My DIY Wedding

My Budget-Friendly August Wedding

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On August 5th, 2018 my fiancé and I finally tied the knot! The weather was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! Keep reading to see how I pulled off this completely DIY wedding in less than six months, all while staying on a strict budget!

Before we begin, I want to talk about our engagement timeline. We got engaged in early February 2018 and immediately booked the venue (who was also the caterer), the photographer, the florist, and the DJ. We decided these were the vendors that provided a service we couldn't do ourselves, so we created our budget around the vendors' prices. Because August is technically the off-season for weddings and we got married on a Sunday, we were able to save a lot of money on vendor costs without compromising on the quality. Also, we received significant discounts from several of our vendors because we discovered them at our local bridal show, which can be a great resource and a fun experience for brides and grooms to be!

The Website

I created a wedding website using a free template from TheKnot.com which turned out amazing! I loved that it provided an easy and eco-friendly way for our guests to RSVP, and the website made it super easy to keep track of everything I needed to do. Plus there are tons of designs to choose from and its completely customizable! Our website, for example, is shown above with a photo from our engagement shoot that was included in our wedding package from Bloom Portraiture!

The Stationary

I made all of our wedding stationary using my Cricut and materials I got on sale at Michaels and Joann. It took a lot of practice runs to get everything to look how I wanted and I definitely could have focused more on the details if I had more time, but overall I'm really happy with how our invitations came out.

The Venue

Our venue was Butte Creek Country Club in Chico, CA, which is a beautiful facility with an expansive outdoor space and all the necessary indoor accommodations you could ever need, including an event coordinator, bridal suite, private bathrooms for your guests, a full bar, large hardwood dance floor, etc. They handled all the set up and breakdown of chairs, tables, and table settings so we didn't have to worry about cleanup at the end of the night.

The Food

We worked closely with the chef and event coordinator at our venue to create a meal that would be both delicious and affordable. The chef was willing to create a special buffet combination for our wedding that had everything we wanted but still saved us a ton of money per guest! Everyone loved that we put our own personal touches into the meal and it was definitely worth it to work with the venue.

The Photographer

Our photographer was the amazing Wendy from Bloom Portraiture. She is such a sweet person and an incredible photographer and we were so lucky to find her. She's very easy to work with and was able to fit every shot I asked for into our tight schedule, all for a very affordable price tag. We were able to save over 40% off of a 6 hour package by entering Wendy's raffle at our local bridal show, so be sure to do your research about events happening near you!

The Florist

I met with more florists than any other vendor, and finally settled on Chico Florist. They were very patient with my ever-changing color scheme and were able to meet every request I had. I wanted big blooms on a tiny budget, and Krista blew me away with her beautiful selection of flowers and greenery! The vibrancy and freshness of the flowers in our bouquets speak for themselves, and I could not have been happier.

The DJ

Your DJ can really make or break the flow of your wedding day, and we were so lucky to work with Chris from The Wedding DJ Company. Chris was the glue that held our wedding day together, and we were so pleased with everything he did. He worked closely with us to create the perfect collection of songs for our big day. He also provided a comprehensive music planner that gave us the opportunity to choose all of the important songs from walking down the aisle to cutting the cake. We were able to save even more by choosing a ceremony and rehearsal package deal!

The Centerpieces

Ah, the centerpieces! I had been collecting old bottles at thrift and antique stores during our engagement, which I clustered together in the center of the table. The wood rounds were rented from our florist for only 50 cents a piece. When the spring flowers went on clearance at Michaels and Joann I snagged as many bundles as I could for as little as $1 each. The geometric votive holders I found at the dollar store and spray painted them gold. The table numbers were $1 a piece at Michaels and I added the vinyl numbers using my Cricut. Overall, I spent less than $10 per table, including the cute lace plate chargers!

The Cake

My sister's gift to us was this incredible naked wedding cake. She has years of baking experience and practiced for months before the wedding to make sure it was just right. Each tier was a different flavor and everything was homemade, down to the frosting. She saved us hundreds of dollars on a professional baker, and our guests were blown away by the variety of flavors and polished look of our cake.

The Hair and Makeup

My bridesmaids and I did each other's hair and makeup and I'm so glad I decided not to spend money on it. I did end up splurging for eyelash extensions because I have notoriously short eyelashes. On my big day I made sure to leave enough time to do my own hair and makeup using products from my everyday routine and some new ones I picked up at Sephora's semi annual sale. My entire beauty budget was $200 (including the eyelash extensions) and I was able to create exactly the look I was going for!

The Rings

We bought our rings from a local jeweler during one of their bridal sales and ended up getting a really great deal on all three of them. We also opted for lab-grown diamonds for my rings because they are significantly cheaper than natural diamonds but just as durable and beautiful. We ended up spending less than half of what most couples spend, and I couldn't be happier with my rings!

After I added all of our expenses together, we did end up going over our original wedding budget a little bit, but we saved a huge amount of money by doing a lot of it ourselves and only splurging for the really important things. Hopefully this helped give you an idea of ways to save for your own wedding! Happy planning!