Went to look at our first venue last night & pretty much fell in love with it!! (allthough I'm trying to keep an open mind for the other 5 venues we're viewing over the next 2 weeks). The venue was almost exactly what I had in mind, even down to the beautiful fountain in the gardens & the colour scheme in the ceremony & banqueting rooms that matches the navy & ivory colour theme we've picked for the wedding!!!.... There is however one HUGE PROBLEM!! It is about £2500 over our budget & that is if we change the date of our wedding from Saturday 25th August 2012 to Sunday 26th, something that we'd like to try & avoid.

Any ideas on how we might be able to cut down any of the costs without inviting fewer guests??

Any help much appreciated!!! x x x

Thanks for the tip!! I have been inspired & after just a quick search on the web have cut out £300 on table decorations by finding some candelabras I could buy as table decorations (to have instead of flowers) with the idea of selling them on after wedding to claw some money back!! x x

does it change price wise if you have it out of season?

i got a gr8 deal coz its nov and someone who pinched my ideas has picked july and been quoted over 7K mine for the venue is roughly 3K with my extras i have chosen it does make a difference definitely xx

anno my h2b found it for us we get so much included too i was shock the deal is 2K but we added extras hot stuff for the evening buffet and dessert platters etc.. xx

Big well done to your h2b!! That is a fab deal especially since it's still so affordable after the extras you've added!!

We've got 3 more viewings this weekend so hopefully we'll find another venue that will give us a cheaper deal! *fingers crossed!*

x x

wow thats fab duckbubble! :) xx

We have opted for buffet instead of sit down dinner, and will be making our own table decorations.
We have also searched around for venues which allow us to use our own caterers.
Making our own invites and have also decided not to do wedding favours. Instead we having our photographer getting a picture of all our guests (and families) as they arrive, which we wil send out in a folded card along with one of our wedding pics(one pic on each side if you get what i mean) as a thankyou card. We thought that would be a nice, personal keepsake, but at the same time we havent spent money on favours for people who may not actually turn up on the day for whatever reason.