DIY Wedding Ideas on a Budget: DIY Wedding Decor, Flowers and Decorations

If you’re on a budget, DIY is a great way to save money and personalize your wedding. No matter what your skill level is, if you like making things, you can plan lots of fun projects for your wedding. If you’re crafty, you might want to design and create centerpieces, invitations and other decor for your wedding. If you’re not Martha Stewart, but you enjoy being creative, you can find tons of tutorial videos online and follow along for easy DIY wedding ideas on a budget.

Please note: this article contains affiliate links. That means that I may earn a commission if you decide to buy something.

Even if you’re not crafty at all, you can still do some projects! It’s simple to order templates from Etsy and print your own wedding invitations or signs. Or you can order decoration kits that include garlands, banners or balloons. All you’ll need to do is assemble them and hang them at your venue.

The only rule: if you absolutely hate crafts - stop reading now! Don’t force yourself to do things you’re not going to enjoy. Keep your wedding planning fun. If you need to save money but don’t want to make things, juggle your wedding budget until you can manage it without DIY.

Stick To Your Budget With DIY Projects

You can save a ton of money by doing DIY ideas for your wedding. The amount you’ll save depends on the projects you choose and the materials you’ll need to buy.

Making your own invitations, bouquets, boutonnières and wedding decor can save a few hundred dollars each.
If you want to save even more money, you can DIY some of the big ticket items - like your wedding venue or your wedding menu.
For a DIY wedding venue, you could consider a family home, cottage or backyard.
DIY wedding food could be as complicated as cooking the meal yourselves. Or it can be as simple as ordering from a restaurant, and setting out a buffet for your guests.
For ideas about making your own meal, read this next: Self Cater Your Wedding: How to DIY Your Wedding Food

Personalize Your Wedding With DIY Projects

Besides saving money, you can plan projects as a way to personalize your wedding. There might be some beautiful ideas or unique touches that you’d like to add, but to have it done professionally would be out of budget. For example, invitations with wax seals or hand tied ribbons are gorgeous - but expensive! By ordering the pieces and putting them together yourself, you’ll have a high quality invitation suite without the high price tag.

Plus, DIY is fun. If you like doing crafts and making things, there’s lots of project ideas you can do to personalize your wedding and keep it affordable.

Remember to Do the Math

If your main reason for doing projects yourself is to save money, make sure to do the math before you start. DIY will cost less than hiring a professional, but it’s not free. For example, a bridal bouquet made by a wedding florist can cost anywhere from $300 and up. If you decide to do it yourself, you’ll still need to buy the flowers and supplies to make your bouquet. Check the prices before you start, to make sure you’re actually saving money.

Once you’ve figured out the difference, think about how important the item is to you. If you’ve always wanted a gorgeous bridal bouquet, it might be worth it to spend the extra money. If it’s not that important to you, you can save the money and make yourself a pretty bouquet for your wedding day.

DIY Wedding Ideas

You can make nearly anything you’d like for your wedding. But the best project ideas are the ones that can be done ahead of time. If you’ve got at least a few months before your wedding, you’ve got plenty of time to make DIY decorations, centerpieces, bouquets and more.

Wedding decorations, stationery and accessories to make ahead of time:

Invitations
Thank you cards
Seating chart
Place cards
Table numbers
Menus
Signs
Centerpieces
Wedding favors
Card box
Ceremony decorations
Veil or headpiece

Wedding Flowers: Bouquets and Boutonnières

Another great project is to create all your own bouquets and boutonnières. If you make them with silk, wood or paper flowers, you can take your time and finish well ahead of your wedding day. If you’d like to use fresh flowers, you can order them ahead of time, or pick them up the day before you’re going to make them. Just remember to make time in your wedding day schedule for assembling everything.

Bride bouquet and groom boutonnière
Bridesmaids bouquets
Groomsmen boutonnières
Parents’ corsages and boutonnières

How to Decorate Your Own Wedding

Decorating your own wedding can be done, but you’ll need to plan carefully. First, you’ll need to check with your wedding venue. For insurance purposes, some venues only allow certain vendors to work at their location.

If your wedding venue allows it, find out the earliest time you’ll be allowed into your room. Ideally, you’ll be able to decorate the night before. If not, figure out how much time you’ll have in the morning, on your wedding day. Then ask your bridal party, family or friends if they’ll be able to help you decorate.

Remember, you’ll already have a lot to do on your wedding day. You might be getting your hair and makeup done, you might need to have photos taken. There’s going to be a lot going on already. Before you decide to DIY on your wedding day, start thinking about your wedding day timeline:

What time will your photographer arrive?
What time will your guests arrive?
What time does your ceremony start?

