It's been four years and I'm finally doing what I told myself to do...to jot down how I did DIY invitations, door gifts, hymn booklet and many more for my ROM ceremony, church wedding and friend's big days. A little tip, that a lot of people may drown you with their ideas, but remember it is your big day, so do it your way and have fun throughout the journey. An editor once shared with me her experience as she saw me doing some of my DIY door gifts at office, she said "If they come to you bringing their suggestions, take it with a smile and add that you think it is brilliant, so why not they help do it for you!" Here's where you hear cricket orchestra!

I started with designing The New Wedding Times, save the date invite for the church wedding (above) inspired by the the newspaper I work for then (The New Straits Times). This purple theme invite was inline with the purple and white wedding theme we had. At no cost, just stealing some time at work, I shared this unique invite with family and friends on Facebook and email.

DIY door gift with the newspaper incorporated

As for the door gifts, I bought jar bottles, purple ribbons, purple rose and made my own. All you need to do is glue them together the way you like! To make sure it doesn't look too empty, I fill it a little with shredded purple papers that you can also get at the same shops. 

Honestly, it's not much work. I started a few months ahead and did a few tens everyday after work. To personalize it, I cut out heart shape newspapers and used a red maker pen to write our initials. I even had a lovely friend at work join it and before you know it we were done. Guests got little Cadbury chocolates which of course had purple wrapper. The significance was that my Papa used to buy me the same chocolates when I was a kid and I wanted to have a part of him in my big day though he's no more.

DIY ROM invitation card

While for the ROM, invites and door gifts had a red and white theme. For this, I got a friends to do the designing at no cost as a favor (the white piece) and pasted it on red hard card. To add a little zing, I visited the Malay wedding deco shops in Jalan TAR and got packets of little rose with ribbons to be glues on the invites. I also had a whole lot of door gifts for the ROM because those who made it were special and should be thanked much. I had two different types of door gifts to give away, one a paper bag with scented candles and the other a box with ladoo (Indian sweet) for every individual. 

The paper bags were from Mydin while candles from the RM5 shop, To make it special, I did a thank you card and tied it onto the bag, while for the candles, I took a logo design and turned them into stickers, this was easily done at top floor The Mall opposite PWTC (I guess now you can do it all those name card printing shops in malls). The sweets box was also from the Jalan TAR shops added with the logo sticker for personalization. As mentioned earlier, planning is the most crucial part of all.

One thing I always tell all the bride to be, is to make sure you have a planner and have all the details you need to finalize in it. You can do it in your own way, either by drawing up a table and listing what should be done or have an excel sheet, as long you write it down. This way, you are able to not only track what's left to do but make wiser financial decisions. Another tip is to survey and list down all the services (e.g.:photographer/videographer) you intend to hire and compare their prices for what they have to offer. this way you can work things around your budget. It also helps to start paying for the services in installments a few months ahead so you don't stress when the date is near. Just talk to the service providers, I'm sure they are flexible, ours was!

DIY deco will definitely make your functions more special. I've also realized that people look at the common deco from afar, but DIY deco is more likely to steal their hearts and pull them over to capture the moment.

If you don't have the creative fingers or time, there's always the option of getting from an expert. One person I've got to know who does the loveliest DIY wedding, candy bar, photo booth and baby shower/naming ceremony deco is my former colleague while I was a copywriter at 88.db.com, the bubbly Airien Ririen Laharien who does her magic and makes you go Oh Wow, Lovely! (OWL!) on her Facebook and Instagram.

Such gorgeous floral backdrobe (pelamin)

So what ya waiting for lovelies, take out that creative hat and celebrate your big day your way. Or drop the gorgeous DIY queen an email at nurairiensyailla@gmail.com for meaningful DIY deco, customized within your budget that will make your big day a special one and memorable one!