To DIY or not to DIY...That is the question

What details of your wedding can be crafted by yourself? The simple truth, is of course you can do anything. Add a bit of creativity, and a good amount of planning, and you'll find yourself able to accomplish just about anything I'm sure.

But there is a really good reason we hire people to do certain tasks. First and foremost, you have to consider that if you've done it all yourself, who will take care of laying everything out on your big day? If you've done it all yourself, will you have enough time in the last two days before your wedding to assemble all your floral centrepieces, bouquets and other fresh details? Lastly, if you (and your mom and your friends) have managed to do all the cooking for a very frugal and very tasty buffet, will you have enough places to refrigerate the food in advance of the big day? Will you be able to contribute any energy to this while you're doing your fresh florals? How will hot foods be reheated for your buffet reception? And finally - who's gonna do all them dishes?

The reality is that this is a time like none other you've probably ever had. It's time to delegate, and given how perfect we all want our wedding day to be, it's a time when it's probably better to delegate to someone who is a professional, who has some experience doing the task over and over again...and finally, someone who is going to dedicate their time leading up to your wedding in doing one or two tasks extremely well, rather than you and your friends/family stretching yourselves too thinly at the 11th hour.

But there are still some things that can be done on your own to save a couple bucks that will help you to stick to a tighter budget.

Things like your favours, your invitations, your photo guest book, or your slideshow. You can do your own makeup on your wedding day, and you can do your own manicure and pedicure the day before. You can print out your own place cards, your seating chart, or your menus and programs. With the technology available to us in the printers we have today, your only limitations are your imagination, and perhaps embossed or metallic print. You can host your own rehearsal dinner by throwing together a small bbq for your bridal party and your immediate family at your home. If you're trying to manage the things you splurge on, better to handle the manageable early tasks on your own as much as possible.

There are also tons of little project templates online that you can tap into. But most important of all, is that you should recognize where you need a hand, what you need a hand with, and what is best left to the professionals.

The places where you should never sway from using a professional are:

Catering
Photography
Videography
Planning
Florals
Decorators
Dress Making
Hair Stylist
Day of Coordination
Officiating - It's fine to have a special person conduct the ceremony, but (particularly in Ontario), you want to be sure that your ceremony is legally binding, and you need a certified officiant to file the necessary paperwork with the government to make that happen.

There are tons of ways to make these happen on a tighter budget, but you should always opt to delegate these tasks to the people who do it best. It will make you happier in the long run, and will increase your odds exponentially of having a fabulous, stress free experience.

Happy Planning!