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UKbride Member Request 22 May 2020

Help

Hi me and my partner are trying to save for a wedding but it’s becoming so hard could anyone give me some tips as we don’t earn a lot and we are left with little money I really want to give her the wedding she’s dreamed of :(

50 Comments
Danielle Smith
Danielle Smith 25 May 2020

Hi! Why not open a savings account with a bank you don’t normally use, I bank with NatWest but have a RBS savings account. That way I don’t have as easy access to online banking and it means I don’t see the money whenever I go on my banking app!

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I began saving by tracking our spending - one of our biggest non essential expenditures was takeaways! Now we’ve stopped those we’re saving £200 per month!

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Set a budget and always shop around and dont be afraid to haggle/barter

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Saving money is tough when you have little spare. Try choosing cheaper brands when food shopping.. aldi/Lidl are very reasonably priced and quality products. If you buy takeaways, cut back on them or eliminate them altogether. Don’t buy an expensive coffee on your break at work? Basically Look at what you’re spending your money on and make cuts wherever possible. Even if you manage to save £30 a week it’s over 1.5k saved in a year. X

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I worked how much me and my partner could afford to pay and still have money left and we both put in a certain amount each month we have now secured our wedding and booked our photography my biggest tip is to open a savers and both you and your partner put a certain amount each month share the responsibility and you will have it saved in no time I’ve done this and has worked as me and my partner are only 21 and don’t earn a lot of money it is possible. good luck 😊

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Have a separate account, have a standing order that comes out on payday for a set amount. If it comes out in payday then you don't notice it missing rather than putting what's left at the end of the month (then feeling guilt for only having put away a few pounds). Both sides need to put in the money. X

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Have a look at money saving expert. That helps with best accounts for you and also advised on deals so you can get money for switching etc. It also goes over energy suppliers and all areas of savings

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Also to save money on the wedding side of things become creative and make your own bits 😊this is what we have done its so much more personal too. X

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Do you have a friend or family member that’s thrifty? Ask them for help. Often what we view as essential isn’t and there’s lots of places we could save that we hadn’t though of.
Good luck x

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Work out how much approximately you would need. If you're not too fussed about year devide it up and see how much each month you'll need to save and go from there. Like others have said open a savers account and cut out non essential stuff but still allow a treat once in a while otherwise it'll get you down. My partner and I are looking at getting married in 3 year as we know that's the only way we can afford it . It's frustrating we know it'll go up by 10% each year but we just don't have the funds available right now. See what you realistically want as well as you could cut bits out without it being a big issue. Just think will this make any impact at all if it was there or not. Hope that helps

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Look at wedding packages that include everything rather than paying individually for caterers & DJ and so on. Shop around is the best advice I can give- I spent ages looking online at different options. Also having your wedding during autumn/winter brings the price down! We saved a lot by having ours in October (bonus that it is my favourite month!)
Hire suits rather than buying and look at sample sales for wedding dresses, I got such a bargain with mine.
Starting a wedding savings account is a good idea 😊

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We just opened up a saving account and put a set amount away every month until everything was paid or had the money for when it needed to be paid

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We have a separate account and put money away each at the start of the month and any change we have from say shopping or in our purse/wallets the amount goes in a savings bottle... It's small steps but they work, it's surprising how a couple of pound coins here and there add up!

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We worked out how much we could save and then used bride book it breaks down everything you need and roughly how much to spend. Its not perfect as there are some things we didnt really need that it budgeted for but it gave us a running total of how much we’d spent and we could add any extras we wanted

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

instead of presents our family and friends paid for all the big things we only had to pay for food and decorations xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Do as much as you can yourself for a more DIY wedding. Scrap little bits like save the dates and favours and things like that. Look on fb selling sites and eBay/amazon for little bits. Get any crafty family and friends to help. It’ll be fab!😊

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Have you looked at the wedding packages on Groupon there are some great deals on there

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I highly recommend a plum account. It saves little bits money for you here and then without you realising. So I have a normal savings account and then this on top. In about 10 months it saved £1100 for me and you don’t notice it even leaving your account as it’s a couple of pounds here and there. You can also change the regularity of it so it will save more if you want it to xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We had a package that paid everything it was cheaper and easier

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We were in the same boat!! Work out what you pay each month and cut out things you can live without for a while I cancelled my Spotify and changed my phone plan and we budgeted food to cut costs that was step 1.

We found a venue that included everything so we didn't need to worry about other bits and bobs of money!

Be realistic about what you want and what you can afford I forgwent a photo booth I didn't need it!

