Wedding savings/saving

Shop around for prices on photographer/videographer (I can recommend someone) DJ, Flowers, Rings haggle with people get extras if you can't get money knocked off.

DIY as much as you can, it might be cheaper to get your invites from Vistaprint. I decided to make ours and get a family friend to print them it ended up costing a fortune for him to print them it would of been cheaper to get someone to make them for me.

I got my flowers from the local college but obviously it has to be in term time.

Steph x

Recently received a fantastic wedding invitation that was an online invitation - it was very personal to the couple as it featured photos of them throughout their relationship and as kids, had all the required info and allowed us to RSVP too - that would have saved them a lot of money.

We did our own flowers by buying bunches of simple daffodils and gerberas from a local market and using vases provided the venue.

I got my shoes from a website called Preloved - in the shops they were £150 but I got them for £20 (unworn).

Don't bother with wedding favours and have the cake as your dessert, also consider getting a cake from somewhere like M & S or Waitrose rather than a bespoke wedding cake, this will save a lot.

We made our own invitations using big sheets of metallic card from a stationers, regular paper inside and a ribbon from a craft shop.

Rings - we spent a day going round lots of jewellers on Hatton Garden in London and managed to get a good deal, they are open to haggling and you can get some real bargains.

Don't bother with favours - they're a waste of money (although I ended up just putting a creme egg on everyone's plate at the end and they loved it).

If your venue allows it and corkage isn't extortionate buy your own booze. We spotted a fantastic deal on prosecco in Morrisons (£4.99 a bottle and it was V nice) so bought enough for toasts/welcome drinks and saved lots of money - did the same with wine that went with the meal.

Try to get a friend or friend of a friend to DJ and take photos if you can!

really think about whats important and whats not. i found that trying to remember details about weddings id attended helped. i was going to order a cake made to order but them when i thought about it i couldnt remember what any of the cakes had looked like from any of the weddings we had attended so in the end im thinking of buying M&S cakes and decorating them myself. will cost less than £100 instead of £250+. i could remember the good and bad DJs and some of the little personal touches people had used so im concentrating on them for the reception. good luck. also why not have a loose change jar either for the wedding fund or to use to treat yourselves at the end of the month its amazing how much a little bit each day mounts up. then you wont feel like your sacrificing everything for the wedding.

What everyone else has said - prioritise. We wanted a very specific type of venue which is costing quite a lot, but because that's what we want we're compromising on the things we're less bothered about (such as the cars and flowers for example).

The other thing I'd say is have things because you want them, not because you think you should have them - we're not having chair covers because our venue has perfectly acceptable chairs and I wasn't paying £300 plus VAT for a sheet and a bit of ribbon when that could pay for the DJ, for instance. See also: favours (we're having the cake for ours).

My final tip is to call in favours from creative relatives - I'm asking my dad's cousin to make my dress (and possibly the bridesmaids' dresses too), my mum is making the stationery and my cousin is making the cake. You can also save money making stuff like decorations yourself, but be realistic about the type of person you are and the kind of wedding you want; I personally felt that a lot of the handmade stuff wouldn't have worked so well at our wedding due to the time of year and the fact that neither of us are really into the handmade 'look', if that makes sense, plus I'm nowhere near crafty enough to do it.

On the subject of saving for the wedding, use the money mantras: Do I need it? Can I afford it? Have I checked if it's cheaper elsewhere?
I'd also look at your finances - I know you said it'd affect things like eating out but are there things you buy regularly (I'm thinking the likes of takeaway coffees, newspaper/magazine subscriptions, buying lunch at work etc) that you could cut back on?
Look at saving on bills if you don't already, especially if you've got things like insurance or mobile phone contracts coming up for renewal.
Sell stuff - I stick to the William Morris quote 'Have nothing in your home that you do not believe to be beautiful or useful' and consequently if it's not been worn for ages or doesn't get used then onto eBay it goes.
I would then put any money you save from this specifically into a wedding savings account, probably an easy access ISA with a good interest rate (unless you're with Santander and you can trust yourself not to touch the money).

Jobseeeker wrote: »

wow, 1/3 of salary over a long period is a lot to spend on one day!

Meh, when you think about it, the old rule used to be that the engagement ring alone should cost 3 months wages...1/3 of salary for a year is only 4 months' wages....and that's for the whole wedding. Sounds like a bargain when you think of it like that

OP - maybe if you share your high level budget with us we can advise on ways of cutting down.

Likewise, if you post your SOA on the DFW board, people will advise if there's anything in your day to day spending you could get a better deal on - which might help save up that little bit faster