DIY Weddings

Couples often like to express themselves and show off their individuality when planning a wedding, coming up with a unique idea is an excellent way of doing this. Everyone is coming up with ways to add a little creativity into their big day.

A cheap and easy way of making your wedding unique is to try out some wedding DIY. There is really no better way to express yourself than to create your own wedding items.

Depending on how much time you have and the extent of your skills, you could do everything for your wedding; from making decorations and flower arrangements to making dresses. You can also ask any talented friends and family to help out.

If you are blessed enough to be, or to know an amazing seamstress, there could be no better way to have the dream dress you always wanted than to design and make it yourself. Be sure to try on some ready-made dresses to see what design flatter your figure best.

Many brides-to-be might think creating their own invitations is a slightly safer option that attempting to be a dress designer. Personalised wedding invitations are a great money saver and will give your wedding the personal touch you were aiming for.

Looking at other designs that are in the stores will give you inspiration to create a style that reflects your personality; you can even include your favourite picture in the design. When it comes to printing your invitations on your home printer, it is important that you use high-quality ink and paper and that the design is kept relatively simple.

Once you have identified the theme and colour palette, you are then free to design and print the rest of your wedding stationary — for example table plans and place cards — in the same style.

Centrepieces often take up a considerable amount of the wedding budget but you can dramatically reduce these costs by designing your own. By using flowers that are in season and creating loose and casual arrangements, you can create a pretty centrepiece for an Irish summer wedding.  DIY brides can create their centrepieces well in advance of the wedding day if they use dried or silk flowers which are particularly suitable for a winter wedding. If you are marrying at Christmas, display pretty Christmas decorations as a centrepiece that your guests can take home as favours.

All this DIY work does not have to be completed alone. Get creative with your hens and bridesmaids and involve everyone in the making of wedding invitations, favours or place cards. With a chilled bottle of wine, this is a great way to celebrate the impending wedding and an even better way to get some more creative ideas to use on the day.

As for gifts for your bridesmaid, try making soaps or bath scrubs. These are wonderfully personalised gifts that will mean so much more because you made them yourself.

If after all this we have managed to persuade you to go down the DIY route, a good piece of advice is not to bite off more than you can chew. Ask for help if you need it. Wedding planning can be very fun and exciting but by taking on too many projects, you could end up unnecessarily stressed.