Just wondering how many of you are on a tight budget and what you have decided to buy cheap (eBay etc) and what have decided to make? Money saving ideas :) xxx
CommentAuthorKellyB81
We are on a tight budget and are going to make our invites from the bay and a local craft store centre pieces with vases from IKEA and flowers from the bay and table plan same as invites and have doubled up our name cards through our favours x still looking for ideas for what else we can cut costs on but as its quite far away I'm hoping by spending a little each month by the time the big day comes it will look great :-) Good luck you'll be amazed at what you can do yourself if you have the time and shop around
Kelly x
CommentAuthoriluvcakes
Hiya Holly! I think that most of us brides to be are on a budget! I'm getting my dress from china, via the bay of e, soooo much cheaper! Our cake we are thinking of getting from Tesco or Asda and decorating it ourselves with co-ordinating ribbon. My flowers are silk and are from a fab company I found on the net whilst having a search about! For my bouquet, H2b's buttonhole, my hair flowers, my sister's corsage and her hubby and little boy's buttonholes - £120. Stationary, again we have found another fab internet site and our invites are costing £1.20 each. You could probably make them yourself and they would be slightly cheaper, but I'm not at all arty or creative and I'd end up throwing them across the room! Our wedding rings are coming from one of these companies that come around to your home for you to browse and choose rings at your leisure. Our rings are costing much less than if we bought them on the High Street and the good thing is that you can pay them off monthly rather than in one lump sum. Our venue is probably going to be in one of our local pubs - it's perfect. Cozy and homely with a big open fire They are doing us a good package on the food, around £15 a head for 3 courses! Not a formal meal but something like soup, steak and a pud - just what we want! Plus as we are getting married so close to christmas, the venue will already be decorated! Just got to be clever and shop around hun, anything I can help with, let me know xx
Became Mrs Robinson 4th October 2012 xxx
Can't wait to do it all over again on the 4th October 2017!!
CommentAuthorKATG
Hi hun, there are lots of threads on this but I have had to dramatically reduce my budget. I bought my dress veil and tiara in a sale. BM dresses are off ebay - £25 each, am making stationary. Have also set up a free website, and on the gift list I have asked for contributions to the wedding. Have family providing the flowers and the cake, bought table decorations in IKEA £45 for do all 7 tables. So all in all I have managed to slash a few £000 off the overall cost. Also I am thinking of making my own jewelry but thats more because I cant find what I want xxx
Mrs Wilson2B
Need to loose 5 stones and 2lbs
3 Stones 2 lbs lost so far!!!
Getting Married 3rd August 2013
CommentAuthorLittleMissBossy
There are great bargain and money saving tips threads on here - have a look via the search function.
We're also on a tight budget.
I looked for a venue that doesn't cost a fortune - which suited us well because we wanted a relaxed feel anyway. The most expensive thing about a wedding is the flippin' food and room rent. There are some ladies on here who got their rooms for free and doing self-catering. That's for sure the cheapest way! That wasn't an option for us but we found a reasonably priced venue that doesn't ask for ridiculous amounts of money for room rent. We're having a hog (and chicken) roast buffet style - this is a lot cheaper than a 3-5 course set meal. And I like it better anyway because that way people can pick and choose and I think there will be less food waste and it can be spread out until later on.
I had a dress 2nd hand from ebay but got another from an ebay custom made seller - not as cheap as I hoped but still very much below average. And everything else (apart from shoes) I am making myself - veil, bouquet, decoration, buttonholes, wands for bms.... My bms are all buying their own dresses but I left them choice.
I find the most expensive thing besides the food are the flowers - complete waste of money in my eyes. But ofc. tastes are different. We're not having any, no money wasted on this.
We're getting married on a Friday - it's cheaper during the week.
It’s so great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life....
We have set a budget for 10k but plan to do all as cheap as we can. I hope to be getting my dress of a lady that people have been talking about on the site. The dress I have seen is £1000, dont know yet how much the lady will make it for but I'm sure I'm likely to save £500nor more on it. There is a cleaner at my mum's work place who does flowers and cake's as a hobby. She did big boquet for my mum's step daughter's 21st and I couldn't believe how much my mum paid for them, and they were the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. She only charges for her cost so we will be getting her to flowers and cake. :) I plan on making some bits my self. I'm going to do all my invites etc as I do love card making. I'v also seen these pew end bows that I thought would be nice to make. Also going to make a post box and I'm not having a table plan but an escort tree instead.
CommentAuthorHollyH
Thanks for the reply ladies :) I just wondered what people were trying to save on and where they were making their savings.
