To not want a ridiculous wedding?!!

[pyjamasinbananas]

Basically money is quite tight- trying to do it on £1500 budget. I thought church service then workingmans club reception with buffet and BBQ. iPod on speakers and DPs friends band doing a bit of music.
DP suggested Alice in wonderland theme as it's mix and match, all over the place so we don't spend a fortune to have everything match.
AIBU to think that a) the theme might seem naff and tacky
And
B) people might think we didn't give enough of a shit about them to put on a proper sit down meal wedding etc

I'm tough I can take the honesty!!! And if I drip feed I'm on my phone and it won't let me scroll up what I've written!!

Woodland creatures?! Oh dear!
Oooh will you be doing a trash the dress event afterwards pyjamas? I've heard they're becoming more and more popular but not sure I'd want to damage mine!

We had a small wedding that didn't cost a fortune, married in a church, reception in village hall, buffet was provided by friends and family.

Instead of a gift list, we asked for weddibg help. Aunties made the bridesmaid dresses, a friend made the cake, another friend did the flowers, which I bought. Uncle loaned us his car for leaving. Chilled out day. Music was ipod as well. We avoided the evening do and disco though. Wouldn't change a thing, lovely day and very chilled.

Forget the theme, it's not neccessary at all.

Small and intimate sounds good. The theme sounds twee and naff. Sorry.

lots of ideas here, OP. May I also suggest a pinterest account to collect your inspirations?

VikingBlood- Your wedding discription has literally just made me cry! I want that!
Pyjamas- Themes are not a bad idea as such, just tricky to pull off. If you put in subtle little hints like the 'eat-me-drink-me' tags on things, maybe a toy mouse in a tea cup etc then it'll be gorgeous. And it doesnt have to match at all, the Mad Hatters Tea party didnt! You can still do the theme in a workingmans club :)

Biggest peice of advice is its YOUR wedding. If you dont feel comfortable with something, dont do it. You'll regret it. I agreed to anything for my first wedding and I hated it. Now Im engaged again and my dream of a small, intimate garden tea party has turned into a huge white wedding with doves, carriage, church, a million bridesmaids and canapes and champange for 165 at the low low cost of £20,000 thanks to the mother in law. Shes paying but I cant stomach the cost, theres so many other things that money could be spent on.
So Ive cancelled the whole thing. We do it my way or not at all.

I saw a 'mad hatter' themed wedding on TV once. It was small budget and the bride and groom hated it [it was arranged as a surprise by their families]. Personally I think anything 'themed' belongs on reality TV, not real life.

DPs sister was planning a themed wedding but thankfully she saw the light and is going to have a proper wedding

What your propose sounds like my wedding, except we had no theme. I think themes are naff. Otherwise it sounds just fine.

I can't imagine wanting to be friends with someone who were arsed about whether or not they gt a sit down meal at my wedding, they needn't come if it isn't smart enough.

Our wedding venue was £50, it was brill. WMCs are the way to go!

You can always check out freecycle for stuff too,

Agree with most comments - Theme no
Budget wedding - Takes planning but can be done quite easily.
My wedding shoes - £4.99 ebay
My wedding flowers for party - £50, included two adult bouquets, 2 small wands, 6 button holes and 4 coursages (sp). ebay
Small bridesmaids dresses - Hand made to my sizes and colours, with bolero jackets £25 each - Ebay
Home made invites, place settings, order of services etc - £40 including all card, paper and inks! - If you want the templates PM me and I will send them to you!
Ebay was my friend big time, and rope in lots of help, so evening do food, friend catered, although we bought the food (250ppl for £180), asked all the family with small kids to bring a tray of cakes for the evening reception, kids loved it! Had butterfly cakes, rice crispie cakes, some sparkly cakes etc.

Comments we had most, was how relaxed was the day, and loved not spending a fortune on drinks.

And if you are buying on ebay lots, don't forget to go via nectar and get all your nectar points first, they all add up!!!

You really can't beat a simple unthemed wedding which basically involves the ceremony then everyone back to the pub for a buffet and what a recently married member of our family calls "a good wet".

I recently broke my rule about wedding photography and snapped one of these highly themed, weddings. Everyone who attended was left with the distinct impression that they'd been invited to a production. Not a significant event. Two weeks later I snapped the family member's wedding. Everyone enjoyed it hugely and felt honoured to have been involved and share in the spontaneous joy of the day. Guests at the first wedding just felt that their role was to stand around, correctly colour coded and, if possible, ensure that they were photogenic accessories.

So do try and divert your DP away from themes. You could easily have the sort of wedding you would like on your budget too.