Wedding Tips start here...

jiblets1

saraht wrote:

Hello,

The venues in my area where you can have a civil ceremony and reception on the same site are all pretty expensive, so to try to keep to our budget I am thinking of going ahead with the venue which seems just perfect, and they let you use your own caterers and supply drink with no corkage fee. So, we were thinking that we could get married later in the day and just have a buffet for the meal as a sit down meal would be out of the budget with the venue hire being so high. But would it feel a bit wrong to have the only meal, do you think? And how do you think we could get the speeches in/ at what time this way?

Finding it so hard to get my head around all this, any comments gratefully received, sarah

That's what we're doing Sarah. We've decided to get married at 4, and we are asking the evening guests to arrive prompt for 7 if they want to hear the speeches. We will do those, and then go straight into the buffet. It's saving us thousands (not paying for a daytime meal) and we think 3 hours should be enough time for service and photos. And maybe a minute's sit down?!?

Nothing is "wrong" if it's the way you want it. I think people are much more keen to fall into whatever the bride and groom want than people think. And if they moan about it just ignore them. It's important to start as you mean to go on. If you start off trying to satisfy other people you will end up constantly running between different ideas and your wedding won't be cohesive. Keep it the way you and your hubby to be want it and it will be perfect!

Good luck.;)

Rachie_B

sounds perfect jiblets

sarah dont fret about it more and more couples are favouring a later ceremony and only the one meal


enjoy the planning

Rachie_B

Melissa_Hewett wrote:

After being engaged for 2 years, my partner and i have now set a date, giving us a timescale for savings. We are getting married in Ascot, Berkshire on the 06 February 2010.

Here is my budget so far:
What Price
Venue for wedding and party 1000.00Chair Cover 40 @ 4.00e 160.00
DJ 7-12pm (5 Hours ) 310.00
Champagne on arrival 50 ppl @ 4.75 champagne, 20 @1.30 orange 263.50
Champagne toast 70 ppl @ 4.75 champagne 332.50
"Buffet" 50 people @ 13ea 650.00
Registrar Bracknell Forest 322.00
Guest Book 15.00
Cars 150.00
Hotel for 1 night 250.00
Inivtations 40 Day / 30 Evening 158.00
Order of Service? 40 86.00
Balloons 500.00
Table Confetti 60.00
Cake 50 cup cakes-£5.00ea 250.00
Wedding Rings 380.00
Dress 600.00
Tiara 100.00
Hair & make-up Hair & Make-up trial & Day 200.00
Nails Full Set 45.00
Suit Hire a Full suit 100.00
Best Man suit 100.00
Shaun shoes £50 shoes 50.00
Flowers Bridal Bouquet-£70
4xbutton holes-£4.50ea
3xcorsages-£10ea
3x Table arrangement-£60ea flowers-298.00
Photographer 900.00
Fireworks Show 8 mins 600.00

Grand Total! 7880.00

Have i missed anything?

The basic plan for the day is to get married with 40 guests around 5:00pm then have photos and chat, the rest of the guests arrive at 6:30pm the party starts, buffet around 8:00pm.

Is this realistic?

Thanks

:eek: wow

ok where you can cut back

hotel £250?!!

hair & make up £200 ?? mine was £50 and that included trials !

balloons £500 :eek: just go for the flowers much much nicer IMO

fireworks ?! not really needed and you may find not many people actually go out to see them ,therefore a waste of money ?

chair covers ? not really needed,no one looks at the chairs apart from the bride a piece of voile tied i na bow is just as effective IMO

£60 on table confetti ?! again not really needed,less is more

of course you have loads of time to save for these things if you *really* want them ,but honestly you dont really *need* them and could really cut down your budget

things youve not mentioned : gifts for the wedding party ?
honeymoon?
hen & stag dos ?

schemadesign

anyone got any ideas of a photographer in Oxford?

