Note: photos are by Heather Danielle Photography, 2015
Our wedding had a lot more DIY than just the dress. We had a budget of $5,000 that we were shooting for, and in the end, we figured out that with everything but the rings, we spend only $3,500! Here are some of the things we saved on by doing them ourselves!
Makeup and hair: For my makeup, I learned techniques through videos online and visits to Sephora. I mostly bought from Walmart, but did cave and get a small tube of Porefessional to smooth my pores, Aqua Eyes waterproof eyeliner because I expected to cry happy tears, Urban Decay's finishing spray in a tester size to keep things set in the summer heat (and again, tears), and NARS Palomino for contouring--all from Sephora. I got my brushes at Walmart on the cheap, and I like Almay's long-wear TLC foundation from there since I find that it's the only thing that doesn't melt off my face in the summer. Considering that I already owned a lot of the things I needed, I figure I spent less than $100 on makeup supplies that I've used much more than just at the wedding. My bridesmaids (my sisters) also did their own makeup, since they are both into that.
We also spent some time figuring out hairdos we liked and how to do them for each other. My mom helped me do some of the fancier parts of my basic sock bun to make it a little dressier. I got three sizes of "sock" on Ebay from China for less than a dollar to test out different sizes, and ended up going with the smallest. Oh, and I also cut my husband's hair at home, so we didn't even pay for his beauty prep!
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| My lovely bridesmaids with our DIY hair, nails, makeup, and bouquets. I did get salon nails as a gift from my sister--my first mani and pedi! |
Once the form was made, I got copper foil for metal leafing projects, and followed the instructions in the kit and from online videos to foil the whole top and sides and some of the bottom (the foil is limited supply so I didn't want to be wasteful since the bottom would never be seen by guests). Instead of the fancy glue they tell you to use, I used a spray adhesive from Walmart, and it worked well. I did buy the special metal leaf coating to seal it from tarnishing and wear. For some reason, I still had tarnish show up after coating it, so I re-foiled some areas quite a few times before I minimized that. I had to cover the insert so only the area where spray glue was needed showed, and leafed that. In the end, some tarnish still showed, but hey, it adds character. It was supposed to be an imperfect texture, so the shadows hid any small tarnished areas. Like everything else, it took much longer than expected, but it looked great in the cake! I think it's currently in my mom's freezer under the top layer of our cake, waiting for our first anniversary.
I sent the insert to the baker a week before it was needed. To finish the look off off once it arrived, I made sure to save some flowers from the arrangements to put on the cake, and the topper was a gift. Since all the decorations were done ourselves, the cake was basically the base price. And it was delicious! We splurged a little for strawberry filling and it was really yummy! (I'd say as good as Publix cake, which was what I was aiming for!)
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| Can you tell whether this is the inspiration cake or our cake? It's ours! |
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| Flowers for me, fish for him. |
I also designed our own monogram and made a stencil from that by printing it out at an enlarged size and using an Exacto knife to cut it out of posterboard, then spray painting through it. That left some fuzzy lines, so I went over the edges with a paintbrush to clean that up. I also made the cornhole bags out of duck cloth and birdseed, following directions like these. We made the coin toss game from scrap wood in the garage and a can we were going to recycle... easy peasy.
We also didn't hire a DJ since our family members aren't big dancers. Instead I put a lot of work (more than was probably needed) into creating the perfect playlist of songs that represented me and my husband and would entertain our family for hours. I created a pre-ceremony seating playlist of classical guitar music, one with the processional and recessional songs (beautiful classical guitar Grow Old with Me by Lennon for our entrance, then Will You Go with Me by Josh Turner for our exit). Then there was a playlist for the game hour/after dinner fun, one for the father-daughter dance (My Wish by Rascall Flatts) and first dance (Rainbow Connection by Sarah McLaughlin), and a playlist for dinner. My sister managed the iPod and little portable sound system, which we had bought for about $75 on Amazon, and it included a cordless mic that my cousin used when we needed announcements made.
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| We had firefly jars because our engagement night was the first time we each saw them in Florida since coming from the midwest! |
Table decorations: We made all the firefly jars by learning to solder and replacing the bulky battery packs with attachments for 9-volt batteries that would fit under the lids. I got moss from Hobby Lobby, and we ordered the little lights online. We looked for so long for cheap lights that would twinkle, but those were out of the price range when we were expecting possibly 10 tables each needing a firefly jar.
My mom and I made the favors by wrapping tea lights from Ikea in tulle and tying on tags with ribbon. I made the flower vases by spray painting jars that were sitting around with copper paint to fit our rose gold theme (matching our rings). My grandpa made the peg games with his woodworking talents.
The flowers and bouquets: I used Blooms by the Box to order less than $200 worth of flowers, and got some supplies cheaper with another place. We spent a few hours putting together our bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and table settings the night before, with some last-minute parts on the wedding day. Blooms by the Box was great to work with, and things arrived in lovely shape.
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| We used two sizes of roses and two sizes of carnations, plus coffee greens and baby's breath. We ended up needing more greens and got extra leather leaf at a nearby florist. |
Basically everything in this wedding had our hands on it. I not only knew my dress inside-out, but was involved in thinking through the other details as well. And you haven't even seen the "Day Of" book I made to keep things going smoothly as we did final prep and went through the wedding day!
After the wedding, my sister asked if I'd plan her wedding. I said probably not, I was pretty planned out! But I am proud that I was able to organize all that and help it go relatively smoothly. There were bumps here and there, but overall, it was a memorable and beautiful day. I'm so happy that our guests thought it was very special and enjoyable, too!
While we did save a lot of money on our wedding, far from being "cheap," I think that here you can see how much real work and care went into creating that day over a long period of time. Our wedding was filled with the languages of love my husband and I share--spending time together, thoughtful gestures of work and small meaningful gifts, and playing together. Money is something we save as a couple, thinking of our future family, but love is something we give in these ways.
