Wedding Tips start here...

Hi There,

Just looking for some like-minded peeps to reassure me that our plans for our wedding are ok. We are getting married on easter sunday next year and have about £4000 in the bank that we are willing to spend on it. My parents have offered to pay for our honeymoon, which we hope will be no more than £1000.

In order to do the whole thing on our budget we are having our reception in a local community centre, getting caterers in to do a hot buffet, and having OHs brothers DJ for us. Freind who is amateur photographer will be doing pics. SIL making cake. We are not having cars, flowers, bridesmaids, favours, videographer etc.

We are happy with this but it's a bit weird because I've only ever been to weddings in posh hotels with sit-down meals and the full works. Is anyone else doing something like this? Already we have had people saying 'you have to have...' - it's none of their busines! If they don't like it, they don't have to come, eh?

Poz x

pozalina wrote:

We are happy with this but it's a bit weird because I've only ever been to weddings in posh hotels with sit-down meals and the full works. Is anyone else doing something like this? Already we have had people saying 'you have to have...' - it's none of their business! If they don't like it, they don't have to come, eh?

Just ignore them. You are quite right, if they don't like it they can stay away. I am planning a very small, immediate family only, civil service and hope to spend less then half of your budget. I have plenty of people telling me what I should be doing but I just listen politely and ignore them. To me, getting married isn't about throwing a big party for people I rarely see - it about me and my hubby-to-be and no-one else.

My mate got married in August and spent over 3 times your budget for the full works. It did look lovely but she spent the day rushing around, very tired and didn't get to speak to her friends for more than a few minutes because there were so many guests to attend to and so many things to worry about. I would never say this to her but to me, saving and scrimping for over 2 years for one day of exhaustion that you barely remember is not worth it.

Not that I'm against anyone having a big do, if they can afford it. Just delegate all the worrying to someone else. My mate says it was all over "so quickly" so don't spend the day worrying if the matching flowers are tied to the chairs etc. Better still, don't have them!

Most fabric shops or seamstress shops stock a huge range if ribbon. Try your local craft shops too, sometimes they can order exactly what you need.

Hi all,

I hope im not repeating any ideas here, but i have a few cost cutting ideas i would like to share.

For invites and other weding stationery, why pay a fortune when you can create a piece of art on a small budget. search on ebay for sheets of a5 card, these folded in half make perfect little cards. Poundland is a good place for embellishments to decorate and market stalls also tend to have some nice decorations. For the more creative of you out there im sure you have plenty of ideas. For the less creative there are excellent sites such as docrafts.co.uk which give some excellent ideas and instructions on how to make simple but effective designs. Dont be afraid to try it, these tend to look the best!

The same tips stand for the other stationery, just cut card to required size, fold and add decoration - its simple really!

Now for clothes and makeup. Debenhams is great for their sales, although not always ideal for buying off the rail. They do have some fantastic dresses within their Debut department these are perfect for bridesmaid outfits. And i have seen flowergirl dresses selling for roughly £10. Accessories are also good quality for a fair price. do take advantage of the store card as the 10% does come in handy. Although have to point out that if you are not eligible for the card they no longer give out the "sympathy" discount anyway. The bosses decided against this just before i stopped working for them. If you do play on it someone might just let you off with it but dont expect it.

Also when you register your wedding list with Debenhams they give you a £50 giftcard to spend in store. All you need to do is give basic details, a proposed date for the big day and scan your list. you technically dont have to get anyone to buy from it. :shhh:

And finally Debenhams usually hold a wedding fayre every year, this is a good chance to get ideas, taste different cakes and get free makeovers. They also tend to give out goody bags which contain ideas and tip and lots of free samples. They do come in very handy! Yay

Hope my little words of wisdom can help some of you out!

Ginch x

I would definatly recomend craft shops for ribbon. My local hobby craft had every colour you could imagine in about 5 different widths. Hope this helps, sez!