VickyA_2

My friend had this photographer, who is based just outside Oxford:

http://www.robertjamesstudio.co.uk/

I don't know what he charged, but their photos are lovely. PM me if you want me to send you the details to look at their photos.

Emms

Melissa_Hewett wrote:

After being engaged for 2 years, my partner and i have now set a date, giving us a timescale for savings. We are getting married in Ascot, Berkshire on the 06 February 2010.

Here is my budget so far:
What Price
Venue for wedding and party 1000.00Chair Cover 40 @ 4.00e 160.00
DJ 7-12pm (5 Hours ) 310.00
Champagne on arrival 50 ppl @ 4.75 champagne, 20 @1.30 orange 263.50
Champagne toast 70 ppl @ 4.75 champagne 332.50
"Buffet" 50 people @ 13ea 650.00
Registrar Bracknell Forest 322.00
Guest Book 15.00
Cars 150.00
Hotel for 1 night 250.00
Inivtations 40 Day / 30 Evening 158.00
Order of Service? 40 86.00
Balloons 500.00
Table Confetti 60.00
Cake 50 cup cakes-£5.00ea 250.00
Wedding Rings 380.00
Dress 600.00
Tiara 100.00
Hair & make-up Hair & Make-up trial & Day 200.00
Nails Full Set 45.00
Suit Hire a Full suit 100.00
Best Man suit 100.00
Shaun shoes £50 shoes 50.00
Flowers Bridal Bouquet-£70
4xbutton holes-£4.50ea
3xcorsages-£10ea
3x Table arrangement-£60ea flowers-298.00
Photographer 900.00
Fireworks Show 8 mins 600.00

Grand Total! 7880.00

Have i missed anything?

The basic plan for the day is to get married with 40 guests around 5:00pm then have photos and chat, the rest of the guests arrive at 6:30pm the party starts, buffet around 8:00pm.

Is this realistic?

Thanks

Ok so things I think your paying/quoting far too much for are.

Drinks. Do you realise that you have £600 there for 70 people to have 2 drinks each!!

£160 for chair covers. Im sure you could get them much cheaper than that if you really really want them but have a look at the chairs that your venue has. If its the kinda place that charges £250 for a room for a night (which is another matter! ) then I would expect them to have nice chairs.

Ok so the £250 for the room. I assume thats your room for the wedding night. Im getting married next year and our room is free. It would need to be a heck of a room to pay that much for it for one night too.

£244 for invitations. That seems quite excessive for what really is just a bit of card. Im making ours. We got the card for free and im buying the envelopes so total cost will be about £30.

£600 for fireworks for 8 minutes! Im in the wrong line of work me thinks! If your having these at the end of the day, quite a lot of folk might have already left and miss them or be too drunk to remember.

£900 for photographer. Mine is £250 and that includes 20 prints I think.

£500 for balloons. Im getting mine off ebay for the cost of about £30 and me and my mum and bridesmaid are going to decorate the room the morning of the wedding.

£300 flowers. Im getting a silk flower bouquet and table flowers to match all from ebay and can sell them all on again after and I wont be spending anymore than £50 on the lot.

Are you getting married in the same place as the reception? If its all in a hotel then check if they provide the orders of service, im sure mine does. Were only getting charged for the cost of hiring the room for the actual service. The meal and reception rooms are free as we are paying for food and they said even if we were only having a buffet we still wouldnt be charged for the room.

You have only costed for 50 people for the buffet. If having a meal and a buffet then generally you only cost for 75% of the number of people but if you are having the buffet as the wedding meal then I would cost for more than this as if your evening guests are arriving at 6:30 then they most probably wont have eaten before hand.

If you really want to save money then you could prob cut your whole cost in half at least.

