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UKbride Member Request 23 May 2018

Hey ladies. I’m starting out with wedding planning and struggling...

Hey ladies. I’m starting out with wedding planning and struggling already. We’re on a budget as saving for a house aswell so I wanna do it as easy as possible but I’m getting stressed just writing out who to invite to day/evening. I need inspiration on how to plan my perfect day but with minimal stress ????????

19 Comments
Lucy Lewis
Lucy Lewis 23 May 2018

Hi I know what you are going through if we knew how little help we were going to get we would have gone to a registry office :)

Rachel Rackley
Rachel Rackley 24 May 2018

Pinterest has good ideas on how to make wedding bits yourself and budgeting ideas

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

Pinterest have some great ideas for cheap ideas and diy wedding decorations.

Sarah Baker
Sarah Baker 24 May 2018

Im strugling with who to invite aswell we can only have 60 people in our ceremony room which has to include photographer the registra the bride and groom etc...oh only want to invite 5 people from his side but i have so many aunts n uncles n cousins who then have partners and children it soon fills up its so hard not to feel like ur going to offend people

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

I've pretty much diy'ed everything - well as much as I can x
Made all the table confetti, table decorations, centrepieces, invites, wedding signage, confetti cones etc
I started by making a list of everything that needs to be done - then have a look at that list to see what you can diy x everyone has different crafty skills so something's might not be feasible for you to do x but it is possible - there are so many free tools and templates available now xx
Good luck x

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

My htb has only a handful of family members so I have chosen to not invite my aunt's & uncles too, it means we can have a very intimate wedding, also as it's both our 2nd marriage..best wishes x

Chelsea-Anne Horrocks
Chelsea-Anne Horrocks 24 May 2018

Bridebook is a good app for getting organised and keeping track of what needs doing. Start by working out roughly how much you can realistically afford for a venue and then go from there. That way you’ll know how many you can invite,that’s what we did we decided just close friends and family for the ceremony and then will invite everyone else to the evening do x

Michelle Sprules
Michelle Sprules 24 May 2018

Bridebook app is brilliant. You work out a budget and then follow the advise for when to book stuff.
Also EBay is a blessing for ideas x

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

I bought/ renovated a house and planned a wedding all in the same year and a half so I can totally sympathise. What I will say is they are both probably the two most expensive and stressful things you can do and to do them together you need to be super organised and super savvy. Get some sort of diary/ planner and get everything wrote down don’t pay deposits out until you’re 100% sure you can afford. And DIY as much as you can. Sweet tables, invites, confetti bags etc can all be done quite reasonably.
Good luck!

Nicki Sheppard
Nicki Sheppard 24 May 2018

Elope

Angela Christie
Angela Christie 24 May 2018

we having a party once we have the photo's, so those that can't come can come then

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

I’ve just created a list on my iPhone and cheap ideas off Pinterest!

Kattrina Loizou
Kattrina Loizou 24 May 2018

My best advice is work out what's important to you! We were looking at over 20k when we started but when we stopped and realised it's about us and not a show for everyone else we got it down to £7k

As a couple we adore food and eating in amazing resturants and we felt we wanted to have the best food ever on our wedding day - but this meant feeding everyone else this and this came at a HUGE cost

Then we love historical buildings so we're looking at country houses but in reality most offer a marquee in the grounds or one room, and once you're inside you can see the outside so we didn't see the point of spending thousands for a venue we would only see the inside of one room on

Next we looked at guest list, we managed to cut it down significantly by ONLY inviting people to the day we had seen in the last year - we felt if someone hasn't found one day in the last year to make time for us (family included) then they didn't NEED to be at our big day - they are invited to evening only

Invites and save the dates are extortionate for a piece of paper that most people look at once and then transfer details to their phone calender or diary

Finally we decided no photographer as we Snap hundreds of photos over the years that we never print or look back at so seemed an unessesary cost, we have asked my future brother in law to snap a few of me down the aisle first kiss etc so we have them but as a couple we are not the sort to have a sunset kiss in a field type shot - people will take their own photos on the day and we will get to see out wedding from lots of perspectives

My dress came from a sample sale £1500 reduced to £100 Bridesmaids dresses from light in the box

Then we have booked all the entertainment and decor through one company and negotiated a discount for doing so

Here's how my wedding looks now

Midday go for lunch in our fave restaurant with our wedding party then to the bar we met in for a drink

4pm marry at our local registry office with around 40 guests

Evening reception with buffet at a local hotel

Amy Eager
Amy Eager 24 May 2018

Excel will become your best friend.

UKbride Administrator
UKbride Administrator 24 May 2018

Work from what you want to do... the more you involve the harder it gets. We had a church wedding, booked flowers, a lovely friend played our music, I ordered my dress online, had a beautiful town hall reception where we filled the bar and had a buffet.... other then cake cutting and first dance it was demand free, all organised, paid for and done in less then three months start to finish x

Lindsay Crone
Lindsay Crone 24 May 2018

Sit down and make a list of what is important for your big day and what isn't. I'm not having wedding cars because it isn't important to me. Also look at what you can do DIY as it's cheaper and more personal xx

Carol Boyle
Carol Boyle 24 May 2018

I got a Wedding Planning Book and it tells you each month what you need to do. Also used Pinterest, Wish, Amazon, EBay and local Facebook wedding supplier groups for ideas. Gets easier once you get started xx

Rachel Amanda
Rachel Amanda 25 May 2018

I’m in the same situation. My H2B and I are going for a cheaper time of year to hold the wedding and have then set up an excel spreadsheet listing all we need and rough costs which we are now trying to beat as we book things. It is a bit overwhelming at first but I find that it is as hard as you make it, make some clear choices and then start getting things booked in 🙂 x x x

Dina Gregory
Dina Gregory 6 Jun 2018

close family and friends for the whole day then invite maybe a couple more people for evening if you want to. shop around im paying 17p each for my flower girl necklaces (im having to flower girls) maybe buy some acceries as gifts for birthday/christmas etc for each other (im buying my chap his pocket watch for christmas then his cowboy boots for his birthday) saves trying to think what to buy him i find males akward to buy for. Amazon has a wide range of lovely items for weddings x

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