The 'anti-bride' and - is anybody *really* on a budget??

Skylarker

I think everyone has their own ways of economising and their own list of non-negotiables.
My wedding came to approx £8000 including honeymoon flights and hotel (and being on an island that's 2 flights each way, one in to gatwick then out to Italy and vice versa).

Dress was £600 half-price Jenny Packham, if it hadn't been half-price I would never have looked at it, but I loved it, really loved it. Maybe closer to £1000 for outfit when you add in veil, tiara, shoes, alterations and hair and make-up.

Registry office was £63. Cheaper than most I know, we were lucky with that, it must just be cheap here.

Reception was just under £4000. We chose a bar/restaurant with a small club area. That figure included arrival drinks, 3 glasses of wine or juice for each person (45 people) with the meal plus a glass of prosecco for the toast, a 3 course meal, private use of the club area until 10pm and some quality bacon butties for evening food, which we served with the wedding cupcakes. Also included a DJ for around 4 hours, so that was all the entertainment we needed.

We had a free bar because that was FoG wedding present to us, I believe it came in at around £600ish.

A friend took the photos, and they are amazing, the only cost was the hotel room for two nights which we paid for as they refused to accept payment for the photography itself.

Flowers - only my bouquet, which was £75.

Transport - a friend drove me and my brother to the registry office then on to the reception, everyone else walked the 100 yards between the two.

Invitations - made myself, very basic and quite plain but elegant as I am NOT crafty in any way. No save the dates as we only had 14 week engagement.

Cake - I was going to make cupcakes myself but was lucky enough to find a lady who was starting up a business and did them for £70 (for 70 cupcakes) she knocked the price down partly because I gave her two cupcake stands I had already bought for £20 each.

Rings - 250 total for all three, engagement ring and both wedding bands.

Place cards, and table names were made by another friend as a wedding gift.

Favours cost maybe £250 for 16 glass jars, sweets to fill them with and paper bags in my colour. The jars also acted as centre pieces on the tables and we had dried rosebuds, from ebay cost about £25 and tea lights which the venue already had so we used theirs.

OH wore a suit he already owned, we had no bridesmaids and no button holes for best man or my brother who gave me away.

Sorry this is a bit of a long post, but I would have found this thread very useful when I was planning my day, to have an idea of what to expect.

I could have spent more, I could have saved more, but I couldn't have had it any more perfect for us.

lindaatno9

Skylarker wrote: »

I could have spent more, I could have saved more, but I couldn't have had it any more perfect for us.

And that's what its all about

missknixon

The key to it is to realise what is important. I am not having bridesmaids to save money, we are staying at the venue the night before for the same reason. It is your day - as long as you are happy with it that is all that matters! I have had 16 weeks from booking to planning - less than 6 weeks to go - and wouldn't have done it any other way - for us it has been perfect! Very full on but exactly as we want it!

Jacks_xxx

This may not be a compromise everyone is prepared to make, but Argentinium wedding rings are £14.95 and £19.95 respectively at Argos.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse/ID72/14416988/c_1/1|category_root|Jewellery+and+watches|14416987/c_2/2|14416987|Rings|14416988/r_001/4|Material|Argentium|

http://www.argentiumsilver.com/what-is-argentium/

Our wedding cost £500 but it was a marriage followed by drinks and a nice meal with the small number of people that mattered to us. We didn't feel that we wanted any of the extra bits and bobs.

Silaqui

Thank you for all the replies, it is really useful to read everyone's experiences and tips, I don't know how you all know where to start! I suppose it's reading threads like these that help though

I keep browsing the other threads on here but I don't feel I know enough to contribute so please don't think I'm being ignorant by only posting on my own thread

I think my b/f and I are going to sit down and do the non negotiable list thing next weekend - the only definite so far is the church for our grandparents and we are both ok with that (although we haven't met the vicar or anything yet, I hope it's ok with him!!)

MissKnixon, I wasn't going to have any bridesmaids - but then as soon as I told my sister she asked if she could be on, and when I told my best mate she asked me too :rotfl: I haven't said anything yet...!

It's like everyone wants a big do except me!!

XX

nickyhutch

We had a 4pm register office do (£94), and a meal at our favourite restaurant. We asked our guests (19) to pay for their meals rather than give us gifts. We had a wonderful day, far better than I imagined, and after the meal everyone came to the pub next door and we were there til the early hours. Brilliant.

I made our invites (printed cards, no ribbons and frills), the cake was £85, silk flowers for me and bridesmaid and 3 buttonholes were around £60...... we spent nowhere near the money you see quoted in magazines etc, and honestly, it's the way I'd do it again.

