BIG wedding tiny budget!

Rotherham_Lass

Not sure where you are in the country but if you are anywhere near a Monsoon outlet shop (my nearest is Casleford West Yorks) they do wedding dresses for around £60 - 70% off!!:j They had loads of different styles at the weekend. They also do dresses suitable for bridesmaids both old and young.

You do have to check through them for marks etc but they are excellent value if you find a good one.

workinginoz

Are you near a big hotel chain?
A lot of the big hotels are doing weddings for a grand. For example the Holiday Inn do one for 999 pounds per 30 people and there was another I saw did 1000 for 45 people. You can double or triple this and pay the fee minus the DJ and other bits...

We looked into it for ours but in the end have decided on a meal for 45 right after the service, then a party elsewhere. All bit random but his family are kindly paying for the meal, so we can actually now say right, let's go to our fave restaurant and stuff it.

I am amazed people are saying the church is cheaper than the civil service - our registry office is only costing 200 pounds including all the fees.
Remember lots of venues will wave any ceremony hire charges for a midweek wedding also.

workinginoz

Oops - sorry _ missed the post about you having booked the venue!

Well done!

Now the good stuff of the dress hunting and hen parties and other fun begins!

Sammy85_2

skyvicky123 wrote: »

Will need to think about a coach to take people to te church as there is little parking.

I really wouldnt worry about it.

Our church had no parking and i worried about how guests would get there and if they would struggle etc. I looked at putting a bus on but it was just too expensive. Most people came by taxi in the end or car shared doing a couple runs.

Rhonda1523

I found the style of dress that I wanted and then got one for a quarter of it's cost by buying online, myweddingdressforless (can't post links yet) make custom made dresses in lots of styles. I was nervous but the quality and detailing was fabulous, the communication with the maker was brilliant and the delivery was fast and best of all free! My dress arrived in about 4 weeks from ordering and fits like a glove.

Hope this helps someone!

maggie_12

Hi there!

A few suggestions as I'm on a budget of just £2,500 with 80 to 85 folk for the entire day.

1 - Think about a hot buffet instead of a sit down meal? I saved over £5 per head opting for that. I know you don't want to be too informal but it's an option!
2 - Ebay - I bought an original Vera Wang dress on ebay for £200 and it's stunning. So keep an eye out for bargains. 'The dress' doesn't mean that it has to cost a fortune. I know in my heart and soul this £200 dress got me more excited than any other dress I had tried on in a shop.
3 - Bridesmaid dresses - again try ebay or preloved.co.uk
4 - Favours (I don't mean the gift kind I mean calling in the favours!) - invite people to get involved and help out with any skills they can. Like you've done with your photographers. My mother in law is doing the invitations, order of services and place cards. I have a friend doing favours and helping with flowers (the silk kind from the wholesalers).
5 - Option of close family paying for a small part of the wedding instead of buying a gift. My friend is paying for my piper (Scottish wedding) and her husband who works for a bus company is providing a free bus. My other friend would like to help pay for my cake.
6 - Has anyone else you know been married recently? You could borrow bits and pieces they have left over like table centre pieces etc

It's perfectly do-able. I see you have some debt and £7k is a good sized budget, I think if you're savvy you could bring the cost of the wedding down even further and pay off a wee bit more of your debt with what's left from the original budget.

Good luck!!!!!

x

vax2002

A good tip is some venues will let you have the room for free including a lot of wmc type clubs just for using the bar.
You can book a DJ but get them to quote for a party, use the "W" word and the price trebles for the same show.
If he moans, you said a party, say yes it is a party a wedding party...
A good local band can break the night up, no need for one of those mushy sticker wedding type bands, playing band of gold and number in red book that the hotels book, go see some local covers bands at venues, they are some really cracking bands out there for around £300 mark that can turn a long night in to a show.
On the sit down meal, agree all those huge roast taties and fatty meat just send everyone to sleep, even the best are like a bad Christmas dinner at school. Send everyone home at tea time and bring them back for the night do.

skyvicky123

Hi all, just popped in to check and people are still posting their ideas. Thanks so much!

We have (now) decided that we will have a hot buffet of paella, with cold tapas (bread, olives, chorizo etc) on the table and people going to get their meal from the paella station. Reckon this can be done for £14 to £18 per head based on quotes so far.

Then a hog roast in the evening!

This seems to be the best way to keep the food costs down and still provide something we are comfortable with.

Luckily our venue allow us to bring our own wine and champagne and charge us corkage of just £2.50 per bottle which is brilliant.

Just chosen my hymns and a reading and watching a dress on ebay that finishes in 3 days.

Spoke to local nursery who's staff I know and hiring two of them to provide a babysitting service in a separate room for the evening if anybody wants to use it!

Thanks for all the advice. I still feel slightly panicky (okay very panicky) about the millions of little details. Sometimes I just want to bury my head in the sand and ignore the whole thing. Is that awful??:(

jellytot83

skyvicky123 wrote: »

Hi all, just popped in to check and people are still posting their ideas. Thanks so much!

We have (now) decided that we will have a hot buffet of paella, with cold tapas (bread, olives, chorizo etc) on the table and people going to get their meal from the paella station. Reckon this can be done for £14 to £18 per head based on quotes so far.

Then a hog roast in the evening!

This seems to be the best way to keep the food costs down and still provide something we are comfortable with.

Luckily our venue allow us to bring our own wine and champagne and charge us corkage of just £2.50 per bottle which is brilliant.

Just chosen my hymns and a reading and watching a dress on ebay that finishes in 3 days.

Spoke to local nursery who's staff I know and hiring two of them to provide a babysitting service in a separate room for the evening if anybody wants to use it!

Thanks for all the advice. I still feel slightly panicky (okay very panicky) about the millions of little details. Sometimes I just want to bury my head in the sand and ignore the whole thing. Is that awful??:(

Hi,

We're thinking of doing Paella etc too - can I be cheeky and ask who you're using?

Cheers

JT

skyvicky123

Hi Jellytot, we didnt go for a paella specialist, just a local catering firm. Touch of Class Catering. We had a tasting last week and it was delicious and very authentic!

Further updates...dress bought in sale for £390 plus cleaning and repairs (was an ex sample) Bridesmaid dresses being made (and material paid for) by MIL which is very generous of her!

Still need to sort out the invites...