2012 Wedding Trends : D.I.Y. Weddings

BY SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

Who says planning a wedding has to be expensive? Eliminating third party vendors in wedding planning is quickly becoming a new trend. 

DIY weddings are a hot trend in 2012, partly because they are low in cost. Planning the wedding and hand making most of the decorations leaves room in the budget for - a more luxurious honeymoon, a new home down payment or a new car. There are cons to a DIY wedding however. 

By doing everything yourself you may get overwhelmed. This can be dealt with by enlisting dedicated friends as well as your fiance, to help out with the craft projects. The key is creating a timeline and a checklist, to keep you on track. Try to have most things on your checklist done two weeks before the wedding. This will reduce your stress the day of the wedding.

Sound like an idea you can work with?  Let’s get started!

INVITATIONS

There are many pre–made invitations on the market yet sometimes it is hard to find to match your theme or unique color scheme. Creating your own invitations allow you the freedom to their many wedding invitations kits that start around $20 per pack that allow you to self print your information. 

                       

There are also sites such as ETSY or kaboodle that offer handmade invitations at affordable prices.

Creating your own invitations allows you to mix and match bringing your own uniqueness to not only your invitations but your place cards as well!

THE VENUE

The DIY wedding  has endless choices as far as venues. Many communities in the U.S have beautiful parks where you could have a garden style setting usually for minimal fees. What about one of your relatives lavish back yards! It will be your imagination that sets the ambiance, which is critical to any themed wedding. Decorating the space with your handmade ornaments will set the mood just right. Try using paper to create various designs, such as butterflies, dragonflies or birds, or use lighting such as candles and lanterns, also you can use an array of local grown, in season flowers to give your venue that magical flair you always dreamed of. The venue itself could be all the decoration you need as in this picture below.

  

DRESSES

Having you and your bridesmaids dresses handmade is authentic and budget friendly. If you happen to be good at sewing and cutting patterns you have just added more pennies to the piggy bank. Or maybe you aunt or grandmother could make the dresses, how many women today can say that their sweet grandmother made their wedding gown? If dress design is not your strong suit (its definitely not mine) check out WEDDING DRESS CREATOR,  a site that allows you to design your dress then print it out or save to a flash drive to take with you to a seamstress of your choice.You will love this site, the graphics are great, and it's free. What do you think about my creation?'

FLOWERS

The Internet will be your best friend when planning your DIY nuptials. This holds especially true when it comes to planning the floral aspects of your wedding. Websites on how to organize a bouquet to wholesale flower vendors can all be found using the World Wide Web. Many wholesalers will send you samples so that you may begin experimenting with your centerpieces, and bouquets. Ideally your wedding flowers will be delivered two days before your wedding so your time in which you have to prepare all your floral arrangements will be short. Using the sample flowers will hopefully set your floral decor in stone, so when the actual wedding flowers arrive you could use photos to arrange the pieces. Also you can experiment which tend to be inexpensive and could give you a general since of where you are going. DIY floral arrangements can be as beautiful as your imagination and adds more pizazz than the traditional rose bouquet.

FOOD

How many times have we had dry chicken or cold vegetables at wedding? The DIY wedding food gives you the chance to show off you and your family's cooking style. Preparing the food yourself can be tasking, however, it will all be worth it when you see your guest mouth watering and the compliments coming in. Having a summer wedding on a beautiful patio or back yard? This sound like a perfect opportunity for a barbecue! Even with a traditional sit down dinner you can elect simple and delectable entrees to woo the crowd. The main thing is satisfying your guest who took time out their schedule and probably has not eaten in hours. Out of all the areas you will put your hard work into to make your special day sparkle, what everybody remembers the most was how good the food and cocktails were!

CAKE

Among the top trends in previous years that continue this year is the cupcake wedding cake! This works perfectly for the DIY wedding planner. Depending on the size of your wedding party you may have to make anywhere from 100-500 cupcakes! There is so much flexibility when choosing cupcakes, from colors, to design, to flavor, you can mix and match your cupcakes. Having a cupcake display also alleviates someone having to cut each guest a piece of cake and for some reason people tend to eat their whole cupcake versus a slice. There are so many decorating ideas for the wedding cupcake on the market, one of my favorites are the decorative gift boxes that allow your guest to travel home with their cupcake safely in tow. Cupcake tiers are readily available at your local bakery or online. Cupcake are generally easier to transport than traditional wedding cakes, which will alleviate another headache of your cake looking slightly titled.

Overall the process of planning a DIY wedding can be stressful, the key is time management. You should start by writing a checklist. There are many DIY wedding planners on the market to keep you organized. I suggest you purchase one immediately. Then, you can develop your time line and put your plan into action. DIY weddings work best when you have two or three dedicated people to help you get things done. So choose your bridesmaids wisely, good luck!