We made our own centerpieces with things we found at a craft store. Since it was outside we had rocks and sea glass in little bowls and candles floating on top. They were really cute and cheap.

We also used some pretty fabric to decorate the alter and it's now in my bedroom. We hung it decoratively and had roses wound in with it to make a really earthy pretty altar.

our wedding was compltely DIY. We shopped for the food, hired people to cook and serve it, my Mom made my wedding gown and the flower girl dress, I did the boquets, corsages, boutinieers (sp), centerpieces and friends helped do all the decorating in the reception hall, which was a historic building in the town we lived in at the time. Oh we even did our own ceremony music, made a cd of it, hooked the player up to the church's sound system and had someone turn it on and off at the right times, and our reception music was a gift from a family friend who is a DJ - he didn't charge us to dj our reception but we of course paid him something anyway. it's amazing the things you can do yourself, or if you know people, and still have a beautiful, formal wedding.

i was a banquet server at a fairly nice hotel for two years in college and saw some amazing weddings (and some horrible weddings lmao) but the one that stands out in my mind was a fall wedding where they filled our hurricane centerpieces with apples, brought in handmade seat covers the groom's mother had made, and gave each guest a caramel apple made by the bride and her mom. it was so cool it made me want a fall wedding lol. they also made their own seating cards. another cool one was where instead of buying one big wedding cake the bride, her mom, and her grandma made a tiny one for each table and a two tier one for the head table. i thought that was really clever and a lot less expensive!!! there was also a couple who were school alums (the hotel i worked at was on a college campus) who put together their centerpieces with "little known facts" relating to their relationship and the school at each table. even the servers went around before the people came in to read them all!!!

I did my own invitations, programs, wedding flowers, photo guest book and grooms cake for our wedding. I loved them all and had fun doing them!
The only way to get exactly what you want is to do it yourself. My invitations were so awesome! They were a pain and took a long time to make but I know no amount of money could have bought them the way I made them

We had a really low-key wedding in Santa Barbara and it couldn't have been more perfect for us. I did our save-the-dates, invitations, and bought fresh lavender at Farmer's Market to assemble our centerpieces. We went shopping at Whole Foods to buy everything we needed for our hordourves. Instead of a DJ, we used our Mac for the music by creating a playlist on ITunes. All we needed to get was an amplifier. We asked my husband's little brother to oversee the music and he was just thrilled! We were lucky to know several people who could not only lend their services to our wedding, but make it more personal and affordable as well. A family friend who is an ordained minister married us and a close friend is a professional photographer and he shot our wedding. Family and friends helped with the setup and breakdown of the tables and chairs. My husband's brother and uncle really stepped up and pretty much managed the wedding day, which helped tremendously and meant alot. It can be done, it just needs a little extra planning and willingness from others to help. It was perfect for us and even though I was exhausted, I wouldn't have done it any other way.

My best friends weddin was almost all DIY except for the food w/ the servers. I think the best part of it was that it was DIY because I became fast friends w/ her sister over great bonding moments as making the cake and the flowers.

I bought (all different) orchid plants and made bouquets for all the female guests (10 of us).

Now when the plants bloom, I remember the woman who had its flowers. In fact some of my bouquet's plants are about to open flowers.

Plus, it was so much cheaper buying plants from a wholesale nursery than buying cut orchids from a florist.

It helps when you only have 16 people at the wedding however...