5 Simple and Cheap DIY Wedding Projects
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Tackling some DIY Wedding projects is a great way to save money on your big day. Here are five cheap and easy ideas to get you started.
While it can be all too easy to take too many DIY wedding projects, picking a few simple ones that you’ll enjoy doing and that make the most of skills that you already have can be a great way to save some money on your big day.
Here are five DIY wedding projects I attempted for my own wedding – I stuck with all but one of them!
1. Place Name Tags
The first of my DIY wedding projects was these very sweet name place tags.
They were cheap and easy to do and I think they look really lovely (although I am probably a bit biased!) The only thing we did find was that they were a little bit time-consuming to make.
I had one of the Bridesmaids help with these as she’s much craftier than I am and she did a much neater job! My florist provided the wax flowers pictured.
We used these Brown Kraft Tags (sold in 100’s) from Amazon (also available in white here) and this vintage stamp set (plus a black ink pad)- meaning this entire project cost very little, around a fiver at the time of posting.
I’ve even seen the stamp sets in Poundland which would make the whole thing even cheaper again. If you have any tags left over they could be used on gifts later on in the year for birthdays or Christmas.
Full tutorial on how I made them here.
Related post – Can you guess where I bought my bridesmaid’s dresses for just £22.50 each?
2. DIY Sweet Table
The second of my DIY wedding projects was a sweet table. Sweet tables do seem to be all the rage at the moment and if you don’t mind putting in a bit of effort creating your own could be much cheaper than hiring a company to do one for you. It can also be a much cheaper and easy alternative to have.
There are three main ways to go about getting sweets – the first is to buy them from the supermarket. While this may not be the most cost-effective way to go about it weight-wise if you’re on a tight budget and better at spending small amounts weekly they could easily be popped in the trolley with each weekly shop until there’s enough.
The second is to visit a Cash n Carry such as Costco or Bookers. Certain professions can apply for a card to access these wholesalers and the price means they are definitely worth taking a look at.
Thirdly both eBay, Amazon and Groupon all offer options for buying sweets, chocolates and candies in bulk. Be sure to check prices and the cost of delivery before buying to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
I actually created a Harry Potter Themed Sweet Table for our wedding because I’m a total Harry Potter nerd, but you could go with any theme you like – whether that be completely random or something that fits your day.
Themes for sweet tables could include:
- Retro Theme – This seems to be the most popular sweet table filled with classics such as Sherbet Lemons, Flying Saucers and lots of other sweets that many people may not have eaten since childhood. This is probably the easiest option as most sweets could easily be sourced from the supermarket.
- Candy Shop – Think Charlie and The Chocolate factory for this one – with brightly coloured swirling lolly pops, M&Ms, Skittles, Jelly Babies. The brighter the better!
- Colour Coded – If you want something a bit more subtle you could try having just one or two colours for a sweet table – with pink and white being the most obvious choice although pastels and all gold would also look amazing.
- Disney Themed – This one would probably take a fair bit of effort but if you’ve every been to Disneyworld you”ll have a good idea of all the different candies on offer. Think Mickey Shaped Rice Krispie treats, Goofies Gumballs and edible seaweed from the little mermaid.
You’ll also need to think about accessories such as bowls and jars – although I would think a lot family members would have ones you could borrow.
3. DIY Wedding Projects: Table Numbers
The third of my DIY wedding projects was the table plan. We didn’t actually have table numbers as such – just table names (weddings are funny things and people can get a bit offended if they don’t think the table the table they have been seated at is high enough up the pecking order!)
We chose a combination of songs and quotes that we loved, mostly from Disney, and simply printed them out on thick card and folded them.
They could also have gone in placeholders but we chose just to stand them up for a simple uncluttered look. The most expensive part of this was probably the printer ink.
But I did end up with a bespoke product which was exactly what we wanted.
If you’re looking for inspiration check out pinterest for loads of DIY table number ideas.
4. Homemade DIY Bouquets
The fourth of my DIY wedding projects was going to be homemade bouquets but I chickened out and let my florist do it instead! However, it is definitely something anyone can tackle at home – I just panicked a bit about my lack of floristry skills!
If you’ve ever watched ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ you’ll be familiar with the fact that the Groom is always shocked at the huge expense of the flowers for the wedding.
Wedding flowers certainly do not come cheap while florists are often more than justified in what they charge (they are extremely skilled small businesses after all) for some people this is just way out of the budget.
Making your own, particularly with artificial flowers could be the answer. While I did use a florist for my own wedding (she was a friend of a friend so I got a really good deal!) I still opted for artificial bouquets though for both myself and my four bridesmaids and I think there are lots of good reasons for doing so:
- For me, the biggest reasoning was my allergies – I suffer from severe Hayfever that in particular makes my eyes stream – so real flowers on our big day was a huge no-no for me.
- Artificial flowers won’t wilt or droop on the day – even if the weather is hot.
- Flowers that are out of season on your wedding date can be used.
- They make a lovely keepsake of the day and will keep forever
- You could even sell them on after the wedding if you’re keen to make your money back.
Silk, foam and other artificial flowers can be bought from The Range and Home Sense.
Fellow Money Blogger Emma Drew has a great post here about how she made her artificial wedding bouquets for under £25.
Related Post: 6 Fun Ideas For Budget Wedding Flowers
5. DIY Wedding Projects: Photo Booth
Number five of my DIY wedding projects. We also made our very own photo booth backdrop and just allowed our guests to take their photos and share them with us in a private Facebook group and WhatsApp chat.
- Gold Sequined Material – we used 3×3 meters so it might be worth searching out the exact amount you need
- We then draped and pinned the material over a clothes rack – although if you’re a regular car booter I’m sure you’ll have one anyway. Clothes pegs came in super handy for pinning.
- We then added a box of accessories – some of it was stuff I already had and then I bought these chalk quote boards to add some quotes from our favourite movies
Looking for more wedding-related content? Here are some of my best wedding posts.
Why I wish we’d spent more on our wedding
5 things that won’t actually save you money on your wedding
Why we chose an independent wedding celebrant
5 Simple ways to save money on your wedding without trying
Wedding Freebies! Including Disney Postcard
