Not only can it help to save significant cash within your wedding budget, but incorporating some DIY elements into your big day can also add a personal touch to your nuptials and make it more memorable for your guests. According to Bridebook's wedding report, 28 percent of couples had a DIY-inspired wedding theme in 2019, with decorations and stationery the most common elements of the big day to have the DIY treatment. Planning to follow suit? We asked Keziah Wildsmith, event designer and owner at Heaps + Stacks, to share her top tips on how to create the wedding of your dreams on a budget, and what you should consider before getting started.
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Avoid anything too common on Pinterest
"There's a million naff thing floating around on Pinterest when you type in 'wedding', so first things first you need to solemnly swear you won't do the easy thing and accidentally becoming a basic bride like all the rest. This means that if you were thinking about saving your granny's jam jars for weeks on end and adorning with gingham ribbon for your tea lights, please have a firm word with yourself – you are much better than this! Weddings do not need to be vintage/twee/make-do-and-mend or anything else outdated and subordinate. Weddings need to be a big bang celebration of love, a day to revel in your romantic smugness, illustrated through brilliant creative touchpoints, over the course of a day."
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On The Table
"Kicking off with the most important bit - the tablescape. There are so, so many things you can do here to create a wow and save cash in the running. I would always start with a high-grade candle in a Farrow and Ball-esque shade, at Heaps + Stacks we always go for the Ester and Erik candles which last for hours and are very long and tapered so give an elegant height to any table. For placement cards we suggest writing your guests names onto the skin of a tambourine so they can jingle-in at the good part in the speeches!"
Ester and Erik pair of long tapered dining candles, £8.95, Trouva
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"For extra dressing (look and feel dependent) spray paint is a fun and easy way to make your mismatched candlesticks suddenly match your theme, or by using gold spray you can upcycle oyster shells and create salt and pepper pots to run down the table."
Rethink your wedding flowers
"Flowers (despite being often delightful) can be where your hard-earned cash goes to die! At my wedding last year we used potted kumquat trees with mini kumquats in various sizes up and down the table which looked really beautiful but also worked as a great thank you gift for friends and family afterwards (and made for a perfect snack for the drunk guests who were harvesting their own and eating!).
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"Another really beautiful arrangement - which doesn't require an actual florist - is using dried cotton stems. We used them in a tablescape and it was VERY easy, just plonk and place in nice vase and away you go - but they look very striking and still bridal in their own way, and the best bit is they are dried so they can continue to look good long after the big day itself."
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Get interactive
"It's all very well having a band and nice canapes and a photo booth, but people have grown accustomed to getting something a bit more WOW. For the reception we suggest having a few interactive stations to prompt photo moments and to kick off the fun feels. One that always works well at weddings is The Petal Parlour which is a 100% sustainable beauty station where wedding guests can be adorned all over with beautiful petals. Simply approach the Hollywood mirrors which are overgrown with lovely plants and a make-up artists will apply flowers to your guests faces, backs (if on show) and even nails!"
Get more inspiration and see how you could work with Keziah and her team at @heaps_stacks or email info@heaps-stacks.com.
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