Really good luck - you sound just like me!

minerva_windsong

Silaqui wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies, it is really useful to read everyone's experiences and tips, I don't know how you all know where to start! I suppose it's reading threads like these that help though

MissKnixon, I wasn't going to have any bridesmaids - but then as soon as I told my sister she asked if she could be on, and when I told my best mate she asked me too :rotfl: I haven't said anything yet...!

It's like everyone wants a big do except me!!

XX

Having two married sisters and working in a hotel that had a monopoly on local weddings gave me a very strong idea of what I do and don't want when I get married!

I already know I'm only having my best friend as my 'best woman', because she isn't a particularly girly girl and I don't feel I have enough close friends to justify bridesmaids. And I don't want that big a do, at least not in the terms that I want anything flash - I just want a nice ceremony and a celebration afterwards with my friends and family.

The one thing I would say is use your contacts - my mum made the stationery (place cards, orders of service, invitations, save the date cards, thank you cards etc) for both my sisters' weddings, and my dad's cousin made the brides' and bridesmaids' dresses for both my sisters which considerably slashed the cost. I'm hoping that if I don't get a high street dress that they'll be able to do the same when I get married.

Best of luck!

she_mac

Babe, you need to use ebay to the MAX! Also, check out lightinthebox.com for a massive selection of tailormade wedding dresses under £200. My friend bought hers and her bridesmaids' from there and I was astounded by the finish to them. Even the embroidery looked so perfect.

Check out the DIY projects on marthastewart.com - you'll be very impressed. Maybe open a free wedding website (Wedding Path & Momentville) so you can make the invitations short, sweet and cheap to post (second class!). I used Cute Maps but they might be out of your budget. Record some mixes and plug your ipod into some speakers to save spending on a DJ. Get your mum to bake cupcakes and make the most of any creative friends.

Biggest saver is venue research. Go for a place that doesn't advertised widely as a wedding venue (avoid the mags) as you'll get tied into 'blah' per head etc. We managed to get a castle that had a naf website for £800 and we brought our own booze and caterers in. There are goregous town halls etc around that, with a bit of imagination (and loads of tulle!) you can do up really nicely.

Anyhoo, there's my advice inc just some things I did.....Good Luck and CONGRATULATIONS!

Maydot

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

This may not be a compromise everyone is prepared to make, but Argentinium wedding rings are £14.95 and £19.95 respectively at Argos.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse/ID72/14416988/c_1/1|category_root|Jewellery+and+watches|14416987/c_2/2|14416987|Rings|14416988/r_001/4|Material|Argentium|

http://www.argentiumsilver.com/what-is-argentium/

Our wedding cost £500 but it was a marriage followed by drinks and a nice meal with the small number of people that mattered to us. We didn't feel that we wanted any of the extra bits and bobs.

We bought argentium silver wedding rings from Argos, but they have a diamond inset. They were an absolute bargain and look just like white gold. I don't know how well they will wear but we will replace them as an anniversary present to ourselves if need be. Just couldn't see the point in spending hundreds on a ring that could be better spent elsewhere. Nothing on the rings says they are from Argos either...so what people don't know won't bother them

alec_eiffel

Silaqui wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this board as I've just got engaged, but have been reading up on wedding stuff as my boyfriend has been a groomzilla and sneakily set the date (probably just as well as I'd have forgotten lol). It's not till summer 2012 but I like things organised and out of the way so I don't have to think about things too much!:beer:

Anyway - I have been reading up on here expecting to see MSE weddings for pennies but people seem to be spending thousands and thousands on it! :eek:

Maybe I'm a party pooper but I just don't see the point in spending all that cash on one day? Bf has a big family who need to travel a long way so I know I need to be realistic in terms of supplying food etc for them but I'm hoping to get everything done for less that £1500, preferably less (I'm not paying for their hotels!). Anyone else in this boat? My bloke has started calling me the 'antibride'! :rotfl:

The more I read the more I'm starting to think I'm so not cut out for this wedding stuff... I have no idea about anything because I've never really been interested in it! (Hence wanting the planning out of the way :rotfl:)

Also if anyone is reading this, can you answer the following question... what on earth is a 'save the date'? Is that what used to be called an invitation?

Thanks,
Silaqui

Hi,

DH and I wanted to get married, not to have a wedding. We started planning a traditional wedding and started to feel the stress. So we got married, DH wore his work suit, I got my outfit from the charity shop I worked at, we had two friends as witnesses. The most expensive thing was the meal the four of us went out for the evening before. Oh yeah, our rings cost about £30 each. We spent about £400 in total and that includes two meals for the four of us.

No photos, no guests, no flowers, frock, faff, stress, party or any of that stuff. Just a wedding. And it was great.