Is anyone else's wedding completely DIY?

If complete DIY includes diying your food, don't do it. You can DIY pretty much everything else, but get a caterer to bring food and to supply stuff to keep it at a safe temperature. You don't want to deal with food poisoning at your wedding.

No need to repeat wife.

We're all the same here: future wedding participants. Men, women and in between. Gay, straight, monogamous and polyamorous. Use whatever terms you're comfortable with. You'll find no judgment here.

And welcome.

What Zoe said. :-) welcome to WW!

Congrats and welcome to WW @Kylene!! Make sure to upload a picture for your avatar (instead of the default icons) so that we can get to know you and tell you apart from all the other posters. Also, you'll get more responses with a different picture, because the default icons can be associated with spammers/trolls You can do this on desktop or a mobile browser (just not on the app) under My Settings and Profile and Privacy Settings.

There was an awesome thread on budget tips the other day, hope this is helpful!

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/budget-brides-whats-been-your-greatest-deal-yet/80e99404efedd1e6.html

First let me say congratulations. My husband and I did everything ourselves, except the food, cake, music and photography. We paid for everything out of our own pockets but we also had our parents help as well. For starters we didn't set a budget but everything that we are having cost less then what we were expecting to pay. Since your wedding is next June, sacrifice is the name of the game. Get all of your ideas down on paper and then decide what's important for you and your wife. Google was my best friend, because it allowed me to compare prices and get a good deal. For instance, I'm renting my table linens, chair covers and chair sashes and the company is giving me the chairs for free. We are also doing a Candy Buffet. The jars I got from different boutiques for a really good price. I'm in church so that's one fee I don't have to worry about b/c my pastor is doing the ceremony. What would really help you out on cost, is seeing if you can have your Ceromony at a family or friends house, that would cut out having to place for a location. Hotels are a great place as well, because you can do both there and they have good packages. Just research and make notes and everything will fall in place.

Clearly I give the worst advice ever....soooooooooo....I deleted my original post to save any poor soul that might actually follow my horrible recommendations. There are so many great suggestions and advice on this discussion, so I'm sure you'll have a wonderful wedding!

Please only listen to some of what Crystal said. Some of those points are good, but some are just terrible.

-DO NOT do a cash bar. It's rude and tacky to have your guests pay for anything ay your wedding.

-Please don't have a friend bake your cake. Salmonella, botulism, and food poisoning are real risks when it comes to food. Have it don't professionally, even with Safeway or Kroger or wherever.

-A friend officiating is cheap or free, but if they've never officiated a wedding before, how can you know they'll do a good job? Public speaking is tougher than people realize; you don't want your officiant stumbling over their words.

-For the love of god and all that you hold holy, DO NOT DO A HONEYMOON CASH REGISTRY! Yes, yelling that was necessary. Just make a small gift registry of things you need or want around the house out things you'd like to upgrade and your guests will get the hint. For crying out loud, please don't beg for money.

Oh Crystal, you are a wedding vendor giving the advice of doing a cash bar and honeyfund?

#downfallofsociety

@Consuela this is precisely why i had to make that 'whats the biggest etiquette fail suggested to you by a vendor?' thread earlier. yikes.

I can't help, because I didn't DIY much of anything lol.

But please change your avatar to something other than the rings! They are associated with spam/trolls so it will help you get more responses

I am doing most of my wedding DIY, including food. We are hiring someone to make sure the food is out and filled during our wedding and hiring a bartender (required by venue) but we are making things ahead of time and doing a very relaxed reception: good food, good people, good music.

I am working off a similar budget and it has taken a lot of time and connections but I have found a photographer I love for $800 and cupcakes for $1.15 a piece.

I know a lot and I mean a lot of brides on here try to tell you what you can not do at your wedding. Frankly I don't read these often because that frustrates me. I said it is your and your wife's wedding, do what makes you happy. Your friends and family SHOULD understand.

