Hello, I'm wondering if you can help. I'm torn between having my dream wedding and one thats more affordable. Currently, where I want to get married is about £9000 then gotta get dress, suit, rings, decs, DJ etc on top of all that. I had originally wanted to get married in 3 years but after working it out, I realised we won't have saved enough money in that time so we'd actually be looking at more like 5 years which just seems like such a long time for me :/ So then I started thinking about having a more affordable wedding which means we would be able to do it in more like 2-3 years and then maybe having a bigger affair when we renewed our vows however long down the line. But I don't really want to get married in a hotel and that's mostly all I can find :/
I keep telling myself that it's one day and although it's a lovely day, there's so much other stuff that could be done with the money, but the other part of me says it's a day that will only happen once so it should be a big deal. My partner says he doesn't care where we get married as long as he gets to marry me but this is something I've dreamt about for sooo long, I just want it to be perfect.
I've been going round and round for ages now that I've just confused myself so would really appreciate an outside opinion! And I apologise for the long post xx
CommentAuthorFlossie
edited
Realistically what would your budget be if you were to get married in 2-3 years time?
We booked our wedding 2 years in advance which gave us lots of time to save, though we are also receiving lots of financial contributions from our parents which is a massive help. Do you know if anyone would want to contribute to your day which would help make it more affordable?
There are lots of fab places around at affordable prices. We're getting married in a country house which is also a hotel but it's stunning.. it's not just your bog standard hotel. For us it's about £6k for exclusive use, the whole three course wedding breakfast thing and an evening buffet including a few little extras, but there are many ways to make it cheaper. For example you could just have afternoon tea or something instead of a sit down three course meal, which for us is definitely the biggest bulk of the money! xx
Happily married
18th June 2016
xx
CommentAuthorMrsC2bee
Personally I would go for a realistic price, but also have what you want as you only do it once and don't want to look back and regret it esp as your be spending a lot of money, we are trying to have what we want but at same time saving money where ever we can but while having what we want at same time, I think ur be surprised how your be able to save when you look around :) and u can haggle with booking so far in front too x
CommentAuthorJordanG99
This is really dumb.. but how do you haggle!? I always feel rude haha! My dad has very generously offered to pay for a bit of the wedding and I have some inheritance that I'm going to put towards it. The only real issue is trying to save up. Because I'm still at uni for the next 2 years, I don't have a lot of money spare to be putting away and although I work, it just about covers what I need it too. I think I need to have a proper look around because I don't have a clue where to start about budgeting and cheap stuff. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! x
CommentAuthorRachaelB76
have you also looked at what time of year and wat day of the week you would get married. it can make a huge difference with cost. you need to really think and work out what makes your dream wedding and really shop around. have you looked at many venues? x
Write a list of what you want and then work down it decided what's most important. We are buying bits as we go along to help us afford it. Best advice for haggling is if u do t ask u don't get n worst thing they can say is no. U just gotta put a brave face on lol. And u can do a lot of it via email if u feel more comfortable. I managed to get an upgrade for our room plus a free room for my parents and get the hotel at 2015 price rather than 2016 so saved a couple ££ pp. some things I haven't been able to haggle on but most I have. And if they won't knock stuff off then ask for extras as ur more likely get extras than money off with wedding companies. X
CommentAuthorJordanG99
Rachael I have looked at a few venues but I've fallen in love with one and am now struggling to find anything else cos I'm constantly comparing it. I think I'd prefer haggling by email.. otherwise I'd just get all embarrassed and a bit flustered ha! I kinda worked out with OH that if we splurge on our venue and be careful and sensible with alot of other things then we'll be able to do it, so fingers crossed! x
CommentAuthorCatherineR
My fiancee and I have just come out of university too and I tell you one thing, it's hard but it's so worth it! We saved every penny we had to, did things gradually and really went where the deals went - try uni photography/videography students, starting out bakers, as the repo dept to help with invites and if in doubt, do as much as you can yourself!! We are getting married in 4 weeks and chose August so that if we went onto postgrad then it wouldn't clash :) Sit down together and work out a budget then start looking around! There are so many options out there and all do-able!! x
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorKirstyR386
If you're a student, look at where you can get student discount on stuff eg. for invites from stationary companies and high street shops for bridesmaid dresses.