Once you start looking at your schedule, it’ll be easier to see if you can fit any projects in on your wedding day - without getting up at 3:00 am! If you’re not sure what to include on your wedding day timeline, read this next: Day of Wedding Timeline For a DIY Wedding

Wedding Decor For Your Ceremony

If you have time, you can plan some DIY decor ideas for your ceremony area, too:

Outline the aisle with ribbons, flower petals, greenery or candles.
Decorate the end of each row of seats: with tulle, ribbon or flowers.
Create an arch, a chuppah or a folding screen to define your altar area.
Add accent pieces to the altar area, like potted plants, rustic logs, garlands or tulle.
Add a signing table with a cloth, plus a bouquet or greenery.

Simple Wedding Decor Ideas For Your Reception

If you’ve only seen your venue as an empty room, you might be worried about how much you’ll need to decorate. You will need some decor, but remember that the room will look a lot different when it’s set up for an event.

Your dining tables, gift tables and dance floor will take up a lot of space. Once you add the tablecloths, dishes and napkins, the room will start to look filled in. You can add more color and style by making some favors or centerpieces to add to your tables.

More decor for your reception:

Hang string lights overhead.
Decorate with bunting or banners.
Hang white or colored paper lanterns.
Add a donut wall or cookie table for a tasty focal point.
Use colored runners or napkins to add a pop of color and style.
Reuse your ceremony decor - use the arch or backdrop as the base for a photo booth.
Balloon arches can look fantastic in your wedding colors - and they’re an inexpensive way to fill a lot of space.

See more ideas on my Etsy Favorites list: Reception Decor for a DIY Wedding

Floral Decor For Centerpieces

Flowers are a classic and beautiful choice for wedding centerpieces. You can find flowers and containers to fit every style of wedding. If you’re planning an elegant wedding, you can use roses or lilies. For a rustic wedding, flowers like daisies, sunflowers or carnations would be perfect.

The easiest and quickest centerpiece to set up is one big container, with the flowers filling the center of the table. Or you can use smaller items, like bud vases or mason jars, and your flowers will be part of a grouping, to fill the middle of the tables.

Quick Tips For DIY Wedding Centerpieces

If you’ve got enough time and help before your wedding day, making your own centerpieces is a fun project. Check on the size of your tables and think about how big you want your DIY wedding centerpieces to be. If they’re too big, there won’t be room for the salt shakers. But if they’re too small, they’ll get lost among the dishes.

For a 72 inch round table, design your centerpieces to fill 12 to 14 inches.
For a 60 inch round table, design your centerpieces to fill 10 to 12 inches.
Choose one focal point, like a container filled with flowers or another object.
If you’re not using flowers, the main object could be something that matches your theme, like a candelabra, lantern or a small stack of books.
Once you’ve chosen your focal point, fill out the centerpiece with other objects, like greenery, candles, colored glasses, confetti, table runners or mirrors.
Remember not to make them too tall, so your guests can see each other across the table.
If you need to fill in some space on your tables, place wedding favors at each guests’ seat.
Check with your venue before you buy candles - some venues don’t allow open flames.

DIY Backyard Wedding Decorations

If you’re planning a backyard wedding, you can DIY to your hearts content. You won’t have to worry about any venue rules or timelines. If you want to do big projects you can start as early as you’d like. And you can set up your entire wedding the day before.

When you’re having a backyard wedding, start by thinking about what’s already there and how you can tidy it up. Maybe you’d like to paint a shed, or power wash your deck.

Once everything is in good shape, think about any big projects you might want to do. Some couples take the opportunity to plant a flower bed or build a gazebo or arch. These kinds of wedding decorations can last for years and add value and enjoyment to your home.

For wedding day decor, you’ve got lots of options:

If you want to fill a lot of space with wedding decorations, try making a balloon wall or balloon arch.
Hang patio lanterns or string outdoor lights around the reception area.
One way to decorate and entertain your guests at the same time is by creating a photo booth. Set up a backdrop, plus a table with props and a hashtag for guests to share the photos.
Lawn games can count as part of your decor, as well. If you make giant Jenga or corn hole sets, you can paint them in your wedding colors to add a personal touch.
Once your space is decorated, you can plan your tables and centerpieces to match the style of your wedding. If you’re having a rustic style, you can use mason jars or wood slices. For an elegant style, try using roses or tea lights.
For more about planning, setting up and decorating a backyard wedding, read this next: How to Plan a Small Backyard Wedding

DIY Ideas For Wedding Favors

The most popular wedding favors are usually small, edible gifts. An easy project is to package a sweet treat in small, clear bags or jars. Add a personalized sticker to thank your guests for coming and your favors will be wedding ready.

Treats to bake, make or buy:

Cookies
Brownies
Donuts
Cake pops
Candies
S’more kits
Jelly or jam
Apple butter
Hot chocolate mix