(Illustration from Epicurious where you can find instructions on baking, building, and decorating this charming lemon raspberry wedding cake)
With prices of most wedding aspects climbing and disposable income of the average couple plummeting, and with the increased expectation that couples will do something to really imprint their weddings with their own personalities, DIY is on the rise as a wedding trend.
Some do it to save money, others to make their day clearly their own… some for a combination of the two. I know that both reasons heavily influenced my choice to be a complete bridal DIY diva! With a lack of money but all kinds of resources and creativity, well, it was an obvious choice.
It’s also a choice more and more couples are making right now.
I made the lace, designed the gown which was made for me by one of my amazing bridesmaids, did my own flowers, handed the bridesmaids fabric and patterns to make their own bridesmaid outfits and trim them as they pleased, made my own favors, and helped my father make the food. Oh, and wrote the ceremony. The officiant asked our permission to included it with his other sample ceremonies for other couples. We said sure.
So what about you? Are you choosing to DIY? Did you? If so what is/was your project? More than one?
While I fully support DIY projects – I find them to be just as expensive a similar item, already done. Especially when it comes to invitations. However – the fun is in the journey – right? And I bet it’s more fun to make things for your own wedding!
@Sara: DIY is not always a savings, true. But whether or not it saves money depends on a number of factors, including access to materials at fairly low cost. The funny thing is, low cost materials are often more available than people realize.
For instance, I spent a grand total of $35.00 on my wedding flowers. Okay, it was nearly twenty years ago, but I also found an open-to-the-public florists’ supply allowed me to get everything at wholesale prices. And some friends of mine did save money making their own invitations by finding a source of inexpensive card stock of good quality and printing the invitations themselves in their garage.
So while it isn’t always a savings, it certainly isn’t always NOT a savings, either. Though, as you say, it is a fun journey.
I made my BM and FG dresses. It allowed me to have the fabrics and styles I wanted for comparable prices or cheaper than commercial. I didn’t make my own dress, but I had MIL to do it – I got what I wanted (sleeves, silk) for $500, when the cheapest I’ve heard of anyone getting a (new, bridal) dress around here is $800, and that fabric is visibly cheap (close up, to those who know about fabric. And I wasn’t stupid enough to tell the brides that!)
I fall into the more-time-than-money camp and will be DIYing a lot of the smaller bits from invitations to decorations. Still deciding if I’m going to make a dress versus embellish something with good “bones.”
True, with time factored in, I won’t save money, but it’s sort of self-bartering instead of having ready funds. I’ve got plenty of creative know-how and a fair amount of resources as my disposal.
I DIYed invitations, decorations, my bouquet, and corsages for the mothers which ended up becoming small bouquets for them because the flowers were too heavy to pin nicely on!
Invitations, floral centerpieces, alter decor, flower girl basket, re-purposed a jewelry box for the ring bearer, bouquet (and a last second bout that the florist forgot to do), ceremony wording and favors. And my veil, which my mother’s upscale friends adored and were somewhat flabbergasted to learn that where I found it was, “At the fabric store. By the yard.” Basically I only DIY’d where it was fairly simple, and made much more sense from a quality and financial standpoint. I also bought “non wedding” where feasible: while I didn’t bake the cake, I bought several cakes from two different bakeries and displayed them on a multi-tiered display with pre-made fondant decorations bought on-line for a small fraction of a “wedding cake.”