¤¤Wedding Planning: Do It Yourself Tips¤¤

Planning Classy Do It Yourself Wedding

It’s wedding season and my friend is in the midst of it. Having an late summer wedding, the clock is running and she’s running through the checklist.

While we did some projects ourselves or by friends for our wedding, our schedules for work and school made it impractical to do it all ourselves. It was a trade-off that worked well for us.

While searching trough the web, I saw some great resource articles on some do it yourself wedding projects and wanted to pool them together for would be brides on a tight budget, brides who want a simple and elegant wedding, and creative brides.

Do It Yourself Wedding Programs

Personally we skipped this as we didn’t really find it necessary with our wedding arrangements. We had a relatively wedding ceremony followed by a reception nearby. For some though, it’s a special and practical touch and a can serve as a souvenir for some of the guests.

• Do It Yourself Wedding Program Guide
• Homemade Wedding Program Ideas
• Do-It-Yourself Wedding Program For Your Ceremony
• Easy Do It Yourself Wedding Programs Tutorial

Do It Yourself Wedding Centerpieces Ideas

You can be surprised with how simple it is to have elegant centerpieces made for your reception. Even if your reception hall has some centerpieces available, you can sometimes add on to the decor and enhance the mood of the occasion.

• Wedding Candle Centerpieces
• Wedding Flowers Centerpieces
• Homemade Centerpieces
• Wedding Balloon Centerpieces
• Willow Tip & Orchid Centerpieces

Do It Yourself Wedding Favors

Some of these ideas are more suited to creative types who have some time to prepare these. Some of these projects are are easier than others, so it’s good to know ahead of time what you’re capable of doing.

• Scented Soap Wedding Favors
• Personalized Matchboxes Wedding Favors
• DIY Eco Friendly Wedding Favors
• Delicious Wedding Favors Ideas

Wedding Reception Tips

• 17 Ways to Spruce Up Your Site
• Wedding Reception Ideas: 15 Ways to Wow Them
• Stocking the Bar at Your Wedding Reception
• Wine Tasting for a Wine Wedding Theme
• Wedding Card Box Design Ideas
• Do It Yourself Reception Favors

Watch Out for Do It Yourself Wedding Pitfalls

Working with friends can be difficult.

Working with friends for your wedding can ruin a friendship. Weigh the risk of losing a friend and decide if that’s the route you’re going to go.

Don’t assume your friends are going to help out for free.

Sometimes people who are trying to save on expenses with their wedding, try to pass on the costs to their talented friends. I think that’s wrong.

If you have a friend that a photographer and wants to help out, such as doing the wedding photography as a gift or offering it at a discount, than that’s great. That’s a fantastic deal and you should feel grateful for that kind of an offer.

Our friend is a photographer by trade, but for our wedding he was simply our guest and we appreciated that. Pressuring by guilt is wrong.

If your friends are helping at the wedding, don’t be cheap with payment.

Please pay the regular rate for your friends services, don’t try to suck them dry with a huge discount. Don’t fool yourself, you’re not being frugal, you’re being cheap. If you’re worried you might cross the line, then hire someone else other than your friend.

Enjoy your special day!

Don’t feel as if you have to compete with others on your wedding day. If you want to do it yourself, then feel free to do it. If you want to spend a large amount of  money, plan ahead and start saving now even before you get engaged. Planning ahead can give you an extraordinary amount of freedom. If you still go ahead a have simple do it yourself wedding, you can roll over the money saved for a house down payment.  It’s a win-win situation.

What advice do you have on wedding planning?

Photo Credit: ToastyKen and  Fevi in Cayman

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