diy wedding help

Time to start looking for that special wedding dress

2009-09-29T00:06:00.002-04:00

So the date is set, you think you have plenty of time. Most dresses will take anywhere from 4-6 months to make and ship to your bridal shop. Start now. Do not wait. You never know if your dream dress will be discontinued and then you will have to search and search and find the second best in line for making your dreamy wedding come true. But be frugile! Shop around! Don't spend too much and blow your budget! You have set your price already, using my budget template, you know what you can spend, that's the limit! Do go overboard!

I had planned on posting more templates--I have 4 different style save the date magnets and small cards, envelope templates for many different sizes, and how to's for save the date magnets, diy wedding invitations, response, reception cards, and a simple how to video of how to make a rose corsage. That's what I've been working on for all you diy budget brides.

Also--your bridal party selection, oh and a timeline--mega important!

But for this time being--brides--go search out your wedding dress!!!!

Ewedding budget template

2009-09-13T01:30:00.004-04:00

This is the perfect wedding budget planner I have seen on the web. And I'm not just saying that b/c I am the author!!!! Seriously, I made this from experience and research and what could and what will happen that the bride may or may not be financially prepared for.

You may download the file in the applicable format for your personal use. Please do not re-distribute, only use this file for your own personal budget help!

It's a great wedding budget, I am sure you will definitely agree!

http://diywed.net/eweddingbudget.zip for the Excel Spreadsheet version.

http://diywed.net/eweddingbudget2.zip for the Works Spreadsheet version.

All you do is put in dollar amounts--it's been coded to do all the math for you:)
And not only that it will keep track of you budget, by letting you know what is left! It will subtract your budget from your expenses! So it keeps you right on track!!!
Please let me know what you think!!!! You may post if you have any bugs or problems with this, or if by some chance I've left an important expense out of my template!

I hope this helps! Enjoy it!

Our wedding day pictures. More to come!!

2009-08-14T23:10:00.008-04:00

These are some pictures I wanted to share of our wedding day. DIY items: note the champagne flute my bridesmaid is holding--we DIY'd the base with red, silver, pearl beads wrapped around. We made all the flowers, we diy'd the candles on the head table. We made the bouquets and wrapped tulle rolls around them in a french knot trailing style, I made all the corsages, it was fun! I can't wait to post diy video's of how I made these!!! More pictures will follow!

Have you picked a wedding date yet?

2009-08-11T22:35:00.006-04:00

What day do you want to marry? Is there a certain day in your relationship that has special meaning? Do you want to get married in the summer, fall, spring, or winter months? Do you have a certain venue or church that you want as part of this day? What day do you want to get married? Remember this is the day that you will continue to celebrate every year for the rest of your lives.

Some venues need to be booked a year or more ahead of the date. Also some venues have select packages on off peak days. We chose a Sunday to get married on. My venue of choice had a great off peak package which included my choice of photographer and DJ. That was great--I didn't have to scout out our own! Booking our day almost a year in advance, we got to pick one of the best wedding photographers around! We also got a DJ that was very well known everywhere as 'the master of ceremonies'. They both helped make our day perfect!!

Things you need to consider when selecting your wedding date:

If you want to get married in a church(especially if you are catholic) book the church and your officiant early. Find out all information you need to know and do for religious ceremonies.
Search wedding venues for your reception, make sure you book your ideal venue early or some other couple may take your date!
Consider flowers--if you want fresh tulips in lets say September....in season flowers will be cheaper than out of season flowers. So if you want tulips perhaps a spring wedding is the ticket.
Professional Photographers need to be booked asap.
Professional Videographers need to be booked asap.
Book a great DJ as soon as possible.
The wedding dress! I ordered my wedding dress 1 month before it was discontinued from it's designer. Start searching online, go to bridal shops and try on dresses. It's actually a lot of fun!
Start deciding on your wedding budget. Discuss who will pay for what. I will discuss this in dept in future posts! And will also have a wedding planner budget document that you will be able to save and use to help.
Save the dates!!!!! I will also be posting a couple templates of Save the Dates that I made for our wedding. I made a postcard and also refrigerator magnets.
Start talking to florists.
Start to select your wedding party. This also will be discussed in dept in future posts.

So...the above will keep you busy for awhile!!! More tips: Don't be afraid to ask for references, don't be afraid to ask what is included, what isn't included, what you can expect, and what you will really get. Ask for samples, ask to see pictures. Plan, plan, plan!

Does size matter?

2009-08-11T00:27:00.004-04:00

Do you want a big wedding? ...Invite all your friends and family, and your friends friends, and your families extended family!!!! (It can get that crazed!) Or would you prefer a nice small wedding in a modest chapel with only a few of your closest family and friends?

This is extremely important to think about BEFORE you and your FH ask for wedding guest lists from your parents! It is your wedding, it's your day, it's your descision who and how many guest's you invite!

