Lots of couples like to have a DIY wedding, taking on jobs small and large, either to create a handmade feel to their big day or save money. Whatever your reason, it can be a hugely rewarding part of your wedding if you choose the right DIY projects.
However, as a wedding planner and stylist, I have met many couples who have taken on too much. Often the simple tasks they thought they could do in an hour turn out to be far more complicated, or those DIY jobs they thought would keep them on track with the budget actually end up costing more money!
So how do you decide which aspects of your wedding to DIY and which to delegate to the professionals? It really all comes down to your skills and time...
WEDDING PLANNING
Let's start with a big one! Should you hire a professional wedding planner? This is a question most couples ask early on in the planning process and it's helpful to think: if you find a leak in your kitchen, would you call a plumber? Why should planning a wedding be any different?
The most common reason people do not hire a wedding planner is the misconception that it is expensive. A wedding planner will generally cost between 10% and 15% of your overall budget, and for some people this is a chunk of budget they feel they could spend on other things. However, just like hiring a plumber for that leak, hiring an expert can actually save you time and money. There are wedding planners for most budget brackets, offering different levels of service, so you can choose how much assistance you need.
When to hire a professional:
• You are very busy.
• You are not great with money, or you are very disorganised.
• You want to achieve a lot; you've got lots of ideas but don't have a huge budget.
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When to do it yourself:
• You are super organised, love a spreadsheet and enjoy planning events.
• You have plenty of time and patience, and a great support network of family and friends.
• If you have a really tight budget and can't find a good wedding planner within your budget.
STYLING
If you are not a particularly creative person, or you wish to achieve a lot from your wedding styling, a stylist might be the answer to your wedding daydreams. Whereas a wedding planner will help you plan your whole event, a stylist will handle only the decorative and aesthetic elements of your wedding.
When to hire a professional:
• You are not creative and struggle to visualise how to decorate and style your wedding.
• You are overwhelmed with too many ideas, and don't know how to order them into a design for your day.
• You know how you want your day to look, but have no idea how to source everything.
• You have a limited amount of time to decorate your wedding venue.
• You don't have the budget for full wedding planning but would like some help.
When to do it yourself:
• You are really creative, know exactly what look you like and know how to source the items you love.
• You have plenty of time, and you are good at managing a budget.
• You have plenty of time to spend setting up your own wedding before the big day.
FLOWERS
Choosing to do your own wedding flowers comes back to those same two points: have you got the skills and have you got the time? If you have a florist in the family, then go ahead and take on your own wedding flowers, with their help. But even then, consider the time. As flowers are a task that can't be done in advance, it's important to consider whether you'll have the time (or inclination) immediately before your wedding to be arranging flowers. Consider labour and time-saving ideas such as potted plants or take on some elements yourself and hire a professional for others.
When to hire a professional:
• You have no floral experience.
• You don't have access to trade floristry supplies.
When to do it yourself:
• You are a florist or know a florist.
• You have plenty of time the week before the wedding.
• You wish for a very simple floral style, such as single stems in bottles or potted herbs.
PHOTOGRAPHY
You won't be doing this yourself, but you might have a friend who is a keen amateur photographer, so should you ask them to do your photography to save money?
My answer to this question will always be a resounding "no"! I can't begin to tell you the number of horror stories I've heard about this scenario. Your wedding photographs are something that you will treasure forever, so please don't hire anyone other than a professional wedding photographer. If you are struggling to find someone within your budget, think about looking for someone who offers a shorter package.
When to hire a professional:
• Always!
When to do it yourself:
• Never!
However amazing you are at baking, making a cake for 100-plus people is very different to rustling up a Victoria sponge for your family at the weekend. I have seen cakes made by friends and family for weddings fall over, collapse and melt, and even some that are uncooked in the middle.
However, if you or family members have experience of creating celebration cakes for large numbers of people, then a wedding cake can be a good money-saving task to DIY. Alternatively, if you have family members who are keen home bakers, perhaps they can make a selection of smaller cakes and treats for a dessert table rather than embarking on a no-holds-barred, five-tier wedding cake!
When to hire a professional:
• You don't know anyone who's made a wedding cake before.
• You want something extravagant or difficult to make.
When to do it yourself:
• You or a friend or family member have professional cake-making experience, or have made a (successful) wedding cake before.
STATIONERY
Wedding stationery is your chance to set the scene for your guests, and can be used as a key part of your decorative design scheme. Couples often think that they can save money creating their own stationery, but it can often cost more than expected, and tends to be time-consuming. If you have experience of graphic design programmes or you are a keen calligrapher or artist, then DIY stationery can be a good option, but professional wedding stationery is usually a cost-effective part of your wedding planning. If you wish to economise, look at stationery companies with "stock" or "house" designs that can be adapted, or perhaps DIY some elements of the stationery, such as a Guest Info page, but leave the rest to the professionals.
When to hire a professional:
• You have no design experience or artistic flair.
• You long for beautiful paper goods to enhance your wedding design.
When to do it yourself:
• You are very artistic, creative or have graphic design experience.
• You are an artist or calligrapher.
ON-THE-DAY SET UP
If you are planning to complete the set-up of the wedding decor yourself, there are several things to consider, the most important of which is time. Find out how much time you will have to decorate your venue. Do you have one or two days before the wedding? If you only have a few hours on the morning of the wedding, I strongly suggest hiring someone to complete the decoration of your venue for you.
To give you an idea of timings, consider the example of a seemingly simple task like tying ribbon around napkins. It takes me (with a fair bit of practice and nimble fingers) about two minutes to neatly fold a linen napkin and cut and tie a ribbon around it. If you have 120 guests, this job would take one person about four hours!
If you take on most of the wedding decoration yourself, write a time schedule, and allocate and explain jobs to your helpers. And allow around three times as much time for each task as you think it will take!
When to hire a professional:
• You have less than one whole day to set up your venue.
• You have a complicated and detailed design scheme.
• You wish to spend time with family and friends before your wedding.
When to do it yourself:
• You have at least one day set-up time.
• You have at least six people to help.
• You have prepared your decor in advance.
TOP TASKS TO DO IN ADVANCE
Here are my favourite ideas for couples to take on themselves:
• Wedding favours
• Wedding signs
• DIY photo booths
• DIY drinks trolleys or stations
• A photo wall or photo tables
• Unusual guest book ideas
• Table numbers or names
Importantly, most of these jobs can be done far in advance of the wedding, only requiring small amounts of set-up on the day. Check out Pinterest and YouTube for a wealth of DIY tutorials and ideas.
Elle Winsor Grime is the wedding planner and stylist behind The Artful Event Co theartfuleventco.com
Copyright Wed magazine 2018
