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Set the date-14weeks away!!!!

Hi All,

I've been reading all the different diaries and tips and decided to start my own to try keep all the info together and in case anyone wants to share any of their tips with me.

Quick bit of background info: Been engaged 2years, have dd with my lovely OH and kept thinking we could never afford wedding as thought it would cost £15k plus.
I want to be one of those couples who can say 'we've been married 40/50 years' and seeing as I'm 27 and OH will be 30 after Christmas, we'd really better get a move on :rotfl:
Also, my younger sister (I have 5) has been in australia for the last 3years and I've always wanted her and my older sister as bridesmaids.She is coming home at Christmas and will then return to live over there, so OH and I decided lets just do it! We've found a lovely hotel in Ireland, and because its a late deal we have been able to really get a bargain:

We are getting a resident musician and tea/coffee cookies on arrival for guests,champagne for us,5 course meal, 2 glasses of wine per person,floral centrepieces on all the tables, chair covers with gold organza bows,a bar extension (they will pay the 350 euro), complimentary chicken goujons,cocktail sausages and tea/coffee for 60 evening guests. They are not holding us to minimum numbers, and finally the bridal suite as complimentary-all for 35euro per person!

We have 2 weeks to decide as they are holding it under provisional booking.
So now we have to get everything sorted before then, and as cheaply as possible

I choose my dress in march and have been paying money off it-i have 249 left plus £99 one off fee for all alterations (which is great as im really petite and its a very detailed dress)

I bought two cafe coloured BNWT alfred angelo dresses on ebay for £65 a few months back.:D I also picked up two beautiful diamante and pearl hairbands for my bridesmaids for £1 each at a car boot sale.

I am trying to find a good deal on silk flowers on ebay-I need my bridal bouquet, 2 bridesmaids, 2 flowergirls wands, and 6 buttonholes. I just want ivory roses with pearl. So if anyone can recommend that would be great!

My best friend is buying our wedding rings as her brother is a jeweller so will do a good deal. (how nice is my best mate though??!):A

I have e-mailed my old school to see if anyone in the music class can play music during the ceremony (a string quartet is SO expensive)

I need to find two ivory baby dresses -one for 6month old and one for 12months.

I have booked a dj-its my best friends friend so will also get a good deal-though not sure how much yet.

OH needs suit hire.

I need size 2 wedding shoes at a reasonable price (anyone??)

I'll prob need two shrugs or pashminas for bridesmaids.

I'm also trying to find a nice car to take me to church then drive OH and I to the hotel.

I am trying to get a mantilla veil-1 tier with pearl/lace-chapel length, which i think is 72 inches, in ivory. (This is proving a bit of a nightmare on ebay!)

OH is a graphic designer so he is sorting and designing invites, so can get these done cheaply:j

My sister is a hairdresser so she will do hair.

I will do my own make-up.

I have just this morning e-mailed photgraphers and the cheapest is 1400:eek:-we were hoping OH's brother would do it-but two of his 3 brothers have informed us they wont be able to attend, and also his mum and step-dad said they probably wont be able to get the time off work.
OH is very disappointed, but I'm trying to stay upbeat as at the end of the day, as long as our dd, him and me are there-thats all I need!

I have a feeling we will have a few struggles as I am having to arrange it all from England and its happening in Ireland and its tough to get recommendations,etc.

Anyway, wish us luck, and if you have any tips or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

xx
[strike]Loan 1 = £5912.91 - 26 payments left @ £227.33[/strike] £3413.91- 15 payments left
Loan 2 = £[strike]2187.05 - 26 payments left @ £85.[/strike] £1251.05 -15 payments left @85.00
Credit card = [strike]£1018.14[/strike] Cleared and cancelled!!:D
Overdraft = £900.00

Baby Isobel's arrived - 13th December 2008:j
«13

Comments

  • frannyann
    frannyann Posts: 10,970 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Good luck!! BTW someone has just posted about starting a string Q, on here in NI if thats any use??
    :rotfl:Ahahah got my signature removed for claiming MSE thought it was too boring :rotfl:
  • try BHS for the ickle bridesmaids dresses. :)

    http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/bhsstore/91600/1/1

    http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/bhsstore/222212/1/1 (the first dress is quite cute, especially in person)
    What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine..
  • Hi there you are very welcome to join us on the Decemebr brides thread! I got all my ickle girls dresses from Debenhams, very reasonable at £30!