Emma

feesh

The cheapest chair covers I could find were about £3 from https://www.coveredwithclass.co.uk they seem to be very helpful and reliable

Unknown1234_2

Rachie_B wrote:

:eek: wow

ok where you can cut back

hotel £250?!!- we might not be having a honeymoon for a few years so found a very luxury hotel for the night.

hair & make up £200 ?? mine was £50 and that included trials ! i have quite long hair but will try and get it cheaper.

balloons £500 :eek: just go for the flowers much much nicer IMO Your right

fireworks ?! not really needed and you may find not many people actually go out to see them ,therefore a waste of money ? Ive always really liked fireworks and had them at my birthdays, still need to find out if the venue will allow them, but i will think about them and whether theyre really needed: )

chair covers ? not really needed,no one looks at the chairs apart from the bride a piece of voile tied i na bow is just as effective IMO Im having a very silver white and cream theme, the chairs are gold and red, just think that it would ruin the effect with the flowers etc.

£60 on table confetti ?! again not really needed,less is more it was more table decoration but will reconsider

of course you have loads of time to save for these things if you *really* want them ,but honestly you dont really *need* them and could really cut down your budget if we cut down the budget enough we can have a honey moon!

things youve not mentioned : gifts for the wedding party ? Not doing them
honeymoon? only if we can afford it
hen & stag dos ?

nothing special just a night out

Unknown1234_2

Emms wrote:

Ok so things I think your paying/quoting far too much for are.

Drinks. Do you realise that you have £600 there for 70 people to have 2 drinks each!! Thats the venue prices im afraid

£160 for chair covers. Im sure you could get them much cheaper than that if you really really want them but have a look at the chairs that your venue has. If its the kinda place that charges £250 for a room for a night (which is another matter! ) then I would expect them to have nice chairs. They are nice chaurs just would ruin the look we are going for

Ok so the £250 for the room. I assume thats your room for the wedding night. Im getting married next year and our room is free. It would need to be a heck of a room to pay that much for it for one night too. we may not be having a honeymoon hence the expensive room

£244 for invitations. That seems quite excessive for what really is just a bit of card. Im making ours. We got the card for free and im buying the envelopes so total cost will be about £30. Something to think about

£600 for fireworks for 8 minutes! Im in the wrong line of work me thinks! If your having these at the end of the day, quite a lot of folk might have already left and miss them or be too drunk to remember.

£900 for photographer. Mine is £250 and that includes 20 prints I think. Im in Ascot which is quite an expensive area, there is no way we could get a photographer for that kind of money.

£500 for balloons. Im getting mine off ebay for the cost of about £30 and me and my mum and bridesmaid are going to decorate the room the morning of the wedding.-will cut this down : )

£300 flowers. Im getting a silk flower bouquet and table flowers to match all from ebay and can sell them all on again after and I wont be spending anymore than £50 on the lot. I would like real flowers, i want calla lillys and i havent liked any of silk ones i have seen

Are you getting married in the same place as the reception? If its all in a hotel then check if they provide the orders of service, im sure mine does. Were only getting charged for the cost of hiring the room for the actual service. The meal and reception rooms are free as we are paying for food and they said even if we were only having a buffet we still wouldnt be charged for the room.-Yes getting married in the same place as reception, its 1000 to hire the whole venue and an etra £250 for the civil ceremony room hire.

You have only costed for 50 people for the buffet. If having a meal and a buffet then generally you only cost for 75% of the number of people but if you are having the buffet as the wedding meal then I would cost for more than this as if your evening guests are arriving at 6:30 then they most probably wont have eaten before hand. We are just doing a buffet in the evening.

If you really want to save money then you could prob cut your whole cost in half at least.

Emma

Thankyou for all your thoughts though, gets me thinking!

Rachie_B

awww i really think its worth cutting out the things you dont really *need* and having a honeymoon instead :beer:

no one will remember the fireworks etc in months to come after the big day,but you and your H2B will always remember your honeymoon ! :smileyhea

another way of cutting cost it to have sparkling wine for the toast instead of champers

many wont notice the difference :rotfl: