A Money Saving Wedding - A challenge

b_allcott1976 · 14 September 2009 at 11:59AM

Well at 33 I have finally decided to take the plunge into married life and after reviewing these boards for quite a while but not taking any action I thought what better way to introduce myself to the board by setting myself a challenge.

I dont want to get into the in's and out's of you can do a wedding cheaper etc, (This might not be in the spirit of things!) but more around using the techniques on here to raise the funds to have a excellent day at a cost of almost £0.

So the challenge is - Getting Married June 2011
Raise - £18,000 to pay for everything from The engagement ring to Honeymoon
Using - Only tried and tested ideas from moneysavers tips etc (Matched Betting) & Bonuses from work roughly £1200 a Quarter.

I will try and post as often as possible and use as many tips and techniques that you can provide over the coming 18 months or so.

Here is what I believe will be my costs roughly

Venue £7,000 (Inc Food)
Engagment Ring + Wedding Rings £1200
Flowers £700
Honey Moon £3000
Registrar - £450
Car Hire - £350
Whistle and Flutes - £600
Dress - £1000
Band Hire - £500
Disco - £300
Bridesmaids - £500
Stag Do - £700 - Inc Spending
Hen Do - £700 - Inc Spending

Clearly not everything listed as I will be able to make favours and that myself as well as invites

So i thank you all in advance for your support advice and comments and look forward to reaching the total.

Anyone else planning there wedding are more than welcome to post there updates or join in the challenge

Regards

BA1976

SugarSpun · 14 September 2009 at 12:26PM

Look at Landy Bridal to reduce the cost of your dress and the bridesmaids - mine was £90 delivered, a perfect fit and stunning. You could do your own flowers for far less, too. And what's your hen/stag party costing?!

If you know someone with a fabulous car ask if they'll drive you as their wedding gift. Likewise with cake, invitations, flowers etc.

Take out wedding insurance. And use cashback sites for everything, and don't forget to check ebay for things like silk flowers.

b_allcott1976 · 14 September 2009 at 12:54PM

Thanks SS a great start.. I am trying to get my head round matched betting this week as this seems like quite a big income generator. Stag Party/Hen Party assuming flights abroad and spending money (Obviously Destination could change)

I will get Mrs 1976 to check out Landy later

Thanks

BA

emlou2009 · 14 September 2009 at 1:00PM

get yourself over to the weddings board, theres loads of us with money saving tips over there!!

b_allcott1976 · 14 September 2009 at 1:18PM

Emlou - can i move this thread?

claireac · 14 September 2009 at 1:20PM

Another wedding dress tip - check out the bridal shops for sales.

I got my Alfred Angelo dress for half price in an end of season sample sale. There were a few marks on it from people trying it on, but it was spot cleaned after being altered and you'd never have know - apart from the price!

You also might want to think about making your own invitations, and check out Vista Print they were great.

lizziebell*80 · 14 September 2009 at 2:10PM

With regards to your venue, unless you have somewhere specific in mind already, you might consider using a University near you. I got this tip off someone I know and we used St Andrews Uni for our reception, the price included the venue and the food (which was surprisingly very very good!). One bonus was that we had the use of 2 large rooms, so the meal was in one then we all moved upstairs for the evening part, so no moving of tables and also the bar prices were so much less that they would have been had we used a hotel. Altogether it was only about £2000 I think possibly less. Also they let us bring our own wine and only had to pay corkage, which again was less thatn a hotel would have been.

Monsoon sales for bridesmaids dresses and try independant dress shops for your dress, they will be less expensive than the larger chain type stores. Don't bother with proper "wedding"shoes either they mostly aren't all that nice and much higher priced (also depeding on your dress they probably won't be seen!).

Ebay for invitaion bits and other things such as cake stand, hoopy skirts and veils etc.

Get friends and family to help out e.g. we did our cake, my cousin did the flowers, we decorated the reception ourselves (with decorations I blagged for free from shops- was a snowflake theme so asked at Xmas the year before) etc.

I miss the planning bit

emlou2009 · 14 September 2009 at 2:13PM

you cant move it, a mod has to, but we wont shout if you post it again in there

b_allcott1976 · 14 September 2009 at 2:37PM

Great Tip... Looks like my £18k budget will get me a Posh and Becks wedding... Ha Ha... Me thinks i might be able to save myself a fortune. Ha Ha

amilotte · 14 September 2009 at 4:07PM

b_allcott1976 wrote: »

Great Tip... Looks like my £18k budget will get me a Posh and Becks wedding... Ha Ha... Me thinks i might be able to save myself a fortune. Ha Ha

Thats a no-expense-spared wedding not a moneysaving wedding lol!!!:rotfl:

Ebay is fab for favour/invite crafty bits you can save a HUGE chunk by doing these yourself and there are so many websites giving ideas.

I am sure you can save on the hen/ stag do's by shopping around, I know you want to go abroud but as an example we did the Hilton hotel in Brighton an evening meal on the first night and an activity the following day for £150 each for two nights. Take a look at the dedicated hen/stag do websites but shop around as they can vary in price hugely!

You can also save loads on bridesmaids dresses by not using the bridal shops especially for children.

Oh how exciting for you!!! :j

b_allcott1976 · 15 September 2009 at 10:55AM

Thanks so much for the information so far. The Hen and Stag i am basing purely on ones I have been on recently, however my mother in law has an apartment in Portugal so should only be costs of flights over there for the Hen Do...
I am judging the other prices purely on recent Weddings i have been best man on, I know i can barter down the prices as one of the weddings was filmed for a popular TV show and I managed to get £5000 off the venue in just 24 hours of haggling.
£18,000 is really just a top end figure i have plucked out the air, however i want to try and raise and save the money purely by using the tips and tricks of The MSE public... (Me thinks I have already been provided with big savings tips)

Thanking you All..

DAY 1: £2.57 Transferred into a savings account (Its a Start ;-))

A Money Saving Wedding - A challenge

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