Getting married but wanna do it on budget any ideas

[aaliyahsmum]

Me and dp decided yesterday that we wanted to get married and we want to do it as soon as but i would like to do it on a budget so any ideas on what we need, shouldnt bother with, and must haves because i am at a loss of what to get

My friend didn't have a wedding car to cut back on cost - she had a friend who made novelty cakes and so she had a wedding car cake with teddy bear bride and groom in it.

I got invitations from WHSmith.

lol @ cat me you think.havent recieved a cat¬ i will cat you.

Although we had about 150+ at our wedding and reception, it was still fairly on a low budget. We hired a hall, cheap drinks at the bar and a small "whip." A friend was the DJ for us, and we just had a good old knees up.

Got my dress half priced, that was a bit like fate, because it has been put into the sale the day I popped in on the offchance to have a look. I was even on my own, and ended up ringing my mum to travel down from London to Kent, while I waited in the shop!!

I agree about making your own invites. With a bit of research, you can make your own at a fraction of the cost and they will be unique. If you need any advice, look on the arts and crafts threads, you will get loads of advice there if you need it!

A wedding can get so spoilt, by all the hype, but at the end of the day it is about you. It can be whatever you want it to be.

Who says bridesmaids etc. need two outfits? What for? We had a wedding after lunch, and then back to a lovely pub with a nice functionroom and garden for cream teas, strawberries and scones etc. and a glass of cheapish champage all round, All the guests went home by early evening leaving dh & I to have a lovely romantic meal for two and relax together before going "upstairs"! We got a computer keen friend to print wedding invites on card, in lovely copperplate as a wedding present, and asked everyone who came to take photos and make two copies one for us one for them The whole thing cost us about £500.

almostan angel dont understand cat thingy so is this easier [email protected]

just wanted to say I'm very impressed with Satine's offer. mumsnet's quite a nice place most of the time!

Re; photos. I think the best photos are the most natural ones, so TBH I thinks nearly all my favs were those taken by guests and not by the photographer. I think most people have didgital cameras now, so they can happiely snap away without worrying about the cost of developing. You could get them to email over the best and you pick from them.

or even digital!

Oh and I meant to say, but rudely didn't (sorry) CONGRATULATIONS, TC X

most of my ideas have already been mentioned:

• get friends/ relatives to donate to the day; Mum gave me my dress(copied by a dress maker from THE dress in a magazine- in silk, made to measure, £350 tops),

Dad paid for the wine, and took the photos, as he fancies himself as a photographer,

friend (a vicar) did the wedding for free,

another friend iced the cake my Mum made,

another friend embroidered celtic knots on my dress,

my one bridesmaid brought her own dress from another wedding she was a bridesmaid at that year() and I had her a sash made out of an offcut from my dress,

walked to the church,

borrowed a car to the reception held in the upstairs room of a local pub(sit-down buffet lunch- no evening do).

We did have professional flowers, that Dh's Mum paid for- each table at the reception was decorated with a hand-tied bunch in a vase, and each bouquet was given at the end of the reception to one of the friends who had helped..

It was a lovely day...

ive never seen the point of spending a lot of money on a wedding! we got married in a registary office, went to the pub across the road for lunch then had a party in our local at night - room free cos the landlord was a mate, food done really cheaply by students (colleges love having chance for catering students to practice!!) people bought their own drinks. here we are 8 odd years and 2 kids later - and we look back on our wedding day with VERY fond memories!
congrats on your forthcoming marriage and wishing you a long and happy future together. xx

ps - funny story, (note - im a big girl!!) and when we went to pay the registrar the deposit my (now) dh nodded at me and "amazing how much you can get for 20 quid these days, isn't it?"
I bet she's still laughing.

Hi, we had a lovely wedding and we cut corners on the budget, such as:

*I hired a really cool cake stand and got my mum to make three cakes in different sizes and flavours and they looked fab. Alternatively you could make a mountain out of iced fairy cakes in gold and silver cups - my friend's mum did this for her and it looked great.

*See if you can find a venue that allows you to hire your own independent (and usually cheaper) caterers - or at least try to bring your own wine - check corkage fee first though! You can hire glasses for free at Tesco/Oddbins/Majestic if you buy the wine and champagne through them and you just have to look out for the really good case deals.

*Buy pre-made invitations - ours were from WH Smith - and personalise them. I bought some pink roses from Craft Creations that matched the flowers and colour scheme.

*Hire a disco rather than a band, even get your mates to DJ if like us you are lucky enough to know any who are good enough and can do everything from 60's to now. BTW, I 'd much prefer to dance to a disco than yet another band's rendition of Mustang Sally!

*Don't buy the most expensive wedding dress you see, keep it simple if you can. Less is often more. Mine was the most classic and elegant little number and also happened to be one of the least expensive I could find from a bridal shop.

*Don't buy bridesmaids dresses from bridal shops, instead opt for some off the peg dresses from House of Fraser or John Lewis etc - you could prob pick up a couple of gorgeous Ghost dresses for about the same price as a bridal shop dress and you've also given your BMs a wonderful gift that they can actually wear again!

*For the evening, we had a pig roast brought in by a local farmer plus a selection of local cheeses and fruit, plus cut up the cake. There was plenty for everyone.

