Anna Babbs
Anna Babbs 16 Jul 2020

Dreaming of any kind of celebration !

My partner and I have been engaged for a year, we are struggling to meet our outgoings and saving has been impossible. We are both estranged from our families and aren’t really sure where to start. It’s been a tough year with a mountain of personal problems and I just really want something we can look forward to, I want to see him smiling and surrounded by the friends that love us. Other than winning the competition what have you all done to scrimp and save?

27 Comments
UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

I'm in pretty much the same position savings wise. Have been engaged 4 years this year & are no where near close to a deposit as we have had to spend money on bits within the house that have died & needing replacing. It gets to the point some days that I get so disheartened that I think to myself that the chances of ever actually getting married are slim to none x

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Literally eating crap food instead of full meals I.e beans on toast or noodles.
Stopped going out with friends and instead invited then round or only went to house parties as they're cheaper.
No fast food/take away coffees
We also made a lot of our own wedding stuff ie invites and decorations. I'm a crafty kind of person so I already had stacks of crafts I could use for the wedding.
Don't sacrifice your idea of your perfect wedding due to money, even if it takes you 10 years, it is worth it.

Is there anything you can sell?
Make and sell?

You just have to be really strict with yourself. My partner is full time work in only part time but I instantly put money into my savings and then scrimped the rest of the month. Its best to put it out of view and be determined not to use it.
Good luck

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

There are some banks that have an option to round your debit card purchases up to the nearest £ and put the change into a savings account. That might be something to consider as then you'll be saving pennies each time you use your card instead of trying to put £s aside each week/month.

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

We had ours booked days after the full lockdown so we lost everything so we have now said a register office and just throw a massive party we in the process of getting compo but it’s taking so long we have said it’s bout us the wedding and just having our friends at the party xx

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Why does a wedding need to be expensive? We had the best day surrounded by people we care about for less than £500.

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

My wife and I had a very tight budget,.

Be Really strict on meals out and buying food etc have packed lunches and look for free things to do. Life was pretty boring pre wedding as we saved every penny.

One thing that helped me, was every few days I would check my account and would put the pemmies in the savings so if it was like 245.67 I would put £5.67 away or even the £1.67.

Wedding wise we saved lots.

1, find a venue that had good deals, we had a great country pub that did amazing value for money

2, marry at a registry office just the two of you and have a nice ceremony and party other day. That will save you about £500!!

3, do as much as possible yourself or alternatively ask around if friends have any special skills. We got wedding favours and the wedding cake free as wedding gifts from family and friends. It's a nice homemade special touch
and great for the wallet.

4, Get your dress online I payed £50 for my wedding dress from asos!!

Just remember it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive it's about your love and honestly getting married made me realise that it's about each other and money and stuff have no meaning.

Sorry essay!! 🤣🤣 Good luck! ❤️

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Working extra shifts has a care worker just to save for our wedding extremely hard at the moment xx

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

We were the same. We had close family at our cheap Wednesday wedding and pa

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

We saved up hard for our dream wedding said no to lots of social gatherings had friends round instead did free date nights or very cheap ones. Saved £300 each per month. Then paid all our deposits then Covid came and we cancelled our dream wedding due to my fiancé shielding. Now getting married in registry office and having a evening do next year saved us £1000's.
It is one day. Don't stress yourself or over spend to your budget just to have what you think everyone else wants. You can get carried away.
We would of spent 12k on our dream day if it wasn't for covid messing up our plans like many. But we are getting married just us 2 and couldn't be happier ☺

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

id,just under 500 for a great piss up,including loads of stuff for kids and catering. Good luck to you both and happy life together x

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

We scrimped and saved for the last 3 years... missed going to occasions, never going out, no holidays, strict on food planning no takeaways or eating out, only buying essentials when needed putting every penny into our dream florida beach wedding. COVID hit and ruined everything... we are now doing a reg office just family and all the money we saved and hopefully get bk is now our house deposit. It feels better knowing we worked so hard to save than put ourselves into debt and silver lining I guess coz now I am closer to getting my own house.

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Look on Martin's money expert site, that will help with saving money on bills to the best bank accounts for interest x

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

I work overtime everyday but if you’re not in a position to that I don’t really have advice other than pick what really matters to you, forget the rest and do it all outside somewhere it’s free 🤔

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Due to unforeseen circumstances concerning family, we decided to have our wedding as quick as possible so managed to get a venue for three months later. The venue offered a 24month interest free loan which we pay back monthly (which included venue, rooms, wedding breakfast, evening meal, booze and DJ) and then everything I could do myself I did! Invitations, table decorations, table names, place names, the wedding cakes etc! We got the whole day for less than £7k and it was amazing (despite being 2 days before lockdown and half our guests shielding!). I’d say don’t get hung up on the material things as you really won’t remember them - just make it the best party with your loved ones that you can as it’s those moments that will stand out to you when you look back! X

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Well to keep costs down look for a dress on facebook market place. I looked at a few lovely condition ones. Also, use the market place for decorations, just type wedding and see what pops up. Some great bargins there. Also use amazon and hobby craft or ebay. Make your own invites, make it personal xx

