I'm a newbie on UK bride and I have just begun planning my wedding, thankfully it is not until April 2013 (sounds a long way away eh?) but if you put it into months it works out at about 15 mnths away!! Arghh! I am trying to keep my wedding under £5k but still have the classy flash weddng I have ever dreamt of. I don't see the point in spending thousands on a wedding that I am going to spend the rest of married life trying to pay off!
I have started by looking to friends for help so far I have the following at mates rates: Hair & Make-up Nails Flowers Some photography( a portion of the day will be done by my amazing friend who is also my maid of honour, hence why she can only do a bit as she can't take pics of herself!)
I'm also looking into doing alot of the work myself, like invites, placecards table planner etc, I'm going to be a very busy girl!
So if any of you have any tips or tricks for saving some dosh, I would love to hear them!!!
Congrats to you all!
Tikobear
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthorLegoWife
If you know someone who can make you a cake, or if you can make your own cake or at least decorate your own cake that should help out with some of the costs.
Ebay is great for decorations and other little bits- even bridesmaid dresses and accessories.
Don't bother with car hire unless having a fancy car to arrive in is something you can't live without lol.
Consider having a dress made rather than buying one from a shop (there's tons of threads about that around here) ebay is good for this again.
~Wedding made of Lego~
*Married 30/03/13*
CommentAuthorMrsHardy2be
Try local dressmakers, they cn do ur dress quite cheap, as u will see from other posts my dressmaker is making a 1300 dress for 115 (see my pics)
CommentAuthorchubblywubbly
well youve done the best thing first..asking your friends and family to help with as much you can!! were on roughly the same budget and it seems were doing perfectly at the mo. give urself budgets on certain things/items and try to stick to them. and ebay is always a good thing..bought lots of things off there for silly little prices :)
p.s welcome and congrats. xx
CommentAuthorTikobear
edited
Thanks All, some great little tips there!
I have been checking out th bay and have seen that there are bargains to be had! Another trick I know is I have signed up for Cashback site, it gives you cashback for purchases on & off line. Its recommended by Mr Martin Lewis so can't be bad and for bay purchases it gives you 40% cashback! Hopefully with all the spending I'll be doing, i'll earn some back to put towards something else, like a honeymoon!!!!!!
Keep the tips coming! Especially crafty items! Need some inspiration! LOL!
venue wise, lots of us brides on here are using a certain company who offer FAB package deals. They are a chain and have lovely hotels all over Britain. I'll post the name on your wall.
Have a search through the bargains thread too, there are a few threads I've commented on in the last couple of days/weeks that have some good ideas :-) xxxxxxxxxxxx
CommentAuthor
anything you want...google it and put CHEAP in front of it! my budget is £2500 and im managing with money to spare up to now xx
met the man of my dreams 22/09/2006,
Had our amazing twin boys 16/05/2008
Finally becoming Mrs Davies on 31/08/2012 will make me the
happiest lady alive :-)
CommentAuthorRockabilly chick
My best bargain was my wooden rose bouquets for my bridesmaids. No one believes me but they look absolutely stunning and saved me £150. My Bm dresses were also only £27
xxxxxxxxx
CommentAuthorAtaraxia
Always do your research. If there's something you want - get lots and lots of quotes. Don't be scared to ask questions, especially if they do deals or packages for more or less than what you need. If you don't want to splurge on something - look into making your own or see if friends can help you.
I have a friend who is a design student helping me with invitations, my MOH is a photographer so she's not only helping me find some great photos but she'll also be taking some photos of her own. ebay is great, there are so many brides on here (including myself) who have bought wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, all kinds of things even cakes, and gotten great products and even better prices so don't be afraid to ask if there's something specific you want on the cheap - we all have favourite sellers and secrets haha.
You can do a lot with 5k if you work a little bit :) good luck!! We are keeping ourselves strictly to 3k, and doing it abroad too!
Got married 27th June and blessed on July 5th 2012
Finally Mrs M :3
Love, love... Here we are.
CommentAuthorpennieb-MrsRiley
My tip - budget for £4k-£4.5k and you're more likely to come in at £5k lol - we budgeted £4k for our wedding and we're looking at nearer £4.5k!
Ebay is a must, don't discount the cheaper shops in your local town, look at what you can make yourselves... basically I would echo what has already been suggested :)
Now, finally, Mrs Riley
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I have the greatest husband!
CommentAuthorFutureMrsPite
my budget is 3 and a half and im already going over so also need some tips! im doing as everyone else suggests with ebay etc might have a look at ur quidco trick aswell, sounds good! x
As the beatles say, Love Is All You Need x
CommentAuthorkimmy
E bay is a must, high street wedding dresses and BM's and PB's outfits saved me a fortune, things like post boxes cost about £20, we bought a plain ivory one for less than a fiver and dressed it our selves, try to do a little bit each month and in no time you will be sorted, good luck!!!!
