Monday, February 15, 2010

To Do... Or Not To Do (by yourself)

The subject of budget weddings always brings up the important topic of DIY (do-it-yourself).  Part of the fun (and frustration) of having a lower budget wedding is that it usually involves a lot creativity and hands-on projects.  So, what should you do yourself and what should you leave to the professionals?  Well, you will get different answers from different people, which is what I'm hoping to get from this post.  I'll go ahead and share my opinion and I welcome anyone in agreement or disagreement to post your comments...

When I got married a year and a half ago, I decided to do the following things myself.  I'll tell you what went well and what I wished I had turned over to the pros.

Makeup- This really depends on your comfort level.  I really liked doing my own makeup because I was always horrified when I got my makeup done for prom/ homecoming, etc.  I looked like a completely different person!  I just got some really pretty colors and practiced a few times to make sure I knew what I wanted.  I couldn't have been happier with the way it turned out.

Favors- I made my own mix cds, which sounds like a really great idea in theory... but I could have saved myself hours of hard work and headache by ordering something equally as inexpensive like candies or seedling packets or personalized matchbooks.  I wouldn't recommend doing favors yourself unless you have lots of helping hands or a really small number of guests.

Flowers- I absolutely loved making my own bouquets and centerpieces with the help of my wedding party and family.  Keyword: HELP.  I would never have done it alone.  I ordered the flowers I liked (3 different kinds- don't get too ambitious) to be delivered to the house a few days ahead of time and kept them in coolers with water.  Then, I had a bridesmaid/ family luncheon where we enjoyed some lunch and drinks and put everything together.  It was so much fun and they turned out great!


Things I considered but I'm glad I didn't...

Invitations- I have enough trouble trying to get a Word Document formatted correctly.  I can just envision myself ripping my hair out when invitations come out of the printer with words trailing off the page

Music- I can definitely see why people would opt to put together a playlist on their ipod and plugging it into some speakers, but I would make sure you have a friend em-cee for the fun announcements that a DJ would make (like introducing the wedding party and cutting the cake)

Hair- I always worried that letting someone else do my hair would end in disaster.  They might think that something looks really pretty while my eyes start welling up with tears.  But even worse than that would be me trying to deal with the pressure of making my own hair look gorgeous with everything else going on that morning.  Go get a practice run with the stylist and make sure you get exactly what you want (and take pictures!)

Do you have any advice or comments on what you should leave to the pros??  Please share!

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3 comments:

  1. Great tips! We’re going DIY with the invitations and programs, as well as place cards and holders. We’re also making welcome bags and personalized tissue packets on our own. But all of the really big things – flowers, music, hair/makeup – we’re leaving to the pros.

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  2. You are right. I'd never attempt to do my own hair! It's bad enough on a daily basis!
    We did our own cupcakes, invites and programmes. The programmes were more difficult but turned out nicely. If you are going to do this make sure you use MS publisher. So much easier!
    Flowers, I commend you. Never would do these! But lost you can DIY and quite satisfying when done.

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  3. Flowers can be fun to do together, but be sure you do a test run, and order extra flowers for your wedding day in case a few don't hold up so well.

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