How we DIYed our own wedding (and how you can do too) 😉 #BebEverAfter

Did you know that when we decided to get married, we don’t have any wedding fund allotted for it yet? All we have in the bank is our personal savings and emergency fund. What we just agreed on was to allot our spare money from our salary, bonuses as public school teacher and profit from all our side hustle in calligraphy, wedding coordination and printing business for the entire six months on securing all our suppliers.

We all dreamed of a grand, extravagant and perfect wedding, but when I started planning and coordinating different weddings, that’s when I found out that there’s no such thing. I slowly established the wedding that I want for myself, and that is something that should be practical, meaningful but will represent both our identity as couple. Nothing so expensive and unnecessary for a one day event. No one to impress but ourselves.

My wedding wasn’t extravagant. I married to an introvert guy who don’t like fancy stuff and grand program. While on the other hand, I’m this thrifty and practical partner. When we planned for our lives as husband and wife, we started to embrace the idea of minimalism. Simpler, the better and less complicated.

But with all the traditions, hype and trends in weddings nowadays it’s really hard to keep up. We originally wanted a 50-pax guest list but since it’s also hard to explain to our parents the kind of lifestyle we are about to live in, we extended it to 90 pax. Then others are non-negotiable. It’s just about compromising since we don’t want to have any conflicts with our own parents.

Some of you don’t have any idea how much it usually cost for a normal, generously executed wedding nowadays complete with the instagrammable same-day edit and tailored suits, wedding gowns, ranges from Php 200,000+ depending on the number of guests but for us we just spend half of that. (I still find it expensive though but decent enough that our guests didn’t feel that it’s actually a budgeted wedding 😂).

We decided to pull everything off in span of 6 months because I don’t wanna stress myself too much on planning and saving a lot of money then spending it on just one day. I told my fiancé then that we will stick and avail what we can afford from what we accumulated as a budget from January to June.

Here’s how we DIYed our own wedding last June 2019 and some hacks to lessen the cost:

Church

Before, my choices were: a retreat house in Tagaytay, a church in Zambales (where we had our first beach trip as a couple) and the Imus Cathedral but since we wanted it to be accessible to our family and guests we chose the closest church on our house. It made our preparation for wedding documents easier. It’s not as huge as the cathedral so decorating it wasn’t became our problem. It’s well-ventilated and decent enough to be filled by our guests.

Holy Trinity Parish, San Nicolas II Bacoor City

What to consider in choosing for church:

• Choose a church accessible to you and your guests when coming from your hotel and going to the reception area so you don’t need to spend on transportation services.
• Also consider how big and small the chapel so you can decorate it easily.
• Ask the church representative if the floral decorations, priest, music/ sound system, readers for the ceremony proper will be included on the church fee.

Reception venue

My sister owns a condo unit so we used their function hall as our venue for reception. We also rented an accommodation and stayed a night before until the day of the wedding for preparation.

Before and after picture of the venue:

Maricielo Villas, Pulang Lupa Las Piñas City

We also stayed here a night before (booked through AirBnb):

Practical hacks:

• Should be accessible on where you’ll stay for wedding preps and to the church.
• Choose a venue with enough space for wedding photo shoots before and after the wedding without additional cost.
• You may also ask them if they already have tie-up suppliers for lights and sounds and caterers so you don’t need to pay for corkage.
• Minimal/ No corkage fee for outside suppliers if you don’t prefer their own suppliers ( caterer, cake, lechon, liquor, lights and sounds, photo booth, etc)

Invitations 

Calligraphy and wax stamped by yours truly, lay-out and designed by my Beb, then printed on a watercolor paper with tear-effect on the sides.

Practical hacks:

• DIY-DIY-DIY. There’s a lot of free online editable invitations available on internet like Canva.
• Explore Pinterest for more DIY invitation ideas.
• Just give the printed one on your principal sponsors then the rest you can send it online.

Souvenirs

Kapeng Barako and Coco sugar for Ninongs, Scarf and Creations ointment on Ninangs. Personalized hairbrush for bridesmaids. Embroidered face towel for groomsmen.

Naked soaps for guests

Practical Hacks

• Choose a useful or consumable souvenir and not for display only.
• Explore Divisoria (we bought everything there then arrange it by ourselves)
• For guests, you can use the photo booth as their souvenirs.

Attire

Any gray and white outfit for Ninong and Ninang.

Bridesmaids: I bought the fabric from Divisoria and asked one of bridesmaid (Thank you Ate Jane ☺️) to sew it into a wrap around skirt. Each bridesmaid provided their own white tops.

Groomsmen and bearers: We bought the gray pants for groomsmen and black pants for bearers (my brothers) then we just asked them to use their own white polo shirts.

My sister as my Maid of Honor and Beb’s youngest brother as the Best Man.

