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  1.  
    • RebeccaH961
      CommentAuthorRebeccaH961
      Just marriedBadgeBadge
      edited
     
    Hi everyone,
    Me and MHTB have been together 10 years and will have been engaged for 2years In January 2017. We have recently started talking about our wedding and have a date in May 2019. I know this seems a long time away but weddings are expensive and I don't want to presume that family members are going to help fund our big day. This being the case I have allowed 2 years for us to save a comftable amount that we don't want to go over. I would love to have a barn or tepee wedding, glamping tents and a hog roast with a vintage and rustic look, but know I just can't afford this :( I was just wondering what everyone though was a reasonable amount and how did you find your big day? - I would love to invite loads of people but at the end of the day it's me paying for them to come and as much as I have looked I don't have a money tree! Ha x
  2.  
    • Tiffany
      CommentAuthorTiffany
      Just marriedBadgeBadge
      edited
     
    Congratulations on setting your date :)

    I get married in August 2017 and was worried we wouldn't be able to have the big wedding we always wanted. We have 200 guests :0 and have managed to cut down on costs by doing stuff ourselves ie. hand made invites, store brought cake ( friends is decorating it), doing our own buffet instead of a sit down meal etc.

    We looked on FB for photographers and venue decorators and got some amazing cheap deals. We are also not having a wedding car. We are walking to the church (MIL lives across the road) and a friend is decorating his car to take us to the reception. I've got my wedding shoes off line and even my flowers (fake are cheaper and last forever)

    I got my dress in the sale as well and our reception venue cater to us so we only pay for what we want. We can change the details with them up to 3 months before the wedding too so can make it cheaper and if we have paid more than the final arrangement we get that money back. We are also getting this years prices so they won't go up next year.

    Eb@y is brilliant for wedding bits and have lots of vintage bits.

    From looking round and doing things ourselves we have cut our budget from £20,000 to £9,000-£11,000

    We got too excited to save (wish we had) so it's been going out as a monthly bill.

    Hope that helps :)
  3.  
    • EmmaM1435
      CommentAuthorEmmaM1435
      Just marriedBadgeBadge
      edited
     
    We booked our wedding with 3 years to go for this exact reason.

    The thing I found with barns is that they are incredibly expensive, the cost of the venue and then the food on top, we were quoted 6k solely for a 2 course meal for 50 guests, with no drinks, because of the cost of hiring in staff for the wedding, baring in mind that that did not include fees for actually hiring the venue or accommodation fees. I was left in tears because it was just not financially viable for us. So we looked for other venues and luckily fell in love with our venue. We'd written it off when we looked at pics online, but when we went there for a wedding fair we knew it was the one. So don't write off any venue until you have seen it in person as it could be the one you are waiting for :-)

    One word of advice I would give you is book NOW! Our venue, photographer and the registrar honored this years price. We wanted to get married in the Autumn anyway, and obviously it is one of the cheaper seasons to get married, and our venue does a 2 day package from October - March, with exclusive use the day before and the day of the wedding. So always look around for deals, offers and packages.

    It would be lovely to invite everyone you know, but you have to be realistic, can you afford it? We have had to be pretty ruthless with our guest list. I have 5 sets of aunts and uncles and 6 cousins, my OH has one uncle and 2 cousins, we're not massively close to them and because we can not afford to have them at the whole day (which is £80 per head, over our package of 50 guests) when there are so many friends we love that we would rather have at the day, so they will be invited to the evening. I know some people don't agree with it, but we have also agreed that if we don't know someones partner, they will not be invited, and we have also limited children to only our nieces and nephews. It's a contraversial one, but it was one way we could save money.

    We will be doing a lot of bits ourselves. We are making our invites, our centre pieces and our wedding favours, and we are picking things up as and when we see them on offer, as we have the luxury of time

    We have budgeted our wedding at 10k.

    I hope this helps and good luck with your planning
  4.  
    • CommentAuthorMariaP483
      BadgeBadge
     
    I'm starting to stress about the money, and my wedding isn't till 2020 :-$ We also have a house deposit to save up for so you can imagine how empty my pockets are and will be for a while. Difficult to plan on a budget because you want things that are too expensive and then get depressed that you can't have it. Venue is the hardest I think, making sure you get everything you need. Sorry if I'm ranting lol I know things can get done cheaply without compromise but it's difficult at the start.
    Hope you figure it all out Rebecca, keep us updated on any money saving tips and any great finds :-)
  5.  
    • StaceyH989
      CommentAuthorStaceyH989
      Is poweruserJust marriedBadgeBadge
     
    We've booked for May 2018 so we know we can save without leaving ourselves tight should any emergencies happen like if the car broke.
    The one thing I have learned is that money will always be a stressful point when it comes to weddings as everyone is different. I always panic that have we found the right deal, should we have gone elsewhere, is that price too good to be true and the best thing to do is to go with your gut decision and what you want and can afford.

    We setting our budget we sat down and discussed the minimum and maximum amounts we would be happy to spend and that way we have an target we can stick to and if we come under the minimum that's great.
  6.  
    • Wundatigga
      CommentAuthorWundatigga
      Ticker backgroundIs poweruserJust marriedBadgeBadgeTicker foreground
     
    Start with an idea of what you think is the max you want to spend and how set on this number you are or whether its more of a guide. Then sort your guest lists (you can have a MUST be there list and a Would be nice to invite if we can afford it list) and research venues. (These are interchangeable -if you know you want lots of people there you will need a bigger venue or if you want a specific venue that only holds x number of people then that will dictate your guest list... it just depends what is the most important to you.)

    Once you have these in line you can then put everything else in place :)

    I would also say don't think about saving and then buying and paying everything at the end - use the fact that you have a while to book earlier (and get current prices and/or discounts) and pay off in parts. I have 9 months before my wedding and my dress and bm dresses are now paid in full, but I paid in smaller lumps. I am also paying bits off of other vendors too a bit at a time when I can and keeping track of what is paid, what is left using a simple spreadsheet. It is definitely making it all less stressful as I am not worrying about having the money to pay for it all at the end.

    You can also make the most of sales and offers that pop up (I got my younger girls bm dresses in the pre-Black Friday sales and saved £70 on them both!

    Try not to fall in love with every idea you come across (really difficult I know) - Do not buy on impulse unless it is urgent (like if you don't buy it now at this amazing price it will be gone forever) - And enjoy the process... it's exciting and nerve wracking and fun!

    Best of luck x

    Members signature icon
    Started dating: 10th February 2011
    Welcomed our little girl: May 2015
    I proposed: 23rd December 2015
    I finally become Mrs R 17th August 2017
 

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