i think you should have the day of your dreams but with a budget that is realistic to you.... we will probably need to take out a loan and as such are going to be getting into a bit of debt... but we are saving like mad before we take a loan out and also we both work full time and it's not a loan we can't afford to oay back so we feel its the right desicion for us.

At the end of the day yes you don't need much money at all to have an amazing wedding because the most amazing part of it is the actually getting married bit...the husband and wife bit :-)

i do think money helps though, i wouldnt be as happy doing it really cheap because it just won't suit us as a couple and it wouldnt be what we wanted... and also to say someone that spends a lot on their wedding is vain etc is rubbish...a lot of brides spend a lot of money feeding and entertaining their guests to make sure they have a fab day and as a thank you for attending their wedding etc.

i don't know our final budget yet hopefully around £10,000....i'm doing everything as cheap as possible without compromising on what we want, i love a good bargin hunt and love fab second hand buys etc...one of the dresses in my photos is a sample dress thats been tried on loads but it wouldnt bother me if i chose a dress that had been worn a million times as long as it was the right dress for me!!

anyway gone on a bit here but as long as people have the day of their dreams that suits them as a couple and they don't get into a debt they can't handle in the long run then i think its all good :-) xx

I can completely understand why people have the attitude they do towards your wedding hun, that doesn't mean to say I think their attitude is right but I do understand why!

I fall in to the category that think spending a lot of money is a joke, in fact would you believe it is one of the reasons I walked away from this place for a few weeks, cos I was getting sick of people saying they had spent "this amount of money on this" and "that sort of money on that" I personally think it is a joke just for one day!

I spent £6k on my wedding and like Tiggs everyone said what an amazing day they had "best wedding ever" was said A LOT.. the food was amazing, the venue was gorgeous, the ceremony was PERFECT! I felt a million dollars in my dress which cost me £300, my BM's looked stunning and their dresses cost me a grand total of £75 for all 3... you can have the BIG princess wedding for a third of what most people spend..

Your spending £11k but your honeymoon is included in that right? So you take the honeymoon out and your wedding is £7k which I think is a suitable amount!

Don't feel guilty but at the same time don't get upset at other people's feelings hun! x x x

i wasn't intending mine to be expensive but our budget appears to be going up by the second, we are both people pleasers and think some of it is because we want the special people in our lives to enjoy it as much as we will.
it's a difficult balance and i've been to expensive and budget weddings.

i'll be honest i thoroughly enjoyed the wedding breakfast from the chippy, it made a refreshing change and who doesn't like fish and chips.
just do what makes you and H2B happy.
x

Go for it girl, i had a budget of 4000 but after re evaluating it it shot up to 12000, but as you say we only get marred once and why not splash out, you would only regret it in the end my main cost is my honeymoon also but at least you have a fab time xxx

Hi ladies. I cannot get the wedding I want for less than £15,000 so that has to be the budget. I hope it will be the best day of my life and for that to happen, I won't compromise. Good luck to everyone no matter what your budget is, but I won't feel guilty about how much we are spending. We've saved and saved and have decided to wait to have children until
we are married so our money for the budget is what we have earned and we'll spend it on whatever we like lol! :o)

awww your post was lovely chrissy - hope you are better now x

i am really struggling with this at the moment. we cannot decide where to get married due to budget. i can't decide how much to justify spending on a wedding. it really is difficult - it's eating me up inside at the moment and not making this experince a nice one :o(

x

Hi all, i totally agree its not how much you spend thats important its the reason your doing it and that you have everything you want, i did fall in love with a venue but it was mega money, we have recently bought our own place and we also want children so we decided it would be more sensible to go for a cheaper venue and be able to save for our future instead of being in debt for the rest of our lives (like one of my friends now is and she really regrets it) Spend what you can afford is what we are doing and not telling people what we are spending except for our parents who are giving us some money towards it x

Everyone's going to have different ideas about what's 'acceptable' to spend on a wedding, and I wouldn't look down on someone's wedding that has a smaller budget nor feel guilty for spending my money on what others might feel is silly.

Each to their own, different strokes for different folks, variety is the spice of life.....I've run out of sayings about this now!!

It's your day and you've got to enjoy it! I think the amount you're spending is pretty reasonable for that amount of guests!! We're along the same lines as you - were looking at about £6000 at the start but it's gone up to £10000, we've got about 80 guests for the ceremony and breakfast (if they all come) and about 150 for the evening, and where we're splurging on what we feel is our "important" stuff - the venue, food, drink and photography - we're saving in other areas, especially through a lot of DIY!!! I want a day that we'll enjoy but also that my guests will enjoy, and I'd like to make it really memorable and personal to us both!!! Good luck with yours hun xxx

its ur daqy have fun with it if u can. i love my little budget which isnt one lol buying as we go but it wont be over 2k it so much fun trying find deals and having family do things my bro borrowing a car to take me. So that saved a ;ittle xxx

have the wedding u want if u can afford it and dont feel guilty about it

ours is roughly £6000 which was more than i wanted 2 spend but im cutting back here and there where we can- our rings cost about 120together and hoping 2 have an m&s cake for less than £100 xx

It really doesn't matter what you spend as long as you're getting married for the right reasons.

