Wedding on a Shoestring budget?

ellay864

There are some real horror stories, though some have had real good finds. Try looking for places selling sample dresses...some real bargains to be had there. Oxfam also do new dresses - think they're often sample ones, you can find them online and in some stores

mouldylocks

Check local pubs - they are all struggling and ours will provide balloons, decs, AND complimentary buffet (sandwiches, sausage rolls, chicken wings etc) to get the drinks business.
No free bar, but 4 cases of good cava/prosecco from Tesco online will be enough for 144 toasts - about £136
Check out Debenhams and BHS online for cheap wedding dresses and shoes you can return if they dont fit.
If anyone you know can follow a SIMPLE recipe, get them to make and freeze un-iced cupcakes which can be decorated simply the day before with pourable icing and cheap sugar flowers.
Voile and net are cheap as chips online if you fancy draping a venue.
If you have an early morning wholesale flower market, get someone to get your flowers there the day before.
Although some people are sniffy about gift registries and 'asking for money' they are a fact of life. Try Just the Thing online. You can set up a free webpage and have a gift list that offers 'Airfares to Greece 20 gifts at £20' or 'Dinner for two on Honeymoon 2 gifts at £30' for example. The site has loads of examples you can follow.
If you stick to your budget you will be so proud of yourself, and it will make the day, knowing you haven't wasted money that could help you set up home. Best of luck!!:)

The_Next_Verse

We did our wedding on a shoestring budget too and really enjoyed it.

My dress was made to measure in China so it fit perfectly for around £180.

We booked the registry office for around £60 for the ceremony, registration and certificates etc.

I did my own makeup, and got a home hairdresser to do my hair for £50.

My dad drove me to the ceremony, and I had one bridesmaid who bought her own dress.

My wedding cake was done by a friend in lieu of a gift.

We booked a room in our local pub for free and all of my guests paid for their own dinner instead of getting us a gift. (We already lived together so didn't need anything and had other commitments which prevented us from going on honeymoon).

Our wedding photos were not done on location, we booked a couples photoshoot after the wedding itself for free (so we only paid for the pictures) - £300 for all of the images and rights to reprint.

We bought fake flowers online for my bouquet which cost around £30.

I can't think of anything else we actually bought for the wedding.

I hope this helps. xx

FatVonD

Consider having your wedding midweek, the registry office will be cheaper and you're more likely to get a venue for free (we had a lovely room in a gorgeous pub for free, we just paid for the buffet.)

My wedding dress was a vintage evening dress and cost £70.

We had cup cakes instead of a wedding cake which works out cheaper.

We only had buttonholes for immediate family and the witnesses.

We had a London black taxi as our wedding car (for free but if even if we'd paid the going rate it would have been cheaper than a limo and some have some lovely ads on them, there was a Ben and Jerry's liveried cab near me that always got tons of bookings for weddings!)

Prosecco instead of champagne!

We put money behind the bar and gave everyone a red ribbon wrist band (to match the theme) so nobody that wasn't in our party could avail themselves of our tab!

A friend agreed to be our DJ for a wedding present.

I'll come back if I can think of anything else!

Edited to add:

If you know where you're going for your honeymoon could you ask for say, Euros (or whatever the local currency is) so it looks a bit more 'special' than hard cash and isn't so easy to calculate what people are giving?

Mrs_P_Pincher

My dress - bridesmaid's dress - £180
Bridesmaid paid for her own dress from per una
Mr P wore his funeral suit and I bought him a tie from Debenhams to match my dress
Underwear BHS
Car to Reg Office - bridesmaid's husband's silver Passat - free
Cakes (2) ASDA - £17
Flowers by a friend
Free room hire at our local with cash bar
Room decorations - friends

and so it went on - seven years later people are still talking about it.

Mrs P P

motherofstudents

Our wedding was done 'on the cheap' as we were very skint at the time. My grandad paid for my wedding dress material and bridesmaid material (from the market) and my friend made the dresses. I had a bouquet of cream roses done by a friend who had just started a floristry business so we had to pay but they were a little bit cheaper and absolutely beautiful. We had a white taxi with a ribbon. I made the 3 tier cake and everyone said it was gorgeous. We had a friend take the photographs and possibly that is the only regret I have because they were ok but it would have been nice to have a few professional ones to look back on. We were churchgoers then so got everything free including the use of the church hall and kitchen. We did our own buffet, friends and family helped.The wedding service itself was very personal with friends doing speeches etc and music performances.
So it was done on a very smalll budget and at the time I didn't give it a thought but over the next few years I started to wonder if people had thought it wasn't very nice. It wasn't until a cousin invited us to her house to see her wedding photos and said how she had thought our wedding was one of the nicest she had been to and how the guests had commented on how much they had enjoyed it. I was so pleased. So, it isn't about the money but about making it special and appropriate to you. Congratulations and however you decide to do it, I hope you enjoy it.

ilovecheese

I got married 7 years ago, and it cost very little:

Dress: €140.00 (brought in Portugal)
Bag and shoes - £30
Husband wore a suit he already had, brought a new tie: £7.00
Rings: £150.00

Registry office - I think this cost about £60.00? can't remember
Cake - sister organised this for me
Flowers - other sister paid for these
Photographs - taken by friend (for free)
Brother in-law drove me to the register office
Invitations: phoned everyone to ask them, as we booked wedding with 3 weeks notice

After we got married we went to our local pub for lunch, we asked all the guests not to buy us gifts, but pay for their own lunch instead.

So in total my wedding cost less than £500, it was totally stress free, and I had a wonderful day.

I understand my wedding would not be someone elses "dream" do, but I never wanted a "big" day, the white dress or the stress and planning for 12 - 24 months.

Whatever you do, I am sure you will have a great day!