order of service, my veil, the centrepieces, the favours, the only thing I didn’t make was the cake, my hubby made that! (I made the topper though) I’ve always had creativity close to my heart, I studied art at school, I’ve been a jewellery maker for years, and for the past 5 years I’ve made my own glass beads so getting everything off the shelf was never really going to be an option regardless of budget.

We also called on lots of friends and family for favours in the run up to the wedding and on the day itself, so we wanted to give the people that went above and beyond a really special thank you gift. We knew it had to be something original and unique to our special day, something not too expensive and ideally something that wasn’t going to ruin the planet. I decided to call on my bead making skills and got the hotel to save me the champagne bottles from the toast. When we returned from our mini moon I melted them down and made them into earrings, Charm Beads, Cuff links and bottle stoppers. They went down a storm, they ticked all our boxes and our guests loved them so much that some of them asked me to do the same thing with their celebratory bottles, Wine Bottle Crafts was born!

We’ve recently launched our brand new website “Wine Bottle Crafts” and are continually adding items to our range of products; the latest being our fairy light bottles. They make great night lights but also look stunning as wine bottle centrepieces, looking really funky and artistic during the day and emitting a lovely soft glow at night.

It’s not all been plain sailing, with a daughter barely a year old and a husband that works long hours finding the time to be creative and keep on top of the admin is hard work but slowly those blocks are stacking up, and my little family make the foundations nice and strong!

 

 

Disclosure: DIY Bride does NOT have a financial relationship with Wine Bottle Crafts, meaning this is NOT a sponsored post. If you would like to be considered for a “Meet the Makers” story, please submit your story here: http://www.diybride.com/submit-an-article/. 

 d