You can totally make your own veil if you want to wear one. The cheapest lace veil I saw was around $200; if I wanted to make a replica I could do it for around $20 and some time. However I'm going to make an heirloom quality piece so will probably spend around $400 on my materials.
@radar: The biggest cost of save the dates is not the paper, printing, or postage. It's the people you end up having to invite, because you've sent them STDs. Your relationships with people can easily change between sending out the STDs and sending out invitations. Or you can find that wedding stuff is more expensive than anticipated, and want to cut back on the guest list. But an STD locks you into inviting the people to whom you have sent STDs. I would recommend skipping them entirely, or else sending them only to close family members who live out of town.
That being said, here are our DIY projects, with links to instructions:
>
@2dBride: that frozen strawberry mimosa is making me drool! I love all of your items!!!!
@radar: I'm eloping so I don't have many projects period but I plan on making my birdcage veil, my garter, my bouquet and his boutonnière. Also may try to make my sash and a few decorations for our venue space (it's gorgeous and we'll only be there 20 min so it may not be worth it).
I think I will try to tackle some centerpieces myself. My sister had wicked pretty floral centerpieces, but they cost about $100/piece, which I think is crazy (and I'll have at least 20 tables, she only had 15 I think...). I found this mirror centerpiece idea that I really like...instead of the big vase with all of the flowers in the center I may opt for a tall vase with wiht some submerged flowers instead.
http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/231106/diy-wedding-centerpieces/@center/272429/diy-weddings#152719
I made our STD's and invitations, menus, table runners and napkins, decorative bunting flag ceremony backdrop, pinwheel place cards/favors and the cake topper. I put a pink crinnie in my wedding dress. I didn't want to do anything I would have to attend to in the 2-3 days leading up to the wedding so my sister made my veil, my MIL bought an arranged seasonal flowers from the farmers market, and I had a friend make pies for dessert, although I did buy a small cake for hubby and I to cut. I had a friend who made their own cake and it collapsed the morning of their wedding. And he is a professional baker.
my DIY list is pretty extensive: aisle decor, flowers, boutonniere alternatives, invites, buffet item signs, menu, bar menu, sweet n salty buffet sign, sweet n salty buffet items, favors, welcome bags, centerpieces, table numbers, cardbox, guestbook, programs, cake topper, BM gifts, dress hanger tags, bridal jewelry, groom's gift, escort cards, thank you cards and make-up. I think that's everything, but my faves are
the cake topper
and boutonniere alternatives
Anything that could be designed in Illustrator or InDesign, I did myself (STDs, invitation suite, program, OOT booklet, reception signs, escort cards, table numbers, menus). Aside from the ring bearer boutonnieres and the card box that I made, the rest is being left to the pros.
Doing all my invites, hand making the envelopes, everything... save the dates, all the paper products, menus, etc.... we aer lucky to have family in the floral business, but for my sister in laws wedding, we just did big vases with all red roses, if you like something simple its very easily doable by friends and family.
If you decide how to arrange the flowers just find a few close people that can put them together the day of so you don't have to worry. And my fiance actually made his sisters bouquet, with all long stem roses that we staggered, then we duct taped them together, and covered them with satin ribbon
Most of our DIY has revolved around the paper. I made STDs in powerpoint, got them printed as postcards through vistaprint and then made bellybands myself. Same with the invitations, we made 63 6-page hard back invites (the wedding is book themed so we used old maps, engravings and art deco swirls for illustrations) over Christmas. The rehearsal dinner invites were also a powerpoint/vistaprint combination, they're currently in the post! I also made a little ring pouch in our wedding colours with our initials embroidered on the front. I may make some for the bridesmaids as well to hold the earrings I'm giving them. We also used mywedding.com to put together our website, does that count as DIY?
Other than that I'll be making place cards (again, little books set on miniature bookstands), envelop liners, bookmark favours (raw materials also in the post, I used powerpoint to design three and managed to squeeze them onto 1 large postcard - 90 favours for $12 - so I need to cut those when they arrive), menus and ceremony programmes. I was also thinking of making some bridesmaids bags and putting together some OOT bags though that's still up in the air.
