By Terry Meadows

Are you considering planning and organizing your own wedding?

Do you plan on a small and intimate wedding with close family and friends?

At Zion Springs, an all-inclusive wedding venue in Northern Virginia, we feel that it is important that you are prepared and informed when making your decisions for this very important journey, even if it is not with us.

In this article, we discuss the pros and cons of planning your own wedding, covering cost savings, personalization, and the time and stress involved.

Pros of DIY Weddings

The Do-It-Yourself wedding is ideal for those who are having a small wedding, have event planning experience, a lot, and I mean a lot of time, and incredible patience and zen. If you plan on having a wedding with more than 50 guests, you might want to consider using a wedding planner or going with an all-inclusive venue.

Here, we look at how you save money and how you have the flexibility to personalize and customize your wedding.

Five Problems with Wedding Planning and Design

Cost Savings

Most people consider that having a DIY wedding is cheaper than going with a wedding planner or all-inclusive. This is usually true if you have a small and intimate wedding with a few family and friends; however, some brides can make it work for a larger wedding too. By taking on many of the tasks yourself, you can save a substantial amount of money.

Family and friends can contribute to various aspects of your wedding, such as the DJ and musicians, photographer, florist, etc. You need to make sure that you trust and can rely on them to provide the service.

We strongly recommend that you make a budget before you plan anything for your wedding. Pay attention to hidden costs such as delivery and setup fees, gratuities, and service fees. To give you an idea of how much you can anticipate spending on your wedding, refer to our checklist below for each item.

Complete Control

You have absolute control over the look and feel of your wedding. You are not limited to the inventory and services of a venue. You get to infuse your personality in every aspect of your wedding, for example, you can choose to bring out that heirloom dinner service your grandparents used at their wedding, or you can have your sister-in-law, who is a professional photographer, do your photoshoot.

You can choose which vendors to go with instead of the prerequisites determined by a venue. This can be important if you have a particular florist or cake designer you wish to use. This freedom allows you to tailor your wedding to your specific wishes.

With the multitude of positive reasons to choose to do your own wedding, there are also reasons why you might want to pause to consider if it is right for you.

Cons of DIY Weddings

There many different aspects of planning a wedding can quickly become overwhelming and out of control. If you are extremely busy or struggle with organization, you might need to consider using a wedding planner or going with an all-inclusive wedding venue.

Time

Wedding planning takes a lot of time and effort, and based on our experience of planning hundreds of weddings, you need approximately 200-300 hours to focus on your day. You have to be dedicated and determined to staying on top of everything. This is exacerbated if you have limited support from others to help you with each detail.

You will be scheduling and meeting with vendors, doing tasting sessions, and following up with RSVPs, all while getting dress fittings and booking transportation. Just make sure you don’t leave everything to the last minute. You don’t want to be directing deliveries while getting your hair and makeup done.

Quick Start Planning Guide Timlines, Checklists, Strategies, Tips

Lack of Professional Knowledge

You might be planning an extremely simple wedding that focuses on the intimacy of family and friends. However, if you plan on something more lavish, you might benefit from the expertise of professionals who have industry knowledge and experience.

They can help you avoid mistakes when planning your wedding, as well as help you take advantage of vendor discounts. Usually, they have a backup plan if something goes wrong, ensuring that you have a seamless experience.

Stress

Planning and executing a wedding takes an inordinate amount of time and patience, and with so many different aspects that require meticulous attention, it doesn’t take long for stress to build up. In addition to a full-time job or studies, you will have multiple meetings with your vendors for cake design, dress fitting, designing the menu and taste testing, choosing your music, checking with the photographer and videographer, and don’t forget all the decorations you need to purchase or create. Wedding planners are a thing because there is so much that goes into planning a wedding.

This should be a joyous time, and you don’t want it to be ruined by feelings of tension and stress. Be prepared that you might need to compromise on some of your list items.