If you’re willing to spend the extra time, you can save a fortune on your wedding. By taking a DIY approach, not only do you save pennies, but your wedding day becomes truly unique.
Sophia & Tom’s DIY wedding was a stunner and was beautifully captured by Stephanie Butt Photography. After gathering ideas from Pinterest and learning how to bring them to life from YouTube tutorials, they managed to save money in lots of inventive ways. The lovely Sophia has sent us some top tips for saving money and creating your own DIY wedding. Here’s what she had to say…
Sophia's top 3 DIY wedding tips
Ask for contributions as gifts
Scrap that gift list and reel in those favours! See how loved ones can help build your big day.
go to bridal sample sales
Grab a bargain gown and get it customised into your dream dress!
Be imaginative to find bargains!
You might find more for free than you think!
1) Ask loved ones for DIY contributions!
Instead of wedding gifts, ask family or friends for items for the wedding. My brother in law gifted us a firework display! The best man and his wife brought all the bridal flowers, hand making beautiful bouquets & button holes. My mother in law (amongst many other things) brought the wedding cheesecake for us.
If you have an artistic friend, perhaps recruit them to help you with the creative side of the décor. My friend Sam (the owner of Propped Out Vintage) is a fantastic sign writer, so she created some lovely chalkboard signs for us.
If you have musician/entertainer/photographer friends too, you could save even more money if they’re willing to offer their services at a discount or for free.
2) Look out for bridal sample sales
Bridal sample sales are SO worth waiting for. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted so when it came to dress shopping, I knew I’d struggle to find what I wanted for my budget. Instead of finding the perfect gown, I found a beautiful dress in the Pronovias sample sale and had it customised by a local seamstress. She worked wonders and made it my dream dress by lowering the back, changing the neck line and adding straps. She also loaned me a cathedral length veil, saving us more money! If you’re not bothered about your dress being brand new, it’s worth looking into hiring too.
My groom and ushers all wore their own white shirts and navy blazers so all we had to buy them was matching trousers. Make sure you check high street shops for wedding outfits, as you might just find a bargain- I brought my sons outfits from H&M.
3) Think outside the box when bargain hunting!
You can probably get more wedding materials for free than you think! I needed lots of wooden pallets to create some decor items for the Marquee, so I contacted a local Homebase about getting some for free. They were fantastic! Items like our memory photo table were also practically free. I used Free Prints to print lots of memory pictures from our 13 years together. The only cost was fake ivy and fairy lights, but we got these from eBay super cheap!
A great tip is to use what you have around the house. We used lanterns, vases, candle holders, wooden crates and candles from our home
We decided to cut out what we don’t need and do away with table favours- they can cause unnecessary stress in the days leading up to the wedding. As nice as it is to get a little gift, favours weren’t an important aspect of the wedding day to us. We figured our guests would be grateful enough that we were paying for everyone’s meal and drinks, so dropping them off the list was another big saving. Nobody missed them!
What a beautiful wedding, full of personal touches and fun! The DIY approach can really help add character to the day, and the money you save could go towards a honeymoon! Thank you, Sophia, for those amazing tips! Also, thanks to Stephanie Butt Photography for sending us these gorgeous photos.
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