We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – weddings can be expensive! It’s perfectly reasonable to DIY some aspect of your wedding day – both to save money and to put your own personal spin on things.
But there are just a few things that you probably shouldn’t attempt to DIY on your wedding day, unless you are a professional in the wedding industry (and even then, you should delegate these 3 things out to very trusted staff members instead of trying to do it on your own).
Wedding DIY don’ts – Why shouldn’t you DIY some things?
Some aspects of a wedding day are incredibly involved, and unless you are a very talented and very organised individual, these aspects might end up looking like a very hilarious series of ‘Nailed It’ posts from Instagram.
Skill and talent in these areas is one reason why you shouldn’t attempt them for your own wedding. But another very good reason is that this is YOUR OWN WEDDING! If you spend all of your time leading up to and during the wedding day worrying about these things, then you won’t be enjoying yourself.
The best way to appreciate every moment of your wedding and be completely present, experiencing it all with your partner and loved ones, is to leave these three things to someone else.
Photography and Video
One of the main reasons why you shouldn’t DIY your wedding photos or video is because then you won’t be in the shots. Unless your photos are a series of selfies – which would be unique, I’ll admit.
Even wedding photographers and videographers don’t work their own weddings. The stress levels of a bride or groom are high enough without having to focus on getting snaps of everyone throughout the day.
When it is your own wedding, you will be busy. Your attention will be drawn a million different ways and you will miss lots of wonderful things that happened on the day. And once you miss these moments they are gone forever.
This isn’t something you want to regret later; make sure that you have the memories looked after.
Hire a photographer or videographer, or get a very good friend to manage the photos for you – but don’t attempt this one yourself.
Catering
Whether you are a budding Masterchef or you run your own catering company, we still don’t recommend that you cater your own wedding day.
You can manage the catering, and even coordinate some professionals to come in and do it for you in your own home if you like. You can oversee, but you really shouldn’t do the cooking yourself, no matter how awesome you are.
Again this comes down to how much work is involved in catering a wedding. If you are doing all of the cooking and plating up on the day then you won’t be enjoying yourself with family and friends. You won’t really be able to focus on anything else.
And you won’t really have time to get beautiful, walk down the aisle, say vows and all that sort of thing if you are madly stressing about getting hors d’oeuvres served straight afterward.
And unless you are a professional baker (again with trusted staff to back you up on the day) you shouldn’t try to handle your own wedding cake either.
The Wedding Dress
If you are a professional dressmaker, you can probably handle this one. But anyone else who thinks they might be handy with a sewing machine – your wedding is not the time to show how crafty you can be.
A wedding dress is a very difficult garment to get right. You need to be very skilled and talented to not botch this one up. And you might need to consider, how often do you plan on getting married anyway? This one occasion might be important enough to pay for someone else to make the dress.
If you are trying to save money on your wedding day, DIY-ing the dress is not the answer. Handmade dresses tend to look like handmade dresses, and this is one day when you want to be sleek and on-point. Plus, if you are fussing over making your dress you won’t be able to focus on other things, or just relax and have fun.
One great way to save money on a wedding dress is to consider buying pre-loved. You can find the most incredible designer gowns for a fraction of the original cost that look as perfect as the day they were made. Come and view some of the beautiful dresses we currently have available here.
There are just some corners you shouldn’t cut
If you are weighing up the different costs of your wedding day then you can prioritise some things over others, but sometimes you should put your time and stress levels ahead of trying to save a few dollars.
Trust us on this one – regrets about your wedding day can last a very long time…