Future projects include a library catalogue and old map based seating plan (still need to work out the details of that), bar signs and a bellini bar. Ouch, so much still to do!
Still, there's quite a few things I planned to do myself but have been left to the professionals:
1. Flowers - in particular the bridesmaids bouquets and the chapel flowers. I planned to get whole sale the day before but it just doesn't seem worth the stress anymore. We're also ordering centerpieces through the same florist (which we were originally also thinking of making ourselves), he's just wonderful.
2. Make-up. When I added up how much I'd spend on buying the things needed it came out as more than getting my make-up done in the salon. I'd probably never use those products again anyway and it's a nice bit of pampering.
3. Shoes - I was going to buy a pair of cheaper plain pumps and jazz them up. Now I have bought a pair of designer plain pumps that look wonderful just as they are (yay for outlet sales!). I just really can't be bothered to even start looking for shoe clips.
That's all I can think of for now! But I'm pretty sure I've thrown the towel in more than that... Overall I'd say just DIY anything you can do well in advance but leave anything on the day or the day before to the professionals. The last thing you want to do is become even more frazzled on your wedding day!
I'm DIYing...most of the decor, lace table overlays, the flower stand/containers for the centerpieces, Save the Dates, Invitations/RSVPs, moving chairs from the ceremony to reception area so I don't have to pay double chair rental fee, ribbon backdrops, wand streamers, bar, escort cards, and boards and signs galore
What I'm not doing...cake, flowers, food, music, dress, veil, and makeup/hair
I made a few tissue paper poms poms and realized I COULD do them all myself, but in the end I bought a pack that was already all folded up and cut. I decided my cuts weren't that great and wouldn't improve without investing in a heavier duty cutter than what I already have. I'll still have to pull them open though.
@lovelyduckie: Where did you purchase your lace overlays? the only ones i found are super expensive
I am pretty much DIY'ing everything! its a lot to take on, but i have also had a 15month engagement, however i still have a crazy amount of stuff to do!
@radar: We did;
Invites
Place cards
Seating plan (mirror)
Table numbers
Card box
Doesn't sound that much now, it was 2 years ago, so I may have forgotten something
I'm going to design and print/assemble all of our paper products and probably make my veil, if I decide to have one.
I wouldn't reccomend either of those activities for just anybody that feels like it though. I've been sewing for a quite some time and am also used to measuring, cutting, and have been doing graphic design on the side for years. If I didn't already love and enjoy doing these "projects", there is NO WAY I would want to do them for my wedding!
@housebee: omg LOVE your cake topper and boutonnierre!! so creative and cute!!
@mlford0531: I bought a bolt of lace fabric at fabric.com and plan on cutting them myself. If we get to do round tables I'm going to cut a square piece of it for each table and it will be just enough to cover the surface of the table and hang down just a bit. If we end up needing to go banquet style I'll literally take the bolt unroll it across the length of the tables and voila lol. I'm undecided on if I'm going to do something to hem the edges or not. I'm leaning towards no unless they unravel easily, but my current experience with the fabric is that it doesn't really come undone. Here's a picture of the lace fabric (using it as a background to dress up the thrift store frame I picked up to be my signs to show everyone where to go for cocktail hour, lawn games, reception, etc...).
My exact color (teal) is currently out of stock but will be in stock again within a few months. Mine is the Giselle stretch.
Ok admittedly this looks SILLY but it's a work in progress lol
We're getting married in a very picturesque Cotswolds village, so our save-the-dates were actually postcards of the village. We got a pack of 50 for £7.50 (around $12). Because we weren't limited to a template, we were able to personally address them to each guest with a simple mail merge. Also, because half of our guests will be travelling to the UK (my fiance and his whole family are Canadian), it allowed them a sneak peek of where they were going.
I also have four bridesmaids. In the UK it's expected that the bride pays for their dresses, so I saved some money by giving them all some fabric & some cash to have their dresses made by a local seamstress (they all have very different body shapes so I gave them free rein in deciding what pattern to use, so long as it was knee length). My sister/MOH is pretty handy with the needle, so she's actually making her own dress.
