£5000 budget - is it possible?

[TwittleBee]

Hello,

We have just come into unexpected financial difficulty (won't go into details) and shall have to cut our £10k budget in half if we want to meet our date in 2020.

How have people managed to be so savvy? I have already purchased my dress so that doesn't need to be accounted for but things we still need to purchase include:

Venue
Registrar fees
food
drink
flowers
bridesmaid dresses x 3
groomsmen suits x 5
rings
invites
photographer
MUA & hair stylist
Decorations / favours

The venue we have already fallen in love with and were planning on booking this weekend comes to £3500 including food & drinks! Leaving us only with £1500 left which was originally our budget for the photographer!

Shall we just give up? I mean, my family have already expressed how shit our wedding was going to be on a £10k budget, so maybe we should just wait 5 years before we marry (wanted to tie the knot before DS started school though)

TwittleBee what ever you do, don't mention the word 'wedding' when booking anything - the price will always double.

I think the issue here has to be how do YOU want to get married?
My in laws are very critical of people’s weddings and it makes me not want to do it because I know whatever we do (on a budget) will be rubbish in their eyes. I hope you have a lovely wedding but do it for you, no one else.

Okay so I think I have sorted it out

Venue plus Afternoon Tea with drinks - £2400

Registrar fees - £600

Evening Buffet - £1000

Bar Tab - NONE

flowers - £200

bridesmaid dresses x 3 - ask them to pay

groomsmen suits x 5 - ask them to pay

rings - £200

invites - £100

photographer - £900

MUA & hair stylist - NONE

Decorations / favours - £100 ( includes guest book/cake/letter box)

And then we will just have to get a £1000 loan out maybe?

If I could get married how I want it then we would all be jetting off to Japan but that isn't possible due to money lol

but Ifailed wouldn't the registrar and the venue need to know I am booking them for a wedding ceremony? They will be only things I am booking apart from the photographer (and again wouldn't they catch on as not many people book a photographer for a whole day...)

OP, yes the registrar will, obviously! I meant more for things like catering and venues, but your venue now knows what you want it for.
Could you not see if there is a local hall you could book for a party, and then arrange for a buffet to be delivered, once again, for a party?

Have you looked on groupon for wedding packages ? My friend got one for £2000 at a Hilton hotel and it was amazing better than some 30K weddings I have been to. She was allowed 50 day guests and 30 additional evening guests, 3 course wedding breakfast and hot evening buffet plus dj. Also 1/2 bottle of wine per person plus welcome drink and sparkling for the toast. Got the cake from M and S , got some cheap glass bowls filled with water and floating flower heads. Invites bought cheap online. Favour boxes were cheap which we filled with love hearts. Bridesmaid dresses were high street evening dresses. All in with photographer was £4200 and it did not look like a cheap wedding

Ifailed the venue is a local hall...

bellsbuss I honestly thought they must all be cons because they seem too good.

Totally doable.

Registry office
Find a friend or photographer in area who will do photos for you or even a photography student at uni who would do it?
Make up done at shops as pp said.
Get rid of ushers and groomsmen - no need - have one of BM and GM as witness and that's it.
Favours - no need.
Hair up is about 20-40 quid at salons.
Flowers - cheap options or look at alternate bouquets.

The wedding is about you and hubby, if friends and family want a party then they can pay and plan for it.

bellsbuss just looked on Groupon and nothing in my area

Make up done at shops but wouldn't it look odd going to the shops in my wedding dress or do I get it done day before? I'm not sure I could make it in time to the wedding either if I had to wait for the shops to open? We are having a morning wedding because we want the reception to end at 8.30 (due to the young kids)

TwitterBee no there's no con , Hilton are doing one for £1600 at the mo in 7 locations. We even got to choose starter, main and pudding. I would look to see if there any deals near to you. If there is make an appointment and offer to go direct with them. Another friend has just booked for her daughter

bellsbuss I have looked though, nothing came up when I typed in Essex

photographer wise - try and find a student who wants to build their portfolio, get them to do the formal shots (if that's what you want)

I've seen at a couple of weddings that they have encouraged guests to take photos, and use a certain hastag on Instagram or whatever so the bride and groom can see them. Sometimes the candid shots are the best.

maybe not especially cheap, but an idea I really love, leaving disposable cameras around the place, let guests / kids /whoever take photos. you'd probably get a few rude ones depending on who you've invited, but I bet you'd get some nice ones. Who ever gets their wedding album out anyway!

as a pp said, ring your local college, you will get someone who will want to do hair and makeup for a small charge for their portfolio or just practice!

