Reducing wedding costs without sacrificing what we want...

Angela84

The way we are doing our cheaper is having a marquee for our 80 guests in a friends field/garden. I plan to decorate the field and trees with ribbons and swags, and certainly in my mind its going to look beautiful.

We can walk round from the local church, but your idea of the bus is cool, I heard a friend of a friend did this recently and called it the Love Bus!

Our marquee will cost maximum 2k, with lovely swags and decorations in, tables, chairs etc
Our caterers are doing a BBQ, chicken breasts, steaks and salmon, and for 80 guests are charging 1.4k, that also include them having a bar running all day and all night.

Do you know anyone with a large garden/field? Just an idea!

alexlyne

Yeah, 700-1000 for a suit for the groom - seems a bit excessive, even though he should get a hell of a lot more use out of it than your wedding dress!! Hire one for less than £100, and you've saved loads. Since when does anything have to be fair when wedding planning?
Plus, I'll drive yer bloke's gran over for £450!

And entertainment... well our hotel will provide a DJ for £200. Not expecting anything great, but it can't be that bad.

We're paying around 5.5k for the venue - around 60 per head for food and drinks and buffet (60-70 guests), plus fixed overheads. Not planning to be buying anyone any more drinks than what the drinks package provides, though we may buy a couple more bottles of wine for tables if necessary.

RainbowDrops

Firemunchkin wrote: »

Thanks for this - the reason we thought having both at the same place might be a good idea is because of travelling for our guests. If we do it in separate places then we thought about hiring an old routemaster bus to ferry everyone from one place to another. We really like that idea!

I think our sittuation is similar - I've got family travelling from Wales down to near Cambridge, so we wanted to have it all in one place to make it easier. We're even going for a converted barn!

£500 is still very generous behind the bar, but it's a nice gesture. As for other drinks, ask about corkage costs or BYO options when visiting venues - if you can provide your own stuff in bulk you could save £££

As all MSE'rs will tell you, don't be affraid to haggle & ask for favours.
We managed to get £2K off our venue & food/drink costs in the end.
A family friend will hopefully be doing the cake.
Another friend will make my dress.
I have plenty of mates who DJ, so that'll help too.

Also, consider what you need agains what you want - all of the extra bits can add up.
For example, a cartoonist is a fun idea, but I've been to plenty of weddings without these sorts of entertainers, and I've never been bored as there's loads of socialising to be done.
Also, I know it's only a though now, but the kids face painting could be risky - you don't want a hug from a kid leaving a tiger's face on your expensive dress :rotfl:

bubbles0169

have a look at this for the different venues available in your area and the surrounding areas
http://maps.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/MapAction.do?ref=weddingvenues

Firemunchkin

LEJC wrote: »

Hi ....You seem to have very clear ideas about what you would like at the wedding which is great but usually with many of the big venue type weddings they do indeed come as a package and usually quite an expensive one so it may be difficult to "moneysave" too much on this....although there is no harm asking if the rates include overnight accomodation for yourself and new husband for example....

We do, mainly because we've been to so many weddings and seen what we like and don't like! We are flexible though, I think the main reason we are sounding so specific right now is because what's out there is not what we want, and we don't know how to find it!

I think where you could save money is being organised and picking things up in sales or online....bridesmaids dresses....shoes...or even the invitations...dont forget you will also need rings

I had in mind to be organised but I hadn't thought about buying things in the sales - good idea! Invitations we were going to do via an M&S thing and print the inserts? Not having bridesmaids, best man or maid of honour, no ushers or pin holes or any of that stuff. We're just having plain rings, so hopefully that won't cost too much. I haven't a clue what to do about shoes - I want some that are comfortable but trainers won't do for a wedding will they?! But yes, definitely shop around in the sales for those.

I want a bespoke dress only because I want a specific design, but if you know of any good designers who don't charge the earth then that would be fantastic to know of them!

Also you need to factor in things like wedding flowers and buttonholes,bridesmaids dresses ushers and best men clothes....
Is you OH going to get use out of a £700 suit?
He may well be able to wear it afterwards but what a lot of people tend to do is hire the mens suits and that may well give you a bit of extra budget to use somewhere else.

OH will definitely be able to use his suit again, that's something we're factoring in. I've been married before and I didn't have a special dress last time, so this time I really do, and I don't mind if I don't wear it again.

Just one other point the money for the car to bring your Gran from wales....is it then doubling as your wedding car?

