Is it cheap and nasty to consider having wedding this way?

[Orangeworkclock]

Basically we do not have a lot of money to spend on our wedding. We want to get married next July, however we have nothing planned. Just can't afford it to be honest. We wanted a simple do in a barn/ pub with all our nearest and dearest only. Will be quite a few kids coming.
We have searched and searched, every where is too much for us.
We are now toying with the idea of getting married in Brighton- Bandstand or registry & strolling down to a'50's style American diner for burger, milkshakes and beers with chocolate wedding cake ( home made) for afters.
They have music , sound system or duke box (?) and it's decorated so no cost there. Will put the bridesmaid's in colorful knee lenth dresses. Will have it on a Sunday so dont need after do.
We obviously will need to try the food before hand. I like 'naice food'
We plan to get there Friday and leave Monday. Perhaps combining a joint hen/ stag if can afford it on the Friday night. By this I mean a comedy night with however wants to come along. Think about £10 per ticket.
That's it really. We seriously only have about £2000 to spend on this and we want people we love there only. Is this sounding ok? Or very tacky?

Sounds great.

For the stag/hen thing the evening before, why not just say to people we'll be at x is you want to come and join us. Then they won't feel obliged as they might if it's billed stag/hen but you can have an evening together if you'd like. I've seen that done.

Sounds lovely and I can vouch for cloud9 a relative had a wedding cak from them and it was delish.

The diner id quite nice, I've been there once and the food was pretty good. I've also seen a wedding at the bandstand and it seemed really lovely.

If you come down to visit before hand cloud9 sat us down with cake tasters which was fun. I'd happily come along to help you decide :o

There is a deal on Brighton Groupon today for the burlington in Worthing for a wedding package

I think it sounds fantastic! If I wasn't already married I'd steal your idea too!!

Might be a 'zombie thread' but if you're planning a wedding it sure does give people more options for their day

It sounds wonderfully unique. Here are a few tips to generate a bit more cash to add to your pot:

Start selling stuff on e-bay/car boots sales that you do not need anymore to generate cash for your reception.
for eg. I recently sold some gold bracelets that I inherited for 2k. If you set your mind to it it is amazing how much you can raise.

Open a high interest, fixed term notice account where you can save specifically for your wedding.

Cancel Christmas gift s this year, just buy small token presents if need be.

Cancel your annual holidays.

Cancel hobbies/subscriptions for a year

Have a late afternoon ceremony (4/5pm) so you can invite everybody to the wedding ceremony & reception afterwards. That way you have one set of catering costs so you can feed everyone.

Good luck.

Think it sounds lovely! I'd love to go it a wedding like that.
Re other people ideas about halls , it does work out much cheaper. We hirer a really lovely village hall, beautiful quaint village and it only cost £125 to hire from 7 in the morning until midnight. We got married in a registers office about 10 miles away then moved on to the hall. We decorated it in the morning ( this is when I realised how lovely and talented my friends and family were) a family friend did the food, buffet but with special buffet food. (!) and tables beautifully decorated and hired. 2 bands for the evening, we had several family friends who enjoy photography doing photos. Cake made by a talented family member. Whole cost including registers office was. £2500 :-) weddings don't have to cost the earth, we are still married and I have great memories of our wedding :-)