minimum wedding spend

RTL

3 years ago my husband & I got married in Cyprus off-season. Did the whole lot for £5000, and that included a weeks holiday for 6 family members, and 2 weeks for us. If you don't want the fuss and a big party then its a good option, plus the weather was great!

We booked the hoiday ourselves and then planned the wedding with another travel company. Relatively pain-free!

DISCO_DAVE_5

Last year, we took a week's holiday in The Lakes, and took a day out to get married @ Gretna Green (need to book at least 14 days in advance.).
COST: under £500.

This year we had the party (100+ guests) in a neighbour's back garden:
- we hired a bar for £94, bought a marquee for £60 from Makro, borrowed several gazebo's from friends & a local school (who also lent us 50 chairs and some tables).
Family did the food - and helped out big time! - , car parking care of Parish Council and a farm, etc, etc......
COST: Less than £1,000.

My wife made her own dress & my waistcoat & tie, invites from Vistaprint.com, I did the disco (at our engagement party I made up a series of cd's, which went down okay too.)

CONGRATULATIONS

Dave

ps VENUES, local village hall, or if using a hotel or similar, try a Friday or Sunday night, MUCH cheaper!

p00pieb0tt0m

The Groom, best man and other's suits don't have to be expensive to buy. Think Primark, Matalan, George at Asda. New matching suits without great expense.

Once my OH proposes(he's got the ring) all male members of wedding party will be getting new cheap matching suits, especially our Dads!!!

dlb

I got married 6 years ago, at the reg office, our 25 guest walked to the local pub afterwards, paid £75 for small spread at the pub, Then we had our reception the next evening at home!!!
Mad i know 50 people, lots of food (made by my friend and family),and lots of drink, local party shop decorated house and garden with baloons ect,Cake cost me £100, and flowers about the same, had my kids dressed in matching shirts from bhs, and Dh had waistcoat ect bought from burtons,got all the family to take photos and they all did us a extra set and we picked out the best and put them in our photo album.
I didnt wear a dress, just a cream suit, and i wouldnt have changed a thing!!

I married the man i loved, and we had one heck of a party!!!!

greenishfingers

I went to a wedding at the weekend which started at 3pm. Because of the late start everyone had eaten lunch before they came and so were only expecting one meal. It's the second wedding I've been to like this, and it works really well and saves on all the food for the evening buffet.
I've also been involved in hall decoration for a couple of weddings and it is possible to have a big effect without spending too much. I'm doing one on Saturday in a very ugly hall, but the total transformation is going to cost only about £100 (fingers crossed!) We're using lots of netting and some organza ribbon to cover up the general ugliness, and then adding some feather butterflies (ebay) and silk rose petals (ikea) to dress it all up. Wish us luck!
And good luck yourself too!

Rachie_B

greenishfingers wrote:

I went to a wedding at the weekend which started at 3pm. Because of the late start everyone had eaten lunch before they came and so were only expecting one meal. It's the second wedding I've been to like this, and it works really well and saves on all the food for the evening buffet.
I've also been involved in hall decoration for a couple of weddings and it is possible to have a big effect without spending too much. I'm doing one on Saturday in a very ugly hall, but the total transformation is going to cost only about £100 (fingers crossed!) We're using lots of netting and some organza ribbon to cover up the general ugliness, and then adding some feather butterflies (ebay) and silk rose petals (ikea) to dress it all up. Wish us luck!
And good luck yourself too!

sounds lovely :T good luck

yorkshirepudding_4

hello everybody, havent had time to read through the whole thread but just wanted to say that i am another member of the £100 wedding club. (not including weatherspoons meal after) heehee. :j

i don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but it's not the wedding that's important, its the marriage.

people seem to think that the amount you spend relates to how special the day is/how much you love eachother.

why not spend a hundraed pounds on the registry office bit, than just have a knees up, normal party styleeeeee. You never hear anyone complaining about how they are still paying off their housewarming/birthday party.

lynzpower

You never hear anyone complaining about how they are still paying off their housewarming/birthday party.

So true!

We went to a very lavish family wedding not so long ago and the conversation turned to "whens it your turn" We said , oh well weve only just started saving, response " Oh, sod that, just stick it on your mortgage!! I ws like :eek:

My reponse Not bloody likely :rotfl:

yorkshirepudding_4

also wanted to add that we have a daughter and can't help thianking we will be less than forthcoming with £20k for a wedding!! that's not saying we won't have saved that amount for her (child benefit alone, without anyinterest is £900 a year) but to be honest i can't help thinking that since we have tried so hard to put that amount away for her when most people just spend it thatwe would put conditions on what it is spent on. i imagine it as a deposit on a house, or something equally worthy, to me spending it on one day is just crazy when it could be used to really set them up in life.

ayoward

lisa_75 wrote:

I was thinking you need:

Registry office/church fees. None negotiable I am afraid.

This is actually not true. If you have a Mormon church in your area (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) you can get married in there completely free. Their ministers are unpaid and work voluntarily. They will marry you for free. They do not charge for the use of their churches for weddings, and most have a cultural hall in the back which could be used for a reception, the only draw back being that they will not allow you to have alcohol at the reception. Most churches also have a member who is a registrar, so that wouldn't cost you either. Neither would an organist as these would all do it voluntarily. Of course, their buildings are not usually built in the 10th century, so if it's the cold church and musty smell you're after, you'll have to pay for it.:A