We want to get married in a reg office

[biglips]

as i just wants to be married....im not into the full monty stuff.

But money is the problem as havent got much. How cheap can we actually do it? (apart from getting the dress and outfit and one bridemaid as weve already got 2 off my aunty who gave them to me).

Thinking of getting married and then a little party afterwards....can it be done? as i dont have any idea how much will it cost.

i appreciate for your advices

[CarGirl]

How many guests? Our local registry office you could have the room for 6 guests free for the cost of the licence and doing the deed, more than 6 guests you had to pay room hire - £500 on a Saturday!

[biglips]

guests - 40 as in my reg off youre allowed up to 50 and if i remember right on a wed its cheaper than fri & sat.

the only problem ive got that is we've got is that our mums and dads got huge families. Was thinking of maybe have a meal with our in-laws?? or thats not right??

[CarGirl]

Could you hire a side room in a pub, you provide a cheap buffet, guests buy their own drinks?

[biglips]

thanks Cargirl as im gonna do my homework and price things up to give me an idea and many thanks for your ideas too as a pub side room sounds ideal really and we can actually do our own buffet as we did for our engagement (Well mainly dp as hes a good cook), but on the actual wedding, would that prove to be difficult? to get it from our house to the party revenue?

[biglips]

recorrection

but on the actual wedding day, would that prove to be difficult? to get it from our house to the party revenue?

[CarGirl]

That's when you rope in friends or family to help out. The wedding ceremony is only 10-20 minutes, photos presumably done by a friend another 20 minutes so you need to hire the venue for possibly 2 hours prior to the wedding to give people a chance to drop it off there and get to the ceremony?

[purpleflower123]

I'm getting married in March, Reg office followed by meal with siblings and parents. Then we will have a party in the evening at a football club, with a very basic buffet.

The budget is £1500, we originally thought we could do it for about £900 but £1500 is much more realistic.

The reg office is cheaper mon-thurs £45, fri and sat morning it costs £150 and Sat afternoon its £350!!!

So many people have offered to help it's unreal!

[CarGirl]

You could actually ask people to bring a plate and a bottle rather than a gift and hold it in a hall somewhere?

[biglips]

thanks for the more ideas....

i will get onto once this blardy tonsillitis will bugger off!

[Merle]

biglips no advice but I just wanted to applaud you for a straightforward, old-fashioned and non-prima donna approach to this.

So refreshing. I hope you are very happy together.

[biglips]

thanks Merle

[eaglewings]

Good advice but don't shun the church on cost alone, it should be no more than £350 at a church, less if you don't have bells. Some churches also have cheep halls for the party.

However if you don't want a religious ceremony this won't help!!

[defineme]

Our church hall is £35 for 3 hours.It has a kitchen too.

How about saying you'll do puddings and a glass of fizz and could everyone bring a plate of savoury buffet food to share?No presents if you ask for that though!

You could then retire to the local pub for the evening?

You need to use friends-who has a video camera? Who can make cakes? Who can take photos? Who does flower arranging? Who makes invites with their computer? Or even who has a nice big house with room for gazebos and patio heaters in the garden? Who has a flash car that yoiu can put a bit of ribbon on?

[superdragonmama]

Biglips, I love your approach to your wedding :o

Here's my wedding experience.

We married last spring with a total budget of £1000.

The format was: wedding on the Thursday before Good Friday (cheaper reg office fees, and everyone able to take day off work - we checked before finalizing the date). Lunch for very close family and friends (about £400), then the wedding, then cakes and drinks at our not-very-big-house (= Tardis: it's amazing how many people you can squeeze in) for all comers.

We had masses of help, people were falling over themselves to join in! Wedding cars = friends cars which they drove. Friends made my bouquet, my dress/coat combo, buttonholes, took photos, made cakes, brought drinks, and so on. I think that because so many guests had been involved in the preparations, they felt more involved in the wedding.

We had masses of fun! :o

Loads of guests said this was the jolliest wedding they'd been to. Less formality seems to create real fun!!

(I was married before, and had the full posh, smart wedding works. It was chic, but far less joyous).

[Merle]

superdragonmama's wedding is exactly the kind I meant. Weddings used to be like this, surely? How did it all get so complicated?

[grumpypants]

do you need presents? could you say, we want to get married, we want you all to come, but please can we split the bill (for the lovely restauarant afterwards) in lieu of a toaster?

[DilysPrice]

Grumpypants is right, recently went to a wedding party which was bride's second and they just asked us to bring a bottle of champagne. Much more efficient than you paying for food and drinks and then them buying you presents you don't really need in order to repay you (sort of).

[MrToad]

Can I just say to you ladies that I love your simple approach to weddings.

I used to be the weddings and conference coordinator at a swanky hotel and you would not believe the stress some people put themselves through in the planning of a wedding and complex unnecessary frills on the day. Family feuds over the buttonholes and thousands of pounds spent on doves/ crap favours/ coordinating chair covers!

I think your ideas all sound great!

[biglips]

errr presents??!!?!

well i havent thought about that far yet!!

[biglips]

SDM - your wedding sounds fab! and thats what you call a wedding

Even if i did had loads of money, i rather spend the most of it for the honeymoon holiday.

[defineme]

The last wedding favours I saw were fab. They'd asked Birds (bakers not sure if they're a chain-like Greggs anyway) to make gingerbread men with buttons that were the colour of the wedding and wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon. So much nicer to have a biscuit with tea when you get home than sugared almonds! Also gingerbread men are cheap.

[biglips]

what a good idea! but can you refesh my memory what is favours??

[MrsVincentPrice]

Wedding favours are little bags of sweeties that you put by the side of people's plates for them to eat with coffee or take away with them.
They are a pretty recent innovation and IMO for the sort of pared-down wedding you have in mind they are completely superfluous.

[biglips]

ahh right. thanks for refreshing my mind

[raspberrytipple]

Biglips how are your wedding plans coming along?! Any advice you can pass on to me?