Hi everyone. I've just got engaged and have no idea where to start! We were looking at a dec 2014 wedding but would we be able to pull off a budget wedding? Help help help!! :D
CommentAuthorNearlyMrsFountain
Hi My big saving is artificial flowers and buying lots of little bits from the bay of e (favour boxes, etc) also been looking at BM dresses on the bay too. Also if your getting married in a hotel cut back on alcohol, my view is times are changing and as long as u but the guests a token drink, no need to provide wine on the tables
Hope that helps a little xxx
CommentAuthorbrilly
D.I.Y hun dont be afraid to give things ago yourself I have a d.i.y thread you may be interested in also shop around dont jump in feet 1st at the first venue you see as you may grab a bargain at the 2nd one also theres no need to pay stupid prices for dresses I got my wedding dress off the woman who can not be named in the forum it was only £200 but a great saving and great quality xx
31st August 2013 I became Mrs Carrick
Cant wait to do it all over again in 2018
CommentAuthorEllenH27
Have you worked out what your budget is? The first thing me and my H2b did was work out what we could realistically afford to save, and what we both wanted from the day itself. Which is why we're not getting married til 2015. As its no good saying your budget is £xxxx and then you work out you can't actually afford it. We're also very lucky as my parents are giving us some and his mum is paying for the venue. But I agree with what the others have said, shop around and get quotes from many places, and make sure you check the small print for any hidden extras like VAT! Hope this helps xx
CommentAuthorChrissieG38
Aw thanks ladies We're are scaling back on most things tbh What was the first things you started to plan after you got engaged?
For us it was the type of wedding, venue and guests. Once I knew how many people I want I knew what kind of venue to go for. Then of course ... the dress.
CommentAuthorChrissieG38
What type of wedding did you have?
CommentAuthorMon
I am having a wedding/civil ceremony in a local hotel with wedding reception and a nice evening party afterwards. I will have around between 55-65 guests on the day. I posted on your wall Chrissie. x
CommentAuthorChrissieG38
I'll have a look, thanks mon
CommentAuthorBobsi
Shop around and get lots of quotes. For the same things you will find different prices in different shops.
Use the bay that's what I've done and seen some lovely BM dresses for £35 each would have cost £80 in the shops. Also got my invites down to £50 on the bay going to see if Vi$ta can do better first thought. Will be sending a FB MSG with a pic of my evening invite to most people as well.
X
Got together June 11th 2006
Getting married June 11th 2014
8 years to the day and I'll be Mrs T.
CommentAuthorChrissieG38
That's a good idea to be honest What about your dress?
CommentAuthorsarah
bump for zoemclose
CommentAuthorCat
Well if you want real flowers you can always make your own bouquet if your any good at baking you could make your own sweet, chocs or cakes for favors look out for offer codes as well, I have found a couple that have been really useful
CommentAuthorEmilycakes89
Hello! I'm loving planning my budget wedding and so far have found lots of bargains :) First bargain was the reception venue, we've booked our local parish hall (which has recently been refurbished and looks beautiful!) We have it for 3 days for £750 ! We have been around every possible charity shop and have bought lots of fine china cups, saucers, side plate etc, we almost have 100 of each and have only spent around £50-£60 :D I'm making the invites myself, you can download pretty fonts and digital images for free from certain websites (aslong as its for personal use), once they're printed onto gatefold cards i'm going to decorate them with pretty papers, buttons, lace and i've been cutting out tiny triangles out of the pretty papers to make bunting :) I've found glass sweet jars (for the 'candy buffet') in charity shops and in homeware shops at great prices. I do go out browsing around shops regularly so I come across lots of deals, supermarkets for example have some lush home stuff which is great for venue decor, so always worth a look in the sales ;)
CommentAuthorGillianE
sit down with your oh and discuss what is important to you both on the day, and priortise. What can you do without? do as much diy things as you can. Can any of your friends family help out with craft skills, baking, photography etc. if you have everything you need to make a home, why not set up a honeymoon account and ask your guests to give you money towards a honeymoon instead of a present you may not need. make your own confetti by drying any flowers you receive and ask family to give you their dying flowers to dry as well. browse for bargains on the internet and shop sales etc.
xx
CommentAuthorElizabethP8
Loving all of your budgeting ideas everyone! Definitely going to be using some of them :) If anyone has any more useful tips please feel free to add me as a friend :)
Liz xx
CommentAuthorValentinaK
call in favours from people... my aunty does cakes for people as a gift... a random skill and talent she has...she's doing my cake for me...in fact, the cake has been baked (4 tier fruit cake-maturing now!)! Her hubby, my uncle, is a mason, and so we managed to get the masonic lodge he's part of as our reception venue for free! Plus we got masonic lodge members rates on the bar!
I'm going to look at some of the mainstream online auction sites and the wholesalers for florists etc for table decs, favours etc.
Trying to use local colleges/music schools for entertainment. And the wedding in the catholic church itself isn't that expensive. Entering every competition under the sun at the mo too!
And we lived happily ever after!
CommentAuthorsarah
Love everyone's tips :) Just went to the T to the K to the Maxx website and they have some beautiful wedding dresses - some for under 100 quid. M0ns00n also do beautiful dresses that get marked down during the sales.
CommentAuthorKirstyM35
Another vote for the calling in favours, my OH's uncle plays for a lovely bowling club and he's got us their private function room for free. We're getting married later on (around 4pm) so there's no need for a proper sit down meal as we simply can't afford it. Instead everyone will just head straight to the bowling club for a hot buffet then we'll have a cold buffet later on in the evening.
Our DJ is costing us £60 as he's a family friend and my Auntie is making our cake.
Another friend has a brand new merc so we'll be using that as our wedding car.
Theirs quite a few ways too cut the cost if you need to :)
CommentAuthorElizabethP8
Loving the idea of calling in favors from family & friends! Going to write a list of people I knows special skills and see if I can rustle up some recruits :)
CommentAuthorRachaelC80
The bay of E has been my best friend!!! I bought my dress and 3 BM dresses from there for £150.
Don't always presume its cheaper to hire as H2B bought his suit for £80??
We've been really lucky with people helping us out. Photography, Flowers, Wedding Car, Cake, Food, Hair, Make Up and Nails have all been gifted to us!!!
I wish you the best of luck with planning your small and intimate(NOT budget) Wedding. And, remember its not how much you spend on a Wedding that counts, it's the Marriage afterwards.