*We decorated the garden of the venue with fairy lights, lanterns and flares (watch out with kiddies about though!) plus put glass bowls of floating candles in the table centres. They doubled up as a daytime decoration then were lit at night. They looked lovely with ivy wrapped around the outside.

*We hired a press photographer who took a combination of 'posed' and fab pap-style photos both in b&w and colour. She was a lot cheaper than a wedding photographer and we got to keep all 450 9"x6" photos - much better than having to choose off a contact sheet!

Aaaahhh... taken me back, could go on all night. Sorry so long. I started this post before supper! There are rip off merchants at every corner you turn when it comes to weddings, it just takes a bit of time and ingenuity to find alternatives!

Oh, and we got a friend to drive us in his v posh and polished BMW with a ribbon tied to the front... and we made our own name cards and order of services! We also got an old shoolfriend to do a solo in the church.

And 2 of our friends did the videoing and editing and even burned it all onto DVD for us (they do work for TV companies though!)

Right, I'm getting boring now. Sorry.

hi please tell me you typed your email address correctly i copied it and sent you an email but hasnt philips got 2 i ..s in?

Congratulations!!

Due to the advice and tips I received on MN DH and I had a big wedding for £5000! Sounds expensive but we had £120 people for the meal. We could have had it much smaller and only paid about £2000.

We got a woman from a craft fair to make the invitations. I did the inserts myself (easy peasy!). They cost £100 for 75.

The cake we bought from M&S, 3 tier ivory iced fruit cake - £80. Decorated with fresh flowers to match my bouquet - £20. Hired an S-Stand for £17.

Bought my dress from Monsoon, silk with a Stole - £345. Borrowed my friends Tiara.

Got married later in the day which meant we only had a meal and no evening buffet..... saved a FORTUNE!

Didn't put wine on the tables. People got a drink of choice as they walked in then another drink of choice for the toasts. You can get SO ripped off with drink packages then people don't even drink the wine! The guy at the hotel told us that sometimes they even re-use half empty bottles!!!!!

Used one car.... it took DH to the Registry office then came back for me, my Dad and my flower girl. £100.

There's loads of ways to get around the expense.

oops... ignore the £ sign before the 120 people!!

hi got your email and replied,

thanks everyone, i am making notes, dp will be impressed.
Almostanangel you are a complete angel xxx

im going off to snuggle with my intended now [well we are renewing our vows so he is my intended lol] i willl get the pics and i will measure the dress tomorrow [as i think that the measurements are more omportant than the size on the label.take care ..nighty night.x

Asda are doing lovely flower girl dresses.

I know your are sorted for flowers but for others try a small local florist. I went to lovely fancy florist in the town and was shown lovely pictures and leaflets but not pictures of her own work, very expensive.
I tried the small one in the village which is also a grocers?? her pictures weren't fancy but were her actual work and bouquets were a bargain.

We got a lot of help from relatives borrowed a burgandy merc, uncle did the photos, mum got friend to do cake.

I printed own stationery using a simple rubber stamp. I made my own favours with paper roses and heather twisted together.

I sat down with the chaf at the hotel and asked how could we reduce the cost of the meal, they were only to happy to help.

Found church was cheaper than registry (perhaps different in scotland.)

Re-used pew end flowers as table decorations and gave out as favours only cost £3 each.

Ordered normal local taxi to get mum to church, but told taxi firm it was my wedding sent very smart car.

My mum thought we should have buffet so I said fine you pay for it then, we ordered buffet for 40 even though we had 60 guests, always to much and loads left even hotel agreed and were fine with this.

My friend is doing a budget wedding and she is having a formal 'ball' for her wedding.

The actual wedding will be private for family during the day. Everyone is being invited to the 'ball' in the evening. And yes, everyone is going in ball gowns, the lot! So quite extravagent but also quite cheap.

This is largely because it is only the evening event. As the actual wedding is a private affair - people will be invited to a ball to celebrate the wedding, and then you could just make up your own vows or something at the start to set the evening going. This is particularly cheap I guess if you do it on a Friday night!

1. No main meal - so the biggest expense gone. (The food will be the evening buffet!)

2. No expensive hall hire - you're only hiring the evening, not the whole day!, No waiters etc.

3. As a ball, people will expect to buy their own drinks - no cost there!

4. As a ball, everyone comes in ball gowns / posh frocks - no expensive bridesmaid / best man outfits etc to get! Even a Ball gown is cheaper than a wedding dress!

5. Simply having the officiant along for the service for 20 mins or so, will only be a hundred quid - much cheaper than paying for church, choir etc yet still retaining the wow factor!

6. Then splash out on a band - if you look around, they aren't always that expensive!!

I think its a fab idea, and only wished I had done it for my wedding - it keeps the costs down, because it gets rid of most of the big ones, yet still being a 'wow' event - and something unusual that people will remember (for all the right reasons!)

halo..how has your day been?

Hi
Our meal was a lot less as we sent out menu cards with the invites (homemade and matching the invites of course) and asked people to make their choices and send them back with the rsvps.
Habitat tequilla shot glasses make very good vases for single flowers for tables and are v cheap.