No wedding is complete without a chandelier, right? At least it’s a necessity for me now, after making one for my sister’s wedding ceremony & reception.

It all started with this photo HERE. My sister saw this idea on pinterest, and said it was the backbone of her whole wedding ceremony and reception design. So we had to make a DIY Wedding Chandelier.

Insert crafty big sister.

So I (the crafty big sister) went to my local Habitat For Humanity, where I KNEW I had seen large chandeliers for a good price. I walked in and locked in on this one. It had vintage detail potential, despite it’s cheap gold finish. A glance at it’s $15 price tag confirmed the purchase. That’s how I roll!

Above it a photo of it with the candle sticks that cover the light bulb sockets off.

We had to decided if we were just going to chop off the wires and make it purely decorative, or to light it up… She wanted it light up, so I went to my hardware store and became Thomas Edison…

I was really scared to add a plug to a cord, but after some youtube tutorials, and talking with a friend, I felt okay trying my hand at electrical wiring… and guess what? It was super easy, no houses burnt down, and it took me less than 5 minutes to put the plug on the wires.

Next I got out some dark metallic spray paint and started redeeming the cheap gold chandelier. I knew I wanted “aged” layers, so I didn’t bother with even coverage.

My next color was a minty blue (my favorite!) which I lightly sprayed on top of the splattered dark paint.

Lastly, I used a bristle brush and some white paint to go over the other coats to give it an oxidized feel. I rubbed off paint on the detailed edges to make them really pop. I also painted the white candle sticks… I’m not sure if that’s technically safe to do, but it hasn’t had any problems for me so far… I guess that’s a disclaimer. LOL!

Then I grabbed the nearest light bulbs I could to try it out.

The scariest part was hanging it. Honestly I was stressing out that part for months…. I thought someone was going to die hanging it!

Thank goodness for brave uncles and husbands who take the project off of your hands and finish it for you. The guys used one super strong pvc pipe, with holes drilled into it, to attach it to pipes in the ceiling with strong wire. That baby wasn’t going anywhere!

The also made a frame for the backdrop curtain using pvc, which we honestly just hot glue gunned the fabric onto.

For the fabric, we used two panels of a more solid peachy fabric, with a panel of sheers on each side.

We twisted the fabric, trying out a few methods, and ended up with this.

Isn’t it breathtaking! I was so exhausted during the wedding (second bridesmaid from the bride) that it was all I could to to stand in those heels for the ceremony.

It was so worth it for this moment right here though.

I wish I had gotten more photos of it, but a bridesmaid can only do so much photography during the ceremony. LOL!

It was so stunning at night…

Ta-Da! Such an appropriate DIY for my blog’s name… so I’ll end with a plug:

And they lived happily ever after.

See more wedding photos HERE.