WHAT IS A DIY WEDDING? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE DOING ONE?!
Image via A Practical Wedding (Asylum, London)I had a really interesting chat with a bride planning a 2022 wedding who didn’t know she was doing a DIY Wedding, which I found fascinating! It made me realise wedding suppliers like me or those in the industry might take it for granted that every couple can categorise their wedding.
To me, a DIY wedding is any wedding where you’re not just rocking up and doing what you’re told by a wedding venue…
You might have visited some wedding venues and they’ve told you exactly how it will work; how long each part will take, which parts you have to have in the first place, where everything happens and which suppliers will be doing everything (this happened in the case of the bride I mentioned - they had a very off-putting experience and knew they didn’t want a wedding that had just been replicated the day before!)
Having a pre-planned, standard traditional wedding is GREAT if you want a simple, easy, paint-by-numbers, cookie-cutter wedding where you just pay the cash and rock up on the day - and I’m absolutely not judging you if you do!
BUT if you want to make your own choices, go with your own traditions or make them up new ones entirely, you might want to think about undertaking a DIY Wedding, and there are lots of ways to achieve this.
Cake by Bronya, Photo by Nicki Shea (Killer Filler Workshop)the diy spectrum
At one end of the scale, you get those that want to make everything, save as much money as possible and don’t mind putting aside 6 months of their lives to learn how to make everything, and then do it all. Often making 100’s of the same item (hello invitations and nameplaces!) and taking up lots of spare evenings and weekends. Yes this was me back in 2019 but I’m not sure I’d have the time to invest now!
On the other end of the DIY Wedding spectrum, you’ve got those who are organising and planning it all themselves and have curated a list of suppliers who can make exactly what they want and deliver it to them on the day (or in advance). They curate these specialist suppliers to produce a day that really reflects who they are, that hasn’t taken too much of their time but might have cost a bit more.
Inbetween is probably the bride/couple who want to do a bit of both; make a lot themselves but then supplement with items and products from expert wedding suppliers that are going to make a big impact and be worth the investment. These are often styling pieces that they’ll use again as pieces of art afterwards. Things like banners, signs, pinwheels and order-of-the-day signs.
Stars - The Joy Eclectic, Banners - Daydreamer Studio, Photo by Mark Bamforthdiy weddings and DRY HIRE VENUES
Great blank canvas venue - The Giraffe Shed, WalesYou can still have a DIY wedding at some wedding venues. These might be ‘dry hire’ venues that provide you with their building as a blank canvas but let you organise everything else; how you use the space, your own timings, styling and suppliers. You might have to use their bar but on the whole, everything else could be down to you. In some venues you can even set up your own bar (just make sure you don’t forget sorting someone to run the bar!)
Check out another blog post: GUIDE TO DRY HIRE SITE VISITS if this is the route you want to take.
diy wedding using your own space or home
Going one step further, you might want to use a space you’ve found or got permission to use. Do you have a family member that has a large outbuilding and some outdoor space? Have you seen a field near your house you think you could find out who owns? Do you have a large garden and fancy hiring some tipis and bell tents? There are so many options once you change your mindset from thinking you need to find a wedding venue…take note: you might not end up saving money (if that’s your main motivation for a DIY Wedding) but you’ll have 100% control over what you do, what time your guests need to leave (at all!) and what it looks like.
One of the derelict outbuildings we decided to take on for our own wedding in 2019diy wedding decisions
Here’s a quick list of what you might need to think about when undertaking a DIY Wedding, to help you decide if this is the type of wedding for you…
Where things will take place i.e. are you having a ceremony? Same room or different space as the rest of the day?
Sit down meal or grazing alternatives?
Bar situation - set one up? Use the venue’s? Free or paid?
How you’re going to decorate the space (and how long you’ve got to do this)
What you’d like the tables to look like
Lighting the space - does your venue have suitable lights or do you need to hire additional?
Toilets! Do you have them or will you have to hire?
Electricity - does the site/venue have it or will you need a generator?
Noise considerations - if you’re using a non-registered wedding venue consider your neighbours and think about the noise impact if any.
Adverse weather - cold/hot/rainy/windy; think about your wedding in all of these scenarios and make sure there’s a plan in place, and that anything you’re putting outside, be that decorations, signs or structures, will be able to cope.
Make things yourself or look at pick ‘n’ mixing other suppliers for things like Flowers, Styling, Stationery, Invitations, Table Plans, Banners, Decorations, Cakes, Lighting.
In love with Daydreamer Creative Studio banners! diy wedding styling help (of the eclectic kind!)
I’ve been passionate about DIY Weddings for a long time, since designing and pulling everything together with my previous immersive events company Lemonade and Laughing Gas. THIS is why I love doing bespoke wedding styling touches for The Joy Eclectic, to provide those high-impact details to finish off your weddings. I design and create the following:
*Table plans * Table Numbers *Table Names *NamePlaces *Table Centrepieces * Order of the Day * Backdrops *Signage *Decorations *Wall decorations *Neon-style words + Bespoke objects you dream up!
Email amy@thejoyeclectic.co.uk to enquire
or visit full wedding styling service list
(if you want me to help you as a wedding stylist 😎)