Wedding planning blues

leasa_2

Hi,

I am new to the forum and planning to get married next September I am looking into budgeting and it all seems really bewildering and expensive. I have not been able to find a venue yet as the nice ones cost the earth. I live in Gloucestershire so if anyone knows of a good venue at a reasonable price please can they let me know. The only thing I have been able to find at a reasonable price is wedding invitations on ebay you can get 20 x diy wedding invitations for under £15 which I think is great but I can even buy them until I have chosen a dress and colour scheme.

I hope this is gonna get easier of it will be a long 12 months!

Leasa

Careful_girl

Don't worry Leasa there are loads of ideas on this thread. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2753716
I bought my dress from Monsoon and it was a very reasonable price. I did my own reception flowers by growing sweet peas and putting vases of them as centre pieces.
I got married in Gloucestershire and if you ask in Cheltenham at the florist in Pitville called Bumblebeez (did my flowers) I think they may be able to locate a lady called Ali. She is very good at helping organise weddings as she used to own a wedding shop. She used to run the Bugatti pub at Gretton. www.groomsformalhire.co.uk. are very reasonable too. Dumbleton Hall were very nice to us - some of our guests stayed there but I don't know how expensive they are. PM me if I can help further.
All the best,
CG.:j

black-saturn

You don't have to have an expensive venue for the wedding. Getting married at a registry office costs £60. I'm getting married in 2 years time and even if we scrimp and make do it's going to cost about £2000.

macchicken

Dont get the blues, get yourself a cuppa and read the wedding tips thread!

Argos do 100 blank cards with envelopes for £10, borrow ideas from wedding invitaion websites.

monsoon have a sale on just now.

Look at restaurants for your reception they will often do you a deal.

Dont stress, rope your friends and family into helping you it makes the whole day more personal.

CarolnMalky

We got married 2 years ago, and opted for a gorgeous hotel but only close family and friends.It was a gorgeous day, I made my own favours, bought bits n bobs like ribbon etc from ebay.
Good luck hope it all goes ok for you,
Carol

reddy246174

:eek: My wife and I got married in JUne. And we started with around 2K budget. But despite our best efforts and being on benifits we spent at least another grand.

Haven't been on specific thread so sorry if repeated.

- Tell everyone you're getting married. You're bound to know someone who may offer or with a little gentle persuation help you. My mate was starting do wedding phtography saving around £500 but anyone with a decent camera and a hobby. My dad is a chef so although it caused a bit of stress (the waiters we hired for community hall were a bit useless) so we gave him a menu that in other places was around £25 a head saving at least £500.

- Take a element of the wedding shopping list and see if you can do it yourself. You mentioned doing invites yourself. My wife ended up doing all the stationary herself but decided to do her own tiara saying a bit but shes stuck at it now and wants to start selling stuff.

- And setting up a gift list at debehams (did argos aswell) got us a £50 gift voucher.

Peace out.

nearlyrich

Don't be sad or stressed, getting married should be a happy time, I can't understand why people put themselves through so much stress.

Have a sit down with a cuppa or a glass of wine and read the thread on wedding planning and decide what's important to you and your OH, no-one else's opinion really matters it's your day after all.

Hope it all goes well for you and above all enjoy the planning.

Rachie_B

welcome and congrats

aww dont let it get to you

yes it can be stressful but its great fun too

why cant you choose a colour scheme yet ??? that was one of the first things we did 2 yrs in advance lol

then base everything round that and pick up bargains as and when you see them

a yr away isnt long in wedding planning ville and popular venues can get booked up 2 yrs in advance !!! so set aside a few wkends looking round more venues and get something booked !

at least that will be the main thing done and dusted so you can get on with the other things

also photographers can get booked up too so the next "main" thing to think about IMO ,if the photographs are an important aspect of the day for you both ?

wedding invites can be made yourself,a few months ago i made lovely invites for a friends anniversary party using ivory card from the paper mill outlet and a photo on the front

to make 120 cost about £25 inc envelopes !!! http://www.thepapermillshop.co.uk/

remember weddings are only as expensive as YOU make them so the balls in your court

dlb

Hey the main thing is that you do things your way and the day is how you want it and no one else!

Hey i had my reception at home and i only lived in a 2 up 2 down then, but it didnt stop me having over 60 people ( one loo wasnt good thought!!) i had local party shop come and decorate house and garden with balloons, had proper shop made cake on display in kitchen, got the stereo outside, invited all neighbours so they didnt invite police because of noise. ( only joking i wanted them there!) And we had on hell of a knees up!! Even borrowed a yard of ale to have a little fun at the macho blokes expense!

Its all down to what you want and how much you want to spend, for me the most important thing was getting married to the man i loved, the party after , what we wore was not important, but becoming man and wife for the rest of our lifes, that was.

Good luck, it is a very exciting time the planning no matter how big or small the event will be.

leasa_2

Thanks everyone I feel a little better all ready will start ASAP looking for an affordable venue and I might even go with the white and red colour scheme I want even though I have not yet bought a dress. I have seen some lovely dresses on ebay has anyone bought theirs from there as I am a little aprehensive as they are shipped all the way from china or hong kong?

I am going to chill out tonight and right a list of all i need to do then sit down with a glass of wine and trawl though the money saving threads.

Thanks again everyone

Leasa

looneyleo

Hi Lease... Congrats on getting engaged! Write a things to do list with a "to be done by date" next to it so you know when things need to be in place by. You could also attach a budget next to each item and then see if you can beat the budget by using your imagination. Take it one step at a time... and it won't seem so daunting.

The wedding thread is good, but here are a few ideas. My sister in law got married last year and used her grandma's wedding photo on the invites, and then their own wedding photo on the thank you cards.

Do you know anyone who has got married and still got their dress? I got married eight years ago, and in July I lent my dress to my foster sister. It was fantastic to see it on again...she also borrowed my sister in laws bridesmaid dresses, shoes etc. Some people are funny about letting someone else borrow wedding items so tread carefully, but you can always ask...My husband did her wedding photos as well and they came out lovely...thank goodness!

Good luck...don't stress...and remember it's about you and your OH declaring your love for each other...not all the trimmings...If I were to do it again with my hubby it would be VERY SMALL with only very close family and friends...a meal at a restaurant and then me and hubby disappearing into the sunset for our honeymoon!