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What can you DIY? Almost everything!
- You can order your flowers wholesale online and do your own arrangments (or come up with other creative decor ideas using twigs, fruit, candles, etc... There are so many posts about this on weddingbee_
-Invitations
-Save The Date's
-Your wedding cake/pie/cupcakes/
-Favors (bake your favorite cookies, wrap in cellophane, and put them in a nice white box with a pretty ribbon
-If you're venue allows it and you're confident, the food.
Basically you can do anything yourself.
As for dresses I would look an ebay, if you're into modern I would look at nicole miller wedding dresses- but there are some really great deals out there right now! Goodluck!
I second all of Maureen's suggestions... and especially echo the part in which she said, if you are confident with regards to the food. Sometimes it makes more sense to spend the money for a caterer (and you can shop around and find really reasonable ones), just so that you don't have to worry about this part--it can become exponentially more complicated as your guest list grows!
Good luck!
I did a TON of DIY
Lots of pics of what I did under DIY
http://www.liweddings.com/community/albums/?Username=mRm2008
You can do practically anything DIY if you really wanted to. Another way is to DISE (do-it-someone-else). One of the bees talked about this in the past. Not being afraid to ask friends and family for help is a great way to save money! You can do your own invites, favors (edible), flowers, cake, even food!
You can do so many things yourself, the real question is what CAN'T you DIY. You will find more ideas if you search for each item you need specifically. DIY Wedding Favors, DIY Centerpieces, DIY ceremony arch, diy veil, diy wedding makeup, etc etc etc.
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I agree with Maureen's suggestions as well. We did a lot of DIY projects to help save some money and create a more customized look/feel for our wedding.
Just and idea of some of things we DIYed:
Save the Dates and Invites - actually just about every paper we DIYed including, menus, programs, favor tags, etc.
My dad made our cake topper
Light up table numbers using picture frames and vellum a la Martha Stewart
Aisle decor
I made a monogram that I hand painted on muslin to use as a head table runner, also can do that for aisle runners
If you're doing favors or a candy buffet you can make candy yourself as well. Our homemade chocolate covered pretzels were a huge hit as were the hershey bars we made a custom label reading "HersandHis" with our names and wedding date.
As LLauRRa said, it's more what can't you do? Or what you are comfortable doing yourself? The sky's the limit!
You can also DIY candles and centerpieces--I'm DIYing soy candles for my venue! We're also DIYing the alcohol--providing our own bartender and liquor b/c our venue doesn't have a liquor license. If you look for venues like that you can save a ton of money on alcohol!
I have a friend who got married and made her own dress, did all the ceremony decorations herself. And her husband did all the music! It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to, and they hardly spent a dime!
I think it's better NOT to DIY the catering and the venue, especially for larger weddings. Having those two things taken care of takes so much pressure off! If everything else goes wrong, at least you have a beautiful location and delicious food for everyone!
We're DYIing:
STDs, invites, programs, website, jewelry, silk bouquets, centerpieces, decor, kids' activity bags, photobook, guestbook, and reception music (iPod).
Friends are doing for us: photography (she's a professional, and I'm exchanging my gaphic/web design services for her photography services), ceremony music (acoustic guitar), and groom's cake.
I just wanted to chime in - you can DIY anything you want, just keep in mind that it may not save you a ton of money, and can sometimes end up costing MORE money than if you had just purchased it. For example, I started out to DIY my invites and rented a Gocco, bought a TON of paper, bought a Xyron, etc.... and then ended up buying invites off Etsy because mine just weren't coming out like I wanted. My advice would be to DIY things because you like the creative outlet, and pull the plug early on projects that just aren't coming out like you thought they would!
I DIYed the church flowers, all the wedding party flowers (bouts and bouquets), the centerpieces (not floral- just candle in hurricane vase), STDs, programs, and welcome notes.
Ooh! A DIY head table runner, what a cute idea!
We're DIYing the: OOT bags, BMs gift bags, GM gift boxes, centerpieces, music (iPod), table decor (charger plates), menus, placecards, placecard holders, and aisle decor.
Things I wouldn't DIY:
Catering: someone cleans up after the food is gone, why not let someone else worry about it?
Photography: you can always tell the difference between a trained eye and a family member. If you have a photographer in the family, go for it! Otherwise, I think you can tell the difference in the photos.
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I am have all kinds of DIY projects in the process for my wedding. I am doing invitations, programs, card box, toasting flutes, the bouquet to toss, etc. I have pics and instructions if you are interested. My programs are like a fan that opens up, They are really cool, but did take quite a bit of time. As far as the invites and programs go, I bought the paper online in bulk.
My wedding flutes are decorated white crystals and can be something we keep forever.
Most brides throw a bouquet that is fake and resembles their own. I bought the flowers at Hobby Lobby half price. I probably have 10 bucks in it max.
The card box is going to look like a cake. I also bought the materials for it at Hobby Lobby on sale. Let me know if you have any quetions or want more info.
We plan to DIY...
The STDs/Invites/any other paper items - partially at least
The flowers
The food & drink (we're thinking hotdogs/hamburgers on the grill, soda, beer, and wine)
The venue (family owned)
The music (iPod)
The cake (We'll make cupcakes)
The transportation (why not drive ourselves - our cars are even white!)
The Thank-Yous
The website (if we have one)
I would never DIY: Photography. it's just too important to trust an amatuer, even if they do seem good.
I am doing DIY:
favors, invites, STDs, bathroom baskets, OOT bags, bridesmaid luncheon invites, flower girl pomanders, custom address labels with our monogram
try checking out the wikis of the bees. a lot of us list our diy elements and included are the related post links! it's been awhile since i updated mine but i know mrs.lemon's (and many others but you'd have to dig a little) is fancy shmancy!
here's you can find links to all bees' wiki pages:
Don't forget calligraphy! Twenty bucks for supplies and a book from Amazon and about a million hours practicing in front of the telly will get you nicely addressed invitations, place cards, thank you notes, menus.... and a helpful service to offer your friends and family as a wedding present.
thank you for everyone's input! i definitely wasn't planning on tackling the catering aspect, but i'm definitely looking forward to doing some things i hadn't planned before!
Hope this helps here is some of the DIY projects I plan on tackling:
Save the dates
Invitations, Programs, Bridal Party Newsletter
OOT Baskets
Bathroom Baskets
Aisle Runner
Cookie Favors
Table Runners
Chair Sashes
Centerpieces
Bridesmaids Bouts, My Bout
Flower girl dress and head band
Bridesmaides totes and jewerly
My dessert table
and possible the food
Yea I know I have a lot of work to do :-P
i just found this pretty comprehensive list of cheap wedding tips. some of 'em are things you can do yourself and then there are some ones on there that are totally unrealistic. so anyway, not sure if it's helpful, but the list might give you some ideas: http://www.theweddinglens.com/cheap-wedding-tips
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i was just curious all the things i could possibly do to save money. and if you have any ideas, please share! my taste is really modern. i love doing different, unique things.