diy or hire designer?

I am making decor for the wedding. If you have tons of free time, and many months out it is easier to do them yourself.

But hire someone to set it all up. And make sure you have things boxed w/list of all items( copy of the list so you can check off what may be missing after) as well as a pix to help them see YOUR vision of how tables are to be set up, and where they go: table 2, head table, gift table...

Our theme is "Harry Potter" so it's been easier to buy online( helllllo Amazon prime, Wish- beware huge shipping costs!, eBay, etsy & a few big chain stores!) than hire someone. Plus we, my mom & I, are hand painting many items.
Animals for "Care of Magical Creatures"- little bridal party peeps can take them if they want- in the 4 house colours, boxes for cuff links & pins for GM, and pins for BM, Groomsmen proposal boxes, and my mom is the Egyptian one- son is the Reaper( his gamer tag), cigar boxes that will be mini tuxes for Grooms Guys...

I hired a designer and at the time didn't know these existed, but I'm so glad she was recommended and it was dollars well spent for peace of mind. I gave her my vision of clean lines, no gigantic centerpieces and my colors and it was perfect. We didn't have to lift a finger on decor for setup not breakdown or worry what to do with decor we would never use again. As far as was it in the budget...yes, I used the dollars saved from diying my invitations.

Lots of us here are doing DIY decor. I’m keeping mine simple with candles and rose petals/leaves for my centerpieces and a few other DIY decor elements for the space, but I’m also having a rental company hang string lights and having my DOC set everything up the day of so I don’t have to work or have my family and friends work on the day of.

I was my own designer for all decor and vision but I hire vendors to do this. I had a flower designer that we went thru the different centerpieces and arrangement. She also creates a few other pieces that added to the decor. I also had a candle vendor that did an amazing decor all along the venue with candles and finally my wedding coordinator that put all the pieces together like signs, napkins and so on. You don’t need a designer to do the decor layout if you have ideas because it can get expensive since most likely they don’t do things themselves. If you want to decorate and make DIY pieces then I recommend not real flowers. You do not want to spend the last 3 days working on centerpieces because it would be stressful. If you do all the decor then go ahead and have a day off coordinator do the set up for you that day so you don’t stress out.

I am doing a lot of diy for my wedding to cut down on my budget. For example my centerpieces I will do one (so my help know how I want it) and hand it over to my mother so she can do the rest so I can work on other things which will also cut down on my stress

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the input. Your items are very nice thanks for sharing pics. Whose doing you setup and breakdown? Also, what do you plan to do with all the decorations after? Things i wonder about for myself.

View Quoted Comment So, you feel you saved money going directly to the vendors?

View Quoted Comment What are your colors and what are you doing for centerpieces... May I ask?

View Quoted Comment My colors are royal red, blue, and grey. My centerpieces will be big crowns since my wedding theme is Royal Wedding

View Quoted Comment No I probably didn’t but I saved myself a lot of stress, worries, sleepless nights and breakouts. I planned my engagement party and of course I did all the decor, flower centerpieces myself which were just roses and god was I stress. I woke up the next day full blown up face breakout around my mouth. Couldn’t talk, eat, sleep. It was awful. Of course my centerpieces for the wedding were a bit more elaborated and not possible for me to do either so I went the simple route. I did look for a lot of florist and options and prices until I found what I was comfortable paying. It was worth it for my piece of mind.

View Quoted Comment Welcome. The casino/resort is doing setup, and I need to double check break down.
I expect ALOT of decor will grow legs and walk away- and that's okay with some items. Any I don't want to find a new home is one a "No Touchy" table and or has a sticker on it saying "Thnx, I've got a home tho!". But, plan on any cute items being taken, floral centerpieces too( check w/florist if they charge for any vases that might be taken.)...
The items I want I will put back into their spots inny collection, or give back to people who've lent them to me. Some will be donated and some sold on eBay.

I made all of my own table signs and did the vases with candles for each table (and had my friends set that up) and my florist put greenery around them. I had her repurpose flowers from my ceremony on my sweetheart tables with a little greenery and a MR and Mrs sign and that along with my bouquet was plenty for that table. You don’t need to go overboard for things to look nice. Simple is sometimes better depending on the venue. I had a beachfront venue in Florida on the gulf so I didn’t want to distract from that too much. I also did all of my own signs and seating chart.

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These are all amazing Jennifer! Well done!!

View Quoted Comment Awhhh Thank you! They took soooo much time! Lol. I hope the recipients enjoy them!
Still have tons more to paint lol. Need to do a painting party: food, drinks( alcohol too!), music, "HP" movies playing, kitten cuddling... lol

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😍😍😍 That sounds like so much fun!!

View Quoted Comment Very nice! That looks great.

I made my own centerpieces. Super simple just mason jars and candles and sand. You can definitely Pinterest and Google some ideas and figuring out ways to do it can be fun

I’m like most of us are doing most if not all our own decor ideas. One it’s cheaper and plus you know what you want for you special day!!

We are doing almost all our decor ourselves. We are going a bit non traditional- ok a lot- with our decorations because we wanted to save money and we felt like what was already out there was boring and didn’t represent us as a couple. We started about three months ago really getting projects started and are adding finishing touches now with our wedding just four weeks away. There are tons of great ideas on Pinterest and awesome how to videos on YouTube- both of which have room for your individual twists. Dollar tree and Michaels will become your best friends. Join Michaels rewards program to save some money and use your 40% off one item coupon from their website every time you go in. There is going to be a lot of trial and error... lots of error... but that’s ok. What you’ll end up with is something personal, fun, and an awesome piece of you on your special day.

I think as long as you narrow your design/style/theme down and not overdo it DIYing is very doable and you can save tons of money.