    Suit hire, what kind of suit is it. If it's just a normal one try Asda and Tesco as they have some very good deals on suits at the mo and they are great quality.

    I got some gorgeous pashminas from ebay fro £2.49 the link is in the trusted ebay sellers thread on the wedding's board, they are lovely quality!

    You definitely have a great best mate!!

    Good luck and just shout if you need anything!

    Tiger xx
    Married the most amazing man 05/12/09 and it was the best day ever, I'm a Mrs, he he!!
    :j
    Wins 2009: Peroni Alessi bowl woohoo, 1 in 10 wins DVD from Maltesers, Avon lippy!!!
    Freebies-Bold Gel, Coffee
    Pinecone Research - £9
    Mystery Shopping - £15
  • kit
    kit Posts: 1,678 Forumite
    edited 18 September 2009 at 8:37AM
    Hi there
    Havent got time right now to read all of your thread but just wanted to say that I found a fab photograpther by putting a post on here. He is doing it cheaper that normal as I have agreed to do some experimental shots for him that he wouldnt be able to ask a 'normal' paying bride to do.
    Its always worth a post on here asking for anyone who would do it cheap!
    2012 wins approx £11,000 including 5k to spend on a holiday :j
  • Congratulations! & well done on being so organised already. It's rumoured that Next are starting a sale on 26th Sept - they might be good for little bridesmaid dresses?Also I don't know if you've sorted the men out, but had an e-mail this morning saying Monsoon had a Mens wear sale on? Might be worth a look?Good Luck x
    "Normal is not something to aspire to - it is something to get away from" - Jodie Foster
  • Good morning all!

    Thanks so much for taking time to read and respond to my thread:beer:

    Frannyann-our wedding will be in southern ireland-so it wouldnt pay them to travel all the way down for the amount of money I could pay them:o

    Neneromanova-those little dresses are fab! I'm going to keep an eye on ebay to hopefully get them cheaper-but failing that I will probably be buying those-as my dd (who will just have turned one by then!) would look sooo cute in it:D

    Tigerlilly-OH doesnt know what he wants-I'll be telling him :rotfl:I just like a classic black morning? suit-with an ivory(ish) waistcoat. If he bought a suit-could he hire a waistcoat to match? does anywhere hire just the waistcoats?

    Kit-I'll try your suggestion-though not sure there are too many people from southern ireland that use this site as its kind of UK based-but worth a shot! I've recived more quotes this morning for 1500plus:eek::eek:
    Do you mind me asking how you worded your request?

    Joolesw-next do some lovely kiddies clothes so might just hold off-and have a look-even some accesories, OH's shoes would be good.

    Again-thanks for responding girls!:D

    Well, I got a quote from ebay for flowers-a lady called flowers 4 ever by dee (am i allowed to mention names?oops if not!) well she can do them for 105.95 plus 7.95 p+p -has anyone else used them?can anyone recommend others? I'd really like to go with someone who has been recommended!

    My best mate called yesterday and she picked up a me-to-you ring cushion and guest book for half price as the place was closing down. She is great at spotting a bargain.

    OH brought home the invite and they look fab!So pleased with them-he just needs to order the card now and envelopes and hopefully we will get them sent out soon:T

    OH is also going to find a nice B&W photo of us and place it on the middle of a canvas so people can sign (seen that idea in a wedding magazine and he can do it cheaply so yay!)

    I'm still on the search for an ivory, 1tiered chapel or cathedral length mantilla. No luck so far (well except for the ones charging £300+)

    I've received some paperwork through this morning too-need to get OH's baptism certificate-and send back asap-but OH's mum cant remember where he was christened?!! ahhhhh!!! so they have rang a couple of places but the one where they think it probably was, the vicar is away-oh the drama! Anyway fingers crossed we get it sorted asap!

    Well, better get on and try get more quotes before lo wakes.

    Hope all you other brides and grooms to be are well xxx
    [strike]Loan 1 = £5912.91 - 26 payments left @ £227.33[/strike] £3413.91- 15 payments left
    Loan 2 = £[strike]2187.05 - 26 payments left @ £85.[/strike] £1251.05 -15 payments left @85.00
    Credit card = [strike]£1018.14[/strike] Cleared and cancelled!!:D
    Overdraft = £900.00

    Baby Isobel's arrived - 13th December 2008:j
  • some flowers here also, someone reccomended them on here

    http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Fairytale-Wedding-Flowers_Wedding-Bouquet-Sets_W0QQ_fsubZ630492011QQ_sidZ561940041QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322#item1e5802c68a

    bridal bouquet, 2 bridesmaids, 2 wands for £48

    x
    Married my amazing hubby on 8th September 2012 :j:j
  • OH is also going to find a nice B&W photo of us and place it on the middle of a canvas so people can sign (seen that idea in a wedding magazine and he can do it cheaply so yay!)

