Wedding DIY-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It’s almost wedding season! Believe it or not, the average cost of a wedding decreased from $35,329 in 2016 to $33,391 in 2017. I got married in California, in July of 2016. So, in order to cut costs, I DIYed A LOT of my wedding.

I’ll be posting a few more blogs on my DIY projects in my upcoming wedding series, so subscribe to be notified when they’re out!

The Good:

There were two reasons I DIYed. The first was cost. It isn’t cheap to get married in California in the middle of wedding season. More and more couples are delaying marriage, which means that since we are more established in our career, the burden of paying for the wedding falls more and more on us.

I was determined to have my dream wedding while staying on budget. I wanted to put a downpayment on a home and go on an epic honeymoon all while being financially secure, so something had to give.

The second was customization and control. I had a specific vision for my wedding, and it wasn’t possible to get the amount of customization I wanted at the right price, so DIYing was a great option for me. I was able to get exactly what I wanted instead of choosing from vendors’ limited options.

The Bad:

DIYing takes up an insane amount of time. DO NOT DIY if you don’t enjoy scouring the internet for materials, instructions and ideas. It became a hobby for me. If you don’t enjoy this kind of thing, steer clear of DIYing. You’ll end up miserable and stressed.

Mistakes will happen. Decorations won’t come out as expected. You might misjudge the amount of time a project requires, and it won’t get done. Nothing is perfect. You need to be flexible if you choose to DIY your wedding. If you’re the type of person who can’t deal with a crisis and accept the next best option, DIY might not be for you.

I can be a perfectionist at times. But I knew that if I chose to DIY, I would have to deal with the unknown, and I was okay with that. It was risky but an adventure worth the risk! I was able to let go of the perfectionist in me and enjoy the experience.

The Ugly:

Your home will become a mess during the weeks leading up to your wedding. Favors, tablecloths and napkins that need ironing, prototype decor experiments, and mounds of makeup will take over your living quarters.

I’m a big picture kind of person and tend to overlook small details. I overlooked a lot of the planning that went into DIYing.

For example, I didn’t account for the cleaning and ironing of all the tablecloths, napkins, runners, and sashes I ordered. I also didn’t really plan out how I was going to get over 300 fresh flowers to the venue. It called for some last minute creativity and a very cramped hour long car ride.

My Wedding DIYs:

Invitations

I got so many compliments on these!

Flowers

The most difficult wedding DIY project by far were flowers, but they also saved us the most.

Veil

Cathedral length veils can cost hundreds of dollars. In reality, its’ a piece of tulle attached to a comb. An easy wedding DIY!

Guest Book

We wanted something we could display in our home, so we had our guests sign a canvas of our favorite engagement photo. It’s currently hanging in our formal dining room.

Party Favors, Menus and Programs

We pulled a three for one with these. We turned business cards into menus/agendas/thank you notes and attached them to aviators. It was pretty cool to see everyone wearing these on the dance floor.

Tablecloths, napkins, sashes, chargers and runners

Buying these was cheaper than renting. I sold them right after our wedding for about the same price I paid for them. What a great deal!

Makeup

I didn’t plan on doing my own makeup. But, when my makeup artist canceled on me, I decided to do it myself and have no regrets!

Additional Decor

Floating candles, more fresh flowers and light up letters. A little goes a long way.

Officiant

Okay, so not a true wedding DIY…Our officiant was my friend and co-worker. He offered to do it in exchange for cake 🙂

I knew he was an excellent communicator, and as expected, he did an amazing job!

If you have a friend or family member officiate your wedding, it helps to choose a simple script for them to follow. Also, make sure they don’t get nervous in front of crowds!

 

What I Didn’t DIY:

Photographer

The photographer was the one vendor I chose to really splurge on. I wanted beautiful images for my wedding and engagement, and I am so glad I chose Farrell Photography. Our photographer even chose to feature our wedding on his site! We can’t thank him enough.

Videographer

I took a chance and hired Paul Ortiz from wild35 off craigslist. I couldn’t believe the awesome price he was charging for his work. I thought it was too good to be true!

Turns out he had tons of experience but was starting his own business and needed to establish a name for himself. He recently won weddingwire.com’s 2017 Couples’ Choice Award! Congrats Paul!

There are definitely legitimate vendors on craigslist. We were lucky enough to find Paul while he was still relatively unknown. Be sure to get samples and references for all your vendors no matter where you find them.

Venue and Catering

There was no way I could have done this myself. Absolutely no way.

The Grand Island Mansion took care of our catering package, which included butler passed hors d’oeuvres, a buffet, our wedding cake/desserts, and unlimited wine, beer and champagne. Their wine and beer selection was pretty limited, but they let us bring in all the craft beer and bottles of wine that we wanted without a corking or bottle fee. We decided to supplement the beverage package with our favorite wines and craft beers, so I guess that counts as another partial wedding DIY!

Music

Since we didn’t have a wedding planner, Will from Paradise Sounds DJ, served as our master of ceremony. He was essential to the smooth flow of our wedding. We opted for the upgraded lighting package, which looked awesome on the patio at night! The ambiance wouldn’t have been the same without it.

If you don’t have a wedding planner, it’s essential to have a master or mistress of ceremony to keep the night on track and direct the guests on the upcoming events.

We hired a string trio for our ceremony music. It was a splurge, but well worth it.

Photo booth

If you’re worried about guests getting bored, a photo booth is a must! Your guests will make good use of it. I found Clemetine Photo Booth Rentals on groupon for $200. It was definitely a steal.

 

Think outside the box for added savings

Many vendors charge more for anything wedding related, so try to get items that don’t have the “wedding” name attached to it.

For example, we used three regular candles instead of buying a unity candle package. We also designed our invitations by customizing a pamphlet and menu on vistaprint.com instead of using their wedding invitation option.

Be creative and have fun! It’s a lot of work, but knowing that you did your wedding yourself is rewarding in the end!

Best of luck wedding planning.

<3 Rae