Parents: We bought black pants and white polo shirt for them because they can reuse it on other occasions then we rented a coat and tie since they will just use it for a day.

For my mother, an infinity dress we bought online for less than Php 300.

Wedding Gown

I rented one at Agkasar for only Php 4,000. Wedding accessories are all borrowed from my bestfriend (Thanks Babes 😉)

Groom’s suit

Blue slacks from SM then rented coat, bowtie, vest and long sleeve in Gardini.

Shoes and accessories all bought from SM.

Practical Hacks

• Choose a motif for attire that they can use even after your wedding so it’s worth to buy (if they will spend for it) or provide for them.
• Comfort over fashion. Like for wedding gown, I preferred a non-balloon type/ no petticoat so I can move and sit freely. No hassle.
• The simpler the better and elegant looking.
• For bridesmaids, there’s a lot of infinity dress available online or in Taytay that cost 250-500 pesos only.

Wedding Ring

Tungsten ring from Silverworks. Beb didn’t want anything shiny like gold and silver. I’m super acidic so the latter changes quality when worn over time. A pair of it worth Php 5,800 plus 500 for digital engraving.

Practical Hacks

• If you aren’t as sensitive as mine, you may opt silver since it’s more affordable than gold.
• If your prefer gold, you can check out Ongpin for their wide range of gold rings but be vigilant because some of it are not pure 18-24k as how they bargain it.
• If you’re super acidic too, but you want something shiny, you can try stainless steel rings. It’s affordable and aesthetically good too.

Flowers

From all the boutonnières, bridesmaids and mother bouquet up to the church floral decoration, bridal car and bridal bouquet- everything was DIY.

We ordered the callalily at Dangwa two weeks before my wedding since I’m worried that it might not be its season. Beb and I, together with my father picked it up 2 days before our wedding. That’s when we also bought some more flowers for the church and boutonnieres.

I assembled my own bridal bouquet together with the bouquet of our mothers and bridesmaids. I also did all the boutonnieres for the groom and all our groomsmen, fathers and principal sponsors.

While my father volunteered to arrange the flowers for the church, reception and bridal car. He set it up on the day of our wedding. (Just blessed because I have a supportive and creative father ❤️)

Practical hacks:

• If you have a high tolerance with stress over last minute preparation (like me 😂), you may DIY too. For all the flowers, we just spend less than Php 3,000, transportation included.
• If not, you may ask someone you know who can do it for you. (Usual rates of flower arrangements cost Php 5,000+ depending on the type of flowers and what are the inclusions (like does it include the church arrangement, how many bouquets and boutonnières, bridal car bouquet, loose petals and the delivery to the church/reception)
• There are other options like zero-waste options like fabrics bouquets instead of florals.
• Again, Pinterest is the key if you want to search for DIY options.

Hair and Make-up

My sister did my make-up. Even on our mothers and herself too.

For the bridemaids, I didn’t ask any gift from them. I just told them to do the simplest make-up that they can do for themselves.

My minimalist stud necklace was also borrowed from her, the stud earrings that matches it was already mine which I bought from a local pharmacy (hypoallergenic one intended for babies).

Tips:

• You’ll get married once, this is something that you really need to save and spend one. It’s just that we’re blessed enough because we both have knowledge (my sister undergone make-up trainings) in hair and make-up.
• Hire someone you know so you will feel comfortable if there’s something you want for your look.
• Explore bridal fairs where you can get free trial hair and make-up.
• Don’t be afraid to ask your bridesmaids if they can cover their own make-up expenses as a gift to you.
• Basic rates of hair and make-up services ranging from Php 5,000-10,000 which includes airbrush make-up, 3 looks for bride then basic grooming for the groom. (It still vary depending on the experience, portfolio and inclusions of the artist, out-of-town fee may also apply if outside Manila).
• Whatever you do, and whatever your make -up will be, you and your smile will always be the prettiest and the most beautiful on your wedding day ☺️

The rest below were those we contacted for help since we can’t do it by ourselves.

Cake

Full chiffon chocolate moist cake from a local bakery in our area (Cakes and Memories). It’s not as close on the naked cake that I really want it to look like but the taste was really heaven. It’s always our every occasions cake.

Practical hacks

• This cake was a gift from my bestfriend. (Thanks Kisses 😉) Don’t be afraid to suggest this to one of your closest friend especially if they are asking what gift do you want for your wedding, this will save you a lot too.
• I chose a basic full cake rather than the two to three tier cakes that costs Php 5,000 where usually 3/4 of it was non edible because it’s made of styrofoam.
• If you knew someone who bake cakes, support her and inquire on her service.
• Some cakes comes with cupcakes too which you can give as a souvenir to the kids.

