diy wood wedding signs
now that the wedding has been posted on green wedding shoes, i’ve been getting emails from you guys asking how i did a few things. so although i don’t have a ton of process shots due to doing 400 DIYs at once, i’m going to do some posts on some of the projects we did for the wedding this week! it also seemed fitting, because i’m out of town this week on my way to my brothers wedding this weekend!
first up is how we did our wedding signs! if you saw the wedding photos, then you know there were a shit ton of them. honestly, these weren’t easy. gideon did the painting and i did the tracing because he has a much steadier hand than i do, and when i did the painting they looked way less perfect. so obviously, he wasn’t happy when i came up with long sayings for each sign. but i wanted to inject our personalities into everything!
here’s how we did ’em!
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PLYWOOD
WHITE TRANSFER PAPER PRINTER + PRINTER PAPER PENCILS THIN + THICK PAINT BRUSHES ENAMEL LETTERING PAINT HINGES (OPTIONAL) |
1. sand your plywood to give it a smoother finish.
2. measure your wood and decide how big you’d like your letters to be. our sign titles were usually on two – four 8.5×11 pages, with the subtext being around two pages.
3. on your computer, type out your text (we used proxima nova, but there are plenty of free fonts that look good too). print and tape the pages after you line them up correctly.
4. place a piece of transfer paper directly onto your wood, tape it down and then tape your printed out words on top.
5. with a pencil, carefully trace letter by letter as hard as you can to make the strongest impression onto the wood. this creates an outline for your text that makes it much easier to fill in.
6. once you’ve finished, outline each letter with a thin brush and your enamel lettering paint. carefully paint within the edges, and try to do smooth motions to avoid brush strokes. the paint is kinda fickle, so you need to stir it pretty often so it doesn’t try out.
7. let dry outside for a while. if you want to make it self-standing, drill two hinges onto the back of the top of your sign, and attach a second piece to the back.
the humor on these is priceless~!
These signs look so good! Thanks for the detailed instructions. Out of curiosity, did you consider using custom vinyl letters? I have no idea if this would be cheaper/easier/look as good….
thanks nadia! we considered having vinyl cut for us and we considered getting a cricut machine, but in the end – we were really just trying to save as much money as we could and we were worried about the vinyl staying put in the desert heat — so we went with the cheapest and safest (and most difficult) option!
Whoaaa! That’s a ton of work but they are so funny and personal! Great job.
Did you use plywood for the escort card board too? Do you remember if escort board had hinges on it? I am looking to do a very minimal board for escort cards but most frames and what-not are so cheesy. Wondering if I should just get plywood when I get to Palm Springs and have them sand it and put a hinge on it (I suppose I could just lean on the hedge at the Parker?). I have around 100 cards too (because I am combining names), so if you can remember what size board your husband cut, that would be incredible! Would love your thoughts on it!
hi! i love this! i’m curious how big you made your signs?
Hey Molly!
These signs are great. What dimensions did you use when cutting?
🙂
What size did you make your signs?
What kind of transfer paper did you use?
HI!
love these signs, hoping to create a few of my own – i purchased a font i love, but would you share the dimensions of the physical sign and if you remember the font size you used as well?
i don’t want mine turning out too big or too small.
What size is the plywood??
Love the signs!!
Hi!
Your signs are great!
Any chance you could share what size boards and font you used?