Poofs and Frills, and Gems and Glitter!!!!!

This blog post is inspired by my sister-in-law Tracey who is getting married in August 2014. I am helping her plan her wedding and although her wedding will be very different than mine was, I am sharing with her some DIY ideas and tips on how to keep the budget in check. She loves glitz and glam, the bigger the poof the better in her eyes. So this post is to show the disbelievers that you can actually have a DIY wedding (on a budget) full of all the fabulousness that comes with sparkle and frills!

The Wedding Dress

I actually bought my wedding dress on Etsy for a total of $57 with shipping! I added a brooch and some lace to the bottom and it was perfect. It was vintage and simple but totally me, and I didn't care that it went in the garbage after a messy "Trash the Dress" photoshoot by Jeff Cooke Photography.

Shop Etsy:

For all of you fancy brides-to-be, here are some examples of what you can find handmade on Etsy to fit in with your classic or fairytale wedding vision. The big poofy ball gowns are for my sister-in-law... check out these budget friendly dresses Tracey ;)

                                                            
                                                   $379 U.S by Wonderuxe

                                                       
                                                 $229 U.S Kiss Bridal

                $249 U.S by Lemandy Wedding Dress

                                                                          $298 U.S Angel Wedding Dress

                                                   $299 U.S Lass Dress



Bridal Accessories

I made most of my accessories, and those that I didn't make myself I bought handmade. And you can do it too!

Do-It-Yourself:

Most DIY wedding projects start with a vision, this could be a photo, something you saw on t.v, or even something a friend told you about that they saw at another wedding. Regardless of where the idea came from you can make it your own by adding and changing details. Here is a video that shows you how to do just that by The Knot (which by the way is a great wedding planning tool).

Pinterest is a great tool to start compiling your wedding and DIY ideas. Look online and in magazines for the style of accessories you may want to include in your overall wedding look and start collecting your supplies. You can get DIY wedding accessories supplies from: Michaels', Etsy, Ebay, Joann's, and your local craft stores... even your local dollar store for the budget friendly bride-to-be. Here are some DIY wedding accessory ideas for your glamorous wedding look.

                                               Wedding Shoe Embellishment

Buy a reasonably priced pair of white plain heals or flats (You will likely only wear these shoes once so why spend a lot of money on them, not to mention you will end up taking them off on the dance floor after the first 5 songs...) Pick up a pair of clip on earrings at a thrift shop, antique store, or your grandma's jewelry box. Clip them on if the clip has a tight clasp, or take the clips off and hot/super glue them on and voila! Fabulous wedding shoes. If you want a bigger embellishment just buy matching brooches.

             
                                                      Hair Accessories 

Much the same as the shoes embellishment, determine what type of style of hair accessory you would like such as a facilitator, headband, hair pins, birdcage veil, or long veil and fancy them up! You just need to get the basic hair accessory supply depending on the look you want then start gluing on decorative details such as brooches, earrings, gems, crystals, feathers, flowers, lace, glitter, etc.

                                                           Jewelry

Now this is one that takes a little more skill than using a glue gun but can still be done by most brides-to-be or someone they know... perhaps a bridesmaid or two. If you know the basics to jewelry making and have some supplies all you need is a photo as a guide to making your own custom jewelry if you choose. Or again you can find some really great pieces for a great price on Etsy. This is where I bought my earrings and the earrings my bridesmaids wore at my wedding. I did however make my own necklace and bracelet. My inspiration came from the last picture on the right from the Style Me Pretty Blog.

For a more glamorous look try some of these ideas...

                                                     










Bridal Bouquet

Bridal bouquets are no longer made just of flowers; brides-to-be have taken this focal accessory into a creative direction and bouquets are now made of buttons, brooches, rhinestones, pearls, fabric flowers, feathers, wheat, and even veggies... yes veggies! If you are looking for more of a traditional look with flowers, springs of green, and baby's breath don't think you have to call up the florist immediately to put in your order. You can DIY your wedding bouquet also, trust me, it's not as hard as you may think. For my wedding I made a DIY vintage brooch bouquet (and a hand tied toss bouquet) and my bridesmaids made their own bouquets from locally grown flowers I picked up at the market.

Here are some other bridal bouquet ideas that you can DIY for a more formal, classic wedding...

And for the floral type, go hand tied. Check out the examples on OneWed that you can create for your special day.

For a how to video on hand tying floral bouquets check out eHow's video explaining the steps. This can be a fun and relaxing process so get creative!

Here are some hand tied bouquets I made for friends' weddings.

So, when you are planning your wedding try to think outside of the box and don't assume you need to pay top dollar for your dress, bouquet, or shoes. You can buy handmade, enlist your crafty bridemade to get her hands dirty, or DIY and save yourself some hard earned cash! There is nothing wrong with being under budget...