Budget Scottish wedding at a self-catering cottage

[StrongInside]

Hi,

I’m trying to figure everything out before pitching it to my fiance. In my mind, I would like a small wedding (around 15-20 guests) somewhere in Scotland with a nice backdrop for photos where we will need only minimal decorations. Somewhere modern looking.

I can’t stand expensive formal hotel weddings with tartan carpets, boring white table linen and bog standard decorations. My idea is hiring several self-catering cottages for everyone to have their privacy, with an on-site place for the ceremony and maybe gathering around a chimenea in the evening (relative can bring theirs) or having lawn games. I want to choose my own suppliers so not keen on venues offering packages.

To give you an idea, I initially wanted a destination wedding on a beach with bright pops of colour where the sun, palm trees and blue sky provide a beautiful backdrop in themselves. We have now decided on staying put as it will be easier for us with a young baby and two toddler nephews. When I look at Scottish wedding ideas, they all look so boring, expensive or gloomy in some field where guests are in wellies.

Any location ideas that could bring a relaxed destination wedding vibe to Scotland? I can obviously put pops of colour around if the venue is plain, but would be nice not to spend two days on decorations.

Also, I know we could just find a big lodge with cottages next to it and have the ceremony in the lodge’s living room with re-arranged furniture if it rained. Just don’t know how to find such a place.

I know the weather is a hit or a miss so no preference on time of the year, hopefully next year.
Thanks!

A relative got married a couple of years ago at a lodge in Scotland and it worked out at around £2500 for a whole weekend (3 nights) accommodation for 12 guests, photographer, caterer, flowers, cake and diy decorations. A dress was just a pretty floral dress and the rings were cheap too.

I guess we would just scale the guest list down and maybe just stag one night because I find it stupid to spend that much money on one day.

Food and drinks at the sit down meal and partial costs of accommodation for the guests, yes. They were going to be notified two years in advance to help them save and they were going to get a holiday out of it, so we obviously wouldn’t pay for everything.

ggsyard.co.uk

You can get married anywhere anytime in Scotland as long as there is reasonable infrastructure and safety, so no license needed. That’s why I want to find a non-weddingy place because it can literally be a cottage in the middle of a field and cost far less than a similar cottage marketed for weddings.

I would like to have separate cottages for my partner and I, for our parents and then for friends (none of us in the family would feel comfortable hanging out in the same house 24/7, with kids running around, different bedtimes etc.). Big lodges are far easier to find and could work well for the actual ceremony and meal but not to stay overnight all together.

lazyduck.co.uk/

I think you need to hammer out your budget in more detail. Think of how much you are thinking of spending on each independent element and then do a quick Google to see if it's an accurate amount. £2000 will disappear quickly with a wedding away unless as pp above says, you pass the majority of costs on to guests.

Thanks everyone! I have bookmarked your suggestions and will have a good read about all of those placed. I guess we’ll just have to either reduce the guest list or ask people to pitch in. Having a reduced income after having a baby, spending too much on a party is just silly, in my opinion. I would be happy with a £10 Costco cake (or three😊), do my own hair and makeup, make own decorations etc. so hopefully we can keep the costs down as much as possible. I’m not surprised by our budget not stretching far here, that’s why I was determined to get married abroad- the sum I mentioned was for around 30 guests!

Yeah, we weren’t going to pay for everyone’s holiday, the majority of them would have had a holiday anyway, the only difference being we pick the destination. If someone couldn’t make it, it would be understandable.

Have any of you done a wedding at a venue like a lodge or cottage that wasn’t marketed specifically for weddings? Any easy decoration tips or money saving tips? I’m not sure about pot luck dinner, that’s a bit too relaxed for me for a wedding, but anything else would be lovely to hear!

We cut out the cake, photographer and flowers and told everyone to wear what they wanted rather than buying outfits. It was fabulously relaxed. If I did it again, I'd maybe consider a photographer but the rest went unnoticed.

That’s exactly what I would do about guests’ outfits, as long as they don’t wear black (never understood why someone would dress as if they are either off to a funeral or a little black dress cocktail party). Sounds so nice! I won’t have bridesmaids or a wedding car, videographer etc. Fancy a family-style meal where everyone helps themselves at the table. Hopefully some cost cutting there. What did you end up paying, if you don’t mind me asking?