    I went into a local shop called The works and there was a frame, with room for a picture and a white card mount round the edge which was big enough to write comments which was being sold for £4.99 so might be worth a look if you have one local. :)
    What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine..
  • Hello All,
    Hope we are all well!
    Thanks for your recent suggestions saintly and neneromanova :) No works near me unfortunately-though OH can do it for free anyway-so doubt they'd be able to beat that ;)
    More drama for us as OH was married before so my church (catholic) are asking for forms, permission from bishop etc and we wont know if we are allowed to marry or not for a few weeks :( The hotel were holding our booking til the 30th-and we definitely wont know by then as I only posted back some required paperwork this morning-and once it arrives it needs to be sent somewhere else!

    Anyway, we've tried carrying on and organizing bits just in case the positive happens and we are allowed!
    We bought OH's wedding shoes yesterday £40.00 in TK maxx-for a gorgeous pair from KG r.r.p should have been £99.00 so we were very happy with them.
    They also had some gorgeous suits in there-if anyone is looking?!
    I think we will be buying one from there as rental will cost between £100/£170 and the suits were on sale for £100.00 so he may aswell own it, if its works out the same!
    I tried to order my flowers with the lady as I advised earlier, but she wasnt very good at responding so am now doing them with Sarahs flowers. They have been featured in loads of wedding magazines-and to be honest I didnt think I could afford them, as assumed they would be very expensive, but they actually work out a few pound cheaper! Once I have paid and received them-I'll try take some photos for you ladies.

    TK maxx have some beautiful baby dresses too, so I'm going to ty get two matching ones tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

    I have my first dress fitting on the 4th October. OH's mum and Aunt have asked if they can come, Im not one for confrontation so agreed, but I would prefer to go on my own especially when they are not coming to Wedding.
    Actually, now im just being petty. Rising above it. Done :)
    Am not searching for a veil until after my dress fitting as I'll try a few on when Im there and get a few ideas as to what looks ok.

    My old school cant help with the music for the church, so thats a disapointment but I'll continue searching!

    Where are you all getting your cakes? I was thinking of the M&S one for £199, but we really need to free up some money! Is anyone making theirs? Or bought the tesco fruit one??

    Dont have a car sorted yet either. Will probably just take anything at this stage (was hoping for a classic car but it all costs so much!)

    Photographer: OH's friend has said he will do it for £500, we have to pay for a room and also his dinner. I know its a damn sight cheaper than the other quotes but the rooms are £100, dinner £35, plus he isnt even qualified? OH isnt impressed that im not jumping at it, but it seems alot of money for no guarantee if you know what I mean?
    Maybe I'm just expecting too much!

    Anyway, im going to go see how everyone else is getting on!

    Hope no-one's turned into Bridezilla yet :)xx
    [strike]Loan 1 = £5912.91 - 26 payments left @ £227.33[/strike] £3413.91- 15 payments left
    Loan 2 = £[strike]2187.05 - 26 payments left @ £85.[/strike] £1251.05 -15 payments left @85.00
    Credit card = [strike]£1018.14[/strike] Cleared and cancelled!!:D
    Overdraft = £900.00

    Baby Isobel's arrived - 13th December 2008:j
  • frannyann
    frannyann Posts: 10,970 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker

    Photographer: OH's friend has said he will do it for £500, we have to pay for a room and also his dinner. I know its a damn sight cheaper than the other quotes but the rooms are £100, dinner £35, plus he isnt even qualified? OH isnt impressed that im not jumping at it, but it seems alot of money for no guarantee if you know what I mean?
    Maybe I'm just expecting too much!

    Anyway, im going to go see how everyone else is getting on!

    Hope no-one's turned into Bridezilla yet :)xx

    He is quoted waaaay too much, most of us have got quailifed photographer for less than that, with no meal or room!! (Mine just wants a cup cake as an extra :D) As its quite soon and 'off peak' wedding season there will be a deal to be done! Work out what you can afford, knock a bit off and present that as your budget to the photographers you approach ;)
    :rotfl:Ahahah got my signature removed for claiming MSE thought it was too boring :rotfl:
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