I'll also be making our invitations, possibly the bouquet, and doing my own make-up. I'm also going to be doing my own hair, as I fly back to England a couple of weeks before the wedding, and won't have time to do a trial beforehand. My hair is extremely curly, and I've had too many bad experiences with clueless hairdressers to just sit back and trust one that's never touched my hair before. I do not want to play frizzbomb roulette on the big day!
When my daughter got married a few years ago we had a very tight budget and did the invitations, table cards and menu cards ourselves. I have a good HP printer and it was actually pretty easy. We also made the centerpieces and she made her card box and we put together and filled the favor boxes.
I'm getting married later this year and plan to do at least the same amount of DIY. I still have her card box in closet so that will be reused.
I have quite a big list of DIY I am planning to tackle: favours, centerpieces, STDs, invitations, programs, thank you cards, escort cards, reserved seat signs, guestbook ideas, signs, cardbox, table numbers, I Spy game, BM/MOH survival kit, decorations for the ceremony/reception.
The only thing I have completely accomplished so far is I made BM/MOH gift boxes to ask them to be in our wedding party!
We made our own invitations - all 175 of them. We are also making our own programs, card box, pendants to hang on my flower boquet and coloring books for the kids.
I have made my own soy scented candles for favours. One per household though. It's a thoughtfull gift as everyone likes candles. They are 12oz in glass jars with glass lids. Run about 15-20$ at a store. I made them and ordered boxes to put them in all at $7.00 each.
Making my own centerpieces, potted orchids which cost aprox 15$ each plus will put some branches in them (neighbour will give me some after the spring pruning)
Making own invitations (skipping save the dates). I know I could easily get cheap invitations but I really like handmade ones that have lace details which those profesionally cost about 8$-10$ per one, which would cost 600$. Making them myself will save me 450$.
@Oxfordnerd: Just wanted to say I saw your post as I was reading through this thread and LOVE the idea of a book-themed wedding. That being said, I just wanted to share this alternative to a ring-bearer's pillow that I thought you might like and that would fit your theme (although you may have already seen it): http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/diy-tutorial-ring-book-pic-heavy. I had it bookmarked in my potential wedding ideas and as soon as I read your post it came to mind and I had to share!
@ForeverBirds: Aww, that's a lovely idea! I've sadly already made a ring pouch otherwise I'd be all over it! Here's what I came up with:
Our rehearsal dinner invites (sorry, had to erase the personal details):
And an overview picture of our hardcover book invites:
And we'll be giving out personalised bookmarks as wedding favours.
Have to say, all of this is DIY - without putting in the hours and waiting for Vistaprint offers there would have been no way we could have afforded this!
@Oxfordnerd: I love the book invites. Are you incorporating books into anything besides the paper products (invites, programs, place cards, etc)?
1. INVITES. I am sending out pocketfuls invites and we designes them and made them ourselves!
2. ESCORT CARDS/BOARD/TABLE NUMBERS making these as well
3. BAR we are having open bar but our venue is allowing is to stock ourselves (an we take home what's not consumed!)
4. CANDY TABLE we are having one; I purchased the jars at hobby lobby during their half off week for jars and also at TJMaxx using a gift card :) candy I'm getting at a variety of places, too to save. (Jordan almonds, mints at hobby lobby w coupons, etc.)
5. Candy table also serves as favor...buying bags and they can take candy home.
6. Our venue provided a lot of reception items (card box, linens, mini table candelabras)
coupon when you can...joann fabrics, michaels, hobby lobby all offer coupons on their websites so utilize those when you can!
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What have you ladies decided to do yourself. I'm not exactly the most crafy person but will be if I have to be... I'm trying to decide what things will save money to do myself and what things probably will not after all the materials are purchased. I was thinking of doing my save the dates by myself but I have yet to find an idea I love that would be cheaper than ordering save the dates online. SO what things have you guys or are you guys doing yourself. I also thought of taking a wedding floral arrangement class to save money I know someone with a wholesale license who could get me the flowers, but that might be a lot to do the night before my wedding.