As anyone in the middle of wedding planning knows, weddings are expensive! It’s natural that you would want to save a little money by DIYing some things. DIY projects can be a great way to be more involved in your wedding and potentially save some money. However, there are certain things that you just don’t want to DIY for your wedding. Here’s what you should leave to the professionals.

Your Photos/Video

It’s so easy to assume that anyone with a nice camera or even a nice smartphone can handle your wedding photography or videography. This couldn’t be further from the truth. These are the best souvenirs from your wedding and the best way to relive the day. You want them to be amazing. You want to make sure every detail is properly captured.

Not to mention, photography and videography aren’t easy. These are learned skills that require time and effort. Not only that but a professional wedding photographer and videographer are going to have the right equipment for your wedding. They can make sure you’re able to get photos in low lighting or that your ceremony audio is going to be captured correctly. Find one you love and leave it to them.

Your Cake

This is another project that seems like it might be easy, but you never want to DIY this wedding item. Wedding cakes are usually highly involved, and they require a lot of time and skill to get right. Plus, you’ll have to spend money on all of those ingredients, especially since you’ll want to practice first. Even if you’re a highly-skilled baker, you don’t want to be dealing with this the day before or the day of your wedding.

Your Catering

Catering is a huge job. You’re coming up with food and drink for a large crowd of people as well as keeping everything stocked and clean. Not to mention, you have to clean up and put everything into Tupperware after. Who wants to be dealing with that? Unless you’re eloping and/or having an extremely small guest list, hiring a caterer to handle everything is the way to go.

Your Music + DJ

Never DIY your wedding music. It’s not worth it. One, there could be technical issues that leave you without music. Two, someone still has to babysit the music player. Even if you just create a playlist and leave it on, you’re not creating a mood. You don’t have someone to really run the party part of your wedding. Plus, your DJ is who helps keep everything running. They announce the different events, including when everyone can go to the buffet table. Save yourself the headache and hire someone to be in charge of the music.

Your Dress

The amount of work that goes into creating a wedding dress is tremendous. Even if you’re extremely skilled at designing and sewing, you don’t want to be responsible for your dress. Wedding dresses can get expensive, but buying one is worth saving yourself the time and energy. If you really have a vision in your head, you can go custom. But don’t do the work yourself.

While DIYing certain wedding elements can save you money in the long run, you definitely shouldn’t DIY everything. Anything that’s going to take you too long or actually cost you more in materials than it would cost to hire someone isn’t worth it. Additionally, if it’s going to require you or someone else to learn a large skill that takes time to develop, you could end up with bad results. Save yourself the trouble and hire the professional you need.

What are you thinking about DIYing for your wedding?