Right, this may be a long story...but here it goes.

I have just moved from Wales to Nottinghamshire into a rented house with my H2B. He is in the RAF and his base is 1 hour away and he commutes every morning and evening to and from work. I have had to get a new job, the whole lot.
We got engaged just before christmas, and moved over to notts in January this year. Whilst I didn't have a job we were living off my savings. I now have a job, which I quite enjoy.

Now heres the problem...

We were going to get married in approx 3 years time. But have brought it forward to 2012 as my H2B is bordering promotion and with that would be posted to a new base. Which would mean me quiting another job not that far into it. So we need to get married as soon as possible. Now, we are scraping every month as my H2B has a lot of bills from his past and has a fancy car on finance and he pays our rent, I pay things like house bills, food, tax and fuel. It seems as every month we are going to be either just scraping with money, or being down on it and plucking it from the air. Really dont know how we are meant to save for our wedding when we cant even manage our monthly bills. My grandparents are paying for our venue, and my H2B's parents have said they will help out, and no doubt my Dad will give a little and his grandparents also, but still really really scared.
H2B is looking at trading his car back in, and getting something a bit more regular that he will pay less finance and hopefully less fuel.

Anybody in the same sort of boat that can help me out, or give me any tips on how to do nice things but cheaply for our wedding. We are viewing a venue on saturday. Really need to get a date booked, but at the same time, I feel it wont work as we dont have our own money.

HELPPP :( xx

search bargain weddings..there are loads of threads and loads of advice on here. It can be done on a very small budget..ours cost 2K and we had a fabulous time...bargains off bay of e...borrowing things...bargain hunting..sales...late wedding so only had a buffet..all these things kept the costs down..there are loads of pics and prices on my profile albums xxx good luck..I love searching for bargains so if i can help you i would love to xxxxxx

I think most people are in a similar situation money wise but like the others have said there are lots of ways to have a lovely wedding on a smaller budget. We are doing the invites and favours ourselves and my stepdad is making the cupcakes, plus my BM's are paying for their own dresses. Artificial flowers are much cheaper than real ones so we are having those and we are also getting married mid week out of season to keep the costs down.. most venues charge a much lower rate if you do that. Bay of e is amazing for anything wedding and you can get some fantastic bargains! Good luck and dont despair xx

Anybody bought wedding dresses or bridesmaids dresses from an ebay shop? Really weary about buying things like this off ebay. xx

Wedding season is like May to September time. Most venues will have a price list for the day and month so check with your venue, i can almost guarantee they will charge less for a mid week wedding at the very least! Ebay are good for wedding and bridesmaid dresses but i would be wary of buying from abroad, as ive heard some horror stories, especially from China.

First of all, look carefully at your outgoings and make savings there.

If you are not tied into a mobile phone, landline or internet contract, shop around for cheaper alternatives; I've just changed to a new network on my mobile and get the same as before for £10 a month instead of £20 a month, and I'm not tied into a contract (it's pay as you go).

When insurance comes up for renewal (car, home and contents, etc), shop around: you can save a lot of money.

Downsizing to a smaller car can save a lot: my friend's dad pays £400 a year in tax; my tax is just £35 a year, so look for eco-friendly cars that fall into low insurance and tax groups/banding.

Look at what you spend on food: you can save a lot by being savvy and buying fresh rather than pre-made items and cooking from scratch. I work at a supermarket and some people spend £100 a week as a couple, others do it on £30 a week by cutting out luxuries and buying cheaper ranges.

If you've done all that and are still struggling, maybe speak to those who've said they'll contribute, and perhaps tactfully ask if they could say give an amount of money rather than paying for one set thing. Eg if you're grandparents are paying for the venue, maybe they could instead give say £2000, and you could get a cheaper venue and put the rest towards food.

There are lots of tips on here for saving money; my top tips would be:

Check out the high street for dresses and suits. If you're not set on tail coats/morning suits etc, you can get lovely suits from places like M&S for around £50. Ask that the bestman and groomsmen pay for their own instead of getting you a gift, or pick a colour that they have (my OH and his best man will be in grey suiys, non-matching, we might match the ties and that's it). You can get lovely wedding dresses on the high street; in the Monsoon sale you can get them for about £100, also check out Debenhams, Littlewoods, Very, and BHS, and of course the bay. My BMs are being given £75 each toward their outfits, and are going to be allowed to pick whatever they want. If you want matching dresses, look online, or consider being less traditional and getting something from somewhere like ASOS

If you have your ceremony later, you can go straight to the evening do, and just have a buffet: this saves money on the wedding breakfast.

Consider hiring a village hall as opposed to a traditional venue for the reception: some are really nice, and even with the cost of getting people in to set up tables and cloths, can work out MUCH cheaper than a venue like a hotel. Our local hall takes about 90 seated and 200 standing, and has a stage: it costs £250 to hire from 3pm until midnight, you can hire round tables and white linen for about £150, and caterers, with wait staff, cloth napkins, cultlery and crockery, and a finger buffet for 70, was costing out at £900. You can then provide your own drink, and the staff will serve it; you can get 3 bottles of wine for £10 and crates of beer really cheap, so can provide drink cheaply, or, ask people to bring a bottle

Do anything you can yourself: I'm doing invites, table plan, etc etc, and also the table centres (fish bowl vases with water, crystals, and flowers; should come in at about £150 for 6 tables)

Get a lift in a car, or a nice taxi; some regular mini-cab drivers in my area have really nice mercs, way cheaper than hiring a car; or, do as I'm doing and don't bother! lol

Work out what is essential and what is desirable: a band might be nice, but you could make do with a DJ or even get someone to set up an ipod on a sound system (quite easy to do), saving yourself a lot of money. A professional photographer might be nice, but if you don't have a spare £600, and don't mind gambling, speak to third year university students and see if they'd do it to build up their portfolio; etc.

HTH!

I ordered my bridemaid dresses from the bay of e and they were nothing like the picture and took almost four moths to get to me, by which time i had ordered different ones from another website. We've done most of ours on a budget, my friend is doing my flowers and cake, another is doing my hair and make up, bridesmaid dresses are normal evening cocktail dresses that came from a website, we managed to talk our venue into costing up our meal and as the food came up less than the "per head" amount, they let us have freeby canapes too. There are lots of ways to do it on a budget and it be a fantastic time :) xx