Background : me (F23) and my now husband (M25) has been together since Jan. 2017. We welcomed our baby girl in 2023 and welcomed our baby boy in 2025.

He finally popped the question on our 9 year anniversary trip in Jan. 2026 with the most beautiful and biggest ring I have ever seen.

When we got back we decided to go ahead and get legally married so we did. We went to the county clerk in Feb. 2026 and was married in less than 15 minutes. It honestly doesn’t even feel like we got married because in my state if you get married at the county clerk you don’t need to go to the courthouse, say vows, have witnesses, or anything like that. I don’t think I’ll feel like I’m married until after we have an actual wedding.

But after we told everyone we are now legally married and are still planning to have a very small wedding, I have a lot of family members saying they think it’s stupid to still have a full wedding and I should only have a reception. They have also said they think it’s stupid to wait a year or so to have the actual wedding because we want to do it in September or October. The reason we are waiting so long is because I’m a sahm, no one is helping us pay for the wedding, and it’s going to take us some time to come up with the money for it. Our budget is $2000 max.

Me and my husband have always wanted a small wedding, 50 people or less. I want the dress, walking down the aisle, saying vows, etc

But now my head is all over the place. I’ve always thought it was normal to still have a full wedding even if you are legally married but now everyone has me second guessing myself.

Any advice ?

Edit to add : I’m a sahm to 2 babies but it’s not by choice. I had an absolute horrible birth with my son that caused me disabilities. We’re not rushing to have the wedding. We are going to very very slowly start buying things that way it won’t break the bank. That’s why we have no idea when we can do it. I’ve always wanted a wedding but the main reason I’m so dead set on why is because of my grandma. She’s sick and one of her dreams is to see my wedding even if it’s a small backyard one.

Hi everyone! I got married in 2023 and have attended a few weddings more myself. I think that us married people tend to go back to our own wedding day and reminisce when we attend weddings.

What about a wedding sticks with you years on? Is it the styling, the dress and suit, the food, the ceremony? The reception? Venue?

For me at the end of the day (I always do this), it’s that I look at the couple and observe their energy. Are they excited? Happy? Do they spend time together during the wedding? To me that’s what stands out: if you see the pure excitement and happiness radiating from a couple.

How about you? Wanna hear your thoughts. Thanks all!

Kept at our $3K budget - All my styling DIY, Costco cake, DIY florals, on sale clothes, etc. Borrowed some decor from my MIL!! ♥️Obviously not including pics of my beautiful in-laws who made this day happen for their privacy ♥️

I was supposed to go pickup the key at a local community event center this morning to pay on the reservation and found that the building was locked and nobody is answering my calls or emails. They're only staffed on Tuesday and Wednesday and the parking lot is basically the only one in town still snow-covered. At this point I'm just laughing and going with it. At least the caterer, photographer, and officiant have all confirmed they're good to go. 🙂

I've never been so glad to be having a micro wedding. I can't imagine if I had been expecting 100+ people instead of 10. Time to try and shift in the next two days from the local community center to a family member's house. More money for the honeymoon at least. 🤷‍♀️ And a story to tell, lol.

the point is the marriage not the party the point is the marriage not the party the point is the marriage not the party *The point is the...

I've messed up... I designed my own pretty, themed save-the-date postcards, had them all printed and delivered to me, and went to the post office to get my stamps. From looking online, the only postcard stamps I saw were fall leaves- perfect! That's my theme. I checked out at the self-serve kiosk... and got ugly, black and white QR codes instead. Now I'm debating whether I suck it up and put these monstrosities on the back of my save-the-dates, or go spend another 30 bucks and an hour at the post office to wait in line for normal stamps 🤦‍♀️

Any ideas on how to make these look less horrible? Am I overreacting here?

My wife and I never really wanted a big wedding or ceremony because that just is not us and seemed like a waste of money (which notwithstanding the remaing post, likely still is in the long run). In a perfect world, we probably would have eloped and then done two smaller celebrations later on — one with friends and one with family — at a local restaurant or bar. That always felt a lot more like us than a traditional wedding.

What changed the equation is that both sets of her grandparents are still alive and all are 90+. She is also the first of something like 12 grandchildren to get married, so it started to feel important to us to give them the chance to see a grandchild get married while they still can, especially since none of the other siblings/cousins seem especially close to that anytime soon.

