r/DIYweddings

I went a little crazy making things for my wedding. In my defense, my grandma was going to help me with all the sewing and embroidery, but she passed away about a year before the wedding. So I used her machines and it really made it feel like she was there with me. I made 7 bracelets, 5 pairs of earrings, 2 headbands, 10 ties, 5 bridesmaids dresses, 1 ceremony gown, 1 reception dress, 95 embroidered napkins, 48 French beaded flowers, 179 flags for bunting, 5 embroidered tote bags, 5 scrunchies, and 1 veil. I also tailored my husband’s suit and hem all the men’s pants. My maid of honor and I thrifted all the glasses, and everything was either thrifted of hand made. The only thing we didn’t make were the entrées for dinner. We ordered those from California fish grill and made all the sides. We got the fresh flowers in bulk from a local farm and did all the arrangements as well. My dad and I even made the wine 2 years ago and have been aging it. I’m very proud of it and just wanted to share.

I cant believe it's over- what a weekend- what a year! 9.5 months from engagement to wedding- the ceremony was at our home, the reception at the park across the street. Initial Budget: 15k. End budget: 22k- I ended up calling in paid help for reception set up and photographer, a guitarist, etc. Wr also did 2 major home renovations to get ready for guests- and had over 200 people attend

Best Decision: hiring someone to do the flowers for the 25 reception tables! The tent was 3 hours late, and I never would have finished- as it was we missed some things

Worst decision: I could have scaled back on food, because the tent was late some of the decor didnt get up so waste of $ but not missed. We made our own candles for centerpieces- beautiful, but didnt light (wrong wick and HUGE mess in my kitchen!)

Biggest lesson- everything takes longer than you think. People want to help, but that also takes your time- it was a 2 day set up and 2 day tear down. Ill be organizing and packing and cleaning for another 2 weeks!

Best Surprises- I used Kruu for photobooth- LOVED it. Guest pix for photo loads from guests- so easy! I bought a spaghetti strap dress from Revelry and added sleeves and lace, turned out great for $250

Hey y’all! Looking for some creative ideas and brainstorming for our engagement party!

My fiancé grew up on a farm near the Appalachian foothills in rural East Tennessee, and we’re throwing a backyard engagement party there for his family who may not be able to travel to our South Carolina wedding. Party will be May ‘27.

His dad has a large beautiful cabin style home with a solid yard overlooking their still-functioning cow pastures just beyond the trees (cow sightings included yay 🐄), and he’s providing a 20x30 tent, tables and chairs, and the food. Estimating 30 or so people. Also to add, no specific budget as of now.

I’m going for a colorful, whimsical and eclectic vibe like the inspo pics I attached. I want something that feels magical and playful while fitting naturally into a Tennessee farm setting

So far I’m thinking colorful tent draping/streamers, mismatched patterns and textures, wildflowers, etc., but I’d LOVE DIY decor ideas or suggestions for tablescapes, lighting, tent decor, general ideas, or other little details that could bring it all together without feeling too cheesy. I love “camp” (the descriptive aesthetic term not the outdoor activity haha) aesthetics if that helps, but maybe slightly more understated?

I also attached photos of the actual backyard, following the inspo pics. Would love to hear what y’all would do with the space!

I posted a bit ago about my flowers arrangement and I’m back for more help. I fixed some things and now want to know what you think before I make my big order or flowers!!

we got married earlier this summer on a farm in Washington and I was probably too focused on doing everything the hard way lol, but in the end loved how it turned out! My favorite parts:

-over the past year I thrifted tons of fabrics and vintage handkerchiefs ($1 each at a nearby antique shop!) for making bunting. Husband and I sewed them all together over the course of 2 days. The more colorful ones ending up going around 90ft of the exterior of the tent and I sadly didn’t get a pic! The white ones were draped over the ceremony site

-my best friend and I painted all the signs to direct guests, we didn’t have much time so they aren’t masterpieces but I loved how they look anyway

- a years worth of thrifted glassware! I wish we had thought to put a sign telling people they could take theirs home because so many people didn’t realize they could keep it and left it behind. so we ended up with a ton of glasses in the end (but perk of that was that we got to keep the coolest ones and will use them for parties lol). But if I had to do it all again I would not suggest thrifting all the glassware, it would have been so much cheaper to rent and I realized about a month before the wedding that a nearby event rental company had mis-matched goblets for rent. By then it was too late cause I had already purchased about 100 glasses from goodwill. The glassware thrifting was kinda a big waste of money in the end. But looked cute haha!

