Help me get married on a budget..

[beanie]

I am hoping to get married next year for around £3k-£5k so thanks for the thread Krystal!

I am planning to get a Monsoon/Coast/similar dress, have no bridesmaids/attendants except my two children and do lots of the invites/favours/decorations myself.

We are hoping for a small registry office/maybe humanist (if I can persuade OH) cermony with just 14 of us which includes my 2 children, my nephew, us two, parents and brothers/sister + partners. Then a meal with just us lot. There's a lovely local place which has a private dining room which will just let us choose off the main menu. Then maybe the next day we'll have a huge party in our local village hall.

beanie, I was really sad to read that you have to have 2 ceremonies if you want a humanist wedding in England. Come to Scotland, a humanist wedding is legally recognised here - I've been to 2 in the last 2 years and am going to another in May just before the baby is due. Clicky for more info.

Valentine Xxx

sounds like a beautiful day!!!

It's weird that it is recognised in Scotland but not England (though it doesn't surprise me, England are a tad behind at times). I have kind of accepted that I have to have 2 ceremonies and am actually quite excited about having 2 completely different weddings. If I get a bargain might be able to have 2 dresses

 

[Sandi4Paul]

Our wedding cost us £6000 four year ago (tomorrow), we got married abroard and that 6K includes flights and hotel everything.

Areas wehre we could have saved more, rings Spent £1500 on Lord of the rings rings
Dress £700
Tiara £150 (i think)

getting married abroard is much cheaper.

Sandi

 

[mum2A&L]

Our wedding cost us £6000 four year ago (tomorrow),

happy anniversary for tomorrow

 

[Krystal]

Our wedding cost us £6000 four year ago (tomorrow),

happy anniversary for tomorrow

^ Ditto

 

[pickled_onion]

We got married here last summer: http://www.eatinthewalledgarden.co.uk/

We kept it small by only inviting close family and friends. I wore a Monsoon dress and hubby wore a linen suit. As it was in a garden, we saved on flowers. They were all around so no need to carry any ourselves We had homemade chocs made instead of a cake and the leftovers doubled up as favours. I did the invites myself and both our mums read poetry of our choosing. After the ceremony, we had a short wine reception whilst listening to the harpist. I spent a fair chunk of our budget on hiring a really accomplished harp player (who also sang beautifully in Gaelic as we signed the register) and I'm very glad I did because it really lent a lot to the atmosphere. And then we sat down to a yummy three-course meal in the restaurant before retiring to the village pub.

Honeymoon excluded we spent just over £2000 and it was magical We'd found out about bub just eleven days before so it was a really special time.

 

[valentine]

We got married here last summer: http://www.eatinthewalledgarden.co.uk/

We kept it small by only inviting close family and friends. I wore a Monsoon dress and hubby wore a linen suit. As it was in a garden, we saved on flowers. They were all around so no need to carry any ourselves We had homemade chocs made instead of a cake and the leftovers doubled up as favours. I did the invites myself and both our mums read poetry of our choosing. After the ceremony, we had a short wine reception whilst listening to the harpist. I spent a fair chunk of our budget on hiring a really accomplished harp player (who also sang beautifully in Gaelic as we signed the register) and I'm very glad I did because it really lent a lot to the atmosphere. And then we sat down to a yummy three-course meal in the restaurant before retiring to the village pub.

Honeymoon excluded we spent just over £2000 and it was magical We'd found out about bub just eleven days before so it was a really special time.

Oh that sounds amazing! I love Applecross and we considered it as a wedding location (I LOVED the church, but unfortunately I'm not religious!) when we were first engaged in 2004/5. I take it you and your guests had to drive over the 'Pass of the Cattle'?! Scary biscuits!

Valentine Xxx

 

[pickled_onion]

^Yeah, Applecross is stunning. The whole of the North West Highlands do it for me. I really love it over there.

I take it you and your guests had to drive over the 'Pass of the Cattle'?! Scary biscuits!