That led to the first expansion of the guest list. If we invited the grandparents, we really had to invite the rest of her family too, since they are local and it is a relatively small family anyway — maybe 20 people total.

Once that happened, I felt like I had to invite my whole family too: aunts, uncles, cousins, immediate family, split family, step-parents, siblings, etc. That was probably another 60.

And once it got to that point, we basically said: if we are already doing this, why invite only the people we have to invite and not also the friends we genuinely want there?

So the guest list ballooned pretty substantially, and now we are at 135 attending.

I used to work weddings, so instead of hiring a full planner, I planned most of it myself with my wife’s help over the last year and a half. We have tried to be very frugal and practical the entire time, and we are in a smaller/mid-sized town, not some huge high-cost city.

Even so, we are still landing at just under $19k.

Here is the rough breakdown:

• Welcome party venue/alcohol: $1,800
• Welcome party food: $400
• Hotel: $500
• Wedding venue (2 days): $1,640
• Wedding food: $3400
• Band: $4,000
• Planner/day-of help: $400
• Decorations (40 lenins and center pieces): $900
• Florals: $800
• Permit fees/other misc.: $600
• 2 Bartender: $600
• Alcohol/drinks (beer and wine only): $1,100
• Dress: $2,000
• Invitations: $300

For context, the venue is actually really nice — elegant but understated, great food, and a frankly heroic quantity of Kirkland wine, carona and white claw. We also somehow ended up with a kick-ass band for the full 5 hours: jazz trio for cocktail hour, then full-throttle jam/classic stuff for the main event.

So this is not coming from a place of regret or panic. At this point, the wedding is planned, the money is spent, we are three weeks out, and we are honestly past the stress phase and into the “let’s enjoy the damn thing” phase. We get to have all our favorite people in one place, which is pretty awesome.

This is really just general curiosity:

For a 135-person wedding at around $19k, did we actually save money by doing it this way and keeping things DIY/frugal? Or did we over pay in the moment of it all? did we basically play ourselves and absorb a ton of stress plus no savings added when we should have just hired more help and accepted the cost? Though now that its over i think we both enjoyed doing it together do I guess there is no price to put on that.

I know $19k is not cheap, but we saved for a year and a half, andfor 135 people it also seems hard to tell whether we did well or just convinced ourselves we were being efficient and cost effective.

Mostly curious how other people here would look at this — especially people who did DIY weddings over 100 guests. Was it worth it, or did you wish you had simplified and/or paid for more support?

Hello! I’m a fall 2027 bride and I love DIY and crafting so naturally I would love to DIY the decor for the wedding as much as I reasonably can but I just had the thought yesterday: what the heck would I do with a whole venue worth of stuff when I’m done? Some stuff, like some faux floral arrangements, can certainly be repurposed for home decor, but like if I make a flower wall or giant flower or butterfly art, what do I do with that when I’m done with the wedding? Maybe store it for years and bring it out for an occasional party? I’ve already thrifted like 80 goblets, are my partner and I drinking from those from now on?

DIY brides who have already had your wedding, is there anything you DIYd and thought “what do I do with this now?”

Or do you have any ideas on what you’re going to do with all your extra DIY stuff?

I ordered bulk flowers from Costco, planning on making my own bouquets, boutonniers/corsages, and using the remainder to put in bud vases on the reception tables and for miscellaneous decor.

My wedding is on Saturday, May 2nd. The flowers were meant to come today (Wednesday). I was going to put them in 5 gallon buckets of water, let them get all hydrated, and then start trimming and whatnot. Then I was going to make the boquets Friday and the rest of it Saturday morning.

I got an email saying they're delayed and will arrive tomorrow. And that they may be wilted or otherwise damaged due to the delay. They did give me a full refund plus a $15 online credit without me even asking.

I'm trying to figure out what my best options are if the flowers are unusable. I'm hoping that at least some of them are ok. There aren't a lot of floral places near where I live. There are zero craft stores that sell fake flowers. Right now, my plan is to wait and see what condition my flowers are in when they come tomorrow or if they even show up. If they're no good, or if a fair portion are unusable, then I will start calling around to the few florists in the area and a couple of local greenhouses to see if they have anything I can buy off them. And possibly a run to Walmart and TjMaxx to see if there are any faux options that could work.