CommentAuthorSian''OCD''Holkham
ebay is good but dont get too carried away as i recently bought a flower girl dress on a whim and now ive got it i dont like :( i would also suggest bartering with suppliers for my car the price for 2 journeys was £300 i got it down to £200 so just goes to show and dont look to desperate i managed to get my make up artist £100 cheaper too as i made her think i'd got a better quote from someone else x
ive heard alot of ladies go on about having wooden roses and in my head i just dont like them. No offence to all you ladies that do have them its just my opioin. Maybe the picture i have in my head isnt what all you ladies that do have them have but i want real flowers but going to make sure i have the cheapest but lovely flowers.
Started losing weight last year 22/1/11 - 13 Stone 12 pounds
Lost this week 2lbs ;0)
Weighs as of 29/9/12 10 stone 12 lbs
CommentAuthorTori-Mrs.Mitchell2b
Bay of E a must u can get most things on there, wedding dress, BM dress, decorations, accessories, list goes on. Try getting stuff of the peg at highstreet stores. Tell ppl u have a budget and try and get them to lower there price. Handmade stuff :) invites, favours. Don't have a car unless really nessasery. And cake find some like a friend or ask around, someone on book face doing my engagement cake for £30 so any good and I'll get her to do my wedding cake for £75 for 3 tear.
Happy planning xx
<3 HAPPILY IN LOVE <3
<3 MRS. MITCHELL 2B <3
CommentAuthorbridalmiss
If you can, try to organise photographers and video around now, use this site for power user discounts - ours only wanted a deposit up front and the rest is payable towards the wedding date, but the trick is you've secured them at a potentially lowerprice than they will be nearer the time - our video we booked in July and in October he's put his prices up, but any existing bookings he's honouring at the agreed price :-) book of face is amazing, you can find really good people who do cakes etc but don't necessarily have a website so they can be cheaper, plus you can see pics of their work - always haggle haggle haggle, we managed to get 30% off our catering by getting competitive quotes from 4-5 and seeing who wanted to do the best deal!
CommentAuthormaryannt
best tip i can give is shop around we are on a 5 grand budget and I have everything sorted just need to pay for it we haven't really have to cut back on anything fil paying for cake and mil paying for photographer but apart from that we are paying for everything else I got my bm dress online and my dress so saved ALOT there It can be done
Thanks all, I am definately shopping around, I love the internet for research and great tips as above!!
I'll keep you all updated on anything i find!
Thanks again!
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthormrs-anni-oc
found a fantastic website for pageboys outfits (upto 16) getting 5 piece suits for £24.99 inc p&p i will post link on my wall x
CommentAuthorRachel168
Clarabelle, have you considered silk flowers, they're a lot cheaper than real ones but look the same, plus you get to keep them! There's some great places, in Fife in particular, that do great silk flower arrangements really cheap :)
5k is plenty to do a wedding in, my friend managed to do her whole wedding for £500! She bought her dress in a charity shop for about £40, had it dry cleaned and altered it herself! Keep an eye out for great hotel packages, there seems to be loads of them everywhere! Have you considered getting married on a weekday, or a Friday or Sunday? Sat is the most expensive day, moving the date one day either way could shave a few £100s off the price!
xx
CommentAuthormrs-anni-oc
i have done my saturday wedding at a hotel for just over 2.5k that is including limo transport, and a night in the hotel.... if you look on the bay of e for everything you will save a fortune. i bought my BM dress off there i won the bid @2.50 cos she had mis-spelt bridesmaid so wasnt seen by many ppl...
CommentAuthorWeeMintyMonkie
Hunni im getting married in october 2013. 6months after you!
My uncle is doing my catering.
Mum buying dress
parents paying deposits
H2bs mate is dj and doing it on the cheap
my centre pieces are clear glass iv gotten from charity shops amd painted myself adding artificial flowers and candles to them.
Veil was from a charity shop and bits to add to it were cheap.
Invites from tue bay of e
decorations from tue bay of e
Photographer is my brothers friend and my dads old flat mate.
H2bs mate is doing cars for half the price hed normally.
im managing.
Still got some things to organise but you can have the day you want for less you just need to find the bargains!
X x x
CommentAuthorTikobear
WOW! U have got it sorted WeeMintyMonkie! I'll definately be abusing my/our mates for bargains!!!
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthorTikobear
anni, can you post the link on my wall for pageboy outfits? I can't seem to find it on yours (I am all new at this!! lol)
Hey! 
