Here are 10 Things not to DIY for your wedding. Avoid doing these items yourself, and you will save yourself stress for sure, and maybe even a good bit of money!

Hair and Makeup

You may be tempted to do your own hair or makeup on your wedding day. Remember, you’ll be photographed A LOT, from a million different angles. If you hire a professional, you’ll look your best from every view. Plus your hair and makeup will hold until the end of the night.

Definitely choose to do a trial run to make sure you like it. And don’t just look in the mirror, take pictures and make sure you like it.

Setting it All Up

The second DIY to avoid is setting up your ceremony and reception. I promise you, you won’t have the time. And since you’ll be rushed, things will get missed or sacrificed. If you’ve put in the time to design something special, teach someone else to set it up for you.

Table Linens

Next is table linens. It’s tempting to buy linens yourself because they are about the same price to purchase as they are to rent. But you’ve got to take into consideration how much time it will take to press that linen. Also if you’ll ever really wash and keep them. I think renting linens is the way to go in almost every scenario.

Wedding Party Gifts

I also don’t advise doing DIY Gifts for your wedding party. The only exception is if you have a craft or artistic skill where you can create something of true value for your wedding party. You don’t want to experiment with a new craft or gift something that looks unfinished or elementary for this gift.

Lighting

It is pricey to rent Lighting. But its pricey because the setup and keep up is expensive. When rental companies set up those beautiful string lights, they do it without the bulb in. SO they set up the wire first, then go back and put in each bulb. IF you DIY this, a lot for a big chunk of time to do it right so that you aren’t spending your savings on new bulbs. Also account for the proper machinery to reach the height where the lights will be strung. I had my husband do this on a ladder once, and I’ll never do it again. It was so scary seeing him up that high. I learned my lesson. Also, consider whether you can handle the breakdown and storage of the lights after the wedding.

Clean Up

Just as you should avoid setting up your wedding, you should also avoid cleaning it up. That includes moving décor from your ceremony to your reception or picking up chairs at the end of the night. Hire someone to help with this and enjoy your party till the end.

Your Bouquet

Many couples are DIY ing their flowers. If you go this route, I encourage you to hire a florist at least for your own bouquet. It takes the pressure off of getting the most photographed floral right. The other floral may wilt or be a little imperfect and people and pictures won’t notice as much.

Transportation

Don’t plan to drive yourself home from your wedding. If a professional transportation company isn’t in your budget, plan to use Uber Black or Lyft. Also, don’t rent a car. You don’t want to get tied up in parking a car or driving it on the wedding day.

The Bar

Next is the Bar. If you are in the Food and Bev industry or plan to do your research, you MIGHT be able to do this AND save money. But more often I find that couples buy too much alcohol or not enough. They also don’t account for moving the supplies and alcohol to and from the reception venue. One workaround is to include this service with your caterer, and then only supply a specialty liquor or wine yourself. Then you don’t have to worry about mixers, garnishes, bar supplies, or ice. Plus they’ll know quantities per guest and you won’t run out halfway through the night.

Ceremony Music

My last NO DIY suggestion is ceremony music. Hire at least one musician or have your DJ in charge. Often couples want to plug their iPhone into the speaker and have someone hit play. SO much can go wrong with this, notifications don’t come through, passwords are forgotten, wifi is not available, the person cueing the music gets it wrong. The ceremony is more formal even when it’s not traditional. Add to that all the nerves, and it’s easy for something to go wrong and for everyone to notice! My suggestion is to spend a few hundred dollars and outsource it.

DIY can be a huge money saver and in some cases. Plus, it’s fun to create parts of your wedding yourself. I hope this video gives you some direction about which areas might be best for DIY.

Thank you for reading and Happy Wedding Planning.