December 2011 Wedding Planning thread :)

Dekazer

Hi All,

I thought now would be a good time to start a thread about december 2011 weddings. It's more than a year to go, so we've got plenty of time (I hope!).

One thing I'm really keen to start thinking about is the fact that December is Christmas month (and Yule, Hannukah, although not Diwali which is very late November next year..)

It struck me the other day that a lot of the last minute things that you might buy right before a wedding might be seasonal, and therefore going on sale after Xmas. The only problem is I'm not organised yet and don't know what I could usefully buy and stockpile (wrapping paper? baubles? cards? decorations?). We've got a few weeks to get thinking... This could also be a good place to share good bargains come Boxing day!

I also can't find a December 2010 thread, so I'd be really interested to hear other people's thoughts about near-Xmas weddings.

Possible money saving advantages I can think of
- venues prepared for large Xmas parties (set menues etc) which might be cheaper)
- decorations already everywhere
- Christmas things tend to be heavily discounted after December 25th

Possible money spending disadvantages
- Bookings made far in advance
- Prices higher than 'off peak' times
- It's a busy and expensive time so people might struggle to travel/buy gifts/pay for accommodation

Any other ideas?

Lucy

PS There are already some useful things in here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/477866

binkyboo_2

we do have a december 2010 thread somewhere as I am a december 2010 bride! I'm rubbish at finding threads though.
My date is december 3rd so not too close too christmas. We decided that the decor in the venue will be enough for us so aren't adding any extra christmassy stuff apart from mini stockings for the kids favours and we are having roast turkey carvery for our meal. We are having our date because they are having christmas party nights at the venue every weekend leading up to christmas.
I think if you want a real christmas theme then you could go crazy in the january sales and have some lovely centerpieces made from baubles, have decorations for wedding favours, even get someone to dress up as santa to hand out the favours to the kids etc.
our day was booked 'off package' we just asked for what we wanted and they priced it up. We are getting the ceremony room prepared for free, free room hire for the day and night, starter, carvery main course, dessert and coffee for 70 and evening buffet of bacon and sausage sarnies for around £1500 then we are spending a further £400 on corkage fees to bring in around 50 bottles of wine and champagne for a drinks reception, meal and toast. Just be careful if you are booking things like bands as they get booked up quickly for december with chritmas parties.

fly_dragon_fly

on page 3 haha x - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2327899

come December the 19th i will have about 100 white baubles for sale, 75 silver bauble place name holders for sale, 10 goldfish bowls, 10 mirror tiles, 5 Christmas trees, 10 white large lanterns, 25 small lanterns and erm i think thats it haha if anyone wants them for cheap pm nearer the date

i am getting married on the 18th of december this year and although is a polka dot themed wedding i will be having bauble centre pieces / baubles place name holders , baubles hanging from the stairway etc but will be in keeping with the red and white polka dot theme x

Dekazer

Ooh, really helpful, good to read through the other thread. Couldn't find it earlier - it's not in the monthly wedding threads post

We had a chat last night and decided to try to get a date booked in this month (Nov) if we can, so that we can announce our engagement and include a 'save the date' in Xmas cards next month. Not quite sure that'll work out though. We always secretly wanted not to have an engagement as such, but just to send out invitations 3 months in advance and be done with it Still, since we'll be sending cards to so many of our intended guests anyway...

I'm looking forward to the sales more than Xmas this year I think!

Nippstar

I'm a Dec 2011 bride!!

So far got church and reception venues booked, also have beeeaaautiful dress hanging sadly in a wardrobe at my mum's house.

We opted for a Friday wedding (2/12/2011). The minister or the church had already been reserved for more festive events for the Saturdays. We priced hotel venues, but with xmas party night bookings etc., the prices had rocketed. Luckily we got a stunning little castle nearby which has 11 bedrooms within it. The other bonus to this is that I supply caterers and booze which gives me complete control of budget. Can also take advantage of any fab drink offers the supermarkets have on and stock up over the year

susannthe3cs

I'm A lurker not a poster well until now I'm a December 11 Bride
03/11/2011 @ Gretna green quite a small doo 30 adults 10 children but am planning on having a reception near home the weekend after for people im not inviting to Gretna
So far have booked package at Gretna and paid deposit
so any help advise and money saving tips would be greatly welcomed

Dekazer

Like the 2 weddings idea susann! We went to some friends' wedding party after they eloped to Vegas and it was great. The highlight was watching the video of the marriage and laughing at them both being so embarrassed by the sound of their own voices on tape

susannthe3cs

Thank You I'm hopping I can pull it off

Dekazer

Ooh, exciting. Not only have we now told (pretty much) all our friends and family, and got the rings, I have now bought the first wedding related item! Christmas bauble place card holders in the M&S sale. I had seen them before Xmas and could only hope they'd end up in the sale and there would be enough left. There were only 3 packs of 8 in the shop I visited, but my wonderful Mum went to her local branch and picked up another 18 packs!

Also, my wonderful father offered to help towards a honeymoon - the one thing we were planning not to spend much on. Now we think we might actually be able to do something we'll find exciting as well as having a wee private getaway. I'll still be moneysaving on my Dad's behalf though - he likes a true bargain as much as the next person

The next priority is the venue. I really want to get it booked soon so that we can confirm the date with people, but I'm nervous. The only 2 places I've really liked so far were either above budget or not available on our preferred date. The search continues...

Dekazer

Eep, loving the post-Xmas sales! Just got table centrepiece decorations (bauble piles ) cheap.

Have just had idea of getting make your own crackers for favours, but not sure what I'd put in them. I have seen some regular crackers on discount, but not sure I can really be bothered to get them in advance - we'll run out of storage space if we're not careful!

emz118

My Mum and Nan both make their own crackers every year.

Mum puts in a miniature bottle of alcohol and Nanny puts in different each year. This year was a little tube of hand cream and a nail file, with hankies for the men.

They also both put in a lottery scratch card and a 2p to scratch it with!!!

If you decide to buy the make your own crackers though, I would wait for next year. Mum bought them in the sales a couple of years ago and none of the bangers worked by the time we used them a year later.