A escort tree.... that sounds very interesting?
What has everyone got as their theme (if any) or colours they have chosen? xx
CommentAuthorEmbbem-MrsW
if you go to a wedding fayre at a venue you like, some of them discount the hire charges and ceremony fees, so you only have to pay them for the food. That's what we've got and they also gave us the bridal suite and two standard rooms for parents FOC as well. And then it's the registrars fees which are expensive as we're having a saturday 2pm wedding most expensive slot costing £620. Made the invites myself and have roped in friends and family to make the favours and decorate the cake, and do the flowers which saves money as you don't have to pay for the arranging, just the cost of the flowers from the wholesalers. We've also saved by just having a photographer from our arrival up to the cutting of the cake and speeches, but this is because my dad's a photographer so he will be able to get some good shots of the evening.
I must be crazy giving myself only 6 months!
Engaged 17th Octobr 2011
Wedding 21st April 2012
CommentAuthorHappilymarried Mrs G
A lot of our stuff has come from ebay, including the dresses! Vases for table decs came from b&m bargains.
Though we have spent out on cheesecake, chocolate fountain and hog roast.
CommentAuthorElliekitty
Our current wedding showing around a total cost of £3,200 without my wedding dress. Bay is great! I've got loads of things of ebay! I've bought 3 bridemaid dresses. I've made my own invitations & making my centre pieces. Also looking at winter wedding can help cut prices, venues and suppliers are very likley to give your huge discounts.
---Winter 2013 Bride ---
CommentAuthorDonda
Our budget is £4000. Making all my own invites, name cards, favours, and table decorations, got bits and pieces from craft shops, the bay, Asda, B&M Bargains, and even the pound shop!! I love hunting for things in the shops or even seeing something out of the blue and thinking "that would be perfect for...." Our wedding is in December at Gretna, so will decorated all christmassy. We're only having close family and a few friends, we are having a small reception at the hotel where we are all staying and they are letting us have the room all afternoon and evening at no charge, just paying per person for wedding meal. No disco, just going to take a CD player and play christmas themed games. There's only 16 of us.
Met on 7th April 2008
Got engaged on 14th November 2011
Getting married on 12th December 2012
Looking forward to the rest of my life with the man I love
CommentAuthorAmberGem
You're all an absolute inspiration!! I'm loving the moneysaving tips, I'm right at the start of my wedding planning journey and wondering how on Earth I'm going to save enough to have everything I want...but reading these replies, it looks like I can still have what I want if I shop around...and learn how to be creative!!!! Keep the tips coming, thankyou all so much!!
CommentAuthorMrsDanks
We are on a tight budget but it keeps on increasing lately so really need to sort ourselves out lol! I have shoes to buy for me, the two flower girls and the bridesmaid, wedding flowers to pay for, rings, my underwear, tiara and veil, so I am hoping to find bargains on the bay of e or hopefully at the wedding fair i'm going to next weekend which is not likely! xx
CommentAuthorLittleMissBossy
Because rings were mentioned - I am not the one for bling and I don't care much about jewellery so this suits me just fine: sterling silver rings are on ebay for less than £10 but we'll go for titanium ones for £30 each.
It’s so great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life....
CommentAuthorMrs Cerutti2b
Think allot of us are on a tight budget, ours is £6000, which is more than we were hoping, but then I found thee dress which out the budget up... (luckily my uncle has bought that for me, but still classing it in the budget)
I bought most of my stuff from the Bay of E, including invites, favours, bridesmaid present, flower girl present etc, my garter, grooms and grooms mens ties. I've bought vases from tesco, to make the centre pieces, and the other bits from the bay.
We've gone for a cheaper venue than we wanted, but it means everything is in one place, including a room to get ready in the morning of the wedding, so no need for wedding cars! =D
I'm having my mothers wedding ring to save money there. Its just really a case of if you see something you like, have a check on ebay first before buying. and making sure you stick to the budget :)
CommentAuthormadhen
Think will bookmark this...everyone's good ideas in one place :)
CommentAuthorlemlau
I have spent many many many hours trawling the internet for the most 'important' part... The venue. We had a nice budget last year but due to h2b getting ill last year we had to postpone and then our budget got dramatically slashed and i'm now fairly happy it has as we are now having a relaxed day in a beautiful barn which took me hours to find but only 30 minutes away from us. Start looking at brewery's websites then look for their pubs in the area you want and then you'll find their functions rooms and 90% of them will cater for weddings. We have a total self catering place where we just hire the barn and doing everything else ourselves and have exactly what we want. We are having a fish and chip van delivery for our meal wedding cake for dessert everything will cost us under 3k as i'm going to get very crafty/DIY. Look for diy bride blogs to as they are very good for ideas
:-) xx
Live every moment
Laugh everyday
Love beyond words
Happily ever after
CommentAuthorUnknown
when we were planning we thought we were on a tight budget but looking back it wasnt tiny. but i bought an awful lot from ebay! x
CommentAuthorkatielea100
im on a 5 k budget n the church n venue has come up to almost 3.5k im going to order articial flowers for myself and my bridesmaids off amazon and my bridemaids dresses are gonna be from either tk max or quiz clothing, my h2b suit and his best mans are gonna b from bhs and were going to hire a nice car for 2 days n put bows on it n his dad drive it for us instead of paying 200 for a wedding car lol im going to do all my table flowers myself with plastic mirror pots and articicial flowers from amazon once agen :) oh and also doin my invites as what vistaprint calls a postcard u get 100 for a fiver n design them urself bargainnn :)
CommentAuthoremmaaa
Photographers are the thing that I've been looking at recently. We do have friends who are professional photographers who would probably do it for cheap, but none of them have done weddings, so was looking at wedding photographers as a backup, was expecting to be paying £1000 for it, but having done some research there's definitely options that'll do our whole day for under £500! And definitely not bothering with save the date cards, I don't really see the point of them, once we have our guestlist finalised we'll just send out invitations!
We're also having the whole day in the hotel, so not having a wedding car, and get free wedding night bridal site and discounted rates for guests. Not spending a lot on my dress, looking in sales and on the internet.
CommentAuthorBanks
We have got a hotel for the ceremony/reception plus loads of extras for £4000. We are having foam flowers which will cost no more than £50, im investigate how to make our invites, I am getting our dresses online for no more than £250 (wedding dress, 2 bm dress and 1 fg dress) we are hiring suits and glassware for table, we arent having wedding cars, our photograher is £400 for the whole day and I will be making our wedding cake. My plan is to try and get it inbetween £5K- £6k for everything.
Shopping round is your best bet, I have spent hours trawling the net to find the best bargains and its certainly paying off!
CommentAuthorDebbieH59
Banks..Ditto on everything you said :) similar everything! My eyes hurt from scouring the net lol and today was our/my 1st wedding fair, if we had the money I would get married this June! Feels forever away! I Only started looking and planning 3 weeks ago and already have venue,church,dress,shoes and 4 BM flowers - I am awaiting my dress from light in the box £115 which looks gorgeous - praying in reality it will be! But in the end all that matters is I don't turn into Bridezilla and we both turn up!! it's gotta be worth the sleepless nights! Am sooo excited as I never even thought I would ever get married..Good Luck ladies x
CommentAuthorJirinka
We are on a very small budget. Church wedding and a village hall - it's a lovely wooden one though with great views or photographs. We'll decorate with fairy lights and lanterns. We will grow our flowers in the garden as well...Invitation on e-bay and dress probably second hand as not really bothered just want it to be nice. We are also asking friends and family to bring some food and drink instead of wedding present so we'll have a buffet...We'll supply wine and beer. x
CommentAuthorJanie
our budget is under £900..... we are making as much stuff as possible ourselves, and using ebay for as mcuh as possible too
Remember : To the world you may be just one person,
BUT to one person you may just be THE WORLD x x x
CommentAuthorJoanna
We're on a very small budget. Luckily, my wonderful family are helping as much as possible :) but we are just searching round before we make any decisions as there are always bargains to be had. I told my venue what we wanted and asked for a package to suit it, and they presented us with a package that wasn't on the website so always worth asking :) also, we're only having 40 daytime guests which I think is saving us loads of money. We're not sending save the dates, and getting our invites off eBay. We're making our own centrepieces (got the bowls from b and m bargains!) and we're having artificial flowers instead of real ones (this is mainly because of my severe hayfever but also saves tons of money) xx
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return
<3
CommentAuthorstaceyquantick
I luv cakes can you post on my wall the website you are getting your invites from? x
CommentAuthorHa_x3
Ebay, DIY, second hand stuff :)
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorKatya
my dress is bought our last payment for our rings is on the 15th (i got the dress i really wanted at £695 and he gets the rings specially made for us both for £1083) we figure that we each get one thing we really want then the rest is on budget....
