Im REALLY going to get married! Woohoo!!!! BUT HELP PLEASE!

[QueenVictoria]

Yay!

Its not a new engagement - he asked me Christmas about 8 years ago now! We kept putting off setting a date because of buying a house, and then not being too old to have kids etc etc which suited us both.

Anyway - we wanted to do it before DD went to school so we had the same surname and now we are.

The tough bit is that we have got a REALLY tight budget (nowhere near what the alleged national "average" cost of a wedding is). But we still want it to be a bit special (not just a slash and dash in gretna green affair).

We want:

A civil ceremony.
I would like to have a "traditional" dress though along with the bridesmaids dresses (although these i am hoping family members can make for us if we buy material).
The reception - it would be nice if we could have at least a small number of people for a sit down meal followed by buffet reception after.
A proper honeymoon (the traditional 5 day one is fine by us).?

Does ANYONE have any tips, ideas or suggestions for cost saving? Plus any nice (cheapish) UK honeymoon destinations?

TIA!

No - i have to say fancy cars are not high on my list - i think we will be having wedding and reception in same place - looking for a venue right now!

Ta Helloween.

Anyone in north london/herts area with any suggestions please let me know!

skim read, lots of good ideas here...

one good saving we made was on rings (saved several hundred £ ), look on the high street for the ones you want/sizes, then order online, lots of sites if you do a google search. we got bespoke ones for abt 1/2 cost of high street rings.

think it's lovely to make your own wedding stationary, i did, not everyone appreciates it but you put a bit of yourself/your time into each one! def agree with monsoon for bridesmaids/even a wedding dress, they have some gorgeous stuff & it'll be sales soon, also debenhams is good iirc. my mum made mine for under £100, just the cost of the silk, & had enough left over for a little flowergirl.

aw, you'll have such fun planning, there's a million ways to save cash if you think abt it, enjoy!

oh that's reminded me..if you (or your parents) have friends who can do things like design and make invites, do flowers, make a cake, that can be so much nicer as long as you agree on what basis it will be done (gift or paid). My friend made our invites and they were FAB and she said they were our present.

Where did your mum get the pattern from roosmoo?

I am starting to think that people gifting things to contribute to the wedding is the best way to go. We have a house and have been here for over 4 years now so its not like we need toasters, dinner services etc etc etc.

Do you think its tacky to ask people to contribute to a honeymoon if they dont have a "skill" or "talent" as such?

Fantastic, lots of info there - thanks sss.

QV - mum's a sewing genius & made her own pattern!

Was that someone you knew or someone you happened to find?

More shameless bumping today!

OOOh my favourite subject!!!!

Get friend/families involved. Anyone who can contribute, ask for their help instead of a wedding present (who needs all those toasters anyway?) We had my sister in law and an ex boyfriend of mine take the photos. Our cake came from Marks and Spencers (though I see Tescos are doing them now) and cost next to nothing. I 'decorated' it by scattering red and white carnations around it.

I created the invites myself using Publisher and printed them off using nice paper bought on a 3 for 2 at WHSmiths. The front was a photo of ourselves very drunk and happy, and the back had a copy of my 20 week scan (had to get married because pg, the Home Office insisted).

Civil venues are often cheaper mid-week. We got married on a Sunday here .

Honeymoons, we went on a driving tour of the West country, wandering amongst the stones at Avebury and Stonehenge. I'd be tempted with a gastrotour of GB, but then I'm just a big pig. How about the Scilly Isles?

Thanks for the link slug!

Hoot!

If you're going to make your bouquets yourself, or if a family member is going to do them for you, for god's sake don't buy the flowers from a florist - get down to New Covent Garden flower market and buy them wholesale. They'll be about a third of the price! Let me know if I can help at all on the subject of flowers (I'm a florist but sadly N London/Herts is a bit outside my area, or I'd offer my services! If any of your guests are coming from West Sussex and could bring the bouquets I'd be happy to do them at cost!)

THats really lovely of you satanic! I have one relative down that way-ish.

I might well take you up on your offer if thats ok!

Thanks v much!

Hi QueenVictoria... haven't read every single post on this thread - but in case anyone else hasn't yet suggested it - there's some great message boards on www.confetti.co.uk where everyone swaps ideas/pics and advice etc.

I used it all the time in the run up to our wedding in June this year, but I warn you it is rather addictive - can get a little bitchy at times - but in general everyone's as nice as on mumsnet!

Congratulations and good luck!
xx

Thanks RW - was trying to look at confetti last night but wifi crashed!

bumpety bump bumpety bump bump bump bump
bumpety bump bumpety bump bump bump bump

happy happy happy!

qv I went to a wedding on dec 30th and it was great, don't think anyone skimped on presents.

I asked my best friends to give us the honeymoon and the were very happya bout it, there were about 8/10 of them and they got us a nice hotel on b&b basis, but it was lovely!!

Congrats QV!!

Definately asking friends and family is the best way to go - you will be amazed what comes out the woodwork! Cars lent, flowers arranged, cakes baked, hair styled, invitations made etc.
I went to a big wedding dress sale at one of the wholesalers with all my bridesmaids - sent them one way to find their dresses and I went another for mine - saved a fortune.
We had a BBQ in the evening and everyone loved it. Got our branch of The Cheescake Shop to do 1 layer of cake in every size they do, in different flavours. Stacked the lot and dribbled melted chocolate over the top, mmmm.
Buy whatever wine has 50% off on Tesco.com and just pay the reception place for corkage.
We did pay for a video but worth the cost 100 times over for the memories.
Bought a huge all-in-one firework display from a cash & carry - lasted about 3 mins and was only 10% of the cost from a professional outfit - amazing finish to the day.
You may find a bargain late deal abroad cheaper than the UK so be open minded and go where the availability takes you!
Look forward to hearing more about your plans!

Yeah webmum - i love xmas so it would be great for me. DP told me earlier he wants to get married asap so i dont know if i'll be able to sort it for this xmas time!

FORGOT about fireworks Jackstini! i LOVE fireworks. Will definitely look into that!

This has been so helpful!

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