Now this is a VERY good idea, I didn't think of it! Trouble is I was hoping for a classic car, but you're right, I hadn't thought of the cost. See, there are holes everywhere in our plan!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Ok I got married a year ago, we had a fabulous venue and an amazing wedding for about half what you are budgeting and it didn't feel like a compromise at all.

Some of these are things I did some things friends did:

1. £1500 should be more than enough for your entire outfit, you can get a pretty amazing dress for £1000. It was an area where I didn't want to compromise and I found that most designer dresses did not come to much more than this. If you stay away from "bridal" retailers for shoes, underwear and jewellery this should easily be possible.

2. Do not bother with a pro to do your make up, this is expensive and you can easily do it yourself with a bit of help from a friend and some you tube tutorials. Same with your hair.

3. Not many approved venues will let you have your own caterers, it might be worth exploring how the costs compare if you have one venue for the wedding and another for the reception, but weigh it against the cost of having transport. Consider venues that do not have their own "in house" caterers. They may restrict you to their preferred outside caterers but they are likely to be more flexible. We used a stately home and they had approved caterers who were dead flexible. Look at conference centres and concert halls as well as traditional wedding venues as they are often more flexible.

4. Forget Champagne, a good asti or prosecco will do the job and your guests will neither notice or care. Or if you want to cut costs further consider bucksfizz.

5. Don't do money behind the bar or a free bar, it is bound to be abused. If you want to treat your guests to more than wine with the meal print out drinks tokens and use them as part of your table decorations/favours. Limit it to draught/wine/single spirits. Or just lay on more champagne or wine.

6. You haven't mentioned a wedding car, consider how you will get to your venue. Personally I drove myself and then changed at the venue so we didn't need cars but consider it.

7. Is a bespoke suit necessary, will your fiance get his wear out of it? Is he bothered about one? If not ditch it. One of my friends bought a new suit for her fiance as part of the wedding budget but he needed a new suit anyway and would wear it for interviews, and smart functions out of work. My husband would never get much wear out of a suit so we rented him a fab one - he didn't feel left out because we had spent £1k on my dress. A bespoke suit is unlikely to cost that much unless you go for a known designer, you could probably do this for £500, or an off the peg one for less.

8. You haven't mentioned outfits for best man or bridesmaids, if they are going to fund them then fine but make sure they understand this in advance. If not include it in your budget.

9. Cake - consider making it yourself, or buying from asda and decorating it yourself. You could serve it instead of dessert to save money.

10. You haven't mentioned flowers.

11. Table centres can be done very cheaply yourself if you are feeling creative. We had the florist do ours, but shop around, the quotes we had for pretty much the same thing varied wildly, and some required us to buy our own vases.

12. Entertainment, you do not need to spend this. Some venues will include a DJ in their package, if they don't you can get a decent DJ for less than £300. Shop around, try your local pubs rather than looking for people who advertise for weddings. I would think again regarding facepaints, very messy and actually not that much fun for kids. You don't need to provide other entertainment, people can entertain themselves chatting or dancing. If you have lots of kids to invite you could look into a kiddies entertainer who does lots of different things or you could consider doing "party bags" with things to keep them quiet.

13. Why are you paying £500 for a car for his gran? Can't she go on a coach or train? Or could you just pay a friend or family member petrol for collecting her?

14. Photographer should be possible for less than £1000 - shop around and haggle over the price and the package. Consider a deal where you get your photos on disc only and make your own album.

15. Honeymoon, £5k is a lot, could you do something amazing for £3k? I bet you could if you shopped around and compromised on minor things. It would be a big saving too. I wouldn't go that night, you would miss the end of the wedding and it would be really stressful being all ready to fly off on the day. Have a night at your venue or a nearby hotel and go home and finish packing the next day and fly the day after that and save your stress levels!

16. The really big saving will be by cutting your numbers, tot it up and see if you can cut back. Not inviting cousins or not inviting work colleagues could save you hundreds and people do understand that numbers are limited to weddings these days. Ask yourself whether you want this person there enough to spen getting on for £100 on them!

17. You haven't included anything for invitations and stationary or for postage!

I think you need to revisit your budget and make sure you have included everything and then ask yourself whether each item is a must have, a would like to have but can compromise on, or a don't need.

Consider also where you can save without anyone noticing or with least effect. So people will notice and be affected by poor food or a boring venue but they won't notice whether your shoes were designer ones with bows to match your dress or just generic white ones from new look. They will notice whether they are kept adequately watered but not whether your are giving them vintage champagne or a decent sparkling wine.

