Absolutely Alicia
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12 Affordable and Creative Wedding DIY’s for a Memorable Wedding

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We all know wedding’s aren’t cheap. The cost of the venue, your wedding attire, floral arrangements, and everything else altogether, can be overwhelming.

Cost of decorations alone can be overwhelming whether you rent them through a rental company or buy your own decor. It all adds up.

The best way you can save money on wedding decorations is to DIY them! You heard me! Do it yourself!

Most of my wedding decorations were DIY’d because my husband and I wanted to stay within our wedding budget and being the DIY person that I am, I just had to. Pinterest definitely inspired me to create these DIY projects for our special day so I could create the wedding of my dreams! Our wedding theme was something along the lines of a Garden Fairytale and our wedding was everything I had envisioned it to be.

Now, you might be thinking, “I’m not a DIY person”. Don’t worry, because the projects I’m about to list can be done by anyone whether you are crafty or not! Did I mention they’re affordable too?

I’ll be listing each DIY project with the step-by-step process of how to put them all together, along with what materials I used. So keep reading!

1. Invitation Wax Seals

Wax seals are perfect for sealing your wedding invitations or save-the-date invitations! They’ll make your invitations look extra fancy and are so simple and easy to make. It’ll look as if you put lots of effort into it!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

First, set-up your parchment paper and heat up your hot glue gun with the gold wax stick inside. Squeeze out about a quarter size of wax onto the parchment paper.

Next, you’ll want to cool your Wax Seal Stamp in the cup of ice. Do this for about 15-20 seconds. This helps prevent any of the wax from sticking onto to the wax seal stamp.

Once the wax seal stamp is cooled, wipe off any excess water onto a towel and stamp the hot, quarter-sized wax on the parchment paper. Wait 20-30 seconds for the wax to fully cool, then peel it off of the parchment paper and move it off to the side to leave room to make more. Repeat the same steps until you create the amount of wax seals needed.

When your invitations are in the envelopes and are ready to be sealed, put some of the hot glue on the outside of the envelope flap and press the pre-made wax seal on top of the hot glue to seal the envelope. You can also use super glue to glue the wax seals onto the envelope but I found it doesn’t work as well.

It only cost about $21 to make around 60 wax seals! If you are more of a visual person, here’s a video I found on YouTube that helped me learn how to make these!

2. Calligraphy Hanger

Calligraphy hangers look beautiful in photos if you want a cute hanger included with your wedding dress!

When I did some research on Etsy to see how much a customized hanger would cost it was way over my budget! So, I decided to make my own and some for my bridesmaids as well.

Don’t worry if you aren’t good at calligraphy because you don’t need any calligraphy skills to create this!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

First, you’ll want to print out the font and words you want to put on the hanger. I made my design off of Canva and chose the font “Playlist Script”. You can choose any word or name to put on your hanger. For mine, I wanted the hanger to say “bride” in lowercase letters with my wedding date underneath.

After I decided on the font and words I wanted, I printed them out on regular printer paper. Once you have it printed, cut a rectangle around the whole word, leaving some room around the letters.

When you’re done cutting the word out, scribble your pencil on the back of the paper directly behind the word. Make sure you scribble in all the areas where the letters and numbers are.

Place the word where you want it to be on the hanger. Take a pencil and trace each letter and number onto the paper, then shade in the letters. Remember, you are tracing and shading with a pencil ONLY on the paper, NOT the hanger itself.

After you’ve traced and filled in each letter and number, remove the paper. There should be a faint stencil that you created on the hanger. Use a black acrylic paint marker to write and shade in the letters and numbers that have just been transferred onto the hanger.

If there is any visible pencil markings on the hanger, just use an eraser to erase them. The ink shouldn’t come off if you used an acrylic paint marker.

There you have it! A beautiful bridal hanger for your wedding day. It only cost me about $3 to make one hanger! Here is a video that helped me learn how to create this beautiful hanger. The video may be helpful for those who find the written instructions hard to follow.

3. Sequin Bridal Shoes

I had the biggest trouble finding cute and affordable bridal heels. I searched everywhere: Amazon, David’s Bridal, DSW, you name it! It was either I couldn’t find a style I liked or the ones that I did like were over $80.

So, I decided, why not DIY them?

I wanted white, satin, strappy, block heels with chunky sequins to match my wedding hairpiece and earrings. Believe it or not, I made these bridal heels for only $62

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

These sequin bridal heels are fairly easy to make, trust me.

To start off, measure the strap that goes over your toes with your sequin belt. This will help you determine how much to cut off. You can just lay the belt over the toe strap and cut the belt at wherever the strap ends.

Once the sequin belt is cut at the desired length, apply E6000 glue onto the back of the sequin belt and press it onto the shoe strap. Press it down for about 10 seconds and then let it sit. Allow the glue to dry and avoid touching it for an hour or so, as this might mess up the drying process.

When the glue is fully dried, you can finally style your bridal shoes with your wedding dress!

Here’s a video that helped me create my beautiful bridal shoes.

4. Backless Frame Collage

A backless frame collage is perfect for any wedding theme. You can adjust it to your liking by changing up the style of the frame or adding greenery or florals to it to suit a garden themed wedding like I did.

This project is also very easy to make and doesn’t need a lot of materials to make it! I loved this project so much that I made two: one for my table seating chart and one as a photo collage to display photos of my husband and I during our years of dating.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

  • Clothespins
  • Wooden Backless Frame
  • Twine
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Clear Wax Sticks
  • White Cardstock Paper (only for making table seating chart)
  • Table Number Template Design (you can use Etsy or Canva)
  • Printed Photos (only if you are making a photo collage)
  • 1 Fake Greenery Garland (optional)

Here’s How to Make It:

First, start off by determining how many rows of twine you need. For my table seating chart, I needed 4 rows in order for me to fit all 15 tables.

Once you figure out how many rows of twine you need, lay the backless frame on the ground. Lay your twine on the back of the frame and cut the twine according to how wide your frame is.

After you finish cutting the amount of twine you need, heat up your hot glue gun and hot glue the ends of the twine onto the back sides of the frame.

When all the twine is fully dried onto the back of the frame, apply the amount of needed clothespins to each line of twine.

I created my table number design off of a template I found on Etsy. Once you create your design, print it out on Cardstock paper. I printed each table number at a size 5×7 but cut it a little smaller in order for the frame to fit all the table numbers.

After your table numbers are all printed and cut, clip them to each clothespin and you’re done! If you want, you can add some greenery by wrapping it around the frame and hot gluing it in place. This project cost me around $60-$65 per frame collage!

5. Framed Wedding Signs

These framed wedding signs are perfect for if you want super simple wedding signs without breaking the bank. I know depending on what type of wedding sign you want, wedding signs can typically cost anywhere from $10-$30 per sign.

I wanted signs that were very simple yet elegant so I made these framed printed signs using Etsy templates! This project cost me around $35 for 5 frames (I didn’t get to take a picture of my fifth frame here).

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

For this project, the Etsy templates are what does all the work for you, meaning you don’t have to do much unless you want to change up any words or designs in the template.

First you’ll have to purchase an Etsy template according to the type of sign you want (guestbook, gifts & cards, photo booth, wedding favors, etc.) or you can make your own on Canva.

After purchasing and downloading the template you want, customize the text, font or colors to your liking and print it out on either printer paper or Cardstock paper. I used printer paper and it turned out fine!

Print your template according to the size of your frames. My frames were 8×10 so I made sure to print my design according to that size so it’ll fit correctly.

Once the design is printed, cut the edges so no white parts are showing and place it in your frame as if you were putting a picture in it. And that’s it! Pretty simple, huh?

Etsy templates literally saved me so much time on this project and are 100% worth the purchase!

