to ask for help with wedding planning?

[NearlyMrsCustardsHardHat]

Our wedding is booked for next year and this year is going to be manic with planning etc currently suppliers are quoting 2013 prices at a huge mark up from 2011 and 2012 and the registrar fees aren't even avaliable yet although this years are just under £400 so i'd assume we're looking at nearer £450 for next year :(

We're pulling in favours, at cost, for flowers, makeup, cake and music, family are paying for my dress and the bridesmaids dresses, our wedding venue is one of the cheapest in the area (although they stipulate you MUST use one of their set caterers whose prices are all much of a muchness), we're keeping the guest list to 50 for the ceremony and meal and 80 for the evening so it's not huge, only one car is being hired, and all this is is without the rings, photographer, invites etc.

I'm getting really downhearted that we won't get the wedding we want (which isn't much as it is) without winning the lottery :(

AIBU to a) ask if it's possible to do all of the above for under £10k (I can't get the sums to do it) and b) for your tips and advice please.

My wedding was £3K in total, 100 guests, took less than 4 weeks to plan and it was fantastic!

We had the ceremony in the Edinburgh city centre registry office followed by canapés and wine in a local bar we had hired for a few ours, we then moved on to a music venue we'd hired for £60, we had a ceilidh with band followed by a disco. We provided a huge vat of Irish stew followed by chocolate fudge brownies. I bought my cake from M&S and made my own bouquet. We also provided a vast amount of wine. The only thing I wish we'd done is hire a photographer, we relied on friends and the photos weren't at all organised or of good quality, they do capture the fun and mayhem well though. I did my own make up and walked from venue to venue as they were all within a few hundred feet of each other.

I found that because we hadn't spent a ridiculous amount of money i was able to really let my hair down and enjoy myself without worrying about things going wrong. For example I'd spent 2 hours the night before helium filling balloons and arranging them around the venue, by the time we arrived the following evening they had all deflated, it looked most sad but as I hadn't spent more than the cost of the balloons I was able to see the funny side and I'd had such a nice time the night before messing about with the helium with my sister doing the decorating I didn't care about the wasted time.

So, focus on enjoying it, don't let it turn into a stressful nightmare

I don't know where you are in the UK, but this outlet was recommended to me. I'd already found my dress by that time, so I didn't check it out.

We're I'm cutting every corner we can; currently trying to persuade DP that wedding cake is a good pudding option, and that he really doesn't need a platinum wedding ring

Op have we overloaded you or just inspired you so much you are ticking off all your jobs

loveswearingskinnyjeans i've not had the time (due to work) to go through this thread properly and am just doing that now and picking the relevant bits out, i'm still overwhelmed by all the help! :o

Right. Wow. Just been through the thread and now have an A4 sheet of paper filled with things to do and not do and YAY! I feel like a load has been lifted!

For those of you who recently got married, huge congratulations

For those of you yet to marry - have a glass of and join me in the nerves :o

For all the help and advice I cannot thank you enough...keep it coming too! We've 100% settled on a vintage theme. With the car we will need one to get me and my dad there (it's 20 miles from their house) but other than that and the photos it's not needed any further. I'm getting all excited and want it to be this april! :o

Aw bless.........key is to keep it simple and don't get bogged down in the silly stuff that wedding planners tell you are essential details.

LlamaTattoo makes a good point about the wedding rings: you can get non-platinum ones much cheaper: and men's wedding rings can get so expensive due to the size of them! sausage fingers

I'm having a platinum wedding ring because my (antique, didn't break the bank) engagement ring is also platinum so it makes sense to have them match, but mine is a very narrow band anyway. OH's is palladium, which ended up costing about the same as my much smaller platinum band.

My dh went for a titanium ring, mainly because it's very hard wearing and he wanted something that would be near impossible to damage, fortunately it's also really quite inexpensive. I think he saw it as the manly choice .