Wedding Tips start here...

bigzippy

Mini-Me wrote: »

Debenham's Wrapit offer, register your gift list (store or online) by 1 Nov 08 and you get £100 rather than the usual £50 as a thank you when your guests spend more than £500.

http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&userType=G&categoryId=71606

Make sure you check the T&Cs. Posters on this thread said earlier that you got a £50 voucher when you signed up the wedding list there - it seems Debenhams have wised up and have made it conditional on how well used the list was.

Bang goes my idea of getting a free voucher to pay towards a BM dress :rolleyes:

Ashabumbleb

This is just a little something to think about, if perhaps you are pregnant when getting married, or plan to have children, and will have them christened. You have dished out on a beautiful wedding dress and can't bring yourself to actually get rid of it. How many babies can you fit in it?!

My aunt had twins about a year after her wedding, and rather than finding a nice outfit for the two of them, she had something made for each one using her wedding dress. She had one boy and one girl, and they looked ever so cute. She didn't have to fork out for nice outfits or buy any material, and I think for her it made the experience even more special.

Not really wedding related at all, but an idea for the future if you have bought your dress and don't really know what to do with it. x x

bettyboo76

I new to all this.I am getting married this time next year in Gretna Green I have booked the venue and the accomodation.Dont know if I can save on anything up there as I am quite far away in Wales.I would like to be able to save on the party when I get back.Any ideas for decor and food would be appreciated.I hope to have black and white decor.

dawnclaire

Hi there,
Have been browsing on ebay for wedding and bridesmaids' dresses (had been looking for nearly new) but found HUNDREDS of made to order frocks from China. Pictures all look lovely, although with western looking models in them so not sure they're of the actual dresses, and prices are ok, feedback generally good, blah blah.
What I'd like to know is, has anyone brought one of these and how did it go? And, having watched the recent swathe of "sweatshop" programmes on TV, should I expect that these dresses are produced any less ethically than the 600 pound ones 'made in China' in my local wedding retailers?
Thanks,
Dawn

maccaandclaire

bettyboo76 wrote: »

I new to all this.I am getting married this time next year in Gretna Green I have booked the venue and the accomodation.Dont know if I can save on anything up there as I am quite far away in Wales.I would like to be able to save on the party when I get back.Any ideas for decor and food would be appreciated.I hope to have black and white decor.

Hey, I also live in Wales and I am getting married next May. Where about in Wales do you live? I live in Cwmbran and if your anywhere near there I can give you contact details for a lady who decorates using balloons from £3.95 per table for 3 balloons and a weight!!
Let me know! :-)

bigzippy

bettyboo76 wrote: »

I new to all this.I am getting married this time next year in Gretna Green I have booked the venue and the accomodation.Dont know if I can save on anything up there as I am quite far away in Wales.I would like to be able to save on the party when I get back.Any ideas for decor and food would be appreciated.I hope to have black and white decor.

What kind of thing do you want for the decor? Flowers? Balloons? something different...?

If you're going for balloons (I'm having some too) I would just get a helium canister and some balloons (make sure they're the right type for helium) - Country Basket do the helium for approx £20 and the packs of balloons are only a couple of quid!

As for flowers as centrepieces - try a fishbowl type vase filled with water and submerged flowers - you only need one or two. Or go for a single stem in a really pretty but simple vase - something like a milk bottle looks great.

If you're looking to save money the best thing is to do it all (or as much as possible) yourself! I'd recommend scanning through the previous 105(!) pages to pick up ideas too

bigzippy

dawnclaire wrote: »

Hi there,
Have been browsing on ebay for wedding and bridesmaids' dresses (had been looking for nearly new) but found HUNDREDS of made to order frocks from China. Pictures all look lovely, although with western looking models in them so not sure they're of the actual dresses, and prices are ok, feedback generally good, blah blah.
What I'd like to know is, has anyone brought one of these and how did it go? And, having watched the recent swathe of "sweatshop" programmes on TV, should I expect that these dresses are produced any less ethically than the 600 pound ones 'made in China' in my local wedding retailers?
Thanks,
Dawn

I was worried about that too but there are lots of people on here that have used sellers on ebay for made-to-measure dresses from China. Some of them even posted pics and they all seem to have come out brilliantly! I suspect that the ones sold on ebay are more ethically produced as they have the control over who they're selling to...?

I think it must be worth a punt... but if you're a bit of a control freak (like me!) then perhaps choosing a local dressmaker would be a better cost effecient choice..?

paddingtondoo

bigzippy wrote: »

I was worried about that too but there are lots of people on here that have used sellers on ebay for made-to-measure dresses from China. Some of them even posted pics and they all seem to have come out brilliantly! I suspect that the ones sold on ebay are more ethically produced as they have the control over who they're selling to...?

I think it must be worth a punt... but if you're a bit of a control freak (like me!) then perhaps choosing a local dressmaker would be a better cost effecient choice..?

I bought mine from Ebay and it was fantastic I got loads of compliments on the day even from complete strangers.

I originally looked in a shop for a dress and found out these were imported from China anyway.

My choice was pay £92 direct to seller in China or pay £595 for same dress but without detachable train and extra for alterations. If the same amount had gone to China (possibly not as discount for bulk purchase to shop) then someone was making £500 out of me that I could spend on my guests at the reception.

Wasn't a very difficult choice for me strangely enough

L_Lo

I'm currently planning our wedding for next year. I am also moving to the US at this time to so it's going to be a very low budget affair. There will only be a handful of people due to the location so we are not having a reception but a meal afterwards instead.

Dress - If anyone has a dressmaker or fancies making their own dress, there are some fabulous patterns out there and material can be bought quite cheaply. I'm going for a dress just below the knee and the total will come to around £50. Then you can go to a haberdashery and buy embellishments to be sewn on. This way you get the dress you designed yourself.

Shoes - it's worth checking the sales. I've just bought my wedding shoes this weekend from Barratts reduced from £30 to £17. Matching bags are also reduced down to £10.

Rings - I have always wanted a platinum ring but they are so expensive in high street stores. I came across this site http://www.bandsoflove.co.uk/ where the platinum rings start from £169.99. They do a range of styles, widths and weights and do engraving and free delivery. They also do regular gold and white gold.

Flowers - Go for silk as they last much longer and will give you a permanent reminder of your day. This site http://www.silkweddingdesigns.com/ has some very affordable flowers and will also do packages from £99.99

Bridesmade - I am having one bridesmaid so will allocate her a budget for the dress. She will also get a corsage from the site above for about £8.

For the venue we are using a military chapel so that will be free. If any of you have military partners some stations have chapels and churches so it might be worth asking them to perform the ceremony. You may even get the flowers free from the stations wives club.

maccaandclaire

Hey L Lo thanks for that wicked link to the silkweddingdesigns, they have amazing flowes. I think i will def get something from there as I have been quoted £70 just for my boquet and want to keep it and not have it dead in a couple of days!! Oh and its half the price too!

Thanks agaiN!