Having just costed up with caterers family style - dishes on table where everyone served themselves at the table does not save money compared to serving plated meal. Buffet does save as considerably fewer staff are needed. Switching to afternoon tea rather than wedding breakfast is a big saver.
What I think you need to consider is that people are giving up holiday time - they never see your wedding as their holiday. Asking them to pay more than their own accommodation costs is seen as CFuckery.
If 2K is the budget I would stay local go to the registry office and then treat you guests to a three course meal somewhere that is about £25 for that.

We stayed at

skyeholidayrentals.com/princes_point_villa.php

It was big enough for everyone to come back after the wedding.

My dress was 50£ ...but I wore black.

Registrar was 300

Then a fee for wedding license.

It rained. Heavily on our wedding but we liked that. Do bare in mind it rains alot.

Would you happily hire a village, church or community hall for the wedding as these are quite cheap to hire. Between £25 and £100 depending of if there’s just a day rate or if there’s an extra party charge. The condition and location varies.

I’m concerned by this: “they were going to get a holiday out of it, so we obviously wouldn’t pay for everything”. Your wedding isn’t your guests’ holiday. They will probably have to use their annual leave to attend and most people would rather have their own choice of holiday than attend someone’s wedding.

People don’t have to come to anyone’s wedding, we wouldn’t be making anyone go somewhere they didn’t want to go. Our parents on both sides are happy to see us get married anywhere, and that’s our closest people. We would understand if someone couldn’t or didn’t want to spend their holiday on us. Simple as that😊

Registry office is the very place I don’t see the point in going to. It costs exactly the same to get married there as it does anywhere else- by the river, on a hill, scenic garden etc.etc. I wouldn’t be saving money by going to the registrar’s.

You still need to pay the registrar. We got married outside at fairy glen but the fee was 300 for the celebrant.

My parents will be paying for either a photographer or something else not too expensive, so the budget could be higher than £2k. I would rather spend more on a holiday afterwards than on the wedding day. It’s really good to know about afternoon tea and buffet. I guess I was thinking back to the caterer at a friend’s wedding. She provided the family-style dishes for the table and then we served ourselves. Would a buffet be something completely different? I’m still thinking a lodge/barn/cottage scenario.

If the venue was right, I guess. They just always seem so bland and unromantic and would take forever to decorate because of the large spaces. People play bingo there, knit, hold community meetings. I also imagine they would feel too big a space for a small wedding. I was hoping for something either a) a bit prettier and/or b) with a view. Most community/church/village halls I’ve seen aren’t set scenically, and if I’m ditching a beautiful, cheap and sunny destination wedding for a mostly likely rainy Scotland, I would like to have at least a chance of a nice view.

I think if you get married outside you dont need decor. Just leave the nature do the job!

Not a helpful response to my original question, but thanks anyway. I didn’t create this thread to discuss destination weddings.

You seem to already have an idea and not willing to change anyway.

I agree. Especially if it’s near a lake, a waterfall or in some nice garden, plenty of which all over Scotland. Just trying to find such a location with affordable accommodation nearby where we could have our meal/ stay overnight/ hide if it rained.
Would we just buy a large gazebo rather than hire a marquee? Parents and several friends already have garden gazebos, maybe we could pitch them next to each other snd still have the ceremony outside?🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry Skyejuly, my reply about the unhelpful response wasn’t for you!🙈 It was for daisypond. Your suggestions have given me food for thought, so thank you!

We all have an idea about our ideal wedding and I guess I will consider anything if, for example, I could find a beautiful village hall. But like you say, nature can be a beautiful backdrop in itself, and then it’ll be just a case of working on plan B for rain (we like it dry).

Moray house near Aviemore is fab. Lovely house... swimming pool...cinema room and grounds. There's a spare cottage or two and the main house.

Your idea sounds great OP! I might have to steal it if I ever get married again 😅
There are event hire companies in Scotland where you can get the decoration that you are looking for. For example, this one in Dundee
designedforhire.com/collections/just-vintage-hire