Wedding on a budget

[MandyUK]

A girl I work with is getting married next year but she's just done the sums for the guests and venue - and had to scrap the whole idea as the cost was several thousands!

Any good ideas on how to have a decent wedding but on a budget?

[tonyp]

Hi Mandy
I'm not married and have no plans to be in the near future but the 'traditional' wedding does run to many thousands I know. It's also possible to get married for virtually nothing I suppose but the budget wedding is probably the most difficult because where do you draw the line? It could end up being a compromise which wouldn't be satisfactory for anyone.
I'm sure there are tips, make the cake yourself, take the bus to the church (flippant, sorry) but it's all or nothing really isn't it? Would your friend and her fiance consider foregoing the whole 'traditional' thing and just get married whilst on holiday for example and then use the considerable amount of money saved towards the home (or whatever)?

[sharyn]

im getting married next weekend and at first we wanted to do the 'traditional' thing, big ceremony big everything really, but things changed for us, my dad got worse and we lost a large chunk of our incomes, so we have tried to do the budget idea, cutting back on the big expenses, but the cost is still racking up, we're actually left slightly in debt because of the wedding and it is causing arguments too, so i say do away with what u think is gonna please everyone (this is what we should have done) and go away on holiday somewhere and get married ther, then come back and have a party with friends and family, much cheaper and u still get the holiday away

[just_me]

if you ask me you should stop and consider why your getting married... if you love each other then it shouldn't matter how big the wedding is.. or how many people you invite.. all you need is each other a couple of witnesses and someone how can perform the ceromony legally... I do realise that this is a special day for you both but I am sure that you would feel so much better with putting the money to better use elsewhere...

you should investigate getting married abroad -cut the cost and look on the net, you don't need the specialists (we got married in the USA... a very nice church with a very understanding vicar...even helped with understanding the marriage licence and where/how to obtain... it was a fantastic day one we always remember)

[dragonfly]

Hi

There are several ways you can cut costs:

Getting married during the week rather than on a Saturday is cheaper.

Get married in a registry office then have a party in a village hall (some village halls can be really nice nowadays especially if you decorate them with flowers and candles.)

Have your reception outside maybe a garden party or BBQ. Decorate the garden with tea lights, fairylights and balloons.

Buy a M & S undecorated celebrations cake and decorate it yourself. They have traditional fruit or sponge cakes. Buy a bridesmaids dress rather than wedding dress much cheaper but just as nice. There is more choice in colours.

Give all the guests disposable cameras and let them take the photos rather than hire a photographer expecially if you want more relawed photos rather than posed.

Make your own stationery or approach a stationery designer and give them a budget to work to. Most designers will work to a budget.

Buy flowers from a local market and arrange them yourself. Simple arrangements are very popular at the moment!

Cater the reception yourself and have a cold buffet.

If you plan you theme/colour scheme well in advance and then look out for bargains in the sales or on ebay it is posible to have a wedding on a small budget.


Must stop now this has turned into an epic.

I hope this helps

[Guest]

i got married 4 days ago!!! on a tight budget! my stationery i designed myself on photoshop (easily done) then found a printer who does club flyers. i got 7000 of each invite (ceremony and evening) printed (minmum order) for 60 quid!!! and everyone thought i must have spent hundreds on them. my cake came from m&s, chocolate 2 tier for 50 quid with heart shaped sparklers and chocolates to decorate. had reception in a restaurant new to weddings so they made loads of effort very little money really! hope those tips help a bit!

[Guest]

I got married back in 1999. We had a church ceremony and a small dinner party in a nice country pub afterwards. I wore a traditional white gown, hub wore traditional black and white. My gown was a season old so it only cost me £280. I think my husband spend the same total on his outfit.

We invited the 20 closest people that had meant something to us through our entire life. That way we avoided arguing over which friends were more close to us than others and no friends were upset about not being invited. Because we were so few, we only had a local keyboard player, can't remember what that cost.

There were no bridemaids or best men just our parents and guests as witnesses.

We had three courses, a cake table, coffee and wine and some quiche lorraine for night snack. We made the guests pay for any other drinks. We showed to pub owner the place cards and she set the table in white and cream to match the cards and told her it was okay to use flowers that could be found in the country side. She chose all white flowers which was okay with me and made a simple wedding cake included in the price, that I'm sorry I don't remember either.

We bought the invitations, thank you cards, and place cards in a book and crafts shop, the kind where you just fill in the necessary information.

I bought the cheapest nice white lingerie I could find instead of expensive brand name lingerie. I already had the jewelry. I bought regular white summer pumps from the previous season that were on sale.

My dad drove us to and from church and to the photographer. The photographer was the biggest expense.

My bouquet was in fashionable flowers and colors for the time so they were in the shop and the bouquet was very reasonable I was told. Only my dad and his father got button hole flowers. No other bouquets or floral decorations were ordered. For a very low price, we got someone at the church to place a single rose and little white flowers at each pew.

It didn't matter to me that the flowers in the church didn't match my bouquet and the flowers in the pub were different from those in my bouquet and at the church. But everything was very timeless: white table with cream candles, timeless gown, timeless suit, simple invitations, seasonal food, simple wedding cake, small party, no extras just for show.

The total was £1600.