Caterer, Lights and Sounds

Ampie’s Catering. My father and brother works as an on-call waiter on this catering supplier so we’re really sure for their service. They charge Php 400 per head for a wedding event, that includes basic venue set-up, table arrangements, 5 menu, drinks and a choice of dessert. We had a good feedback from our guests with their food and service. It was really tasty and generously served. Lights and sounds was their contact too (Php 3,000 plus 1,000 for the projector).

Tips on choosing your caterer:

• Inquire on caterers near your area or the venue of the reception so it will be easier for you to coordinate with them from time to time. It will also cut down the out of town fee.
• Research for feedback on those who already booked their service. With a lot of scams on weddings nowadays, it’s important to book a supplier with a good reputation. This is a one day event and a highlight of your wedding day. (It is also where you’ll spend most of your wedding fund) You wouldn’t want your guests to walk out of your program because of their disappointing food and service.
• Don’t be shy to ask for a freebie, like for us they offered the pica-pica before the program and the food for the kids as freebies.

Coordination

Our opening dance production with the entourage and our coordinators, Eventurisque.

My mentor, our wedding host and Eventurisque head coordinator,  Mam Cy.

All my experiences as a wedding coordinator was because of this team. They are the one who trained me and everything I was able to share here was because of my mentor-slash-wedding host, Mam Cy.

Even though I enjoyed all the stressful but satisfying 6-month wedding preparation, I knew that day I deserved to just had fun then let them do the rest. It was true, all throughout the day I keep on saying, I really loved being a bride, pampered by them and ensuring that everything was going according to our plan.

Tips in choosing your wedding coordinator:

• Hire them FIRST. The rest will be easier. Trust me. They knew a lot of suppliers which they can help you with especially if you’re working on a budget.
• Hire someone you know or someone you’ll be comfortable working with since they will be with you all through out the preparation and your big day. They will be your ultimate bestfriend for your wedding so it’s important to build a good relationship with them.
• Rates of on-the-day wedding coordinators range from Php 10,000-15,000 which includes 3-4 coordinators for 100 pax and Php 20,000 (mostly) if host included. (Out of town fee may apply depending on the location).

Photographers

Usual photo and video services with same day edit prenup shoot and save the date video cost Php 25,000 -50,000 which we admittedly won’t afford. All we want is a decent photo that we can frame up on our own house (and there is no way that we can display a video on our house so basically it will just be stored on our hard drives).

Instead, we booked two photographers, one as the main photographer and one as the second shooter/ creative photographer which costs Php 6,500 in all. For the video, we edited a compilation of photos and videos of our travels and journey as couple then showed it to them at the start of the program just before our entrance as husband and wife.

How about our Prenup?  DIY. 😁

We searched for indoor ideas on prenup shoots then we booked a room at Tagaytay, I did my make-up while my husband took and edited the photos which we showed during the wedding program.

Tips in choosing your photo/ video team:

• Hire someone you know or someone you’ll be comfortable working then build a good relationship to them since they will be the one to capture the best moments of your wedding day.
• Check their profile/ portfolio to be sure of the output that you wanted to see after your wedding.

If you’re really working on a tight budget, here’s some significant tips that may help you:

1. Push for a smaller wedding, invite only the closest and the immediate family. These people are usually the ones who knows both of you and those who understand and doesn’t need any explanations from you why you chose a simpler wedding.
2. Plan early. The earlier you booked, usually the cheaper (talking about inflation here, everything is slowly being expensive).
3. Don’t be afraid to ask from newly weds or friends who just got married regarding their suppliers and reviews on their services.
4. Booked a coordinator ahead of time so they can help you with booking other suppliers.
5. Be realistic with your budget and stick with it. If you can’t afford a supplier then don’t book it rather than haggling with them that will compromise their service.
6. Canvass and have choices. Your coordinator will help you big time in choosing what’s the best offer among your choices.
7. DIY everything that you can DIY. Google and Pinterest will be your friend here.
8. Borrow if you can’t DIY. My accessories are just borrowed, the bridal car that we used was from my sister’s boyfriend.
9. Establish what you really want and your goal for your wedding (motif and concept). Like for us, we really wanted a minimalist, zero-waste concept but the more we consider our visitors, we slowly getting away from it because we keep on thinking what will they say or think on our choices of outfit, food, souvenirs/ giveaways, invitation and even some of them are expecting for a same-day edit video. Whenever that happens, me and my now husband just contemplate and remind ourselves that this is OUR wedding, we’ll impress no one but ourselves. We’ll stick on what we want and what we can afford. We never wanted to be grand for a day and be broke after that.

So there you go! If you have questions like for the budget and our total expenses don’t hesitate to message me here or on my FB account, I’m all happy to help future brides too ☺️

Wedding happen once in a lifetime. Having it done almost near to perfection feels satisfyingly good for both bride and groom who saved and spent a lot for it. But the most important for this day is the feeling of walking down the aisle, embracing new life with the person you love the most and presenting it to God. It will always be the real dream and answer to every woman’s prayers.