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

We are getting married at a registry office with immediate family and a couple of close friends, so about 15 in all. Then we have hired a marquee in our garden around £700 plus a nice buffet. So it's not cost loads and it's about you getting married, not spending thousands to fed others as that is what costs the most. Just do what you can afford without stressing out about it all.. X

UKbride Member 16 Jul 2020

Don’t get into debt for it because when that one day is over you will start married life stressed out rather than enjoying the honeymoon period! Do what you can afford to do and if you invite the right people your day will be amazing x

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

I didn’t think I could save either, till I put mine and my partners income and bills on a spreadsheet. I allowed us each “allowance” per month which is for meals out, nights out, clothes etc but everything down to Netflix and fuel is on this spreadsheet.
Every day I would check my spreadsheet to make sure we knew exactly what we had to spend. At the beginning of each month I would put the allocated amount into the joint savings and not touch it we had to survive on what we had left.
We got Lloyd’s accounts a club each and a joint so we ended up with 12 free cinema tickets and a gourmet society card so our date nights were using those.

I also had a wedding budget spreadsheet with every little last item listed inc gifts for the parents and bridal party. This helps as I knew what I could afford for each element.

From me never being able to save a penny, by doing this we managed to save a substantial amount, more than we needed for the wedding and we had an amazing honeymoon too.

I still use the budget spreadsheet to this day and still have the same allowance 🤣 and we manage to save loads now. Granted I’ve changed jobs and had pay rises but I do swear by my spreadsheet and I haven’t upped my allowance just because I got a rise.
I know what I have to spend on birthdays etc. we have since moved to a larger house and paid loads on extras in the new build, fully furnished and decorated
it and redone the garden, we are going to Australia next year and we have a “redundancy fund” in case one of us loses our jobs we can afford to live for a year.
I tell everyone to do a simple spreadsheet. I use a planner too so I know exactly what I can save up till 2023 😂 it has become obsessive but as I have no end goal for a wedding I do allow some flexibility so I’m not as boring as I sound 🤣

I don’t know how people live without a spreadsheet

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

Depends on what you want. We had a registry wedding last year. Booked a room at a local centre and had mini fish specials for 30. Then an evening buffet and disco for 80 and the whole thing cost £1500. Inc dresses etc. We called on friends to help out with taking photos etc. I bought a second hand dress and hubby wore a suit he already had etc. We had a wonderful day. I did my daughter's wedding 3 years ago for £1200. We made and afternoon tea for her wedding breakfast and buffet for the evening.

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

We just saved a little every month for 3 years! Meant to be getting married beginning of October but covid looks like it's going to put a stop to that 🤦🏼‍♀️ . . . More time to save haha xx

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

Look at places like JJs House for your dress, much cheaper than buying from a store too, we are having a 6 person registry office ceremony and have a bigger celebration in the evening, far cheaper xx

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

Having a great wedding doesn’t need to be expensive venue hire /room hire is a huge hit to the budget at some places. Look at social clubs restaurants and community centres. To save money we had afternoon tea for the wedding breakfast and a fish n chip truck for the evening food instead of a traditional 3 course meal. I made our invites sourced decor online from eBay bought my shoes on Amazon and waited for the sales so they were half price. Go to Claire’s Accessories or high street shops for jewellery tiaras etc. I actually bought a small item (decor gifts etc) each month so by the time the wedding arrived we had everything without any debt x

UKbride Member 17 Jul 2020

We’ve just saved every little bit we can. We’ve been engaged for 6 years, and are finally getting married this year, after saving any penny we could! 😊 I went to plenty of wedding fairs year after year with friends and family, just to stay excited about the wedding regardless of when it was to come! Don’t worry you’ll get there and it’ll be beautiful!

UKbride Member 18 Jul 2020

Many weddings in the UK have been affected by the Pandemic. I have found some people are getting legally married this year and have the big event next year. That time gap might help with saving. In terms of costs its about looking at life essentials and see where you can cut them down and then you have your disposable income. Hardly many people claim on Wedding insurance.

UKbride Member 19 Jul 2020

I got my venue on Groupon, what would have cost £4900 cost us £2499 and that was inclusive of ceremony and meal for 50 people and evening do for 100 people. You can also find photographers, entertainment and decorations on their for cheaper than average.
We got married within 12 weeks of deciding as my Nanna was terminal so we did the not done thing and asked people to give money rather than presents if they wanted to give us anything - people don't mind this as much as you'd think, saves them choosing, going shopping etc.
Make some things yourself/with help from friends.
Figure out what is important to you both and what you can go without.
Get your dress from a outlet bridal store (these are way cheaper because they have been placed in shop windows or worn at design shows but there is nothing wrong with them).
Have a friend bake your cake or buy one from a superstore to save £100's.
Use a soundsystem and phone with pre-chosen song lists for your evening do.
Be creative with your venue.
Remember that the marriage is more important that the wedding and that you don't have to please or impress everybody as long as the two of you are happy!
Good luck xx

UKbride Member 29 Jul 2020

Last minute deals are most cost effective

UKbride Member 5 Aug 2020

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