Caitlin, we're not telling anyone what they can and cannot do at their own weddings. We don't care that much. We're trying to tell people what they SHOULD and SHOULD NOT do at their weddings if they want to make sure everyone has a good and safe time. And that includes warning people away from self catering, like you're doing. It's a serious health hazard! ETA: My phone thinks "at" is spelled with a y.

I'm not a fan of the "find a friend with a decent camera and repay them for 'snapping pics' with the same treatment any wedding guest of yours would receive." When all is said and done, the photographs from your big day are going to be one of the few things left to help you look back on your wedding day. "Friendors" should be treated like any other vendor. They should have a contract, liability insurance, and references for you to call. They should be compensated just like any other vendor, and they also need to be a professional in the regards that they can't get carried away talking to their other friends or getting so caught up in the emotions of your big day that they forget to snap an important moment. Keep that in mind, and happy planning!

Crystal, I liked you for five minutes, but that's over because this is some of the worst advice ever.

No cash bars,

No evites.

No friends with eyeliner.

No getting friends ordained. (and that is free, so it shows you know nothing about that...)

No friends with cameras.

Nothing that involves PVC piping.

You can do an absolutely great wedding for 20 people with 5000.00 and you won't have to make your friends work at the party.

I have to agree with Lindsay about photography. Hubby and I asked a family member to take photos at our wedding 35 years ago and he showed up without his camera saying that he forgot that we asked him! Since this was back in the dark ages before iPhones, we have zero photos from our wedding. My biggest regret. Which is why I am planning to hire a photographer for our anniversary party/ vow renewal this summer and cut corners elsewhere.

For our original wedding we had the ceremony at a local park (without renting chairs because we didn't know any better) then held the reception at a local Polish hall. We did self cater but purchased the food from Gordon Food service and two of my sisters-in-law took care of setting up the buffet and keeping everything cold. Our bar bill was the most expensive part of the wedding. And my dress was a white prom dress purchased at 90% off a few weeks before our wedding.

This time around we are using a Kiwanis camp near Lake Michigan. The ceremony will be in the outdoor amphitheater with benches so no need to set up chairs. If the weather is nice, we will set up the camps tables and chairs on the lawn outside of the main hall (with restrooms and kitchen) and renting a dance floor or doing the whole thing inside if there is rain. We will purchase wine and bottled beer as well as soda, tea, and lemonade for the reception. Since the ceremony will be at 7:00 on a Monday evening we will be having a dessert buffet rather than a full meal and word the invitation to indicate that. We'll be playing my Spotify playlist through my son's sound system instead of hiring musicians or a DJ..

And I have to disagree with the whole just have twenty guests if you're broke advice because some of us exceed that number with just our siblings and their spouses. My husband is one of 13 kids!

Lots of differences of opinion here! Lol Only you know what works for you, your FW, and friends and family. "Those who matter won't mind and those who mind don't matter."

Mines totally DIY. We are getting married on a boat in the lake so there are only 8 "guests". Us, our kids, the photographer and our officiant, who is also my moh. We are having her ordained just for this. For lunch before we will go to a BBQ buffet and after we will come back to my house and meet my parents for champagne and cupcakes

I cringed so hard the I almost fell out of my chair at 3 things Crystal wrote ... cash bar, get a friend ordained, and have a friend take pictures. Don't make your friends open their wallets at your wedding or work for their dinner! You don't have to do a full bar - just do wine and beer - but don't make your guests pay for it. We hired an experienced, professional officiant for $200 - worth every penny! As for the photographer - after it's all said and done, all you have left are the memories in your head and the pictures! At the least, check with local colleges for a photography student for hire.

Things I do agree with - you can do your own music with a playlist (we did) but if you are having a big wedding with introductions and announcements then you have to figure out how to get that done. Also, you can definitely go less expensive on cake - small tier for show and cut slices from a sheet cake.

Kylene - one important piece of information for us ... how many guests are you planning for?

Also - please dont "assign" your family members a color to wear.

OMG I missed that part about assigning your guests colors to wear. Your guests are not props!