6. Succulent Wedding Favors & Mini Signs

For my wedding, I wanted to give my guests something that’d be memorable and useful. I knew succulents were different from usual wedding favors and would definitely be something that my guests would remember. Plus, I absolutely LOVE succulents and they went with our garden-themed wedding.

Succulents don’t require a lot of maintenance either so I figured it’d be easy for my guests to take care of.

Although, I have to say that these were very time consuming to clean and wrap so definitely grab some people to help you with this one.

This DIY is definitely for those who want succulents as wedding favors at an affordable price. The cheapest way to give succulents out as a wedding favor is to buy them in bulk!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

Make sure your succulents are clean. When I received my succulents, there was soil and dirt all over them. I had to dump excess soil out and spray the dirt off for them to look clean which took a lot of time. Definitely grab another person to help you with this whole project!

Once your succulents are clean, take each succulent and wrap each one in rustic craft stationary paper. The steps are difficult to explain in words so here’s a video that helps demonstrate how to wrap your succulents. If you are using rustic stationary paper, you can tape down each flap using double sided tape.

Once you’re done wrapping each succulent in stationary paper or burlap, cut some twine and wrap it around the succulent. Tie it into a bow.

When all the succulents are wrapped in twine, start creating your mini signs. These will be taped onto a wooden craft stick or toothpick and stuck into the soil of your succulent. I created my design on Canva using the font “Playlist Script” in font size 14.

Print and cut out all your mini signs and tape them onto the stick and stick it into the soil of your succulent and now you have your finished wedding favor! It cost around $220 to make 128 succulent favors.

I topped the favors off by purchasing a ladder shelf to place all of the favors on it. It added just the perfect touch!

7. Wedding Program


I’m gonna say this again…Etsy is a lifesaver when it comes to wedding templates. I made my wedding program through an Etsy template and I definitely do not regret it!

This project is easy but time consuming depending on how many programs you plan to print out. I had to print 110 wedding programs but it only cost me close to $6 to make all 110 of them so it’s definitely worth the money.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

Honestly, the steps to making your wedding program are pretty easy. Make sure you download your Etsy template first. Once you download it, change the layout, font, and design to your liking and print.

Print out the amount of programs you need and cut off any excess paper around the design of the program. Once that’s all done, fold your program in half or into a trifold (based on the design you have) and you’re done!

8. Ballgown Dress

Before & After Using a Petticoat

When I was dress shopping, it was so hard to find my dream wedding dress. I was looking for ballgown dresses but realized that many of the ones that had more volume, were more expensive and I couldn’t afford it. Eventually I found my dream dress, however, I still didn’t feel content with the volume. I just kind of accepted it and thought there wasn’t much to do about it so I went ahead and tailored my dress.

During the process of getting my dress tailored, my mom mentioned that if I wanted more volume, I could try a petticoat. I thought about it but thought it’d be a ridiculous idea. It’s funny because I came to realize that it was actually the best idea ever! I was able to make my dream dress come to life with just the simple use of a petticoat and it only cost me $13 to create the amount of volume I wanted!

If you are considering using a petticoat, I strictly advise you to purchase it BEFORE you tailor your dress! I say this because I bought my petticoat after I had already tailored my dress and it actually made the length of my dress a little shorter than I had liked it to be.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

The petticoat is pretty easy to adjust. There’s rings made of wire inside the petticoat that help add volume to your dress. Just adjust each ring to your liking and wear it under your dress to determine how much volume you want to add on.

9. Floral Hedge Backdrop

This DIY is an easy one but is time consuming. You will need another person to help you with this project for your safety as the hedge backdrop is heavy for one person to carry or hold up.

This is probably one of the cheapest hedge backdrops I could find after comparing prices with Amazon and Etsy. It cost me $230 to make the whole backdrop including the flowers I added.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

Make sure you order a pack of 24 panels. You can order a bigger bulk if you want a bigger backdrop but 24 panels worked perfect for us!