What does the £9k venue include? Is it all your catering and drinks as well? Will they do the table linen and any centepieces or will you need to provide these yourself? It is an awful lot of money to spend but if you can work out what is included it might be what you want. X
CommentAuthorJordanG99
Oohh I hadn't even thought about using the Uni to help! Good thinking :) It is a lot of money but includes all the food, drinks, ceremony, reception, linen, overnight stay.. so actually compared to some places I've looked at, it's alright! I do feel better about things today.. I think I was having a bit of a money-meltdown yesterday. Thank-you ladies, you've really helped! Watch this space- I'll be a thrifty bride in no time :) x
CommentAuthorCatherineR
Well done!! Just go at it slowly and see what you can manage, know your budget and then you can work out a date you can get wed :) In total, our wedding is costing around 15K which for 2 uni students without savings isn't half bad and we are rather proud what we managed to accomplish in just under 2 years! x
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorJordanG99
Oh wow!! I think I'm just being impatient and a bit bratty to be honest :P Well done you! I hope I can be as dedicated.. I'm just going to have to be strict with myself and ask "Do I reeeally need that?" ha! Good luck for your big day! it's not too long now! :) x
CommentAuthorInDreamland
I'd suggest you can have your dream venue but maybe go for mid week and out of season so between October and April as prices are far less than say a Saturday wedding between May and September.
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorCatherineR
No not long, 3 weeks on Saturday! Getting quite scared now as before I could focus on graduating or my new job but now it's the wedding!
We found by using the the 'is it a necessity or want?' question helped as it whittled down what we really needed so if it was necessity then book it but if it's a want then don't and reassess later :) be brutal and definitely try out of season and midweek as already suggested as you will save a fortune! X
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorMrsC2B
My fiance and I both had a cost effective weddings the first time around. This time we are going all out! No expense spared. This is the last time I will be getting married as this time it is to my soul mate. We both want the dream day xx
CommentAuthorJordanG99
MrsC2B that sounds lovely! Have you booked a date yet? :)
OatB, thank you so much for all your help! Hopefully the scared feeling will turn into excitement soon! It'll come around so quick! x
CommentAuthorCatherineR
It is, that's the problem.. I keep trying to grab time back haha! x
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorMrsC2B
I emailed the venue Saturday to see if they can accommodate the date we want (31/12/2017) but not had a reply yet. Hopefully tomorrow xx
CommentAuthorWhovianbride
If you look at a weekday wedding you can drastically cut your costs. Have saved me around £3.5/4k
Met June 2009 on my Birthday,Met again July 2009 and got
together, May 2010 Moved in,Jan 2011 got pregnant,
August 2011 Got our own place, 2011 Had our Baby Girl,
Dec 2011 Got engaged, July 2015 Getting married! Yay!
CommentAuthorEmily17
Whovian, we looked at that but at our venue it didn't make a difference if it was weekday or weekend. Made a big difference going out of season though. We had already decided we wanted October and this happened to be the first out of season month so perhaps consider that too?
Met in 2009
He proposed Jan 2014
Will become Mrs P 7th October 2017
CommentAuthorVelcro
we regret spending a fortune on our wedding, it is only a day afterall, i wish we'd got a new car instead.
our venue was the same price regardless of the day of the week as well, its worth checking the costs for different days/months of the year though.
my husband said the same as yours, we wont do it again. but tbqh as amazing as the day was, it wasn't worth what we spent on it. Everything other than the venue would have been exactly the same and it wouldnt have made a difference. Worth thinking about, i think. :)
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
