As social media continues to be a huge part of our culture, more and more we see the negative affects that comparison has on our hearts. We see all of the awesome and exciting things that our peers are doing and we start to wonder…why doesn’t my life look like that? And then the bitterness comes. You know, that ugly part of you that inner monologues sarcastically when yet another Caribbean vacation photo or perfect Pinterest recipe or even engagement makes it’s Facebook debut. We’ve all been there, no matter what season of life we’re in. And the sad thing is…if we never entered into that comparison zone in the first place, we wouldn’t be so dissatisfied!

We’ve all heard this quote before – “Don’t compare your behind the scenes with somebody else’s highlight reel.”

I think that this sentiment is SO true and can really apply no matter what season of life you’re in. But I think it takes an especially hard hit on brides. Why? Well one word…Pinterest. Don’t get me wrong…I think Pinterest is a wonderful tool for inspiration for DIY and recipes and definitely wedding planning! But I think as far as weddings are concerned…it’s got to JUST be inspiration. Because we’ve all seen enough Pinterest fails to know that your DIY wedding is never going to turn out just like the image on the screen.

Speaking as someone who vividly remembers what it was like to scour Pinterest at 2 and 3 AM thinking that I was making “progress” in planning my wedding, only to come up empty hearted at all the details I’d never be able to incorporate….Pinterest envy is a real thing. And I think it actually steals your inspiration a lot of the time! I know the biggest meltdowns I had over my wedding were because my details didn’t look like all of my pins or because my invitation suite was not like anything I’d seen before! (true story…I remember crying to David about our invitation suite at about 3AM one night…even though it turned out perfectly us)

I’m a big believer that your wedding day should feel like the two of you coming together in visual form…not just pretty details for the sake of pretty details (although I’m also a big fan of the pretty ;)). There are quite a few things from our wedding day that I KNOW I did because I’d seen other people do them…and a good bit of our day was Pinterest ideas haphazardly thrown together rather than put there with purpose. (also this is a PSA to hire a wedding planner that will help you make the most of your zany ideas!) And I KNOW I’m not the only bride who was reduced to tears knowing that their budget wouldn’t allow the perfect, elegant Pinterest famous weddings. Comparison was heavy in my soul leading up to the wedding and I’m positive that it reduced my joy during the season of engagement, and I don’t want that for you!

So here’s my advice dear bride…if you want to have a DIY wedding with lots of whimsical details…do it. If you want to have an elegant black tie affair where you don’t lay a hand on the details…do it! Just don’t do it because Pinterest told you to.

And now, because I did have a DIY wedding that I ended up absolutely LOVING…here are some of my favorite Pinterest inspired…but not Pinterest copied details.

Yeah, these sparkle shoes…not my brightest ideas and I guarantee my Mom (who happened to be shoe shopping with me) is the only one who would’ve said “go for it” a week before the wedding. Yep…these were black flats that I glitter painted myself. It looked ugly for a couple days…but by wedding day they were one of my favorite things.

Button boutonnieres for every groomsmen were also a favorite that were inspired by a button bouquet I saw in Harrisonburg one day :] And this unconventional  little groom’s gift for David that I hand painted…the night before the wedding.

Again…maybe not the most efficient way to spend my time…but I hand wrote and hot glued buttons to luggage tags for every guest. With a LOT of help from my friends.

Button bouquets inspired by the same aforementioned button bouquet. This was the craziest and most time consuming idea for sure. Each was literally painstakingly handmade by me and any friend I could rope into helping and then compiled by my bridesmaid Alex. And a mason jar chandelier I certainly had nothing to do with.

Also did I mention that Alex also hand poured teacup candles for every table?!

Tea stained and baked sheet music from our ceremony were used as placemats…and I may have burned myself quite a few times making these happen.

And just because I love our wedding pictures :]

Another PSA to hire a wedding planner…SERIOUSLY! Especially if you’re a DIY girl like me… Most of our details came together in that last week…which is not ideal for getting to sleep and not exhausting all of your friends before the wedding even comes :]