Today I would've bought a used gown through the ads and have my mother alterate it that was a little nicer or a formal gown that could've been used again and foregone the veil. My dad did a documentary style photography and my mom took really good pictures too so we could've done without the photographer. The church was nice enough in itself without extra flowers. I would've checked the reputation on the clown playing the keyboard

Not everyone was happy with our decision to have a small informal wedding. Not even my inlaws who paid. I'm just not into big formal events so our wedding style suited me fine.

Everything was really nice, just not in a Hollywood way and we would've won no wedding magazine prices for our theme or lack there off. It probably wasn't the classiest or most unforgettable wedding either. Or maybe it was in a time where everything has to be so grand.

Read my next post for how others had a budget wedding.

[Guest]

The other budget option:

Actually I'm envious I hadn't thought of doing it this way myself and it's not for everyone because some people may think it's tacky even rude. I like this type of party so it suits me just fine.

He had the suit, she bought a pattern and had a friend sew the dress. Good if you have these kinds of connections. The rest of us have to buy something to wear.

She bought regular wedding lingerie and she got her morning gift early so she could wear it. She made the veil and a purse by herself.

Her grandmother did the floral decorations with flowers from her garden for both the church, the car and the tent. Good if you know someone with lots of flowers in their garden that are usable in decorations and bouquets and if they'll let you use them and even better do the decorations and tie the bouquets for you. The rest of us have to shop around for a good price.

They rented a tent, told people to wear practical shoes so they didn't have to rent a floor too. They had a summer wedding and crossed fingers for good weather because they didn't rent radiators. They were lucky and also lucky that his parents had a garden that was large enough to accomodate the tent and even luckier that her parents had two toilets in their house so they didn't have to rent port-o-lets. You can rent some very luxurious port-o-lets where you can actually get in with your gown on. This was ofcourse a bit inconvenient for the guests.

They had a pot luck style buffet. They wanted to pay for the drinks but everyone talked them out of it, so all the guests broght their own drinks. That way they could invite as many as they liked.

The bride and her sisters made the invitations and other cards.

The bride baked the cake in advance. Good if you have the skills for that. I could've done that too but again, that's not a sollution for everyone.

Her father also did the driving. They had the guests take pictures so they had no expense with a photographer. They're lucky that my mother was amongst the guests and that some of the other guests were good photographers.

Her brother and some other teenge boys dj'd. My brother was too young to DJ when I got married and we didn't know any teenagers. That's why we got that crappy keyboard player

Plastic and paper cutlery, plates, glasses, tablecloth and napkins all in white with the candles and napkins in...I don't remember...but they matched, there was some sort of theme, multi floral summer theme.

I saw pictures from the wedding, it looked nice, my mother said it was the most fun wedding she'd been to. Yeah, yeah, mother, I get the message

[ladyb]

this is all really interesting stuff and im glad to pick up any tips i can. fiance and i recently got engaged and we're looking to wed in summer 2007. our budget will be tight but i dont want it to look like we've cut corners, even if we have.

went to a friend's wedding at the weekend and they did their on a budget. a few tips from theirs:

bride made a massive batch of chocolate cup cakes with chocolate icing the night before, which were arranged in tiers. the put half a strawberry on top of each. it actually looked really effective.

they had the reception at a conference centre with nice grounds instead of a hotel. they had a barnecue for reception but of course it rained. however, the staff were happy to bring the food inside. they had a finger buffet in the evening.

for flowers, on the tables they had a slim vase with one daffodil and one rose in each, because the bride and groom are english and welsh. there were no flowers in the church but i doubt most people realised.

[P_1984d]

Do your own flowers

Do u have a relative who is a hairdresser? Get a relative to do your makeup

Have a buffet instead of 3 course meal

Some pubs have free room, free DJ

Get your dresses from Debenhams or BHS - They ARE CHEAPER

Make your own invitations

Instead of flowers for the tables, have balloons, they are cheaper

Dont buy expensive shoes, who's gonna see them under your dress anyway?

Have the service in a registry office, or public place - cheaper

Or have guests pay for their own meals instead of wedding gifts?

[P_1984d]

Also - I forgot, Tesco do wedding cakes for cheap. Why not decorate it with flowers yourself

[second time around]

Just read all your letters on 'budget weddings' We want to be married not 'have a wedding'. We are planning to go to Florida where we have family we want to be witnesses and get married in a simple civil ceremony - possibly their house? - Anyone any tips on getting married in the USA? Not 'planning a wedding' in the USA !! Families too complicated too wide spread and too much expense to do it here and we are neither young nor first timers so we just want to be married to complete our formal 'togetherness' otherwise we are happy as we are.

[mande]

The biggest thing you can do to cut costs, is to ban relatives from having anything to do with planning it.

They (usually the brides mother) always get into this "oh, you MUST do this and that", and what they're doing is trying to impress relatives and freinds with how great their daughter's wedding is.
They will start fighting you over stuff you're trying to cut, they want to invite half the freakin town, get the best food, etc.
Tell them if they want to pay for it, then they get to make the decisions, and stick to your guns.

[dot99]

Am getting married in 3 weeks time.
Use e-bay for your wedding outfit.
My dress is brand new and from france and cost me 60.00 won't see another one like this down the high street.
Shoes gold satin, brand new never been worn were 3.50
You can pick up tiaras from about 4.00
New basque, complete with undies and stockings 14.99

[anam]

quite a big chunk goes on the photographer, so another tip would be to go to your local college and ask to look at the students portfoio. You will find someone who is good at photograhy for little money.