Very small budget wedding ideas!

[OrlandointheWilderness]

My dad has pancreatic cancer - it’s now spread and we have been told he has a year max. I’m engaged, we had hoped to have a small wedding in 3/4 years, but obviously I want my dad at my wedding!! We will have a tiny budget, luckily we only wanted something low key anyway - but ideas for a low cost wedding very very welcome. I’m happy with second hand dress etc. the only important thing is my dad is there.

I'm sorry about your dad OP. What sort of thing would you like help with? I would start with how much your budget actually is, then your guest list, that will dictate what you can do. It's so personal as to what sort of thing you like!

I'm sorry to hear about your dad

How many would you invite? Budget? Area of the country you live in?

Registry office then a local restaurant or pub? Some places have a back room you can hire or if it was a smaller restaurant, hire the whole place. A weekday or lunch time might be cheaper.

Some charity shops specialise in wedding attire. Some are brand new, end of line or ex display dresses. You might need to ring around or check each charity shops website- https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/bridal, shop.sueryder.org/collections/bridal

Budget I suspect would be £1500/2k max.
local registry office would be about £400 for midweek up to 60 guests. Lovely art gallery one would be £700. We’re in Lincs. Any advice on reception ideas etc. if it was the height of summer I’d say BBQ at ours but I think we’d be looking at sep/oct/nov now really so it gets far more expensive with venues. We do possibly have access to a coach house/barn that has a massive fireplace but also smokes everyone out when it is lit 😂
thanks for the links! That’s perfect.

Having just done quickie small wedding on a budget I would say... v small family only reg office for legal bit usually comes in under £200. Then choose a venue you like for a bit of a do... local golf or cricket clubs can be nice and cheap. We got a pizza van outside which was £10 head for food, everyone got their own drinks at the bar and I got dress and a ton of decorations off vinted! Was lovely :)

I am so sorry to hear your news.

You will get lots of great ideas on here. For my.two penneth. I had a tiny wedding. Immediate family and very close friends. Came to about 30 in all. The friend of a friend did our buffet, we had the reception in our home which is definitely not a mansion. Another friend had a nice car so that was our wedding car. Everyone I love was there. Married at 12.30, set off on our 2 night honeymoon at the English seaside at 4pm. I wore an M and S suit. I had a totally brilliant day and wouldn't change a thing about it. It came in at about £1,000 and several people have told me it was the happiest wedding they have attended.

That was 20 years ago this year so prices will be higher now. Good luck and enjoy your day.

Thank you so much guys, this is exactly what I was wanting to hear! That it IS possible 😂

It sounds like you will have a lovely day and make memories. Do your own flowers, buy some big ones like peonies or whatever is in season at the supermarket and tie with ribbon. Use ivy as a good way to bulk out table arrangements. Look on fb for people getting rid of used wedding decor. Places like shein can be good for cheap tall vases, candles etc.Perhaps look at a village hall and a local caterer, keep food simple but plentiful! Buy wine cheaply, find a deal and then do soft drinks. Get someone to make and gift the cake or do puddings, trays of brownies with cream is great. Borrow as much as you can, no one will mind helping. Get someone teenagers to serve and clear away, we did this and it cost very little. Make as much as you can, place cards etc. it will be wonderful!

I think with a small budget, the main thing is to make it feel like it’s you rather than what you can afford.

What I mean is, if you’re outdoorsy people then maybe some sort of outdoor picnic festival vibe would feel more authentic than a restaurant.

and so on. Small but still you.

sorry about your dad OP.

D Niece had registry office + upstairs room in pub. Meal was pre-ordered to make it run smoothly, family did Dec
s, photos in reg office garden and park. Think they went onto a club for cake and champagne but I had run away by then as it was a couple of hours from home.

I'm sorry about your dad's illness, how devastating. The loveliest wedding I ever went to was where the couple hired out their favourite family Italian restaurant. You don't need to do a whole day thing - have a small ceremony mid-pm followed by one meal then home. Main course and wedding cake for pudding. Perfect. Not the cheapest option but I'm chucking it in there because I think it punched above its weight IYKWIM. A golf club could also do this kind of thing well.

If possible get your own prosecco and pay corkage.

Also we went to a local food festival last summer and it was basically a shop front for lots of different caterers to show off what they offer. I now know exactly which of them I'd go to first for an event. They run a market stall most Saturdays. Might be worth seeing if there is anything similar near you soon.

We didn't have a wedding car - just drove to the pay and display car park near the registry office in our own car and walked across. It helped that my wedding dress was a tea dress shape rather than the full shebang.

I also got married in Lincolnshire, despite not being from around there, as we had hired an air b n b I saw on sale to be the weekend venue. It was Louth registry office which was lovely and had a beautiful room.

We didn't have a professional photographer - but we had loads of photos. I asked my brother to arrange the formal shots (he's not a photographer) and he did a couple on a timer/tripod where he joined us. I asked everyone else to share their photos with me and we have loads.

I didn't have a florist. I did spend a couple of hundred pounds on roses (I think they came from Jersey) and wrapped my own into a bouquet, i made button holes and table flowers with these. There were 2 bucket fulls of beautiful flowers (2013 prices). I think you could easily make a bouquet of supermarket roses and not bother beyond that.