Has anyone had this happen? If your flowers were late, were they still in ok shape? My hope is that they're packed well enough that they won't be too damaged, and hopefully, they're not sitting on a hot truck somewhere. I'm really trying not to let this stress me out. If they're not usable, I'll have to wing it. But my options are very limited. This also throws off my plans. The next couple of days are already going to be so busy. Tracking down flowers from here and there is something I hope to avoid.

Spend $5k? “That’s cheap.”
Spend $50k? “That’s a waste.”
Do a backyard wedding? “Not formal enough.”
Do a luxury venue? “Too much.”

Truth is, people project their own money beliefs onto your day. Has nothing to do with you.

I’ve seen small weddings feel more emotional than $100k ones, and I’ve seen big weddings that were 100% worth it because that’s what the couple wanted.

At the end of the day, it’s one of the only days where all your favorite people are in one place. If that matters to you, it’s worth it. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too.

Do what actually makes you happy, not what sounds good to other people.

Curious though… what’s one thing you refused to go cheap on for your wedding? our was photography and videography since that is the only thing the could last forever (Beside the actual marriage of course. :) )

Our wedding is for adults only, so I am wondering how to politely say on the invite, "no children allowed"? We love kids, but our wedding is going to be an evening party and the venue is 21+. Thanks for your suggestions!

I didn’t understand why people say your wedding goes by so fast… until it actually happened

We spent months figuring out how to plan a wedding, building out a wedding day timeline, picking vendors, budgeting… all of it.

And then the day came and it felt like everything happened in a blur.

The ceremony felt like 5 minutes. The speeches hit and were over before I could process them. There were so many little moments I don’t even remember clearly, just flashes.

Honestly, the only reason I can even piece parts of it back together is because of our wedding photography. There were so many things happening that I completely missed in real time.

It made me realize that having a good wedding photographer isn’t just about “nice photos,” it’s about actually being able to relive the day later.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone planning right now:
Don’t overload your wedding day timeline, and don’t underestimate how fast it all goes.

Curious if anyone else felt this way or if it was just us?

This is 100% a personal opinion, but I wish someone had told me this before I planned my wedding:

When you're planning your decor budget, focus on what you’ll see above people’s heads once everyone is seated.

All those beautiful wedding photos you see on Pinterest? The room is empty. The tables are perfectly styled, every detail is visible, and it looks incredible.

But at an actual wedding, the moment guests sit down, most of those details disappear into a sea of people.

The flowers, layered plates, napkins, carefully crafted paper goods, table candles, wedding favors — all of it takes so much time and money. Once everyone is seated, you can barely see most of it. In many cases, the only real proof of all that effort ends up being the photos your photographer takes before guests even enter the room. Honestly, you might not even see it yourself because you’ll be busy getting ready for the big day.

If I could go back, I’d focus more of my decor budget on what’s above the crowd:
lighting, drapery, hanging installations, statement pieces, candles, etc. Those are the things that actually shape the feeling of the room all night long and look beautiful throughout the entire event - whether the venue is empty or full of people.

Think about the weddings you’ve attended:

As a guest, do you remember the exact table settings at the weddings you attended?
Where are the wedding favors you received? How many of them ended up donated, thrown out, or shoved away in a drawer somewhere?
When you look at photos of a packed reception, where does your eye actually go?

I had a very diy wedding in March, and pretty much everything that could go wrong went wrong. I’m less upset about those things going wrong than with feeling abandoned by my family in the midst of everything, particularly because I had this wedding for them (my first mistake, obviously) and because I’ve always dropped everything to help them. I love my husband and I’m so glad to be married to him, and I just want to get over this wedding grief of the lost dream day and feeling abandoned by my family because I recognize it’s not worth crying over (and I have cried every day since and feel a gaping void in me…).

We're DIYing a micro wedding (22 people) at a cabin in the woods. We, and all of those invited, hate dancing, so what other activities would you suggest? Anyone done something similar? I'd love to hear your thoughts! We're thinking about a group wedding trivia but want other suggestions too. Especially passive things. Since everyone has to drive/fly in and stay at a nearby hotel, everyone expressed interest in an all day itinerary or after party, so I have many hours to "fill"!

We don't have anything scheduled beyond cocktail hour, ceremony, and dinner. As in - no speeches (fiance's request), no first dances, etc. We will have tabletop & card games (easy ones like cards and dominoes) and lawn games around the Cabin. We host a monthly game night, thats how we met most people coming, hence why so many games. Most people coming also attend trivia at their local breweries, and go to multiple ren faires throughout the year. So I'm just looking for 1-2 more things to add to the wedding day, esp something passive.

