Hassle-Free Nuptials

Vivian Short Photography

A wedding day can be extremely exciting, joyful and full of love, but it also has the potential to be stressful, demanding and expensive. According to The Knot’s annual The Average Wedding Cost, According to Data, the average wedding in West Virginia costs $31,000. With such a steep price tag, it is understandable that engaged couples would be looking to save money at every turn. One common way a bride and groom might try to reduce their cost is by doing many wedding tasks themselves. Though there may be some perks to DIYing wedding work, hiring professionals for various wedding day components can have incredible benefits.

One of the most obvious advantages to hiring professionals is the amount of time saved throughout the planning process. When factoring in the amount of time it would take to research, gather materials and complete each task, a couple may not be saving as much as they originally hoped by planning and coordinating a wedding without help.

Kristen Duez, a West Virginia bride who had her wedding at Oglebay in June 2023, decided to complete many wedding tasks herself.

“We did most of the decor DIY, including the decorating the day of. We also made a good amount of desserts for our cookie table the week of the wedding—a lot of nights baking leading to the big day,” says Duez. “We also didn’t have a day-of coordinator, and I did all the coordination myself. I did everything from invites/RSVPs, how we wanted decor to look, finding all our vendors and keeping everyone and everything organized until the big day.”

While Duez enjoyed a beautiful wedding at the Wheeling-based resort, in hindsight, she would have done a few things differently.

“I wish we would’ve accepted more help that was offered to us from friends, family and even our vendors,” she says. “It would’ve saved us time and the headache of trying to coordinate everything ourselves. I also wish we had hired a day-of coordinator. I think that would’ve taken a lot of the stress away in the weeks leading up to the wedding.”

Another benefit of working with professionals is knowing the product they deliver will be excellent, due to their experience in the field. This idea applies to photographers, videographers, florists, caterers, coordinators and many other wedding-day specialists.

Duez hired Meredith Brooke Photography and Elevated Media to capture photos and videos for her big day.

“My husband and I went into the wedding with peace of mind about the photos and videos because we had seen previous work from other clients they’ve had and we really loved both of them,” she says.

Tracy Self, the mother of a bride who was married at the Gaines Estate in October 2023, also reflected on the value that professionals add because of their previous experience.

Photo by Meredith Brooke Photography

“I think having people who work in the wedding industry daily is essential to making the day go smoothly,” she says. “We had people to give us opinions and suggestions for what has worked in the past for other brides and what hasn’t. Even the owners of the venue were quick to help in any and all ways through the experience by giving us a sounding board of what works and what doesn’t.”

One of the experts who will know how to save time and work with specialists to guarantee professional and valuable wedding day products is a wedding coordinator. Engaged couples can hire a coordinator to work with prior to the wedding or just for the wedding day. Either option offers the couple and their families some peace of mind on the big day.

Chasity Roach had her wedding at Honeybee Hills in Liberty, WV. Roach and her family decided to purchase the complete wedding package offered there, which included a coordinator, Aimee Rucker, for all wedding preparation and the day-of execution.

“I was able to count on Aimee for absolutely everything in my wedding, from the decorations and colors to coordinating events and so much more,” Roach says. “It was a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Self and her daughter did some pre-wedding tasks themselves, like purchasing items for wedding decor and booking vendors, but they also chose to work with the day-of wedding coordinator, Ally McCallister, that was offered through the Gaines Estate.

“Having Ally there to help us out if anything went awry gave us peace of mind through the day,” she says. “We never worried about anything because we knew our people would handle it. The experts helped us navigate through timelines to help make the day go smoothly. This was a huge help and took stress off me and my daughter.”

When considering all that a wedding day entails, a bride and groom, along with their family, can employ a blend of DIY and professional help. Some couples may find joy and pride in completing certain wedding tasks themselves and seeing their personal touches scattered throughout.

Photo by Megan Fox

Self says she would not change anything she and her daughter designed and created together.

“It was so fun to be able to pick out little things to make my daughter’s dream day come true,” she says. “It was a bonding experience and gave us something to check off the list every day that we got closer.”

Ultimately, each bride and groom must evaluate their own time constraints, consider others’ advice and determine their personal preferences for their wedding day. When all is considered, a couple can adequately approach what aspects of their wedding day they would like to complete themselves and what elements need a hired professional.