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Wedding Chic On The Cheap

~*Plushroom*~
Posts: 2,542 Forumite
So it's summer and all the big events are upon us, be it special nights out at home or away or weddings/christenings to go to.
I've got one to go to in 2 weeks so thought I'd chart my progress on doing this as cheaply as possible on here for others to join in.
What needs to be done:
1- Sort out my skin - well actually just the spot that errupted a week ago and still isn't gone.
2- Cut my hair - it's growing out and a mess.
3- Dye my hair - for the first time ever for a wedding I've been told to go as me, not a toned down version - so my hair will be blue (which handily gets rid of the red in my hair now, and matches the bridesmaids dresses!)
4- Pick an outfit. Due to the weather this is tricky.
5- Sort out accessories.
6- Figure out make-up that will last all day, be easy to do, and look like 'me'.
So far I have:
-Started using quinoderm on my face again, it stings but is great at fixing problem skin. (Cost £2.79)
-Bought my bleach and peroxide to bleach out the red from my hair. (Approx £2)
-Bought the blue dye to go on next. (£2.92)
-Started breaking in my shoes for the event. (Free as shoes were a christmas pressie)
-Looking through the wardrobe to plan out possible choices (free again unless I can't find anything suitable)
This is all made harder by the fact that my OH decided to only tell me on Sunday that oh his holiday time may be for next week so I have to get everything sorted before friday as chances are I'll be at the bloody base for that week! :mad::rotfl: You have to love how men don't even think that this may be important to know, even when you've told them you've got to cut and dye your hair :rolleyes:
Failures so far:
Haircut - was going to use the saks voucher but my local salon decided not to answer the phone all of yesterday and now they are booked up for today which was the only day other than monday that they were doing this offer. So £1 and precious time wasted.
To fix this best I've e-mailed my old college which has a salon to see if they are still open even though it's coming to the end of term. Finger's crossed they get back to me by tomorrow or I'll call in. OH has already said that if I can't get an appointment at hairdresser until next week he'll bring me back to herts for the day to get it done (Smart move as he changed his holiday times last minute without telling me - unless he would like to attend the wedding with a red scarecrow!).
Accessories wise - only one thing to do, make a feather headband like the ones at this site - http://urbanupdater.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/feathers.jpg
These are expensive to buy but cheap as chips to make - feather found on walks through town (I'm using crow feathers) and a pack of 6 headbands were £1 in poundland). Just have to pick up superglue and use some material from my sewing box and I've got a posh hair accessory that won't fall off or get in the way.
Spent so far: £8.71 (Even though £1 of that turned out to be a waste).
So far it appears that wedding chic can be done cheaply and fast - but who knows what will happen tomorrow eh!
I've got one to go to in 2 weeks so thought I'd chart my progress on doing this as cheaply as possible on here for others to join in.
What needs to be done:
1- Sort out my skin - well actually just the spot that errupted a week ago and still isn't gone.
2- Cut my hair - it's growing out and a mess.
3- Dye my hair - for the first time ever for a wedding I've been told to go as me, not a toned down version - so my hair will be blue (which handily gets rid of the red in my hair now, and matches the bridesmaids dresses!)
4- Pick an outfit. Due to the weather this is tricky.
5- Sort out accessories.
6- Figure out make-up that will last all day, be easy to do, and look like 'me'.
So far I have:
-Started using quinoderm on my face again, it stings but is great at fixing problem skin. (Cost £2.79)
-Bought my bleach and peroxide to bleach out the red from my hair. (Approx £2)
-Bought the blue dye to go on next. (£2.92)
-Started breaking in my shoes for the event. (Free as shoes were a christmas pressie)
-Looking through the wardrobe to plan out possible choices (free again unless I can't find anything suitable)
This is all made harder by the fact that my OH decided to only tell me on Sunday that oh his holiday time may be for next week so I have to get everything sorted before friday as chances are I'll be at the bloody base for that week! :mad::rotfl: You have to love how men don't even think that this may be important to know, even when you've told them you've got to cut and dye your hair :rolleyes:
Failures so far:
Haircut - was going to use the saks voucher but my local salon decided not to answer the phone all of yesterday and now they are booked up for today which was the only day other than monday that they were doing this offer. So £1 and precious time wasted.
To fix this best I've e-mailed my old college which has a salon to see if they are still open even though it's coming to the end of term. Finger's crossed they get back to me by tomorrow or I'll call in. OH has already said that if I can't get an appointment at hairdresser until next week he'll bring me back to herts for the day to get it done (Smart move as he changed his holiday times last minute without telling me - unless he would like to attend the wedding with a red scarecrow!).
Accessories wise - only one thing to do, make a feather headband like the ones at this site - http://urbanupdater.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/feathers.jpg
These are expensive to buy but cheap as chips to make - feather found on walks through town (I'm using crow feathers) and a pack of 6 headbands were £1 in poundland). Just have to pick up superglue and use some material from my sewing box and I've got a posh hair accessory that won't fall off or get in the way.
Spent so far: £8.71 (Even though £1 of that turned out to be a waste).
So far it appears that wedding chic can be done cheaply and fast - but who knows what will happen tomorrow eh!
The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18
"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill Hicks
TRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4
Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?

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Comments
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Second disaster so far - college hairdressers aren't open again until September :eek:. So tomorrow will involve a quick trip into town to check the price of the smallest and least snobby looking hairdressers.
