Wedding Help...

[Clueless20something]

Wedding all booked for August 2020. So excited but already a bit nervous and people are already giving different advice and thoughts so wanted some more help.

It's things like who should we give presents to? E.g mothers and fathers? We both have divorced parents with absent dad's who's stepfathers basically raised us. Do we get all of parents/step parents presents?

What are the point in button holes? Who needs them?

Any websites/cost saving ideas in terms of flowers?

Also any other things you think are important at a wedding?

We have all the basic major things in hand but it's all the little things!

I'm a Yank, so things may be a bit different here. Only the bridal party gets gifts from the B&G.

What are button holes, other than the ones on your shirt?

Since flowers have to sourced locally your options may be limited. I'd speak to several florists and ask for proposals from each, then pick who you think will give the best value.

Other things of importance: Provide ample food. No one likes a hangry wedding. And remember to make the choices that please you and don't give a fig about what Auntie Mary wants. It's your wedding, not hers.

Having read multiple wedding threads on here I'm surprised how much Brits try to save on the food. That'll get you scandaled here.

Have fun and congratulations.

Best Man got a hip flask
Bridesmaid for their jewelry
Both mothers got thank you flowers during the speeches
No body else got presents
Buttonholes make the wedding party stand out a bit more, look smart, tie in with the other flowers.
Favours generally get left behind/forgotten
Yes to feeding everyone loads. I wish we had tripled the post ceremony snacks!

Spend more money on food and drink for your guests to make them welcome..
A welcome drink after the ceremony and nibbles if your dinner is later. Don't allow people to become bored.
Don't waste money on expensive tat that people won't remember...elegant dresses tables not cluttered with name tags, favours, sprinkled hearts,menus etc.

Make gifts for your nearest & dearest personal..I think what can be used again..a hip flask with usher on it isn't much good to a 20 year old teetotal man. Not much use there.
Mams like flowers but I would send them a day or 2 before so they know then
As for blended families in the speeches try to include the other parent / grandparents that helped raise you.

Buttonhole - Boutonnière missconductUS

two years away and you are worrying about flowers?

I know some venues need to be booked years ahead but if you've done that, forget about it until a couple of months before. You cannot have your life ruled by a one-day party and your friends will get very, very, very bored with you.

may it be a good day, but not the best day of your life as that would mean all downhill from there.

to answer; no presents for anyone, no-one needs personalised crap. Ditto favours, just landfill. Minimise flowers too as they are an eco-disaster.

Candyflip - thank you for the clarification.

Fake flowers are usually cheaper than real and many look very realistic now or you can have colours you might not get in season that you would like.
Lots of companies on ebay or facebook. We used groovy ruby.
There are wedding for sale sites as well so if you want decorative bits you could pick them up cheaper there or we got lots of crates, led candles and bird cages etc from poundstretcher in the knowledge we would resell it after.
Have want you want to have not what anyone else thinks you should.
We bought personalised wine glasses and small bottle of wine for our witnesses from eBay that did 4 for price of 3. We didnt involve our mums in wedding prep so didn't get them anything. No speeches apart from us thanking everyone for coming

We did have a magican who kept everyone entertained while we were busy with photos which meant guests not bored.

The magician is a great idea, especially if there were kids at the wedding. Was it expensive to hire him or her and how long was the show?

I went to a weddings recently with lottery scratch cards as favours which went done well. The other thing we liked was the sweets trolley were you could go and make up a bag of love hearts and haribo

Magican was about £650 and he arrived about 5ish to entertain during drinks reception straight after ceremony and then went round all the tables when people were finishing eating ( we had a buffet not wedding breakfast as got married at 4 so we didnt need to feed guests twice lol) and went at about 7.30/8pm
We booked him before we even knew where getting married as we love magic ! Met him at a wedding fayre.

We also had a sweet cart and choc fountain in evening to go with wedding cake. Used a great company called Woodies treats on facebook who gave us a good package deal.

I’m with @specialsubject this is more than TWO YEARS away, and you’re thinking about presents?

You’re going to bore yourself!

Get a little notepad (or just use email or whatever) and hot down ideas as and when you think of them, or come across them. But other than that, just leave it for at least a year.

I know you’re excited, and I wish you well! But cool your beans, this is long haul wedding fashions and your tastes will change.

Thanks everyone. We have food etc covered because we get it all included in our package with the venue because we have paid a bit more rather than doing it too DIY!

I know it's 2 years away and we've sorted the important things like the venue and the photographer but obviously neither of us have been married and people keep suggesting different things we may need and at times (mainly late at night when I can't sleep!) I just end up overthinking everything.

I like the idea of the button holes making the wedding party stand out so I hadn't thought about it from that point of view!

Any other suggestions at any point would be great but the messages so far have all been really helpful!

it is one day.

make sure it doesnt waste the next two years. wedding, not marriage.

remember that if the guests see a happy couple, get enough food and drink, have somewhere to sit.and can talk over the music, that is all that matters. no one will care about anything else and nor should you.

If you're creative, you can do a lot yourself. We made the save the dates and invitations. I made the buttonholes and bouquets out of fabric, so could be done in advance and they were really unique.
We found that lots of people wanted to help so my hairdresser friend did our hair, musician friends played during the ceremony and at the reception. We bought them gifts of course.
We had 2 'objectives: to get married and for everyone to have fun. That helped focus our plans.
Have fun with the planning!

I found moposa.com very helpful for budgeting our wedding. You can get money off for booking venders through them too. We didn't use that feature as there were no venders on there in our wedding location (rural Ireland) but if you're on the UK I think there's lots of options.
We gave all our bridal party, parents, and some friends who helped on the wedding day (singing, ushering etc) presents. I think if you can afford it you should get all the parents gifts as well as the bridal party. They can just be token gifts if your budget it tight (I got my dad "father of the bride" socks for example).
We got buttonholes/corsages for bridal party, parents and grandparents. We went out this far because one set of grandparents paid for our flowers so I thought they should get to wear some!
The "point" of buttonholes is to look pretty, like the bouquet. I think it's normal for the groom and groomsmen to wear them, and if you can afford it extend to your parents too. But you don't have to have buttonholes at all if you're not fussed about them!