Outlining your wedding budget requires some serious decision-making. Oftentimes, your budget will force you to pick and choose what aspects of your wedding you’re willing to spend more on. For some people, splurging on a wedding venue makes the most sense. For others, walking down the aisle in a dream wedding dress is worth any cost.
Regardless of where your preferences lie, it’s essential to establish what parts of your wedding you’re willing to spend on. Once you know what parts of your wedding will be the most expensive, navigate how to save on other details.
Many brides turn to DIY guides and videos to save on less critical wedding details. DIYing is an effective way to save money by avoiding hiring vendors. Some tasks are perfect DIY projects and can result in a personalized, budget-friendly wedding. However, others can end in disaster.
In this blog, we’ll share our guide to the DIY bride. We’ll reveal what you should and should not do yourself so terrible things won’t happen. Some dos and don’ts we’ll cover are:
- Don’t: Be Your Own Videographer
- Do: Make Your centerpieces
- Don’t: Supply Your Own Flowers
- Do: Craft a Personalized Wedding Invite
- Don’t: Design Your Own Dress
- Do: Make Your Own Veil
- Don’t: Swap Out Your DJ for a Playlist
Let’s get started!
Don’t: Be Your Own Videographer
Modern phone cameras record similar quality to high-end lenses. However, don’t let this influence you to set up your phone and tripod at your wedding. There are so many reasons why it’s a mistake to be your own videographer.
First, capturing a wedding on camera is no simple task. There’s a reason why videography companies use multiple camera people and equipment to film your ceremony. They have invaluable expertise to capture every moment of your ceremony.
Similarly, many couples don’t anticipate how vital sound mixing is for wedding videos. Even if you capture a stunning, high-resolution video, the sound might be bogged down by chatter or white noise.
Don’t add stress to your wedding day by DIYing your videography. Instead, find a videographer you trust.
Do: Make Your Own Centerpieces
When it comes to your wedding’s design, it should feel personal. While hiring a wedding design to craft custom table centerpieces is convenient, many people choose a DIY approach.
Since there are so many different décor pieces you can make, this is an ideal DIY project to take on. It’s the perfect way to add your unique personality to your wedding’s design.
If décor and design don’t come naturally to you, check out this list of the best wedding centerpieces to DIY to get started.
Don’t: Supply Your Own Flowers
Flowers can be a controversial spending topic. Hiring a florist is a heavy expense that most couples don’t anticipate. As a result, many people look for alternative options for bringing floral designs into their weddings.
Supplying your own flowers can quickly become a disaster. Doing this yourself takes away hours from your wedding day schedule. Furthermore, the timing of preparing your flower is difficult.
In order for your flowers to bloom and sit correctly, you must snip and prepare them hours before your wedding. Doing this the night before will make them wilt.
DIYing your floral arrangement isn’t impossible; however, it’s a huge responsibility. If you choose to do this yourself, ensure you have plenty of help. Set aside time to prepare your venue. Hiring a florist is the better option if you’d rather relax.
Do: Craft a Personalized Wedding Invite
Personalized wedding invites are one of the most popular DIY wedding projects. Because of the countless online resources for designing your own cards, it’s highly manageable.
If your wedding is small and you handmake your invites, the overall cost will be minimal. Designing invites online and printing them at home will save a significant amount of cash if your wedding is larger.
DIYing your invites’ addresses can also save lots of money. Some couples choose to hire professional calligraphers to address their invites (however, this is expensive.)
The more you save on your invites, the more money you’ll have in your budget to spend on other highlights of your wedding.
Don’t: Design Your Own Wedding Dress
Almost every bride has thought about it at least once. When you fall in love with a dress that’s too expensive, you might think you can make the dress yourself.
Don’t do it. There’s a reason why most bridal gowns are so expensive. They take months, if not years, to make.
When you design your own wedding dress, you sign up for months of intense labor and costly trips to your local craft store. In a worst-case scenario, you’ll tirelessly only to realize your attempt failed miserably. So, although doing this might seem like a great cost-saving measure, don’t do it.
Do: Design Your Wedding Veil
This task may seem contrary to our last point. However, designing your own veil is starkly different from creating your own bridal gown. Compared to wedding dresses, veils are simple to make and don’t require expensive materials.
Many of its essential pieces are reasonably pieced. They cost much less to produce compared to the prices at which they’re sold.
If you’re splurging on your dress, consider minimizing the rest of your attire expenses by DIYing your own veil. There are plenty of online guides to make your own veil, and it’ll ultimately feel more personal.
Don’t: Swap-Out Your DJ for a Playlist
Music streaming has made setting up a wedding playlist easier than ever. As such, it might be tempting to swap out an expensive DJ for a playlist and speaker system. However, music should never be a DIY project. DJs and live bands are a major component of any wedding; removing them can drastically alter the result.
For example, both DJs and live bands will read the room at your reception to choose the best songs to play. When you create a general playlist for your wedding, you lose this advantage. Since you’ll have no way of predicting how your guests will be interacting or feeling during your reception, the music you preselected could feel unfitting.
Don’t cut corners by selecting your own music. Instead, find a vendor within your budget so your wedding can be stress-free. The experience will be more enjoyable for you and your guests.
The Takeaway
We hope you’ve enjoyed our guide for the DIY bride. This summary of what you should and should not do contains only a handful of common DIY wins and losses that brides encounter. If there’s any task or project you’re considering doing yourself, ask yourself these questions first:
- Do I have the time to complete it?
- How much will it cost to DIY?
- Do I have enough background knowledge to do this?
- Am I prepared to handle this task myself?
Once you answer these questions, you’ll feel more confident choosing which parts of your wedding to DIY.
If you need more bridal advice, look to Everyday Bride. We provide insight and expertise from different wedding industry professionals so you’ll feel prepared while planning your wedding. To learn more about Everyday Bride or read another bridal guide, browse our Everyday Bride website.
