Organising a very small wedding quickly - any tips?

[Saltedcaramel2014]

Hi
DP and I have been engaged for 18 months and now have DS (1 year). Due to a close family member being very ill we've decided we'd like to tie the knot soon (this summer/autumn) so she's still well enough to attend. We would like a small no-frills ceremony (registry office would be fine, though open to something nicer too!) followed by a really nice family dinner somewhere special. It would be 8 adult guests, 3 kids - near or in York. We are both happy to downscale the wedding like this but want the day to be fun too.

I have no idea where to start, even finding venues etc. Can anyone help?

Thank you!

Ps is it even possible? We would consider weekdays to improve options...

Can't help with venues, but only had 9 guests at my wedding. Got married at lovely local hotel on a Friday (was more availability, although was 20yrs ago & in Dec).

Loved it and would def do small/intimate wedding again.

Also, arranged everything in 2.5 months! It can be done

I would try approaching one of your smaller local restaurants and see if you can negotiate booking the whole place for an afternoon/evening. That's what my friends did and it was by far the nicest 'reception' I've ever been to. No tedious speeches, great service etc.

We organised a registry office wedding followed by big BBQ for 40ish people in about 8 weeks. Everyone had a great time and it was very cheap

I would do a web search for something like 'small wedding venues York' or similar, see what you like the look of (narrow it down to 3 or 4 online) then ring round for availability & costs. Would somewhere like this venue suit?

Then you need to arrange a visit if you want to, and then as soon as you have your date call your local registry office to sort out a registrar for the day and giving your notice.

It might be easier to book a registry office for the ceremony (so you know there's a registrar available) then book a lovely restaurant for your meal. Do you have any preferences in mind?

Booking for a weekday should make your life a fair bit easier. Congratulations on your wedding, I'm very sorry about your family member.

Plenty of venue ideas on the Yorkshire tourism site by the way

And \link{http://www.york.gov.uk/info/200620/marriages/1009/getting_married_in_york\here's} your starter on the official side.

Best of luck.

We organised our wedding fairly quickly and one thing I didn't realise is that rings come in sizes and the jeweller has to order them in - so get that organised (ours took a month).

Arranged mine in 3 weeks. We booked the registrar first and then sent txts to people to save the date. We then looked at about 6 or 7 hotels for the reception and chose one. (Wedding was on a friday so cheaper and more choice.) I decided to move the ceremony to the hotel, so contacted the registrar who was happy to do that. Ours was for about 55 people, hotel sorted all the food / drink etc. You could do this easily on a smaller scale. Then you just need a dress, suits (hire them), rings, flowers? We also hired a photographer and a dj. It was much easier for availability in the week.

We had a small wedding of 25. Registry office in the morning (10.15) then to a local hotel with fancy pants restaurant for dinner. We had exclusive use until 5pm when the restaurant opened to the public. It was brilliant. No evening do, we went to the pub with some mates for drinks and steak!

All organised in 3 months.

20 people, register office, lunch in our local Italian restaurant, they made a cake instead of having dessert. DH went to the register office with his mate, I was driven by a friend's husband in his naice car. DH wore his funeral suit and a tie the same colour as my dress.

We waited for a reasonable time slot (we got married at 11.30), but the wedding was organised in about 3 weeks, which is how long we waited for our rings.

I got married at the priests house in skipton around 3 weeks ago! Really small wedding but it was beautiful! Relatively inexpensive too. They have an attached bunk barn which you could hire and sleep in (sleeps up to 28 people) we stayed there it was great.

Start with the register office booking - I think you have to give 21 days advance notice and provide certificates so that's probably the first thing to do.

Draw up a guest list and send invitations asap. Sort wedding rings and a dress. Book your favourite place, if you have one for dinner (or lunch, depending on the register office booking time) If you're going on honeymoon book it. Those are all the things you absolutely need to do, the rest is all voluntary!

And don't mention the word wedding to florists - the price doubles when you do.

Thank you all so much! We've just sat down and started planning. Really useful advice all round

Get notice given at registry office ASAP and book and pay for slot.
Harrogate has a beautiful registry office on the stray, and the Hotel du vin has a lovely private room that would seat around 20. Very intimate venue.
I'm getting married in Skipton registry office with a reception at the Craven Arms in Appletreewick. The registry office there is modern and not quite as nice as the Harrogate one.
What about Rudding Park? very swanky restaurant.
Good luck. Whatever you decide on I'm sure you'll have a great day and it will be made even more special by your friend/relative being able to be there.
Please let us know what you decide upon.
As an aside, there is a great place near York that does pork pie wedding cakes.......

Firstly find a venue and make sure the registrar is available for that day and time. I'd go for a really lovely restaurant or country hotel which has a private room and which is licensed to hold a wedding ceremony then there is less traipsing from registrar office to wedding reception venue. Have a look at this as a starting point:
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobles-Wedding-Venues-Guide/dp/0952814498 wedding venues]]
If you want a cake local independent bakers can be fab and cheap same with local florist for a bouquet (show them the dress so they can make sure it goes with it)
Dress - John Lewis does lovely silk evening dresses in amazing colours if you don't want a traditional dress
I will advise you to spend money on a good reputable photographer as you'll be looking at those pictures for a long time!

I'm all excited for you, OP! Please do update with your plans!

Congratulations. Sounds like you are lovely thoughtful people. Best wishes to your relative xxx

I met and married my DH in 4 months - totally and utterly possible as long as you are happy to think off plan in terms of pretty much everything. We were on a very tight budget so here's what we did:

• Invitations simply handmade by me - just a bit of card saying 'you are invited' on the front
• venue was a local museum and very cheap but beautiful
• music provided by family friend who played the piano
• rings ordered online using their clever ring measuring service paper thingy
• roses for bouquets etc ordered online and made up on morn of wedding
• dress from little shop that sells 50s style dresses and cost just £50 - red shoes from top shop for the same
• DH wore smart suit already owned
• hair and make up by me as I wanted to look myself
• pics by family and friends and all sent on cd to us afterwards
• cake by friend - she made loads of diff cakes so something for everyone
• lunch at restaurant where I didn't tell them it was a wedding - said it was a celebration, they actually cottoned on and decided to close the restaurant to anyone else for no extra charge - we almost filled it anyway
• bridesmaids asked to wear any dress as long as black - all of them very into black so easy
• friend did an iPod mix for reception in bag later
• bar hire free (where we met) as long as we had a buffet later.
• I drove us to the wedding - DH and I not superstitious and I was pregnant so no need for cars
• hired a bus to ferry other people to and from venues by using a school bus company! They were the only ones who had availability.

Think that's it! Our wedding was 120 so diff to yours but I would definitely recommend a quick wedding. Amazing what you don't need when you has to hurry things up. No speeches, favours, etc, we made a point of just asking people to spend their money on a nice hotel and transport rather than lots of needless gifts. Had the best day best day ever. Face hurt for days after from smiling.

You can do it! Good luck!

Yes please - I'd love to hear what you did

Oops, that was meant for you justtherightbullets. We're getting very excited about it - needed a kickstart and have loads of ideas now. Will let you know what we decide!