TwittleBee we crossed over, most of the big chain hotels offer packages for last minute weddings or look at cancelled weddings online. Good luck

Five suits for groomsmen is over the top so that can be cut out immediately. And all that money when guests will only be getting afternoon tea. It's a bit mad.

I found this article which is a couple of years old but might have some useful advice - www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/27/how-get-married-finances-wedding-costs

I guess it's up to whether you'd rather wait and save and have THE day or if it's more important to be married and you're happy to cut some costs. I'm sure if you explain to bridesmaids and groomsmen they'd be happy to chip in. If they won't then maybe you need to reconsider your wedding party!

My photo album has been looked at maybe twice in the last 20 years. It’s the last thing I would spend money on.

Do you have any talented friends who could do the photography? It could be their wedding present to you, and much more personal. Same goes for the flowers - I did these for two friends' weddings. Bought them from Covent Garden the day before and just did simple arrangements.

I also did my sister's make up for hers. She had a make over (think it was at benefit) the before, which I went to with her. She bought the products and I just copied what the make up artist had done.

Ooh I just looked on groupon and there a a couple of wedding photography packages for a couple of hundreds near me...

aliceinwanderland no talented friends or family in these areas. And I feel like £200 for all our flowers is already a bargain anyway.

purplelass thank you, having a read now on my lunch break

I think I have sorted it now anyway if you all see my PP where I broke down the costs. I shall have to self-drive me and the family there. I'll just get OH to wear a blind fold so he doesn't see me in my dress as I drive down the a12 LOL

Our wedding cost about £5k. We had about 80 guests too.

Got married at a registry office but it's a very grand one with room for 80, cost £500.

Booked a restaurant function room for the reception, cost £250.

Made all our own table decorations, and had a self made sweetie bar for favours (this was very popular!!)
We did pay for table flowers though but shopped around and provided our own jugs (vintage theme).

BBQ for food was about £900

My dress was ex sample £250
Bridesmaids dresses were £30 in the sale!

Hired suits £80 each.

My friend made our cake as our gift,
BIL borrowed his bosses new Range Rover as our wedding car and my mums friends husband was our photographer (we paid for their hotel but they offered it as our wedding gift).

Our band cost £300 (pub type band rather than wedding!)

Can't remember what else we paid out for but we did a lot of diy and shopping around to keep costs down. It was hard work but worth it.

It didn't appear budget at all, and so many people have said how beautiful and personal the day was.

As there is only 24 for the afternoon tea, that is £100 per person.

Have you looked into going to a hotel or tea room, with 24 you could be able to get a room to yourselves.

Are you near any of these places?
www.essexlive.news/whats-on/food-drink/essexs-nine-best-places-afternoon-550567

They are priced at around £20 per head, add a bottle of champagne for prosecco for £25 each.

The a function room somewhere for an evening do, in a pub or golf club. You'd then have some money to go behind the bar the evening

fruitbrewhaha oh you know what? I am an idiot! In the quote they sent over they put together the afternoon tea and drinks package (we had a stupidly extravagant one before!) together and I had just been using that figure! Duh! oops! haha.
Just phoned to ask if they can give me a price per head for afternoon tea and it is only £20ph if I go for the deluxe option as I originally asked or I can knock it down to £18ph.

So new Venue breakdown is
£900 for hire
£520 for afternoon tea
£350 for drinks package
totalling = £1770

So maybe with that extra £600 now found we could perhaps get me some transport so I didn't have to drive myself so I can drink on the day! woop

Do you have a friend with a posh/classic car that they like to show off?

We are doing it for £5.5k, reduced form 11k because it was getting out of control.

Venue - Register office - £150. Meal for 25 close friends and family in local restaurant £800. Big party and BBQ for 120 guests that evening - £2000 including arrival drinks.
flowers - not having any bar my bouquet
bridesmaid dresses x 3 - not having any
groomsmen suits x 5 - again none
rings - £300
invites - £75
photographer -£945 including 1500 photos on a disc
MUA & hair stylist - friend is hairdresser doing for nothing as my gift.
Decorations / favours - £300 to decorate the venue room.

plus my dress, Dp suit and suit for our little boy.