Wedding Forum - A few weddingy questions...

A few questions

we have three dates in mind but are certain 2014 is the year we would get married the dates are 14th feb - 25th October - 27th December. Which date would ou go for?

We have a budget of £2000 with parents paying for tog, dresses, suits, cake and invites. Do you think we could get married on this budget?

We only have one wage coming in, do you think we could save £2000 by feb 2014?

Where would you suggest having a reception/wedding on that budget?

Do we have an engagement party or an engagement meal?

I have told 2 people they would be bridesmaids but we don't have the funds to pay for there dresses, what do I say to them?

I know some of you may say that it's upto me for some of these questions, but I am really needing advice mainly..

Many thanks in advance.

Michaela
xx

Where would you recommend having the venue? In a htel or? We are wanting 30 day and evening guests no extras... My heads banging and I have only just started planning. We haven't found a venue or anything yet. xx

14th feb prices will go up with it being valentines

27th dec most venues will already have Christmas decs up saving you doing it !

25th oct .... i have nothing to say about lol lol


yes you can do it on that budget you will just have to put time and effort in to sourcing things, as for an engagement meal/party we didnt have either and tbh i didn't miss it ...

personally, id avoid 27th december like the plague, but im extremely biased as my bday is the 17th, and other events just dont seem to mix well with xmas for me, theres too many excuses no matter how much notice you give people I find. too skint, too hungover, too busy visiting extended family etc. But then, i am very cynical about it because of my bday lol

I can't see a problem with saving £2000 by then, but without knowing your financial situation, it's hard to say. We only have one wage coming in, and we wouldn't have a prolem. So I'd say yes, that should be fine. You can also do an awful lot yourself. Im making my own centre peices and cake toppers etc, im getting a roll of fabric for the chair sashes, not bothering with chair covers, delegating a few things, like, getting my friend to make favours, and il be checking charity shops, internet and samples/sales for my dresses etc.

Have an engagement party or meal if you want to, but alot of people tend not to bother, so thats just presference, we were gunna have a gathering at ours but somthing came up, we had to cancel and never got round to rearranging, we just ended up having a night out with our mates instead the following week

Likes Mrs Mann suggests, Id go for a later wedding, so you wouldn't have to two sets of feeding of the masses. You can probably hire a community centre, village hall etc for something like that, some pubs and stuff even have free room hire, so that's one you will probably have to really look into to find the best deal. You may end up having to put your own food on, if they dont have a caterer, or just obviously, find an outside caterer to do it for you. If it's not a huge wedding, then Id probably just delegate a few more tasks, and get friends and family stuck in prepping food.

£2000 is doable... Hotels offer reasonable rates for functions.
We are paying for everything and we've just about managed on £5000. we haven't been able to manage to invite everyone but just the people who matter the most - what we have managed is a church wedding, reception in a private box at a racecourse (on a race day, so thats the entertainment sorted) nd a three course meal in a 4star hotel in the evening.
Its actually really fun being thrifty... I've just customised 40 invites with a caricature of me and my beloved for less than a tenner!!

Loving your tips and help, fabric for chair sashes. What do you mean? xx

We had chair covers and the bow bit that goes on them is called an organza sash.

You need to check with your local registry office about fees. It was £320 for our wedding in the hotel but I know it differs depending on what day you have it and where you are.

I would go for registry office wedding as its the cheapest option.
my first wedding cost around £2000 all in
got my dress from high street £140
suit was hired
did all decor and centrpieces ourselves
we had a small sit down buffet straight after the ceremony at a pub instead of a wedding breakfast and provided our own bottles of bucks fizz for toast
had a friend do the photography
the reception was at the town hall
had a large buffet for about 150-200 people (was huge) a friend did it at her house, got most of the food from the land of ice.
it is so do-able if you want to. any tips just give me a shout :)
add me if you like xxx

I think for 2014 you might find that valentines day is already booked as it falls on a Friday and obviously will be a popular day...also, the prices of flowers will rocket and hotels will be charging top whack.

My friend had a wedding on the Wednesday between Xmas and new year which worked well as it saved loads of money being a weekday wedding and most guests had taken that week off anyway, however this might not be the case with your guests. Also, as has been mentioned the hotel will most likely also be decorated. However, a lot of people like to visit family etc and as its the day after boxing day (which amongst some people is a drinking day!) you may have a lot of hungover guests - also, Xmas is an expensive time for people and they may not enjoy the additional expense of attending a wedding.

Personally, I'd go for oct or dec as it gives you more time to save and takes the pressure off a bit. Don't forget, some months it will just not be possible to put the 'maximum' you can afford away in wedding savings. In my experience, household appliances and cars insist on being damn uncooperative with saving for weddings and still insist on breaking down or blowing up regardless...and selfish people insist on having birthdays and christmasses when I'd much rather put the money away for my dress! (just kidding, but you know what I mean)

As for budget, I'd see two k is certainly doable for the number of guests youre having. Each district varies, but in ours it's about the same to have them come to the venue then to get married in the registry office. However remember this can cost around 500 so you need to be looking at package deals that come in around £1500.

Cheaper way of doing it is having a later wedding and jus having an evening reception. I'd definately look at pubs etc with function rooms. If you find somewhere with an iPod dock sound system you can save costs on a DJ and create your own playlist.

There are plenty of brides on here who have done their whole wedding for less than 2k, so fear not, it can be done!

Xx

We're going for a small, intimate wedding(I'm not a typical bride and don't want fuss!!)
We're lucky enough to have really good neighbours who have offered to pay for things as our Wedding presents.
One neighbour is doing the photography, another is paying for the car and another couple doings bouquet and button holes.
Is there any chance you can ask your friends to help out with things like that??