How about asking a local restaurant e.g. an Indian restaurant to quote for an afternoon buffet? That would be for a smallish group with your budget.

If you want a party you could go for an afternoon wedding then use the barn for a buffet and dj/band. Could your family/friends help with a buffet spread? Does the barn have a bar? If not how about "bring your own booze" with you providing some table wine/jugs of water and pop?

Then use your budget for some live music (post on a music Facebook group for your area and let them know your budget e.g. £200) and a DJ.

Just to add if your income is ok and you aren't struggling with debt I would up your budget a little with a 0% purchases credit card or a small loan. But perhaps that's a bad attitude!

So sorry to hear about your dad. Instead of a BBQ at yours perhaps you can hire a pizza or fish and chip van to park up outside.
If your dad is going to have chemotherapy then you might want to factor that in. Wishing you all the very best.

We got married while we were in holiday in Cornwall.
Midweek registry office ceremony. Dinner in the local pub who were very excited and put up the banners and bunting for the Olympics early and let us have the evening menu at dinner.
Clothes from bhs( my dress was an ivory bridesmaid dress for £80) Dds bridesmaids stuff came to £50 in the sale.
Did my own artificial flower bouquets and buttonholes. Tesco cake. Washed the car and put ivory ribbon on the front and door handles.
Mil and sil did my hair and make up.
Definitely less than a grand.

So sorry about your Dad. I wouldn’t leave it until November. I would do it this summer when he is as well as can be.

Options are quality vs quantity for your budget.

So either immediate family only at a very glamorous restaurant or private room in a hotel £100/head type thing.

Or your 60 guests DIY style in a church hall etc.

Or you could possible to the top one followed by a cash bar, disco, evening do after at local pub who might give you private space on a minimum bar spend (by your guests) arrangement.

I wonder if August might be good for availability as I think many events are not scheduled then as people assume many people will be away?

Friends of DH had a low budget wedding recently. They had immediate family only to the ceremony with DH doing the photos, then a few days later they had a party in a village hall with a hog roast. There was a small pay bar with limited choice or guests could bring their own drinks.

I suggest asking a friend who takes good pics to take as many as possible, including of your dad with everyone you can.
i would also say sooner rather than later so he has chance to enjoy it more and reflect on it.
If he is under a hospice for care they can do amazing things- arrange all sorts for those they help.

Have a later afternoon or evening wedding, so there is less time to need to feed people. I know someone who had a late evening wedding and canapes at a bar afterwards, so we all had dinner beforehand. The food truck is a great idea too, as hou wouldn't need a place for anyone to cook or wash up. That or a buffet would be cheaper than sit down dinner with 3 courses.

Costco is good for catering en masse.

Do you have a local fish and chip van, OP?

I say that because I'm in Lincs and when we got married we had this for our guests. The van parked up in our drive and did fish and chips for everyone (actually about 125 people). It was really cost effective, and a lot easier than a BBQ.

So someone yesterday recomended M&S party platters for a family party could that work in the barn would be much cheaper than caterers....

We had a barbecue after a register office wedding. We absolutely didn’t want gifts, as we had lived together for years, so we asked everyone to bring their own booze. People were very happy with this. Perhaps you could do something like that but in your barn?

Just rembering one of the nicest weddings we went to when we were very young was a bring and share event. Sometimes the simplest weddings are the best.

The local bowling or cricket club may be a good venue. There are some beautiful church/village halls or community centres that you can hire for very little money, or you could hire a marquee for your back garden provided you don’t go too far into winter. Do an afternoon tea rather than a full meal - homemade scones with jam, cream, tea, and fizz then those who wanted to continue the party into the evening could go to the pub. Costco do platters of sandwiches, wraps, cakes, scones, etc. so that’s a cost effective way of feeding people.

I already posted up thread, but some venues advertise last minute deals when they have cancellations. You might be able to go on a waiting list but depends how flexible you could be.

Friends went to the registry then had a small marquee set up in their garden, then a buffet meal. They assumed this would be an economical option, but even that added up with additional expenses they hadn't considered initially. Marquee flooring was extra, tables/chair, glass ware, plates/cutlery, tea cups/spoons, lighting etc. The also underestimated how often people need the loo, so the had 50 people trying to share just 1. Going to a restaurant/pub might be a better option due to them having the basic facilities already there.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad 😔 you will have a wonderful day whatever you decide because he will be with you ❤️
I saw an amazing wedding on Instagram the other day, were they had got married at a nice registry office and then went to a gorgeous pub with a garden, hired a band to get everyone up dancing, and they had a hot food buffet, it looked so cool and would probably come in at your budget if you rang around and got quotes.
All the favours, and printed out menus and little bits that are the expensive part no one even takes notice of anyway, they add nothing to the atmosphere of a good wedding IMOH.
Vinted have amazing wedding dresses, even Shein if you wanted to get a really low cost dress, their veils are amazing,
Could you get a friend to take photos and do the video, that is the biggest expense apart from food these days