This made me remember a huge LOL from a forum I used to be on - we were discussing budgets and I said "Mine's about 5k, less if I can get away with it" and some snotty American woman replied to my post saying "Ugh, that doesn't even cover my centrepieces" She then went on to say our wedding would probably be really crap and we obviously couldn't afford a 'proper' wedding. Ross and I almost peed ourselves!! As much as it saddens me when someone's wedding gets cancelled I was forced to smile when 4 days before her wedding her H2B called it all off because as he put it "You don't love me, you love the idea of a huge fancy wedding and being the centre of attention"

Yes, a lot of people think 'perfect wedding' means a ridiculous amount of money being spent on it but I'm yet to meet anyone on here who has that attitude. I'd say we're all pretty level headed where it concerns finances and I haven't met one lady on here who doesn't love her H2B with all her heart and soul
xxx

I have to say that my wedding budget went up from £10,000 to £15,000 within a few weeks. H2B is of the impression that you only do this the once so 'what the hell'. His only concern is that Im happy and we dont leave ourselves skint! Im not a lavish person by any means, however I want our wedding day to be something to remember for both of us!! We are not scrimping on anything.Things we have organised so far

Venue - £7,000 - All in (Food, Drink and Evening)
Photographer and Videographer - £1,400 - But he is there all day and includes an engagement shoot
Cars - £300
Chocolate Fountain - £300 (instead of desserts in the evening)
Flowers - £600 - Includes tables decs, my flowers, bridesmaids and gifts for mothers
Wedding Insurance £70
STDs - £30

Things we have saved on however -

Cake - Being made by a very dear friend as a wedding present
Invitations - Being made by one of the ushers as a wedding present
Dress - Mum and Dad are buying that for me!

The thing is, its about what you want, not anyone else. Sod everyone I say, Im not ashamed at how much we are spending and yes we are going tohave to cut back on a few things in our day to day life but it doesnt affect anyone else so I dont see what the problem is?

xxx

Why do people think they have the right to ask or comment on the amount you are spending - whether you have saved, got a loan or are being helped it is totally down to you how and on what you spend. The budget for our wedding is between me and my other half and is not up for family or friends to discuss. I am fortunate that I have quite a good salary but it is my H2B who is paying for most of the bills as he believes that is right (Im not arguing with that) I will pay for my dress and his wedding ring. Family have decided to pay for other stuff as we already both have homes and all the stuff we need. I have been on both sides the financial spectrum - when money was tight and having alot of disposable income and know that it wasnt the money situation that made me happy or sad but the people I was with. Having said that, a "friend" of mine who knows approx how much I earn said that it would be obscene for me to spend so much on one day as it would "make others uncomfortable in this financial climate" - first she doesnt know what it will cost and 2ndly after a bit of a discussion her name is nolonger on our guest list. Do not feel guilty about spending it, whether its a larger or smaller sum. The end result is the same for all budgets - we get married to the person we love and that has no price tag. - ranted on longer than I thought, sorry :)

mine has cost me aboyt 10k and the my mum and dad have helped loads (including dress ,veil,honeymoon and all entertainment) so in total about 15k now i am on a tight budget and its not what i would call a "massive" wedding about 70 to the day and 100 to the evening .. and we have saved quite alot with some amasing packages ie 1k for videograpgy,photography,dicso and 2 cars !

but it all mounts up

We are very lucky because my parents are paying £5K, his gran is offering £1K and his folks are offering to pay for all the drinks and canapes (£1.5K). We are contributing about £2K ourselves - some is already saved and some will be earned when H2B sells some of his bicycles. We have been told not to worry by his parents if the budget seems tight; money will be made available if needed. Also, my parents have said that more would be available if needed, but the consensus is that they have contributed enough.

We are trying hard to stick to the £9.5K budget. We will have some money (£500?) for the honeymoon, all being well, but will also be asking guests who wish to buy us a gift to consider contributing - there are several online companies that do this. Turquoise. Honeymiles. Thomas Cook. Otherwise, we will be spending a week in Skegness, lol!

I never imagined spending so much money (even if most of it is not ours), but I also know that if someone had said that money was no object and they were giving us £20K to spend, I would spend it. We spend what is available to us.

Ways we are saving -
dress was 70% off
best friend is doing the flowers for cost price - and we will be helping her
sister is doing the invites for cost price
friend of the family is doing the cake for cost price and a little bit
having a buffet-style wedding breakfast brings it down to £18 per head
having the wedding on a Friday

I will echo what others have said - ultimately I would walk down the aisle in a bin liner and feed the guests dry roasted peanuts if that's all we could afford. Lol! The main thing is that I'm marrying my prince. Talking of which, you wait and see what THEIR budget is! Anything else will pale in comparison.

The beauty of a smaller budget is that it forces you to ask others for help and everybody gets involved. And I want people I care about to feel involved.

I don't see the point in feeling guilty or feeling envious of others. It's a waste of time. I am proud of who I am and pleased for others who are more fortunate. Good luck to you if you have everything you wish for!

i would say never mind anybody else you are paying for it so have what you want but dont get yourself into too much debt over it. have a good shop around as some places take your eyes out and there are loads of bargains to be had out there good luck and just do what you and your h2b want to do

well said hun, in my head my wedding guests can be happy and enjoy what ever the day brings because they love us or hate it and winge then they can leave. weddings are really special and every decision that is made is because the bride and groom want it wether its free or a lot of money. i made my stationary because i enjoy arty things i dont think i could entrusted even professionals with them. and like the other girls said you are paying for it you go for it xx

Money doesn't matter. As long as you are true to yourselves. A 20K wedding is no better than a 2k wedding- but then a 2k wedding is no better than a 20k wedding.