Leave yourself enough space to lay out all the panels. You want to make sure they are laid out in a 6×4 (4 rows and 6 columns). Once laid out, zip tie each sides of the panels to the sounding panels so they are all connected.

When you’re done zip tying all the panels together, zip tie the whole backdrop onto the backdrop stand (you’ll need help with this). After you finish securing the hedge backdrop onto the backdrop stand, zip tie your flowers onto the backdrop stand. I used white wisteria flowers for my backdrop.

Once all the above steps are done, you now have a beautiful floral hedge backdrop! This is perfect for guests to take photos with or if you want to use it as a backdrop behind your sweetheart table.

Here’s a video that helped me visualize how to put the whole backdrop together!

10. Polaroid Guest Book

I wanted a guest book that would be unique and memorable to my husband and I. We love capturing our love and special moments in photos and decided that it’d be a great idea to capture our loved ones in photos for our guest book!

This one is also a fairly easy wedding DIY although it may be time consuming depending on how many guests or groups of people will be attending your wedding.

Here’s What You Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

You can either pre-make your polaroid guestbook or you can have your guests take pictures at the wedding and put it into a basket/jar for you to put together in your guestbook after the wedding. Feel free to include as many photos as you want on each page depending on how big your guest book is. My guest book could only fit 2-3 photos on each page. Make sure to leave room for your guests to sign their name or write a short message for you!

To start, use an already printed polaroid photo taken from the instax camera. I already had one in an old photo album so I used it as a “template” to create and estimate where to place my photo holders.

Use your polaroid photo to measure and estimate where to place each corner of the photo holder. You can do 2 corner holders (one holder at the top and one at the bottom-diagonal from each other) or 4 (one holder for each corner). I used 4 (as pictured above) to keep the photos extra sturdy and in-place.

Once you’re all done stick all the photo corner holders on each page and you’re done. This project only cost me $30. Now you have a photo album to look back on to visually see who attended your wedding ^_^

11. Mercury Glass Pedestal Vase

I’m not gonna lie. This project was probably the most time consuming and pain in the butt but boy was it worth the money! I could not find any cheap mercury pedestal vases to save my life. The cheapest ones I could find were around $15+ and we needed 20 of them. I knew that we couldn’t afford 15 centerpiece vases for $300+ so I decided to DIY them.

I made 20 vases for $55! Grab your fiancé or a helper for this one! You’ll need all the help you can get!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

Start off by removing all sticker labels off of the bowls and candleholders (if any). Go ahead and glue the top of the candle holder to the bottom of the bowl. Make sure you are using glass glue to ensure that both items are sturdy and properly glued together.

Wait 24 hours for the glue to dry completely. Once dried, take the vases outside, layout some flat cardboard boxes on a flat surface and spray paint the outside and inside of the vase with the gold glass spray paint.

Let it sit for about 30 seconds and spray it with the half and half vinegar and water spray. Gently dab the excess paint/water vinegar solution with a paper towel to create that mercury glass effect. If the vase is too spotty or blotchy, spray more spray paint onto the vase.

Work on each vase before moving onto the next and repeat the same steps until all vases are completed. Allow them to dry overynight.

This video helped me create these pedestal vases and this video helped me create the beautiful mercury design if you need a more visual guide!

12. Wedding Table Numbers

This was the easiest and most effortless DIY project. All you really need is an Etsy table number template!

It cost me $12 for 20 table numbers (including the stands). The designs are so simple yet add so much color and life to the tables!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Here’s How to Make It:

Simply purchase a table number template off of Etsy. Adjust the design and font to your liking and print it out onto Cardstock paper. I printed my table numbers in a 5×7 size.

Once all your table numbers are printed, cut them all out. I purchased some gold table number holders to hold my table numbers in place.

I hope these DIY projects inspire you to get creative with your wedding and help you save money! They will definitely be memorable after the wedding as well and you’ll absolutely be thankful that you made them for your special day!

Don’t forget to save these ideas on Pinterest for future reference and share it with others!

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