Wedding Photography

Non-traditional DIY Wedding Tips

Planning a DIY wedding? Fantastic, just don’t do it all.

Making the decision to plan your own DIY wedding is a massive commitment (although much less significant than the one on the big day) and one not to be undertaken lightly. Embellishing your wedding with personal touches like crafty little decorations or perhaps your own home-baked cake is absolutely wonderful, but what about when it comes down to the logistics?

What about when things get frantic?

Being behind the scenes at any event, especially a wedding, can get hectic and if you’re the person in charge of running your special day, you definitely don’t want to be dealing with the caterer being late or solving issues with a supplier. Even at the best-planned events problems can happen and you shouldn’t be stressing about figuring them out in the midst of your “I dos.”

Even if you have friends or family experienced in the world of event planning, it can be quite unfair to lump them with responsibility, especially if you want them to enjoy your nuptials just as much as you. Probably the best kind of DIY wedding is the partial DIY wedding. Hiring an experienced planner can save you from making costly mistakes, while still letting you retain that hands-on approach you desire.

But what can I do on my own?

There are, of course, a lot of options to explore before you hire a planner, and that’s only logical. Invites, cakes (or cheese!), décor, or your own non-traditional ideas, are all realistic jobs you can take on - it’s a rule-free world when it comes to DIY, especially if you think outside the box; floristry may not be your forté, but you may be able to come up with something far more unique and cost-effective than the traditional flower arrangement.

So where do I need help?

The partial planner comes in where your personal touches leave off - fielding their own, personally picked teams including caterers, bar and serving staff, and with the expertise to run them all smoothly, you can’t afford not to hire one. Oftentimes the best dry-hire venues will be far more on-board if they know that you’ve got a professional team behind you, and this is where their contacts in the events industry come in handy.

I love nothing more than helping creative, non-traditional couples realise their dream wedding. Not being your typical wedding planner, on top of everything else, I’m a fully-licensed bar operator, and my background is in bespoke food, drink and production. I bring all of my knowledge to the table at every event; think of it like hiring a best-friend professional working just for you.

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If you’ve read this far then it’s likely you are in the middle of or looking to plan a quirky DIY wedding. Also, it’s likely you’re feeling the stress. I operate as both a full and partial event organiser where you can rely on me to guide you through all the important, overwhelming decisions you make, making it a stress-free process.

Need my help? Get in touch here for a non-obligation chat.

Stylish Street Food Brassband Brixton East Wedding

Met with Abi exactly a year before her and Warrens big day. They weren't planning an elaborate big fancy day, quite the opposite in fact, however, Abi & Warren are all about having a great time so they knew they wanted a personal day filled with LOTS of fun stuff and also knew someone had to manage all of this on the day. And it wasn't going to be them or family and friends. That's where I came in.

My involvement is so different from couple to couple. Most often I do partial planning and coordination. Here I organised the event team on the day to serve the food and run the bar, put the additional A/V package together, booked in their DJ's and took care of all the hire items - and added a few extras from the event kit like brown paper and plenty of church candles! 

A&W's first date was at The Joint in Brixton Village so they wanted to recreate that special moment at their wedding. Everyone loved the informal setting and the tasty buns and sides. 

Abi lived in New Orleans for 5 years (love that place so much!) - when booking a band, it only came naturally to pick a Brass Band - Brasstermind were brilliant and following by top East London party DJ's. 

Brixton East 1871 is such an incredible venue. Unusual and packed with interesting features. We had such a fun day looking after these two lovebirds and all their guests.  

Partial Planning & Coordination - Dita Rosted Events 

Venue - BrixtonEast1871 | Flowers - The Flower Hut - Greenwich | Street Food - The Joint Brixton | Dress - Cutting Edge Bride | Band - Brasstermind

Photos below from amazing wedding photographer Joshua Gooding 

Vintage Style Autumnal Stoke Newington London Wedding

I love weddings all year around, but there's something really special about Autumn and winter weddings where you can really play with cosy autumnal colours for the design of the tablescape. A throwback to one of last year's lovely winter weddings.

Bec & Matt got me involved to work with them to create their autumnal vintage inspired Nov wedding in one of London's many unusual locations. This Hackney Venue is dry hire venue so everything is brought in, we hanged festoons to create a cosy vintage fairground feel, beautiful flowers and installation from Herbert & Isles and together with my bar team we designed last minute tasty winter his & hers cocktails. 

Photo Credit - Devin Lee Ainslie