I also believe we can have amazing weddings, to celebrate love, without breaking the bank or going into debt for years. There are many paths to take to do this. Know what you can do yourself and know your limitations. A DIY Wedding can take on many forms.
Two of my nieces were married last year. Both weddings were incredibly beautiful and very different. One was at a gorgeous golf resort in Baltimore, MD, and the other was in an incredible redwood forest in Santa Cruz, CA. The golf resort wedding had a few DIY elements, and the redwood forest wedding was primarily DIY. I asked them what they would do again, and what they wouldn't. Along with my own experiences, these are the top 5 thoughts on where to spend your money on your big day.
- I opted to not make my own favors. I would recommend this for any DIY wedding with over 50 guests since it's a lot of work. I had researched buying bulk mason jars and fresh fruit but it was actually pretty expensive. I just found a seller on Etsy who did her own homemade jams with custom labels for less than what I would have paid doing it on my own. Sometimes it is cheaper to not DIY!
- Hire a day-of coordinator or ask a friend in the industry (what I
did). I just told her how I wanted the whole dining room set for the reception and she
made it happen with the staff. She handled it all while I was getting ready for
the day with hair, makeup, and photos. This requires the bride to set out the place setting beforehand and know how she wants the tables to look so you can clearly communicate your vision to the coordinator.
Dessert/cake: I had initially thought I would make a bunch of
homemade pies for dessert. We instead found a great local bakery and
ordered everything from them for less than $300. Totally worth it in my
opinion since we were entertaining family for a week prior to the
wedding and wouldn't have had time...not to mention I have 1 single
oven. Review your schedule 1 week prior to the wedding and see where you want to spend your time. Do you want to relax and be pampered, or entertain out of town guests? Or do you want to spend the time in your kitchen baking pies and cakes. And then, where do you store them so they won't go bad?
Flowers: I did the flowers for my niece's wedding and I would not do them as a bride. Even if I were going to get married again or renew my vows I would not create my own flower arrangements. While some brides think it seems to be no big deal, it takes a lot of time. For my niece's wedding I was up at 1 AM the day before the wedding to get to the flower market so I could choose the flowers we wanted (and I was shopping at the San Francisco Flower Mart--one of the largest floral wholesale markets in the US!). The Mart opens at 2 AM and when I had checked it on Wednesday at about 10AM the only thing left were greens and wilted flowers. The vendors with the good flowers don't show up on Tuesdays or Thursdays, requiring me to go Friday morning. I then spent all day making centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and arrangements for the buffet tables and ceremony aisle. It was a lot of fun for me to do because I love doing flowers, I wasn't in the wedding, and was not the bride. The flowers ended up costing $600 for materials. - Making your own food is too chaotic. Even if you are a gourmet chef you will not want to be up at the crack of dawn on your wedding day to make food. Nor do you want to be up late the night before chopping vegetables. I have watched brides try to save money by creating their own vegetable plates or a portion of the meals. Unless you are ultra prepared (so that everything else for the wedding is done), don't try to prepare your own food for the reception. Vegetable platters are less than $20 at CostCo.
Remember that your sanity is important before your wedding. You want to be coherent and aware of how the beauty of your day is unfolding. Don't overwhelm yourself. There are plenty of ways to DIY your wedding without taking on too much.
Enjoy!
Laureen
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