The Good, Bad and Ugly of Wedding DIY

Wedding DIY is all the rage, and why not? When done right, DIY can make your wedding more affordable, can be lots of fun, and adds a personal touch to your day. But there is a downside to DIY. When done wrong, it can be ugly (literally). Here's a bit of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

By Chandra Fredrick of Oh Lovely Day

Have a clear focus of your wedding style and then choose a couple of things (like your programs or favors) to DIY.

Pick something you're good at or that is easy for you to accomplish so the DIY project doesn't turn into a nightmare. If you've never baked a cake, doing your own wedding cake probably is not a wise choice.

But the secrets don't end there! Here are three cardinal rules that, if followed, will keep you on the good side of wedding DIY:

DON'T take on too many DIY projects
DON'T wait until the week of the wedding to do them
DO recruit help if necessary

Very often a newly engaged bride-to-be gets so excited in her wedding planning that she takes on way too many DIY projects all at once. She buys supplies, spends money on all of her planned projects, and then gets busy and waits until the last minute (breaking cardinal rule #2 -- a major no no). What she's left with is a lot of stress, scrapped DIY projects she doesn't have time to do, and wasted money spent on materials that were never used.

Pick one, two, or only a few wedding elements to DIY. Think small: guest books, programs, favors, or signs to avoid getting overwhelmed. Wait until you have a clear vision of your wedding before you decide on and begin any DIY projects, and do not make any purchases until your vision is set. Enlist help, plan ahead, start early, and take deep breaths.

When a non-crafty bride suddenly wants to unleash her inner Martha Stewart it is often easy for her to forget she doesn't own a glue gun, let alone know what a cricut is. A lack of the DIY gene can often leave your DIY projects looking cheap and ugly. And thinking that you're suddenly a professional cake maker or florist is not going to make you one. Some wedding elements are better left to professionals.

Tis better to never DIY than to DIY ugly, I say! What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.