Why I am not DIY-ing my wedding: A crafter's confession

For those of you who don't know, I work in craft. I work in a craft store, and am continuously creating every day. I create wedding invitations, wedding decorations, table settings and more. I can use a staple gun, a hammer, a hot glue gun, and a drill with ease. I can also cover anything - I repeat, anything in glitter.

So why am I not DIY-ing my wedding? I've got five - five! - reasons for you.

1. The cost. I can hear you right now. But DIY-ing saves money! All the bridal magazines tell me so! This is certainly true for the savviest of savvy brides. But my brides who come into my store? They end up spending hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars on DIY projects that they intend to only cost them pennies. Let me level with you. It takes money, and skill to create an invitation that looks professionally printed. And that glitter-paper garland that you are going to string alllllll over the church? That's going to drain your budget fast. When you are budgeting for craft projects, you need to take into account

2. The time. Craft takes time. Anytime I do a craft project, I always underestimate how long it's going to take. Right when we first got engaged, I got a sweet idea for tiny little chalkboard save-the-dates to send out to everybody. Oh my goodness, they took a long time to make. I only made fifty of them, but by the time we finished (we being myself, Wade, my sisters and my mom) I never wanted to look at a stamp pad again. Until I went to work the next day and was faced with a wall of them. This is probably the biggest issue for me, so let me state it again: most DIY projects will take double the time that you estimate. 

3. Sometimes, it just doesn't look as good. I guess the biggest example I can think of is the trend of "glittering your wedding shoes" that seems to be peppering Pinterest with success stories. At my store, we have a huge selection of glitter in every color and consistency available to man. We also have bucketloads of Mod Podge - and that's basically all you need to make your gorgeous glittery shoes. Now, let me just say, that if I hadn't worked in a craft store, I would be totally tempted to glitter my own shoes, or even my bridesmaids' shoes. I mean, you can buy a pair of totally comfy plain shoes and make them fabulous!* Unfortunately, more times than I can count, the same brides who eagerly scoured our glitter racks for the perfect shade of silver returned a few days later with a monstrosity of claggy glittered clumps that are now permanently adhered to their shoes. I did a quick internet search to see if any other brides were having the same problems. Here's what I found:

Source: weddingbee

Source: Budget Fairytale

That's not to say that this craft doesn't ever work, only that you rarely hear about the times when it goes horribly wrong. So consider this a warning from me! Don't use expensive shoes! Also (from experience) make sure that your glitter to Mod Podge ratio is heavy on the glitter, and do more than one coat!

4. It might intrude on your Big Day. I was chatting to an acquaintance who DIY-ed her wedding, from the hand-embossed invitations down to the floral arrangements. On the morning of the wedding, she was at the location, ordering the groom and groomsmen up into the trees to string lanterns and ribbon garlands and whatever else she ended up having, then she had to rush to the farmer's market to pick up her flowers and then spend the rest of the morning not sipping mimosas and getting her makeup done, but making numerous bouquets and boutonnieres. During her photography session, she was getting phone calls from a friend who was having trouble setting up the centerpieces at the reception. DIY-ing can put a lot of the pressure on the wedding party and their families on the day - and who wants that stress?

5. Things never go to plan. One thing that I've learned from my mom's stories about her wedding is that things never go to plan. And they have a habit of falling apart on you right before the wedding. If you aren't as emotionally invested in your plans, it won't be as much of a tragedy when it doesn't work out. Also, if you have hired someone else to organize something for you, when it doesn't work out it is then their responsibility to fix it for you, or offer you compensation for not providing the service you paid for.

If you are DIY-ing your wedding, then I have nothing but the utmost respect for you! This post is simply to give an alternative perspective to the DIY Wedding culture that is all over Pinterest right now. Happy planning!

- H


*This is not to say that I won't end up DIY-ing some aspect of my shoes if that's what it comes down to. I've had no luck finding the perfect pair of shoes that match my blinging dress. While I almost certainly won't glitter, I may bedazzle a pair of shoes with rhinestones and E6000 glue, or glue a pretty brooch on them.