Cost of weddings - think of what else could be done with the money!

tb1105

ours was £7.5 - 8k for our wedding in barbados and blessing with 80 people back home.

Barbados was £4,500 for me and hubby for 10 nights all inclusive stay, beach wedding, photographer and album, cake, champagne, personalised menu, breakfast in bed, it was perfect!! Just me, hubby, mum and best friend

Blessing - about £3k
I rode my horse, hubby got lift in friend's 1940s beetle!
I got 2 dresses - one for abroad which went in the sea lol and one for blessing from Ebay Chine shop, made to measure, both PERFECT £80 each.
Hubby's white suit £90 from ebay for wedding
Suit hire for Blessing was £80 each for hubby, 2 best men and my 2 brothers
Tiara and necklace was my splurge at £150 from Confetti and Lace
Shoes from ebay
Veil was my something borrowed
Did my own make up, hair was £90 for me, best friend and mum
Church only charged us £50 cos the organist didn't show lol
Bagpiper was £200 cash on the day
Photographer was newly graduated and was £200 all day cover, CD and album.

We had reception in the function room at the hotel where hubby works, they did a full on buffet for us and venue hire for £600
DJ through hotel was £130
Cake was £150, I designed it, cake lady made it
Flowers was a local lady who does it in spare time and was £150 for bouquets, top table, arrangements, buttonholes and gifts (roses too, bargain!)
Rings we got half price from H Samuel in the January sale for £300 for both

Chair cover hire from Ebay for 100 covers and burgundy organza sashes was £150
Fishbowls and mirrors for centrepieces were about £80 from Sara Richard's online shop
I got loads of bits from ebay and Wedding Ideas magazine forum!


It was worth EVERY penny, we had 2 amazing days which were just perfect, couldn't have asked them to be any better, full of laughter and love and just looked great, exactly how I wanted it

cherryJ

Really glad to see the comments on this thread, they reflect my thoughts exactly! I just got engaged Christmas Day 2009 but we have been planning on getting married for a while, just made it "official"
I struggle to get my head around the huge amounts that are spent for 1 day - OK, it's a wedding day & you want it to be special, but I really think weddings have gone a bit OTT.
It doesn't seem to be about 2 people being in love and getting married, it's more about putting on a show for other people.
As always, each to their own, and if you've got the money and wanna spend it, fair enough!
Personally, I'd love to just go to Vegas but we're both close to our families and they'd be really disappointed so wouldn't do that to them.
Just think it's crazy that adding the word "wedding" to something more or less means the cost will (at least) triple!

birduk

Our wedding is being delayed until after house purchase (all my spare funds are going there at the moment). However, we are both putting money each month into my sharesave scheme. When that matures, that will be the money we have. No more, no less. That's our budget when it comes!

I'd personally love to go to Vegas and have a secret wedding, but having spoken to his family and mine I just feel it isn't fair on them. There are other people that would love to be there and there are costs associated with that! I'm not going to obsess about it, just accept it as what it is.

birduk

PS. Though I will continue to refuse to have people I don't know REALLY VERY WELL at the reception! I believe the word of the wedding will be 'intimate'.

*Louise*

We thought the same way when we got married.

A friend's parents paid 25k for her wedding....she is divorced now, surely her parents wish she had had a quiet ceremony for a few k! A cousin of ours spend 35k (omg, more than we paid for our first flat!) all bells and whistles, every tradition followed, even had one of those 'master of ceremonies'....all I can remember is everyone saying how rubbish the food was lol.:rotfl:

Our wedding cost 4k (5 if you include the honeymoon, but my parents paid most of that)

It was a lovely ceremony for 40 of our immediate freinds and family and was an amazing day...without having bills to panic about afterwards.

Rebekah24

I guess I really want a nice wedding and a fantastic honeymoon, so I am saving up, I think 2-3 years of saving ...clearing all debt this year should do it!! If I want a nice wedding..I am gonna save and pay for it myself!

I think under 5k is doable.... I keep watching "Dont tell the bride" where they give them 12k..it seems to dissapear in about three days! eeek:eek::eek:

superfran_uk

I haven't got a budget as such - but I am keeping tabs on how much we're spending and certainly not spending £000s on a dress or cake. We're in the fortunate position that both of our parents donated £3k to our fund - one because they asked us to bring it forward by a year, the other because they asked us to invite 50 members of the family - and that will cover the venue and food costs for the most part. Yes, it is a ridiculous sum of money but it's going to (hopefully) be a day we'll remember for ever - and our friends and families too.

Stephb1986_2

We have just got engaged not really set a budget I'm thinkin of around 6-7k plus the honeymoon. As alot of the venues around here are rather expensive.

My other option is to do it abroad which I haven't spoke to my H2B about yet but my mum has bought a place in Brazil (not a timeshare) and we could get married there and have a reception when we get back.

I know that some family might kick up about us having it abroad as their little darlings wouldn't be bridesmaids I don't like kids anyway!

But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Steph xx

minerva_windsong

There are ways to slash the costs which I know that I'll certainly be using - wedding on a Friday outside peak season (although I'm not sure how cost effective that'll be now Friday's a more popular day), getting the dress from a high street store or having my dad's cousin make it, registry office, buffet instead of sit down dinner, make my own invites, wedding late in the day so we only have to feed everyone once, best mate as 'best woman' rather than bridesmaid and she can wear what she wants etc. The only thing I would probably spend a lot of money on is the photographer, but that is because my parents would refuse to let me get a cheap one as they did that with their own wedding pictures and still regret it.

*Louise*

^^We had ours on a Wednesday, and not only was it a little cheaper, the best part was that we didn't have a problem with everything being booked a year in advance