Wedding Expert Shares Top DIY Tips After Bride Has 'Disaster' on Big Day

A bride with a wedding disaster story to rival the best of them has gone viral on TikTok after she recently described the numerous calamities on her special day.

Across three videos posted to her page, Evette describes the dramatic events of her wedding day which started with herself, her fiancé, and their children contracting pink eye from another family member.

She explains that as they were on a tight budget, it was very much a DIY wedding. "I didn't hire anyone to do my bouquet, or to do the reception."

She starts the video, "Before you come at me—no, I was not being a bridezilla. I was not drunk...it was 100 percent about how much of a disaster the day was and how nothing panned out the way it was supposed to."

To name a few of the mishaps, the woman says that due to a freak storm, the vendors asked to set up in the morning, taking vital DIY time away from the couple. This meant running around in her wedding dress all morning, causing it to stretch, and "bits of it were unraveling."

Due to time constraints, the couple had to get ready together—"we didn't get our first looks"—and had to wait outside in the rain as the guests arrived.

A hail storm knocked out the power, meaning that the food could not be prepared. Alcohol was supplied in lieu, resulting in very drunk guests, including 20 to 30 minors. To top it all off, the bride says the sewage pump at the venue broke down and the drunk wedding party had to then leave due to the threat of imminent flooding.

Moving the festivities over to a local pub for food, with tensions running high, family members "were so intoxicated that they had fallen over, they were bleeding, they were injured," she says, adding that other family members had got into car accidents or fights on the way home.

She concludes that she spent her wedding night crying into her new husband's arms, and her main mistake was only having a plan of action for a sunny day and no backup plan.

Newsweek spoke to Zoe Burke, leading wedding expert and editor of wedding planning site Hitched about how to plan a wedding on a budget.

"It's pretty easy to plan a wedding that is affordable and stress-free," she explains. "You need to be super organized and realistic about what you want, and a free wedding planning app can help you to keep on track—it's basically a planner in your pocket!"

Five Top Tips for Planning a DIY Wedding

1. Choose an off-season wedding date. You can save thousands on a winter Friday, compared to a summer Saturday. Just make sure you have a plan with your venue for what you'll do if the weather is bad—most wedding venues have a 'Plan B' for bad weather!

1. Shop sample sales for your wedding dress. It's important that your dress is well-fitted and you feel comfortable in it, so I'd always recommend going to a professional bridal shop. But check in with them about sales, off-the-peg gowns, and their more budget-friendly ranges.
2. Be inspired by the season when it comes to food and flowers—by choosing what is in season, you'll save money on having produce imported, and it also helps to theme your day.
3. Reuse and recycle! I absolutely love seeing simple wedding décor—save up glass bottles to put flowers or cheap tapered candles in for an affordable but atmospheric look.
4. Skip anything that doesn't feel necessary to you. There's no 'have-to' when it comes to wedding planning. If you're not cake people, don't do it. If you can't be bothered with favors, skip them. Don't spend money on stuff you don't see the value in, just because you think a wedding 'should' have it—it's a myth! That way you'll have more of your wedding budget to invest in the stuff that really matters—and that's what makes it so special.

Newsweek has reached out to @Evette88888 for comment.

Has a wedding come between your relationship with a loved one? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.