The Pros & Cons of Common Wedding DIYs

The content in this blog post first appeared in my monthly newsletter in May of 2024. Sign up here for first access to more content like this!

Hi Friend!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week since the beginning of May and the summer season (at least here in Arkansas)! Last week my husband and I went to a Judah & the Lion concert at the Walmart AMP, an outdoor concert venue in Rogers, AR not too far from where we live. A few minutes before the concert was to begin, it started pouring down rain! Luckily, we had anticipated this so we were wearing clothes that we didn’t mind getting wet, and the rain only lasted about 10 minutes. Judah & the Lion put on a really good live show, and we had a great time! 

Then over the weekend I shot an elopement in Eureka Springs, AR (one of my favorite towns in Arkansas – click here to read the blog post I wrote about eloping there) for the sweetest couple. All the photos in this blog post are from that elopement! It also rained on us there. 

Instead of heading home after shooting in Eureka Springs, my husband and I headed to Branson, MO to spend a spontaneous day at Silver Dollar City with some friends. And, unsurprisingly, it also rained on us there. The good thing about rain in the summer, though, is that we don’t have to let it stop us from having fun. Next week we’re heading to Mexico with some friends, and although the forecast is not calling for rain, at this point I honestly would not be surprised if we got some! 

This month’s newsletter is all about wedding DIYs. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am big into DIYs. It goes hand in hand with my obsession with thrifting (just ask my husband how many project pieces I’ve bought over the years that he’s helped me with!). And I loved incorporating the DIY element into my own intimate wedding in Rocky Mountain National Park. Today I’m going to break down some common wedding DIYs and tell you whether or not I think it’s a good idea and exactly how I would DIY it, and I’ll also be including some examples from my own wedding and what, if anything, I would do differently. 

Photography

As a professional photographer, I do not recommend that you (or a friend/family member) try to DIY your wedding photography. It’s taken me yearssss to get comfortable shooting weddings, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without all those years of practice, my professional camera gear, or the professional editing software I use. 

Even if you have a friend or relative with a professional grade camera, that does not mean they will be able to get the photos you want of your wedding. Wedding photography is such a specific niche and requires a lot of practice and technical skills in addition to having the correct equipment. 

If you are absolutely set on saving costs on your wedding photography, I would look on Facebook groups or contact a photography professor at a local college to see if there are any newer photographers or photography students who would be willing to shoot your wedding for a price that works for you. Be sure you have seen examples of their work and that you like their shooting and editing style. I would also recommend meeting them in person and possibly having them shoot your engagement session before you hire them to shoot your wedding. Having realistic expectations is key when choosing this option. 

Flowers

As with all other DIY options, making your own flower arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres takes a lot of time. Unlike most other DIY projects, however, flowers have a short life span. Getting the timing right for buying the flowers, putting the arrangements together, and keeping the flowers fresh until the wedding can be really tricky. Not to mention the space they take up. And the skill that florists have at putting together beautiful bouquets. All in all, I would not recommend DIYing your wedding flowers. 

I did see a video recently where this family had a tradition going back several generations of buying flowers wholesale on the morning of the wedding, and all the women in the family would spend the morning putting bouquets together. It was such a beautiful tradition, and I know those arrangements held so much sentimental value for the couple, even if the bouquets weren’t perfect from a technical standpoint.

Once again, having realistic expectations is key if you do decide to DIY your wedding flowers. I would also recommend having plenty of hands available to help with this task so that you yourself don’t have to be rushing around to do it all on the morning of your wedding. 

Decor

Decor is one area that I feel very confident in recommending that couples DIY. Obviously, if you’ve never DIYed something before, your wedding probably isn’t the time to start. But, as long as you have ample time to complete any DIY projects, decor is pretty low risk. That way, if you aren’t happy with the results, you have time to fix them, ask someone else to help you, or buy the needed decor. 

For my wedding, I made several decor pieces, and for the most part I loved how they turned out. Luckily, my wedding was outdoors in a national park and no decorations were allowed, so the decor I made for our reception was very minimal. 

Lawn Games

Lawn games are incredibly easy to DIY, and as long as you use wood or other natural materials, they are almost guaranteed to look a lot better than the plastic ones you can buy at Walmart. For my wedding my husband and I made a cornhole set (he made it and I painted and stained the wood), and it was a big hit. I also made a game of ring toss and giant tic-tac-toe. If I were to do it again, I would make two sets of cornhole boards instead of those smaller games because almost no one played them. 

Food

Food is another category that has a short life span, and things can be really hectic in the days leading up to your wedding. The last thing you need to be doing is cooking a bunch of food right before you get married. If you have someone who you trust will be able to make enough food for all your wedding guests, that could be a good option. 

One of the pros about hiring a catering company for your wedding is that they will usually set everything up, a lot of times they will provide dinnerware (I always recommend reusable dinnerware for your wedding to help keep waste to a minimum), they will serve, and they will clean up afterwards. Never underestimate the value of a vendor who will clean up after the reception. 

Photo Booth

A photo booth seems simple enough to DIY, and I definitely thought so before my own wedding. The one I DIYed was good enough, but there are definitely things I would change if I were to do it again. One thing a photo booth definitely needs is good lighting. I would recommend one of the huge (18”-24”) ring lights that will be adequate for larger groups. And I would also recommend getting a new polaroid camera. The one I used was borrowed from a friend, and the battery kept running out and had to be recharged. I didn’t realize this would be an issue until about 24 hours before I was to use it.

Also, always make sure you have a plan for getting the photos from your guests so you can enjoy those memories as well. 

Favors

One of my favorite things is to recommend edible wedding favors. That way, your guests won’t have to take home a useless trinket that will just end up in the trash. For my wedding I bought some local Colorado honey and put it in these cute little glass jars that were small enough for my guests who flew to the wedding to take on the plane, if they didn’t eat it on the biscuits at our brunch reception, that is. I tied a miniature honey dipper and a handwritten thank you note to each jar. It was so cute and I would 1000% do it again – although it was a bit of a time commitment to make the handwritten notes!

Final Thoughts …

Wedding DIYs can be a way for you to save costs, thrift materials for a more sustainable wedding, and add your own personal touch to your wedding. But don’t forget that choosing to DIY can come with some serious time commitments in a season where you may not have a lot of time to spare. The only reason I was able to DIY so many things for my own wedding is because we were engaged for 14 months! Wedding DIYs are a delicate balance between how much time you have to complete your projects, your budget, and your creative abilities.

Whatever you decide to (or to not) DIY, I wish you all the luck in the world! And if you DIY’d anything for your own wedding, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

I hope you enjoyed this month’s newsletter and maybe were inspired to DIY something for your own wedding! Be sure to sign up for my email list to get access to my freebies page for a bunch of wedding resources that are only available to my photography clients and my email list subscribers! Some of the freebies are “The Wedding Planning Timeline”, “The Wedding Planning Dream Date Worksheet”, “Boudoir Session Style Guide”, and many more!

*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. If you are interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!

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