Paper garden escort cards

Once I had decided that paper flower escort cards was the way to go, I had to figure out how to make them happen without breaking the bank. Although they're one of the DIY projects that I'm most excited about, I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on pre-made flowers from Etsy or the pricey kits from Paper Source. I considered borrowing a Cricut machine from a friend, but after watching some instructional videos, I realized that it would take an awfully long time to cut out enough petals for 200 flowers with the Cricut. Yikes! Time to find a plan B.

I came across these video tutorials on YouTube and knew instantly that paper punches were the way to go! So I scampered on down to Paper Source to pick up some pink and gold cardstock and ordered four EK Success Retro Flower punches from Amazon - one each in XL, Large, Medium and Small. When they came in yesterday, I spent a good part of the evening following the video tutorials and doing a little bit of experimenting on my own. This is what I came up with!

Aren't they gorgeous?! I got through about fifteen last night. They're a bit time-consuming but not super tedious, and luckily we still have eight months before the wedding, so I think a few more crafting sessions (while watching Four Weddings, of course) should get the job done. When it's time to do the seating chart and write out the escort cards, we'll attach some little paper flags with everyone's name and table assignment. Scattered around our card table's display of ferns and jasmine vines, I think these will be absolutely beautiful!