There is an app called greetings island which you can make free invites on then you can just email them or print and mount on card and post. Or Greenvelope is amazing we paid a small amount for a few sendees and the Invite in the form of an awesome animation of the invite being opened and guests that rsvp and add to calenders via the email to your dashboard.
Keep favours cheap and cheerful
Facebook sales is brilliant for things like centre piece bits I bought 40 pre dressed mason jars for £15 add some eBay fairy lights £3.50 for 12 sets of small lights and some table number holders for £7 boom center pieces done for £25 lol

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Shopping around is key! If you've found a venue, see if they have recommended suppliers as we got a deal on our photographer through that. We found wedding fairs unhelpful as they show you everything, and we started to consider things we weren't considering beforehand like fireworks and candy carts. Also the prices were much higher. We did some things ourselves but be careful as sometimes DIY can become more expensive, as well as exceptionally time consuming. As others have said, look at off peak times, as this impacts not only your venue but also your suppliers price and availability!

Also ask for Facebook recommendations for things. I wanted to have my make-up done, but it was too expensive with lots of places charging £60 for just the make up on the day, let alone extras for trials, plus my mum etc. At a FB recommendation, I found someone great who did it for £30.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Every few days I would look at my account online and put the odd amount in.

So say if I had £132.56 I would the £2.56 in a savings account or if I was feeling flush maybe £12.56. Its such small amounts you do not notice and it soon adds up.

As far as weddings go, package deals are the best way to save money.

If you have friends or family that are creative sometimes they will do wedding things for you as wedding gifts. My auntie make the cake and my friend did the favours for example. Xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I am currently saving for my own wedding its took me 3 years we are getting married next year i have a isa and i put a little in it every time i get paid hope this helps i also bought little things from Amazon and ebay i also wrote a list and when i got it i ticked it off i also have a notebook that i got and only use it for wedding things i also got a wedding planner notebook of Amazon amazon is great for things like that hope this helps xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Definitely consider what you would like to spend more of your money on! Ask around to see if you have any friends/family who can help with cake, food or photography, and shop around various companies to save some money too.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Go to your bank and ask about their best savings accounts. Also we compared local historical places that are beautiful, but are also cheaper than other wedding venues

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

not sure what kind of budget u have but we have a full package at holiday inn for 2200...ok not a fairy tale castle but can be made to look beautiful c

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Negociation and do your own decs id say x

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Do you or your partners company have a saving scheme? My partners place does so it comes straight out of his wages so you don’t see it and it works with how much shares the company gets aswell and they give him a percentage of it. It’s over 3 years so we have 2 separate ones one for 20 a month and one for 30 so after 4 years we get given a minimum of £3500 plus whatever the shares will be at that time xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We have save the change on our joint account so that every time we buy something it rounds it up and puts the excess into our wedding savings.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Try credit union account ..the interest on loans are alot lower than banks so although its debt it's not as bad as using cards etc ..we have saved alot during lockdown with no takeaways etc ..we also put spare change into jars and money boxes and we saved 80quid one month ..I save my money as soon as I'm paid it means I cannot use it on anything else

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

My fiancé and I are getting married in Cyprus. And although Cyprus is an expensive and luxury country the wedding package that we have is £5700 which includes EVERYTHING we need apart from dresses, suits and little touches! So everything to hair & make up, to the wedding cake is included. For the little extras like favours for example, DIY is a massive go to for a lot of people were doing our own invites, favours etc wherever you can do it your self DO IT you’ll save £££!

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I use Monzo bank, they have a feature where you can round up every transaction to the nearest £ - i.e. if I spend £29.50, it puts £0.50 automatically into savings. I'm sure other banks would have similar features. It isn't going to be enough to pay for a wedding, but its an unoticable amount on each transaction, and adds up quickly without you noticing. Every little helps 😊

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I'd suggest first sitting down together and establishing what kind of wedding you both want.

Wedding costs can vary considerably - a Church or Registrar ceremony followed by a reception at your fave pub or restaurant can be really cost effective.

A large reception at a hotel with all bells & whistles may cost more.

Only you can decide which you'd like, but I can tell you that fairy lights can turn the most basic of rooms into a cosy, intimate space!

Once you've worked out what you like, get an idea of costs online, and then create a realistic budget.

From there, work out how long it'll take you to save, and create a plan you can both stick to so that you can start married life without wedding debt.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Definitely shop around. We found a hotel in the middle of nowhere, that we hadn't even considered before, was actually so beautiful and accomodating and it worked out around £40 per head for the whole thing. Also, you may think that having hundreds of people there is part of the dream but it's actually just alot of unnecessary stress. Keep your numbers to just close family and close friends and it'll be so much more meaningful. Look online for deals on photographers or go simply, set up an email account and ask everyone to take pictures and send them to the account. Those pictures will be so much more "real". Dresses can be picked up from £50 onwards and suits arnt hard to get either. I found that this whole "dream wedding" thing was just a money pit. If you're smart and realistic about it, it's so much better. At the end of the day, it's about you pair getting married and celebrating with those you love