VENUE: undecided but needs accomodation & disabled access with plenty of parking ENTERTAINMENT: band - going to ask my old singing teacher at college whos now head of music for a student band approx cost £50per band member CATERING:package deal with venue STATIONERY: made by myself photos on profile £25.00 FLOWERS: £land, coloured with permenant marker and bouquets, button holes table arrangements etc made by me photos on diy flower thread PHOTOGRAPHER: my cousin as its his hobby and thinking possibly college photographer too GIFT LIST: wishing well made by me asking for money towards our honeymoon which will only be in cornwall, what we dont spend on that will be deposit on a house CAKE: my grandparents have offered to pay but will be using the best cake maker around, sues cakes are amazing! TRANSPORT: working progress looking for a beat up old 67 chevy impala that barely runsto give keys to partner day of wedding as a gift or one to hire that wont cost much SUIT: doubt he will want to wear one for long so just thinking trousers from tkm or tes, new black shirt and possibly if im lucky and suit jacket from either tkm or tes DRESS: paid for £695 - my big thing RINGS: £51.83 left to pay - out of £1083.00 - his big thing DRINKS: 1 or 2 with venue package then guests buy own OUR ACCOMODATION: package with venue WEDDING PLANNER: me (hes under impression its an expensive peice of paper)
Find out who you are & do it on purpose!
CommentAuthorWapsoid
Our budget is 10K thanks to the kindness of my father in law before he passed last year. We're keeping it low though as we want to include a honeymoon in that.
We've redirected our pennies by choosing not to provide pre reception drinks. (spending over £300 on pimms seemed crazy) and We are still deciding if we need to provide wine for the tables (which would save a further £600) Our cake is being made by a friend, an extremely talented friend who sculpts cake for a hobby. Photographer is another friend. I'm making my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses. Flowers I will do with the assistance of a talented friend. Shopped around for a dance band. They ranged from £500 to £1500 and are the same quality. Deciding if we're hiring suits of groom and his buddys wear their own, that's his call.
Decided to let hotel deal with the food though, i could do it myself but who wants to turn up to their wedding smelling of chicken :)
CommentAuthorLittleMissBossy
I think what hasn't been mentioned is to look for skilled friends and ask for their help for free or a mate rate - that's how I have a cake, a photographer, a seamstress and a stylist all for free or little money.
It’s so great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life....
CommentAuthorkrazykitty
we are on a tight budget too. I got my dress in a sale (though my nan paid for it) im making the invites myself (hopefully though with a little help from friends) my flowers will be artificial though they will hopefully be at cost price my veil was bought off the internet, my bm dresses were bought in a sale too got 2 for £40 and the other 2 were presents i have a lot of my decorations and the favour bags from the bay and in sales we just have to figure out a way of paying for the rest lol. our venue and food are costing the most even though we are trying to do this cheap lol it still costing £20 pp for food plus a buffet at just under £8 pp for 100 then their suits etc. Our rings we got in turkey at about £150 each for white gold and diamonds for me and a yellow and white gold band for ry.
Our budget is working out at just over £6,000 but that doesnt include a honeymoon :(
i cannot wait to marry my best friend
i love you ry!!!
engaged midnight 2009
Mrs Ryan Sheader (to be) lol :D
CommentAuthorJirinka
Oh I forgot to add - wedding rings - my parents have some spare bits of family gold that noone wears so they will have it melted and made into our wedding rings. They are in Czech but I am sure somone does it here in the UK too. And it kind of makes them that more special for us
CommentAuthorRaggedyAnne
We are on a budget too. dress from china......making my own bridesmaid dresses. made the bouquets and buttonholes. ebay is a godsend. H2B isnt having a wedding ring, and mine is just a plain 9ct yellow gold 2mm band, just what i wanted but as its not that popular a style......£50. its quite weighty considering its not very wide. my sister is making my invites, and i have a wedding photographer friend who is doing the photos.
the most expensive thing is the registrar. charging £400 to come to the hotel to marry us, plus the hotel also charges £350 for the ceremony room. there isnt a charge for the reception room though. so thats £750 JUST to get married at the hotel, a church would have only cost £500! and cheaper still, register office would have been £150!
i have made all the table centrepeices and table menus and also the table plan. I am making my own cake from a Mary Berry's christmas cake all-in-one mix that i bought just before christmas for £2 each. i bought 4 of them.
I can resist anything but temptation
CommentAuthoriluvcakes
Have posted on your wall Staceyquantick xx
Became Mrs Robinson 4th October 2012 xxx
Can't wait to do it all over again on the 4th October 2017!!