I think it is safe to say:

A small wedding has less than 50 guests.
A medium sized wedding has 100-125 guests.
A large wedding has 150+ guests.

Of course a large wedding will take the most planning, and is the most costly.

A small wedding can be just as nice as a larger sized wedding, but will be more economical for budget weary brides.

But it's all up to you and your FH to decide who comes, who doesn't, it is your day after all!

For us we chose a medium sized guest list.

Also note: there is an 80% RSVP acceptance rate.

And last minute guests that just can't make it for this or that reason is about 10-15%.

On the flipped side-without careful wording on your invitations or response cards you could wind up inviting your cousin Joe, and Joe will bring his girlfriend, his girlfriends 4 kids and possibly even his grandmother--who knows!! (5-10%)

About 5% of guests invited will NOT RSVP but will magically just show up.

You will have guest losses and guest gains here and there.

(This is OUR personal experience.)

I have also chatted with a couple other brides on their guest count gains and losses come wedding day and it's fair to say it's about the same as ours!

I sent out a total of 128 invitations. I got back 108 rsvp acceptances. Close to wedding day we lost 10 guests, and on the wedding day 5 guests didnt' show, but 4 extra's came with other guest's, and 2 no RSVP's came. We budgeted for a total of 100 guests. It worked out fine!

So...what size wedding do you dream of?

Introduction: Pick your color scheme early!

2009-08-07T23:37:00.005-04:00

Hi, my name is Theresa and I was a crazed stressed out bride just a couple weeks ago! There were moments in my planning and preparation where I said to myself, "how are you ever gonna pull all of this off yourself?" I had so many idea's and many of these idea's I didn't even incorporate into my ceremony or reception. I did what was fitting for my vision of my wedding day.

I honestly must admit that I DIY'ed much more than we ever used in our wedding. It was fun, and fulfilling, I even made templates for wedding invitations, place cards, table cards, and programs, I made different monograms, I bought flowers and tried all sorts of arrangements, bouquets, and corsages, I bought tons of tulle and ribbon and made more bows than I will ever use in my lifetime. I wrote out programs of our reception, and what I wanted at which point of it. I tried updo's and other hairstyles that I may like. I read everything I could about all things wedding related--as I was obsessed to follow proper etiquette--I even stressed on all my bridesmaids the correct way to hold their bouquet and how to hold their champagne flute(which I DIY'd) for the toasts. It was fun. It was rewarding. I was a wedding planner! I loved it.

It may not seem very important right now--for all you brides-to-be that are just starting to plan your wedding day but all things to come stem from this decision : Pick out your color scheme early on. For our wedding that was one of my biggest obstacles. For the colors you pick will start to shape your event! The colors you pick will become your theme throughout your wedding planning...From your bridesmaids dresses to your bouquets, from your reception decorations to even your guest favors. Without picking the colors--how do you even start planning--a themed wedding, a formal reception, or even the colors of the Tuxedo's or your attendants attire? You need a clue as to what colors of the rainbow you want to see on your wedding day!

The formula I used for picking my color scheme was simple:
1. Pick your primary color? Primary colors would be your linens, your chair covers, your wedding dress for example. A primary color is the color that will outline the wedding, and you can always fall back on this color if you're unsure in any other aspects. I chose the color white.
2. Pick a color that influences you? Basically this is the color that will bring your wedding to life! This is the color that you will build your main theme around. Your main decorations, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, the vest and tie of the tuxedo's, overlay linens, your wedding cake or table decors, even lighting. Like I said above--a color that will bring your wedding to life. I chose the color red. A darker red to be exact.
3. Pick a color to use as an accent? For our wedding, it was a no brainer, I wanted silver accents to tie in to the other colors. Silver ribbons to decorate my favors, my bridesmaids shoes were even silver, lace adoration's on their dresses were silver, my tiara was silver with white pearls and lots of bling. We had silver bows on the guest table candles. My grooms vest and tie were silver. This color gave our wedding an extra flair, an added bonus.

Now of course the above is only MY formula. It worked for me though. I started a binder and on the first 3 pages--even before our budget I wrote--a page dedicated to each of these colors and what we'd use where and for what. Granted along the way, we changed this to that, and so forth, but in the long run(our wedding day) we seen our vision come to life in brilliant perfection.

Just for your information our wedding theme was formal. We wanted a well orchestrated, classic, and elegant wedding from start to finish, something that would stand out, something perfect, something that looked like we spent a fortune(we kept way under our budget all the way!!), we wanted our guests to feel as though they were royalty yet we wanted the reception to feel warm and be personable to our own tastes. It turned out to feel very inviting, it was crisp, clean, and comfortable in an elegant formal sort of way.

Not one guest realized just how much of this event I DIY'd!! Everyone complimented. We are so proud.

If we could do our wedding day over; the only thing I'd wish for is more time!!! I planned it for a year. Lol. But before I knew it, that year was gone, and I could only incorporate what was meant for us. So I have lot's of DIY help for brides. Stay tuned!!!