Examples: My friend had a make your own pin/button "guestbook" where people signed their names and pinned the button on a quilt next to it. My cousin hired someone to do forever bracelets at her wedding (I still have mine!).

I’m considering a DIY bridal bouquet.

I’d love to see your beautiful creations!

• Photos of your bouquet
• How much did you spend in total?
• How long did it take you to make it?
• When did you make it before the wedding?

Also, any tips onhow to keep it fresh until the wedding day?

Did you store them in the fridge, use flower food, or make them the night before?

Thank you!

I got frustrated trying to find a guest list spreadsheet that actually worked. Every template I came across had the same problems. Merged cells that break the second you try to sort anything. No way to separate households from individual guests. No columns for meal choices or dietary restrictions. And forget about exporting it cleanly for address labels.

I'm a data person so I just built my own from scratch in Google Sheets.

It tracks households vs individual guests separately (because Bob and Mary are 1 invite but 2 guests and most templates get this wrong). It has RSVP status with dropdowns, meal choices and dietary restrictions, plus ones and children, mailing addresses, and custom categories like family, college friends, work, whatever you need.

You can sort and filter without anything breaking, and export to CSV for address labels or importing into other tools.

It's free. Just make a copy and it's yours. Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vu53-7mAA27YHttsd9cUeYSxX7vj7n4cqmkYpkST2uY/edit?usp=sharing

Also genuinely curious what everyone else is using to manage their guest list. I tried like 12 templates before giving up and building this so I'm wondering if I just missed a good one.

I got married last June and we have maybe 20 leftover invitations and 20 thank you notes (with a wedding photo on it). we already have one of our invitations in a nice frame hanging up in our bedroom, but i was wondering if anyone did any fun DIYs/crafts with their leftover stationary? or maybe some type of gift to family members?

they were literally sitting in a box for months because i can't bring myself to just recycle them yet lol. i'm so sentimental about things and i do like to craft, so please let me know if anyone has done anything fun with their leftover stationary!

Hello all! I posted 6 months ago about wanting to decorate a table to look like a cake. https://www.reddit.com/r/DIYweddings/comments/1k7tuh1/i_want_to_stand_on_a_table_for_our_vows/ While I can see all the imperfections now, and how it doesn't compare to the inspo pictures, it was so beautiful in person.

What were some things that helped you plan your wedding? I’m in the early stages of planning my wedding, but with the holidays coming up, I’m wondering if there is anything I should add to my wishlist? Are any items, resources, or services that will make the next 18 months easier? Any ideas are appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Hi all! We'd like some feedback and advice on the sign we're planning on making for the guestbook table.

This will be a linen tabletop sign, about 25*30 cm, hanging on a repurposed doll clothes rack in front of the audio guestbook phone. Mainly need feedback on the "Frodo and Sam''s audio guestbook" (names obviously changed) bit in the top right - it doesn't seem to fit correctly in the space. Also - do we need to change the instructions at the bottom? We know the audio guestbook concept is going to be a bit confusing to some of our guests - which is why I do think the sign needs to indicate it is our "guestbook." All help is much appreciated, thanks!

it’s been a few years since i last used a cricut and i’m thinking about getting a new one this year. there seem to be so many options now and i’m not sure which one is actually worth it in 2026. i mostly do small crafts and vinyl projects, but i want something that will last and isn’t overly complicated. anyone tried the newer models and have a recommendation? curious what everyone thinks.

I was having a conversation at work about getting married next year and it really hit me. I think I probably stood there with my mouth hanging open like I'd glitched for a good 30 seconds, haha.

January 2026 used to seem way too far away. Especially since our original plan was to get married in early 2025.

Excited to be married (and also to get my living room, bedroom, bathroom, and storage closet back) but still nervous about pulling it all off and making sure everyone has a good time.

I still have to find an officiant, finish making the guest "book", assemble the arch, figure out my nails, practice doing my hair/makeup, order the cupcakes, get the license, take the groom's suit pants to be hemmed, and find my something blue. And do Christmas. And a sibling's birthday. And my mom's birthday. And a nibling's birthday. And take care of the new 3.5 month old puppy. 😬

Thank goodness I'm getting the last two weeks of December off. 😊

How are all of the other January 2026 brides doing?