CommentAuthorkatielea100
amazon is great if your on a budget! im gettin artificial flowers my tiara my veil and those lil favor things from there gonna do my own sash on the chairs because i can order rolls off amazon much cheaper n do the table decs myself aswell
CommentAuthorTikobear
Just wanted to share with you some tips that I have been doing to save for our big day
- Register with survey sites, get points for your opinion which turn into Paypal money/Amazonian vouchers/boots vouchers etc or they even send you samples of stuff to try + points/money - Enter EVERY competition you can! Martin Lewis site is really good for all current comps! - Go through a cashback site (can post the one I use on my wall) for purchases online, you can even get cashback for shopping at bay of E (FREE MONEY!) In two months I've earnt £50 (mainly due to all the xmas shopping i did online) - Pop any spare £1's into one of those moeny boxes you have to smash/use a tin opener to open! - Use the swap shop on here!! - Look at Book of Face for any local "For Sale/Swap" pages or groups in your area for stuff you might need - Free-gle/Cycle for Free - Gr coupon for cut price deals - Utilise EVERY freind/family memeber with certain talents i.e. hairdresser, make up, photography etc etc
This is what I have been doing and so far its working out fab, I have over £40 worth of Amazonion vouchers to spend, £50 in my cashback site, no idea how much is in my wedding tin (hopefully quite a bit) Have managed to swap a few bits on the swap shop for things i need for stuff i don't need, have got a couple of bits through cycle for free, won 2 tickets to the Bluewater Wedding Fair last weekend and have bagged myself some bargains off Bay of E!
Our budget is £3k or less, so far I'm at £1,000 but I have church, venue, photographer, hair, make up, cars & decorations done within that!
I'm a proper superscrimper and hate paying full price for anything whether it be wedding related or not!!
Hope it helps some of you too
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthorMrs Davro
I'm putting all my extra pennies from unsocial hours at work into the savings on top of the 100 I already decided on. And any thing I do like babysitting all that money goes into our savings One of my friends at work (can't remember who, must find out) has something called 'save the change' on their account if they spend say 9.99 1p goes into their savings if they spend 10.01 99p goes into their savings. They don't notice the extra pennies but saved quite a bit.
CommentAuthorLittleMissBossy
Great tips Tikobear! Could you put those links on my wall maybe? Please? :-))
It’s so great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life....
CommentAuthorkirstymc
Could you post the links on my wall too Tikobear please, the survey ones would be fab thank you! xx
CommentAuthorTikobear
@LittleMissBossy - Links posted :)
@Kirstymc - Have friend requested so i can post on your wall too!
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthorkirstymc
thanks Tikobear, accepted request :) xx
CommentAuthorLittleMissBossy
Thank you!
It’s so great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life....
CommentAuthorTikobear
@kirstymc - Links Posted :)
Tikobear :)
CommentAuthorkirstymc
Thanks Tikobear! xxx
CommentAuthorRaggedyAnne
tikkobear you have done amazingly well with your budget! go you......:) x
I can resist anything but temptation
CommentAuthorJanie
some fab ideas, do those survey sites really payout then? I signed up years ago, did loads and got 6pence lol. I added adsense to my blogger, i know that will only be pennies if anyone ever clicks on the ads once theyre added. I did start putting £1 coins in my piggy bank, but it has a stopper in so they all got took out again lol. I def think I need one you have to smash, as i hate msashing things so wouldnt do that until nearer the wedding. Any other ideas?
Remember : To the world you may be just one person,
BUT to one person you may just be THE WORLD x x x
CommentAuthorNicsquared
bump
There are so many people out there who will tell you
what you can't do.
What you have to do is turn around and say, "watch me"!!
CommentAuthorRaggedyAnne
Thing have changed quite a bit since my first post above......change of venue and change of dress... I am now getting married in a registry office, then having a wedding breakfast at a hotel. there is no charge for the room, we are purely paying for 20 people to eat a 4 course meal. I bought an Ebay dress and it wasnt too successful, so I bought a lovely pearl beaded bodice off Ebay for £20, and I am making a skirt out of silk to match it. the silk cost me £36, and I will be making a jacket to match out of that fabric....my wedding dress in total wil have cost......drum roll please........£70!!!!!!!!!!!! (that includes the little bits I have to buy like thread, zip, buttons for the jacket etc)
I can resist anything but temptation
CommentAuthormadhen
Some change! Was your dress off the bay the one with the jewelled embellished bit around the waist that I remember seeing?? I may be mixing it up with someone else's...
CommentAuthorRaggedyAnne
yes that was me.....I dyed it and ruined it.......I turned it Lilac! LOL.... You gotta laugh havent you? if I didnt I would have cried.
They are doing us a good package on the food, around £15 a head for 3 courses! Not a formal meal but something like soup, steak and a pud - just what we want! Plus as we are getting married so close to christmas, the venue will already be decorated!
