Don't know what I want

[Coffeemummy1]

Me and my partner have been engaged for 5 years, we have now decided to start planning our wedding.
We don't have a very big budget at all which is making me not know what I want for our wedding
I don't know if to have just parents and brothers/partners at a registry office and then a meal after, but then I really want a party after the registry office, I'm not too fussed about the venue as we were only thinking about having the reception at our local social club. But thinking about money it's really putting me off. We weren't thinking about getting married until November 2020 and our budget will be about 4K, do you think we would be able to do that?? What was everyone else's budgets??
Any money saving ideas??

Knowing your budget is good, as that will decide some things for you.
Is there anything you do know? Eg are you religious, do you love the countryside/beach/mountains /Castles?
Did you ever picture it? What was there? Who was there?

A helpful exercise might be to jot down a few different possible plans, then think through each one in turn, visualising it, thinking about how it makes you feel, and feeling how it "fits"... (I make my students do this when they're trying to choose course options)

Have a look at your options and see how much they all would cost. If you want a party then see how much the social club is, look at other pubs as well. Cost it all out.

Congratulations, OP!
We got engaged year before last and are getting married at the end of the year. We got a Groupon deal which took a lot of the pressure off; it was what we could afford and has set boundaries that we have to stick to.

I'm doing all the flowers and decorations myself (will be raiding the supermarkets in the three days before) and am starting to collect things not by bit so I can spread the cost. Today I bought some fairy light curtains, for example!

My invitations came from eBay and the guy was brilliant; they were far cheaper than anything and even cheaper than I could've done myself. I've chosen my dress and, while I haven't bought it yet as I'm trying to lose weight, I know it will cost me £165. Our wedding cake will come from Waitrose and I'll decorate it myself with fruit and flowers. I even found some old 9kt gold jewellery that I've not worn in years so I'll be scrapping that and putting the money towards our rings.

Our particular deal doesn't include booze, so we are paying for plenty of wine and some fizz for the toasts and that's our biggest extra expense.

It can definitely be done on a small budget, and I'm sure you'll have a lovely day!

We did as much as possible ourselves and family members pitched in.

My grandma made the cake and had it professionally iced as her present to us.
My uncle borrowed some DJ equipment and did the music.
I made the seating chart, centrepieces, favours, invitations.
BIL drove us to the reception in his fancy car.
Flowers were cheap ones that were in season.
My dress was from Monsoon, as were the bridesmaids'.
Suits were hired.
Photography was for the ceremony and meal only, cost £300 including the photos on a disc afterwards.

We spent most of the budget on the guests, good food, subsidised bar, accommodation for our parents.

Make a list of your priorities and budget accordingly. Lots of things are unnecessary, just decide what's important to you.