So far things are going okay in the mission to go to a wedding without spending the earth, but it does seem to take a lot more effort than if I had say £150 to spend on everything. But I'm still determined to keep to this, why should you have to spend out a fortune for one day (Unless you're the ones getting married of course, then you may want to spend more than the £30 I've allotted myself!)The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill HicksTRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?0 -
What sort of haircut are you getting , Plushroom?
I would be paranoid going to a random hairdresser, but my hair is very thick and needs careful cutting. Can anyone recommend a mobile hairdresser to you? They're usually cheaper.
Very impressed with your ingenious idea for head dress thingy! I'm so lazy now about these things!!0 -
Plushroom, that fascinator you're making sounds fab!
Must admit I ignored the thread at first 'cos anything with "wedding" in the title makes me wanna run off (perhaps I should have been born a man!):rotfl:
Looking forward to reading more about your pursuit of cheap chic (my favourite subject).0 -
What sort of haircut are you getting , Plushroom?
I would be paranoid going to a random hairdresser, but my hair is very thick and needs careful cutting. Can anyone recommend a mobile hairdresser to you? They're usually cheaper.
Very impressed with your ingenious idea for head dress thingy! I'm so lazy now about these things!!This is the haircut I want, it's easy to dress up and down and should be light enough for the summer. Annoyingly around here it's quite a posh area hairdresser-wise (lord knows why) so even our mobile hairdressers are pretty pricey. I've ruled out 3 of the hairdressers already on price, and one is where i used to work so no chance I'm going there :rotfl: But there is a nice little one that I haven't tried so I'm going to pop down once I come off MSE and ask them for a quote. My hair is pretty calm and naturally stright so random hairdressers aren't that much of an issue to me luckily.
If it wasn't for June's copy of Instyle I wouldn't have even thought about making a feather headband, but they had one with black feathers in for £49 and I just realised that that is far too easy to make to warrant £49 (I'm spending less than that in total!).Plushroom, that fascinator you're making sounds fab!
Must admit I ignored the thread at first 'cos anything with "wedding" in the title makes me wanna run off (perhaps I should have been born a man!):rotfl:
Looking forward to reading more about your pursuit of cheap chic (my favourite subject).
Hopefully it will be, going to get on with doing that next week once I've got the glue to use!
I'm with you on the running from a wedding thing, but I do like this couple and would like to see them married.
Finger's crossed I have a positive update to post later! May go and look for some more feathers too.The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill HicksTRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?0 -
Absolutely gorgeous hairstyle. I think it would look even more stunning in blue. :T0
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Absolutely gorgeous hairstyle. I think it would look even more stunning in blue. :T
That's what I've been thinking for a while, with any luck I can get my mop cut this week.
Suppose I should get off MSE and go ask eh!The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill HicksTRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?0 -
Success! I got myself off MSE and trotted off into town to look at hairdressing prices - even the snobby ones. One wanted £31 for a wet cut and another wanted £26 for a cut and blow dry. So I went to the smallest salon we have that's hidden away from the others and asked and was quoted £17.50.
Even better when I asked if they had any appointments they had one at 11am this morning so I am now sitting here with my nice new haircut.
Cost £18.50 total as I asked them to straighten it - not because my hair is wavy or anything, but for a pound to be shown how to straighten short layered hair I think it was worth it. I got the hair cut from the picture i put on there, but an inch and a half shorter for both the hot weather at the moment and it means the cut will last longer than it would've.
Hairdresser was lovely and didn't feel the need to gossip like some I've had so I could just let her get on with it after she asked questions about length, fringe, parting...god I have a fringe! Haven't had one of those since I was sixteen!
I have now revised my budget for the wedding to £35 to add in the tip for the hairdressers and some hair products from poundland, but so far still cheap compared to what some pay to attend a wedding.
Also got the gift sorted - they didn't want gifts or money, just everyone there - but how could I pass up a beautiful old frame from the charity shop for £1 that they can put a wedding photo in.
So I have now got £5 left to spend on any extras I could need. Next to do is make the feather headband and pick a dress. Shall take pictures tonight so that I can look at the complete outfits easily. There's no reason to buy a new dress for one day when you have several at home already (Got a gorgeous strapless green one in primark last month for £2).The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill HicksTRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?0 -
Well done for being so brave! What else do you need to get now?0
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Well done for being so brave! What else do you need to get now?
Well I need to get some tissue paper and gift wrap for the picture frame, and buy some more sensible underwear - frilly ruffled knickers will show through on any of the outfits I've chosen out :rotfl:and it just seems wrong to wear a thong in church!
Then I have to bleach and dye my hair, which I will do tomorrow afternoon so it'll have settled down by next saturday, finalise the outfit, make the headband, wrap the gift, and pack everything up in a bag ready for the day - including make-up!
It's been a lot of running about so far but it's pretty cheap to do everything, just going to be very tired after this
After tomorrow I'll be able to post an itemised list of everything I had to buy for the wedding, costs and time taken.
Shall also start posting photo's soon, hopefully friday.The "Bloodlust" Clique - Morally equal to all. Member 1/Official 'Bring back Mark and Lard NOW! or else (please)' Member 18"We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Bill HicksTRUE BLOOD FANGIRLS #4Wouldn't You Like To Be A Plushroom Too?0 -
Love the hairstyle....think the price is amazing too! Well done!0
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