-a friend offered to make the cake! It turned out SOOO delicious and she also made one little loaf cake for each table, as a simplified version of the centerpiece cake, so that one person from each table could come grab one for their whole table as opposed to every guest lining up for 1 slice each. It made things so much more streamlined.

-my mom’s side of the family is danish and we have all these old scandinavian straw stars that are typically used for christmas ornaments, but I put about 100 of them in the lower swooping branches of the pine trees that surrounded the dinner tables. They got all fluttery when it got breezier in the evening and looked so pretty :)

- I handpainted every table number, I honestly loooved making these (it was so calming to just sit and watercolor every evening in the week leading up to the wedding, such a great cool-down activity) and they looked so sweet on all the tables, but they all either blew away by the next morning or gotten thrown out by a well-meaning guest helping with clean up :( if I had had enough time I would have painted them on wood or given them some sort of heavy backing

-morning of the wedding I made flower crowns for my husband’s niece and nephew, who were the ring-bearer and the flowerboy. Turned out so cute, also got smooshed or lost by the end of the night haha. I also made a big one with a sunflower for my husband, which he wore during the ceremony and first dance, and it’s now hanging on our wall

Not DIY things but other sweet details I love:

-our friend who officiated dressed up like a wizard. We wanted him to dress a little goofy so that it would all feel less serious. His speech was so heartfelt but also so funny, and the wizard hat was a hit

- I was barefoot for the ceremony but had grabbed like 4 pairs of shoes when I realized I’d need something on my feet for portraits after the ceremony (out in a not-so-soft hay field) and threw on these red cowboy boots as a last minute decision. They totally made the whole outfit And were not at all part of the plan. Plus are thrifted! Also shout-out to the etsy seller who‘s dress I bought: RawRags

-Everyone left the dancefloor to go dance out in the meadow, and it was one of the best parts of the night. People were chasing each other and leaping/spinning around, it was so sweet. it also started drizzling a bit but it was fine cause we were all so hot from dancing and just went back under the tent to dance some more

Not pictured:

-our party favors (along with the take-home glassware) were little 2oz jars of wildflower honey. We tied them with a little piece of twine and lavender and put one at each table setting. They were pretty cheap and easily made to look more personal/cute with a little label and a bow! 10/10 suggest

-painted the seating chart on a big framed canvas my husband made, with nasturtium flowers painted around the edges! no picture of that either

-my mom thrifted a bunch of old tablecloths, also for super cheap from the nearby antique store, for all the dinner tables! our flower vases were also thrifted/mismatched so every table looked unique

-On the welcome table we had little cloth baggies of dry flower petals and dried whirly-birds from maple trees, as confetti for the ceremony. another thing I wished we had made a sign for because I think a lot of people thought they were just party favors and didn’t throw theirs lolol. But some people did and it looked great in photos at least!

I really loved our wedding, and had a really great time with the DIY aspects in the lead-up. Plus it gave me fun stuff to work on with my husband, and my best friend who stayed with us in the week leading up. Although, I definitely put wayyy too much effort and stress into tiny details that ended up not mattering at all in the end.

that’s all!

Foraged pine cones and teasels; added a lick of gold spray paint to the teasels, some faux berries and put it all together with a hot glue gun!

Edited for grammar and clarity:

The venue is a very beautiful Victoria house, usually a hotel. It will be very Christmassy and well decorated generally already!

I sought some quotes for wreaths for the table; it was in the ballpark of £1500-£2000 (completely understandable for the effort etc, but sadly not in my budget).

There would not be time in the morning for me to make fresh arrangements (off to the church for 12 and resident guests will be breakfasting until 9 in the same room).

The venue were happy to place pre prepared arrangements.

So here we are!

Really proud of how these came out! I repurposed some florals from a chaotic Facebook marketplace find and added these stunning orange hydrangeas to the mix, and they came out so perfect! These will be our aisle markers. I got the pots from Home Depot and I like them more than I expected to lol. Sorry the pics are dark, I was too excited to wait till morning for good pics lol