Three weddings, two weeks. My life has turned into a bit of 27 Dresses, just with less satin.

Thanks to the amount of ribbon and tulle that has run through my fingers in the last two weeks, my lesser self  is tempted to say that weddings are bastions of conspicuous consumption and excessive excess, and that the only thing earth friendly about weddings is the “something old” item. My better self will remember my friends finding true love and the celebratory aspect of weddings.

As you can imagine, being the DIY Doyenne, I’ve been asked to do a myriad of wedding-related projects for these friends of mine. Also not so shocking, it’s all the things that would otherwise be very expensive or a undue hassle, that friends found out I could, to put it kindly, jury-rig.

Here are a couple of ideas and projects that that may help you get more with less, save money, and perhaps use resources more wisely.

Flowers

To help keep floral costs down, I am using a local wholesaler and getting a bargain on flowers for the entire wedding. They aren’t organic but I like to think I minimized transportation and storage energy costs by buying in bulk and doing the arrangements myself.

A few ideas to make your flowers more eco-friendly: Consider an organic flower supplier like Organic Bouquet, although be prepared to gasp at the price differential. A few other ways to get flowers include asking your friends what they will have growing around the time of your wedding. Collect greenery from friendly neighbors — say, magnolia leaves from the groom’s front yard. Or (cost-sucking) hydrangeas from a very friendly neighbor. Also, just make sure you get the most out of your flowers, send centerpieces home with guests after the event, give leftover flowers to helpers, and support local businesses or hospitals. At the end of the day, I am convinced that flowers provide real, visceral happiness to people. So enjoy the wedding flowers and don’t feel bad about it. To do that, well, that would be wrong.

A Bridesmaid DIY

A nontraditional dress from J. Crew that can be worn again gave one recent bride the need for a belt on her four bridesmaid’s waists. I was tasked with creating this unifying piece. Wonderfully specific about what she wants in the wedding, she told me she wanted navy belts with little “bowtie” in the middle back to make the dresses more serious. I took fusable hem tape and doubled the thickness of a beautiful grosgrain navy ribbon with an iron in seconds. Taking a 12 inch length and sewing it into a circle, I aligned the seam in the middle back and wrapped another piece of ribbon in place around the middle and stitch it together, attaching it to the waist band with sewing on one side and snaps on the other. Although I will tack the belts in place, they will be completely usable for (hopefully) something else — as will the dress itself.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Everyone has been at a wedding where someone (whoever that someone is who picked the bridesmaid dress) will tell you that they picked the bridesmaid dress because you can wear it again. I suppressed an indecent laugh at the last wedding I was at because I had just been told I could wear — yet again — a dress I already owned three times over, in the exact same color. A bride actually committing to a dress that can be worn again, even if it isn’t organic, could be the best thing for the environment and recycling.

I have recently discovered the TwoBirds dress, which is one bridesmaid dress that can be worn 15 ways. And my money is on it actually being worn again. Another idea is to think outside the box about what the dresses should look like. Break free from the stranglehold of David’s Bridal!

The Card Box

You have to have somewhere to secure all those cards (and the cash inside) that you are going to receive for your wedding. There are some beautiful card boxes out there, made with love and affection (check out these on Etsy.com). With all the ribbon and tulle that you are most likely going to have left over. Instead of buying a card box, considering using left over ribbon and wrapping paper to decorate your own. Have ribbon from your bridal shower or various other lead-up events, incorporate it into the card box. Gift packaging from the parties may also provide you with some perfect boxes to use as well. Use leftover fabric or purchase some acid free paper to cover the boxes. Oh, and I advise a lot of hot glue.

In conclusion, I adore my friends and helping them has been my pleasure (if any of then are reading this), but it’s a lot of work. My advice to any prospective brides is don’t be the DIY doyenne for your own wedding. There are savings to be had and that extra level of creativity and personalization is at your finger tips, but print off these ideas and give them to a dear friend you trust. Then walk away!