DIY Wedding Planning

Thrifty DIY Wedding, Part One:
​Wedding Planning

As much as I would have loved to hire a wedding planner to cover all the details, Patrick and I always wanted to do the wedding ourselves.  We wanted full control of the celebration, what we would do, and save money while doing it.  The food, the location, the entertainment.  We also didn't want to worry about following the normal wedding traditions, because that's not really our style. 

However, there was no way I was going to be able to do it on my own.  Patrick was working long hours and wouldn't be available for most of the planning.  This meant I could to make it happen with my girlfriends!  Time to get hella-girly!  Plus, with adulthood/mommyhood, I rarely got to see them so this was some fantastic bonding time.

If you are determined to make a DIY Wedding happen, I highly recommend having your friends help you out, no matter how crafty/resourceful you think you are.  They are your support throughout the whole process - especially during the days before the event, when you're having a breakdown and wish you had never planned the whole thing in the first place.  They are there to walk you through everything and make sure you keep your head. I love my girls; this DIY Wedding would have never happened without them.

Brainstorming

I asked five of my closest friends to be my bridesmaids, and my sister to be my Maid of Honor =Total of seven people making this wedding happen.
The majority of the brainstorming happened online via Pinterest.  I created a secret board on my account and invited them to be able to pin on there as well.   I knew I wanted to have the theme to be inspired by the Disney Pixar movie, UP, because I loved the fun, vintage feel of the film.  I didn't have an exact plan for what I wanted so the brainstorming with the girls really helped me out. 

Delegating

My sister and I are big on organization.  However, I am super scatter-brained when it comes to my own personal projects (let's just chalk it up to the artist in me).  Thanks goodness for my sister!  She offered to keep everything organized for me, which helped out my stress levels tremendously!

I decided to delegate the important stuff to each person:
Food and Snacks
Beverages
Gifts Table and Wedding Favors
Table Settings and Décor
Invitations, RSVP list, Thank You Cards
Entertainment and Games

I gave everyone deadlines for the items on their list.  Shopping is incredibly time-consuming, which is why delegating was the best decision that could have been made for the wedding planning.  I trusted each one of the girls to look for affordable items that matched the theme of the event.  All I asked was that they kept the receipts so that I could pay them back.

Execution

Each of us needed to make sure our checklist was packed and ready in our cars on our way to the event.  We were all responsible for our own lists for the set-up and clean-up. If any of us were finished early, we would help the others finish up. 

It turned out to be a fantastic day with our closest family and friends and I can't wait to share it all!  Stay tuned for all the details of a very Cozy Reverie DIY Wedding!