One of the things that can make a wedding very sentimental are the personal touches and effort that a couple puts into preparing it. Imagine designing your own invitations together or fluffing the paper flower bouquets you decided to make for your entire entourage–it adds a story to your simple details, right? And seeing everything come to life on your special day, ahhh, it makes the sleepless nights all worth it. But before you save all those D.I.Y. videos and get your hands all ready for crafting, here are some questions you should ask yourself to know if doing a D.I.Y. wedding project really is for you.
Visualizing what projects you want to take on is half the battle. Go through all your saved pegs and do your own research on how to make those element come together. Then, honestly evaluate yourself–do your skills match the difficulty level of the project you want to take on? Do you have enough resources to finish it? Are you confident enough that it will look nice? If all your answers are yeses, then read on!
After setting what needs to be done, the next step is a reality check. How much time do you actually have? Set a deadline for every project then compute how often and how many you should finish by then. Say you decide to D.I.Y. paper flowers for your entourage instead of hiring a florist, and want everything done one month before your wedding day. You need to figure out when you can work on them and how many pieces you can finish, considering all the other tasks you need to do in a day. You’ll manage your time better by doing this, and you’ll cram less (fingers crossed!) by setting realistic timelines for yourself.
Every D.I.Y. project is really a labor of love, and it would be nice (and more efficient) if you could include other people to help you out. Share your plan with your bridesmaids and see if some of them would like to lend a crafty hand. You also get to spend more time with them before your wedding, not to mention you’ll be able to tick off more items from your to-do list faster. Win-win, right?
Despite planning really well for your projects, there can always be an element or circumstance that can throw you off your game plan. So it’s always best to have a Plan B just in case. If you don’t finish your D.I.Y. bridal bouquet on time, what can you replace it with? If your printer suddenly breaks down while printing your invitations, where else can you have them printed? It’s always good to have options just in case your original plan doesn’t work out.
Sometimes D.I.Y. projects can cost even more than hiring a supplier. If you’re budget conscious, compute this ahead and also factor in the time you’ll need to accomplish them. Compare the cost with hiring professional suppliers, and decide if going D.I.Y. is worth the effort.
Opting for a D.I.Y. project for your wedding takes heart, time, and confidence. So before you start anything, you should know why you’re doing it. Will you get fulfilled or will it add to your stress? Will it add value to your special day or will it rob you of sleep and happiness? Will it bring you closer to your loved ones or will it cause resentment? At the end of the day, everything you decide to do for your wedding should always be an expression of love. If it is, then go get those crafty hands ready for some D.I.Y. action!