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Look into groupon. Also if you have any friends or family that have skills that could help you out. Do you have a budding baker who could make your cake, or someone who is excellent at hair and make up? Maybe youve got a green fingered Grandparent or uncle to help with flowers. They could offer up things for the wedding instead of wedding gifts. Also look at local colleges. They have budding photographers who would love the opportunity to photograph your wedding to help build their portfolio.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Shepperton holiday inn do packages that start at a good price

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Weekdays are sometimes a little inconvenient but usually around 25% cheaper or same if you book for October-february and most places will do package for around 50-80 guest's, Facebook market place has a lot of value for money cake makers, hair and makeup etc also, hope this helps x

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We are getting married there it is dearer if you are having the ceremony there as well hope this helps

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Try to make as much yourself stuff as possible; invites, bouquets, centre pieces. Also, get married out of "wedding season" try autumn & winter as venders slash their prices

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Try an app called plum ... it’s a savings app and it uses algorithms to calculate how much you can save , you can set the rates too , so like if you want to save 25% more then you just change the settings, it’s really easy to use and I’ve saved over £500 in 4 months x

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Now is a good time to look at what packages people are offering. There is a lot out there right now :) a friend of mine has her venue, food wedding breakfast and evening food, table wine, chair covers, DJ and I think her cake for £4k which is soooo good! Hope you manage to find something you both love x

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I made my own favours my own invitations, did my own make up and hair I didnt miss that at all

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We figured out our budget - first we figured out how much we needed for food/travel/rent etc. As well as monthly finances we had like netflix/spotify etc.
And whatever we had left went into the wedding fund.
In terms of the wedding - we put a limit on how much we were willing to spend maximum and then worked out within that how much we were willing to spend on different things like the venue/food/dress etc. From that list we chose a few things which were the most important to us (for us it was the photography/videography) and we were willing to go over the budget there - but that meant lowering the budget elsewhere.

Then we just kept track of how much we were spending.

Another good tip is to include your honeymoon plus the first 2 months of rent and living necessities within your budgeting so you aren’t completely broke after your wedding.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Give yourselves plenty of time. I have just postponed ours another year because of covid but I think realistically a year isn't long enough on 1 income

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

I would say sit down with your partner and work out what kind of wedding you would like to have. Then work out how much you can realistically put away so that it doesn’t leave you counting the pennies each month and then plan the date of your for wedding when you know you’ll be able to save the money. My fiancé and I got engaged November 2018 and aren’t getting married until August 2021. It seemed like a really long time but we’re already half way through and will have the wedding and honeymoon that we want. If you’re spending your life together, an extra year or two won’t matter. Good luck with your planning and your big day 🥰 xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Look on not on the high street for stuff you like then copy the description into eBay. You can buy the same stuff for a fraction of the price. I got postcards printed for invites with all the details and paid £25 for the lot.

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

We set up a separate savings account and agreed a weekly amount to pay into it which is now a standing order. As it is taken more like a bill from my account i factor it in to my monthly outgoings. I have also got a change box which has totalled up quite quickly - chucking the change from my purse each day.

In terms of the wedding, I’d recommend writing a list of all the things you both really want. Try to include those but then plan early, scour sales and go for budget friendly options where you can xx

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

Totally understand, we don’t earn an awful lot either. First off be realistic, you do not want to start married life in debt. Decide on each of your “non-negotiables” and take things from there. Sit down and list all of your outgoings and estimate (using the top estimate) for anything you’re unsure of. Whatever is leftover, create a standing order and put into a separate savings account. Look at marketplace for second hand decorations and there are even some amazing second hand wedding dresses. Can someone make your cake? Can you print your own invites? Photographers do a range of packages also, you don’t need to get them all day. It might also be cheaper to go abroad and do the whole thing as a package there and that’s also your honeymoon 🙂

UKbride Member 26 May 2020

figure out what is important and what you don't mind giving up. saves money. i wasn't too bothered by decorations or flowers. my friends lovingly made origami bouquets and we decorated a bar with fairy lights and pictures of me and my husband.

UKbride Member 27 May 2020

I would draw up a plan of your monthly outgoings to see where you can afford to cut back and how much you can save. It might take time so don’t rush yourselves, and also work out what it is you want in your wedding, how many people etc and also which parts you think you can do without. For example lots of people want both a photographer and videographer, but then change their minds when they think about how often they’ll actually watch the wedding video. Other areas people often cut back on can include number of guests (maybe don’t invite anyone you haven’t spoken to in the last year!), wedding cake (lots of smaller cheaper cake options because do you really care what the cake is like?), budget for invites (design then yourself!) etc. The day will be wonderful no matter how much money you spend 😊

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