October is almost over and I promise this is my last wedding themed post for a while…until next year maybe 🙂 During wedding planning, everyone knows that DIY projects help save money and stay within a budget. If you’ve planned a wedding before you know what I mean when I say how important it is to stick to a wedding budget. And if you haven’t planned a wedding yet…prepare yourself, it’s expensive.  You’re going to find yourself seriously considering whether or not you should fork over $1000 plus tax and delivery for ridiculous things like chiavari chairs just because they’re prettier than the chairs already included in your venue rental. (Yes, to my horror, I debated this. In my defense, something weird happens to your brain while under the influence of wedding planning. Just know that in the end I came to my senses). In any case, I digress. Check out some of my favorite fall DIY wedding ideas below. Hopefully you get good ideas and save some money!

Fall DIY Wedding Ideas

Dollar Store Table Numbers

Individually, decor items for tables and centerpieces aren’t really that expensive — if you only need one or two. But when you need dozens of table numbers, centerpieces, candles, etc. — the cost really adds up. One of the easiest DIYs I did was to create my own table numbers using dollar store frames and a downloadable template printed at UPS. For weeks I visited each Dollar Tree in my area and cleaned them out of the same gold frame until I had enough. I then spent a Friday night cutting and fitting the numbers in the frames and voila – table numbers complete!

Overall cost: $30 + tax for frames , $3 UPS printing

Goodwill Seating Chart 

I wanted to display seating arrangements to our guests in an elegant yet easy to read manner. The images below were my inspiration, but when I started shopping for large gold frames they ended up being too expensive. Not being one to despair, I decided to make my own.

Believe it or not the gold frame you see below – was once lime green and contained an ugly 80s inspired, geometric “painting” that set me back $12 at Goodwill. After some gold spray paint and extra fabric from JoAnn Fabrics wrapped around the “painting,” I created my own fancy fabric bulletin board. I used gold tacks to attach my self-designed seating arrangement cards that I had printed at UPS. The final product was not too shabby!

Overall cost: $12 for frame , $2 UPS printing, $5 fabric

UPS Store Programs 

Another UPS store aided DIY…as you may have guessed I basically printed everything for my wedding at UPS. The exception to this were my wedding invites – which I did spend some money on. The guy at UPS knew me by name by the end of October. This DIY is so easy, it can hardly be considered a project. I designed the program for our ceremony using the monogram theme from our wedding invites as inspiration, and printed them out at UPS. I used a paper cutter (I love that thing) and the programs were done. This project took such minimal effort and turned out quite nicely considering the low cost. Programs from the site I used to print my wedding invites cost around $150 so the savings were big!

Overall cost: $23

IKEA Unity Candle 

This DIY unity candle was made by my mama. 🙂 We went to IKEA and bought just a plain white candle and she beautified it with ribbon, lace, and a copy of our wedding invitation. I love it and its now a cherished memento from the wedding day that I display in my living room.

Overall cost: $20

Pumpkins 

No Halloween wedding would be complete without pumpkins — my sister stayed up the night before to carve two pumpkins despite being exhausted from the rehearsal dinner —  thank you Ela ! Because of her I have one of my favorite wedding photos below.

I also made use of white pumpkins for my  wedding favors and table decor. I bought each small pumpkin for a dollar on Etsy. I then designed the small graphic print that said “Eat, Drink, & Be Married” and later attached each tag to the pumpkin with a small pearl sewing pin. I loved that the pumpkins doubled as table decor and favors — it was an excellent way to save money and also honor Halloween night and the Autumn season.

Overall cost: $150

Photo Credit 

I have to make sure that I give credit to my fabulous wedding photographer Erin Hoyt who took all the photos for my wedding. If you need a photographer for any event — look no further than her. She is amazing!  Check out her website here as well as her blog post on our wedding day !