Most people do not remember a wedding because it was the one with a face painter or a magician or a cartoon artist and they don't expect this stuff, they don't even remeber if the DJ is any good, or whether the napkins matched. They remember nice surroundings, good food, good company, a couple in love and a happy bride.

Good luck!

Firemunchkin

Angela84 wrote: »

The way we are doing our cheaper is having a marquee for our 80 guests in a friends field/garden. I plan to decorate the field and trees with ribbons and swags, and certainly in my mind its going to look beautiful.

We can walk round from the local church, but your idea of the bus is cool, I heard a friend of a friend did this recently and called it the Love Bus!

Our marquee will cost maximum 2k, with lovely swags and decorations in, tables, chairs etc
Our caterers are doing a BBQ, chicken breasts, steaks and salmon, and for 80 guests are charging 1.4k, that also include them having a bar running all day and all night.

Do you know anyone with a large garden/field? Just an idea!

I do love this idea but no, I don't know anybody with a large enough garden or a field! The only place I can think of is my granddad's house up in Oxfordshire but that would be hugely inappropriate for our family (feuds!) Can I ask what company you're using for your marquee, if I can find somewhere to put it it could be useful...

And can I ask which caterers you're using, £1.4k sounds very reasonable and I'd be interested to compare costs.

Thanks!!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Firemunchkin wrote: »

Thanks for this - the reason we thought having both at the same place might be a good idea is because of travelling for our guests. If we do it in separate places then we thought about hiring an old routemaster bus to ferry everyone from one place to another. We really like that idea!

This is a really unnecessary expense, you guests can get themselves from one place to another, people did it all the time when church weddings were the norm. And if you provide a route master bus how do you get people back to the place they left their cars????

I've only been to one wedding with transport, the reception was A LONG WAY from the church (20 miles ish). They laid on a coach (just an ordinary one) from the church and back to the church again, but the fact that they got the reception venue free via a friend made this worthwhile.

We didn't provide transport but a few people clubbed together and split the cost of a minibus so they didn't have to drive, that worked well and didn't cost us a thing!

Firemunchkin

RainbowDrops wrote: »

I think our sittuation is similar - I've got family travelling from Wales down to near Cambridge, so we wanted to have it all in one place to make it easier. We're even going for a converted barn!

£500 is still very generous behind the bar, but it's a nice gesture. As for other drinks, ask about corkage costs or BYO options when visiting venues - if you can provide your own stuff in bulk you could save £££
This is what we want to try and find - a venue that allows us to bring our own caterers and booze, it will save us a fortune. Not easy to find though.

As all MSE'rs will tell you, don't be affraid to haggle & ask for favours.

We managed to get £2K off our venue & food/drink costs in the end.
I don't have the first clue how to haggle for this sort of thing, and £2k off sounds like a LOT!

A family friend will hopefully be doing the cake. We haven't decided whether we're going to have a cake, but if we do it will probably be a victoria sponge cake with icing (my name is victoria...) I guess that's something a family member could do, my mum is good at cakes...
Another friend will make my dress. - Lovely idea, but I don't know anybody who makes dresses
I have plenty of mates who DJ, so that'll help too.
I have friends who are a full on DJ outfit, I guess I could combine two birds by inviting them to the party only (i.e. not the expensive food bit) and asking if they'd like a paid gig as well. Nice one. Got to pluck up the courage to ask them now...

Also, consider what you need agains what you want - all of the extra bits can add up.
For example, a cartoonist is a fun idea, but I've been to plenty of weddings without these sorts of entertainers, and I've never been bored as there's loads of socialising to be done.

Yeah, its just an idea, if we have any money left over (or win the lottery!) then we might do it, but it is only an extra and we won't cry if we can't afford it. I guess that's why we'd like to save money wherever we can in order to afford the other bits.

Also, I know it's only a though now, but the kids face painting could be risky - you don't want a hug from a kid leaving a tiger's face on your expensive dress :rotfl:
Good point! Scratch that idea...

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, it has been really helpful!

Blade26

Firemunchkin wrote: »

I know the costs look massive - but they are just what I have gathered from my initial research (over the past few months).

Munchkin are there any regsitry offices that you would consider? My friends got married in Rickmansworth or Watford I think it was last year, their photos at the REgistry Office looked nice. They had their reception here http://loudwaterfarm.co.uk/ and we all camped, it was beautiful.

Think outside the box is my advice, think about places you have seen or been that may consider doing your reception. My sister had hers at a local museum which had never even considered hring space before, 3 years later a huge part of their business is wedding receptions.

Blade26