My partner and I have started to look into getting married, but would like to keep it to a budget. However I have no idea where to start. I'm in Barnstaple North Devon and really need some help.
CommentAuthorFayeJ67
It realy does depend on what you concider to be a budget.
Best tips i have is to keep your guest numbers small. Book midweek as it is much much cheaper than a weekend wedding
CommentAuthorKimR52
Looking at under £5000 for around 50 ish all day guests and 100 total evening guests.
CommentAuthorStephH96
You could also look out for cancellations as they tend to be really good deals, especially on the larger more expensive venues.
Things like a hog roast, just doing a buffet and marquees tend to be cheaper options.
CommentAuthorKimR52
We would look at having a marquee wedding but looks as we wood have a lot of organising and I wouldn't know where to start planning.
You need to work out what is actually essential, and then see how much you can do yourselves or get family members to do. One tip that often comes up on here is having the wedding later in the day, so that you don't need to provide both a wedding breakfast and an evening buffet. That might make a difference though as to whether you have separate day and evening guests, or whether you just have them all together. If you're looking at separate venues for the ceremony and reception, you could look at hiring a church hall or school hall for the reception, and then decorating it yourself. You will want to check that alcohol is permitted though. If you're having ceremony and reception all in one place then you're a bit more restricted as the venue has to be licensed for marriages. If you're looking at a church wedding it may well be that the church will have a hall that you can use for the reception afterwards. The venue hire and food do tend to be the biggest expenses (barring the honeymoon), so if you can get the costs down there that will be helpful. Otherwise, see if you've got friends or family members who can do entertainment, music for the ceremony, photography & videography, provide a nice car, stationery, make dresses for bridesmaids etc. For the honeymoon you could look at having just a few days in the U.K. somewhere simple, and have a bigger holiday when you can afford something really special, maybe at a five or ten year anniversary.
30th August 2014 was the best birthday ever.
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CommentAuthorFutureMrsW
I would recommend putting together a firm guest list and then contacting local venues in your area to see how far your budget will stretch. Some places may be able go put a whole package together within budget if you're lucky.
Our budget is around the £5K mark but none of our local options were viable so we are going down a community centre route which was incredibly reasonable to hire, however we are going today have yo source/plan/decorate the whole thing. I always wanted today DIY my own wedding but if it's not for you see what packages you can find.
You'll also find it becomes much clearer the more research you do. Good luck!
CommentAuthorKirstyR386
Try to look outside the peak season. A winter wedding or weekday can be a lot cheaper than summer weekends. Even having ours on a Friday rather than a Saturday has saved us over a grand on the venue. Try looking outside the box at venues that you wouldn't normally associate with a wedding, like museums (I'm thinking of that episode of dttb when the groom had it in the local science museum). X
