Angela Harkin looks at the D.I.Y. elements of her Big Day!

I am a D.I.Y. Bride and not afraid to admit it!

Most brides are aware of the tight budget they have to stick to when planning their wedding so it is a good idea to try and do as much as you can by sourcing products and putting items together yourself.

I have already made some items myself and plan to do a few more things but at the back of my mind, I am very aware of making sure everything looks stylish. I don’t want the wedding to look cheap and tacky just because I’m saving a few pennies.

I am lucky to have a very artistic friend who has helped me with my ideas. I have gone to her several times explaining what I’d like to do and she always comes up with something even better than I envisaged. In fact, she helped make the table name tags which look amazing!

So what else are we doing ourselves? Well, we have made our own place settings as we wanted something different from the plain white ones the hotel is providing. We also plan to make our own orders of service as we can then tie them into our theme for the day. Our favours will be partly made by us - lottery tickets wrapped in a scroll with a poem for the adults and a goody bag for the children containing colouring book, crayons and a small toy. I have even gone as far as to make a personalised wedding activity book for the little ones. I’ve also made our very own personalised guestbook featuring caricatures of us which is a fun addition to the stationery.

It’s enjoyable creating things for the wedding and a great way to build up the excitement, not to mention a good excuse to get the wedding party together to help make items.

But the D.I.Y. list doesn’t stop there. We have thought about having a candy bar at the reception which will be easy to do - simply purchase different shaped jars and bowls then fill with various sweet treats.

I have also seen beautiful brooch bouquets online which are really expensive but I might have an attempt at making my own…with a little bit of help from my friends!