Heh. Some of the guests did but I ended up travelling in my dad's car, hubby had gone ahead seperately to sort out some legal stuff and dad being a very anxious first-time grandad-to-be wouldn't go that way. We had to meander around the top bit instead. Took bloody ages!

 

[lea m]

I have a dress for sale £250?? hahaha Seriously here's a pic Its brand new!!

Diamante encrusted corset top and very very full skirt!!


Yes Im a spammer!! haha

 

[Bee]

We're doing a lot of things ourselves too.

Making the invitations, favours, kids entertainment (colouring in things etc) and loads more. It reduces costs and its personal

Also we have a savings accoun we opened especially for saving money for the wedding and put in what we can. Makes a difference.

Good luck! We haven't set a budget yet but are in the middle of it all

 

[muppetmummy]

OH ordered me a dress that actually fits me!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0229944384

I love it! And I can stop stressing now......phew! I've been sooooooooooo stressed today.

 

[beanie]

edited for personal reasons

 

[valentine]

I really want to start planning my wedding now - even though I fell out with OH earlier I want to be a pretty bride. We have said 2010 but the last time we decided on a year I got pregnant with Cally so will have to abstain from sex until we are married (that'll get him organising)

Me too beanie, lets go for it!

I keep getting pregnant and b*ggering up the plans too!

Valentine Xxx

 

[Bloom]

Come and join the wedding thread

 

[emeraldsroses]

If you don't mind me asking personal questions;

How much did your wedding cost overall (excluding honeymoon):
near £4900 (with the current exchange rate)

If you managed to budget, how did you budget? What were the things you saved most on?:

1. My dress was what I budgeted on most. Surprisingly enough I managed to spend £300, excluding accessories (those I bought at Claires).[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
2. I saved on doing nails, hair and make up professionally because my (half) sister is a cosmotologist/hairdresser.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
3. I made the invitations myself using PaintShop Pro and then had them printed at a printing shop near me.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
4. My bouquet was made by my DH's uncle who used to make things like this for a living.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
5. The church choir and the violin/viola players didn't want any money to perform at our wedding.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
6. We didn't have a special wedding car. We just used DH's car.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
7. We didn't get a professional photographer. We had a family member who's a hobby photographer take our photos.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
8. We didn't get a band or DJ. We put all our music on CD and had the location play them on their CD player.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
9. No wedding cake. See later on why we didn't have one.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]
10. Our party started at 8pm, so we ended up with snacks (cold and warm) for our guests instead of a meal. We had an open bar and even that didn't cost us nearly as much as we thought it would.[/*:m:f2hhy9at]

Do you think having a buffet rather than a sit down meal is a good idea?(daytime):
That's fine. In fact, I think that saves more money than a sit down meal.

Is £5,000 a reasonable amount or am I living in the clouds? I don't mind budgeting but I still want to have an enjoyable day and for my guests to enjoy it aswell.
That's fine. In fact, you can still have a classy wedding on a budget. Ours didn't seem budgeted and we had plenty of compliments.

How did you cut down guest lists?
We both don't come from big families, so we were able to keep our list down to 60-65 (including 4 children) at the actual party in the evening.

One suggestion is opt for an "unusual" location for the party rather than a castle, restaurant or hotel. We had our party on a sailing ship and that cost us less than having the party at a "normal" location. Moreover, the compliments we were given were mostly on the original choice of location.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck planning your wedding.

 

[suzie1011]

aha, this is exactly the thread i've been looking for. im now preparing to read every post on it lol!

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Am i the only cheapskate that did hers on 500 quid then

 

[KELLYXX]

no Mrs tommo i did mine on £500 too. we booked and arranged it all within 12 weeks. Got married at the end of November and it was absolutley wonderful.

 

[suzie1011]

kelly & mrs Tommo...one word....how?!?!?!

i've now got some really good ideas on here and will present them to OH later. im feeling all excited now!!!!