I have made the invitations and place cards myself. Look on craft sites for ideas?? Keep them simple and it'll keep costs down.

As for BM dresses, look on bEay. If they know your circumstances I'm sure they'll understand??

As for dates?? Obviously your choice but I would avoid near Christmas??
You won't have time to think about Christmas and plan a Wedding??

My Wedding is in May and I'm buying things a little at a time??
The shoes, veil, table decorations all purchased on line and hasn't cost a fortune!!!
Congratulations on taking the plunge :-)

People book weddings quite far in advance so I'd personally try to find a venue first and then see which of those three dates they have available. Depending on where you want to get married, I think February 14th might already be booked with it being valentines day xxx

We think we have already picked our venue, we both decided last night and it fits in with our budget, we also know we want to get married in the same church pil2b got married in. xx

Great news :)
Just a warning, churches might be expensive. I'm getting married in a church and it's about £600, so make sure you factor that in when you budget xxx

we have booked a hotel for our reception £1000, 2 course meal with toast for 30 adults kids are extra .buffett for 40 guests at night but can add extra at £6 pp and room with four poster bed sitting room and on suite bathroom managed to get a dj for £120 it can be done on a £2000 budget its what i was trying to do but with buying everything i seen it creeped up another £1000 lol and thats for a friday would cost more for the saturday x

i was the same got all dresses shoes jewlery etc on the bay realy cheap then changed the dresses so now got 2 wedding dresses and extra bridesmaid dresses dog chewed the shoes so had to buy more im hopless at saving just buy as i go now got banks that i put any spare cash in to pay hotel and church x

Thank you everyone.xx

First of all I want to congratulate you on your engagement & wish you luck with your planning. Secondly I want to thank you for starting this post, I am not sure what kind of budget we will be working with but it will definitely be as low as possible. I am hoping for 2015 as I am rubbish at saving so don't think 2014 would be an option. Have enjoyed the tips already & also wanted to add a tip for your cake, either make it yourself or get a friend/family member to help out or there are lovely pre-iced cakes that just need decorated in all major supermarkets. I'm hoping to make my own & having a practise run with a Christmas cake this year :)

I think oct too... Not too cold,not hot and u don't have to worry about hoping the weathers nice if its August cos u will find sept,oct,u do get a lot more nice days,...a bit crisp but still nice and sunny....
Plus a little longer that u could maybe save more than £2k and have a few luxuries?.?

My engagement party cost a bomb...ridiculous, wanted to charge £980 originally catering for 70ppl tapas buffet including the cost of disco at £200.... But managed to get it down to £400 with our own disco for free.... Still a lot of money tho...but a great night,we got nearly £400 in cash as engagement presents so help towards the cost of the wedding :-) xx

I would go for October. You risk upsetting guests if you prevent the celebrating Valentine's Day with their partners and people might be away//busy with family just after xmas. Also, trains don't run on 26th dec so people might not be able to get there if they don't drive.

Our budget is £3,700 which has been quite tight and our total of tog, dress, suits, cake and invites is just over £700 of that. I think you need to look around at the cheapest venues etc you can find and add up everything you wouldn't want to do without then see if it's realistic.

It's impossible to know how much you can save without knowing your income and outgoings. That's something you need to work out yourself and save each month. If you get married in October 2014 you'll need to save £90 a month. If you can I'd recommend trying to save £3000 which would be £140 a month. Obviously if you marry in Feb you'll have to save much more

Have a look at your local register office for the ceremony - mine's only £45. For the reception there are 2 groups of hotels that do a £1000 package, one for 30 people and one for 50 people.

If you're budget is tight and you're going to struggle to save I wouldn't waste money on an engagement party. But you could go for a normal meal or night out to mark the ocassion.

I've got my bm dresses 2nd hand on an auction site so you could consider that. Otherwise you'll have to tell them you can't afford it and see what they say. But if they offer to pay they'll need to have a big say in what they wear.. You can't ask the to pay for expensive dresses they don't like!

We have picked 24th May 2014 for our wedding. xx

Ours is sept,the beginning.... We didn't wanna be in the busiest months...won't be main summer but hopefully still nice x

I wouldn't go for Feb 14th - it'll be loads more expensive for everything. Also, and I'm sorry to mention this so please don't be offended. But my aunt got married on Valentines day years ago and lets just say they aren't still happily married. Now every year she has a reminder of how it didn't work out and is really bitter around that time of year. Sad sorry to bring up i know so really sorry to mention it but you never know (sorry).

On a more postive note, i'd go for later in the year because that way it gives you plenty of time to save up and then you don't have the pressure of the finances, you get lots more time for planning and Octotober is a great off peak time so places offer will give you a reduced rate - good for the budget!

I think you can totally do a wedding on that budget if you have a bit of help with the things you listed from your parents. You just have to plan carefully and make sure you prioritise. Sit and work out what you want and work out a budget for each element and then you can see what's what. There are loads of ways to have a low cost wedding! I went to a lovely wedding last year in a beautiful setting and what kept the cost down was that instead of bringnig a gift all he guests brought a dish - it was the best wedding meal ive ever had! There was such a lovely selection of hot and cold food, exotic salads, beautiful side dishes and soooo much of it!! MY friends used a website - a bit like a gift list - to organise who was bringing what so you could choose - we are rubbish at cooking so we got on quick and signed up for breads - we bought loads of different types of baguettes and rolls!

Get planning is the key!! xx

we picked June. I do like May but my first wedding was in May and both mine and my h2b bdays are in May so not a great plan for us. wanted July or August but he wanted it earlier.

linzi-jo she updated it 8 posts up x