Wedding Tips start here...

joolesw1972

Hi all - I've been visiting the site a while & reading this thread on & off over a couple of months! This is my 1st post, I'm planning a civil partnership with my partner for december this year or spring next year, some of the info on here is great, we've looked at a number of options, registry office, venues etc, we want to keep the costs as low as possible, whilst having a fab day with friends & family, doing it as we want, the only firm decisions we've made so far are: we are having a "best woman" each, 7 flower girls (maybe a little excesive but you can't choose between neices & my goddaughter), no wedding cars, not too fussed about a photographer.
looking at venues around York if anyone has good ideas? have found some lovely places but the set menu puts me off, we don't want the formal sit down meal, but some venues will only let you have a buffet if you have a wedding breakfast, my partner really wants to have a ball as the reception, possibly a masked ball, but to me this depends on the right venue!
Thanks for all the tips so far

sillylittlejill

Hi everyone :wave:

Me and OH are looking to get married in the next 2 years and are starting to think about booking things etc etc.
I am going to college in September to study NVQ Level 2 Professional Cookery and my idea is that with help from a few friends that can cook, we could make our own wedding food? Something a bit better than the ol' Peter Kay "vol-au-vants, chicken legs, cheesecake" kind of thing but something we can cook the day before and stick in a fridge (albeit pretty large fridge!) so do you think this is a good idea?
Any suggestions on things that would be good? I am thinking things like pasta salad, bread with different toppings to choose from, chicken legs (okay maybe it will be like Peter Kay!!) but lacking some inspiration at the moment.

Has anyone else done this? How much did they spend? Did they regret it?


thanks
xxx

louisebbctlc

Clare_1980 wrote: »

Hi,
Im new to the site, but panicking over my bridesmaid dresses. I ordered two yesterday from a chinese company, and Im not sure how much import tax I will need to pay (shouldve really checked that out first!!). I want to order my wedding dress from a chinese company too, but need to know whether i will be stung massively for an import tax. Just wondered if anyone else know?

Thanks

Hi I got my wedding dress from china and it was £4.99 for the dress and £75 postage and pack and that was all i paid!

roxalana

SLJ - how about coucous salad, homemade pizzas etc?

I don't think the things peter kay names are necessarily bad - but will obviously be nicer if they are home made - how about quiche?

Otherwise if you had the equipment to reheat (properly) you could do chilli, rice, lasagne etc

I think it is a nice idea if your wedding is later in the day and you have the fridge space, someone to transport etc and helpful friends but I find it takes twice as long as you think so it might depend on your schedule and your reaction to stress

TugaGirl

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading this thread for a while now (it’s long!!!) and just trying to take it all in!
Me and my beautiful husband to be are getting married on the 25th of June 2010 at the thistle hotel in St. Albans.
Very exciting!!
We’ve got a sort of idea of how much we want to spend on the wedding, but we don’t actually have it saved up. We’ve worked it out and we can have the money that we think we are going to spend by February next year, and we were thinking about getting a 0% credit card whilst we save the money up.

In theory this should work.. but, I’m getting a bit scared now… is this not a good idea after all?

showtunesgirl

newbuilder wrote: »

Last time we checked import tax from China was 12% plus 15% VAT on top of the new total (cost + import tax).

Import tax is also added onto postage etc.

It totally depends on if your package is checked or not. My dress wasn't checked!

kelda_shelton

Wow! This was one monster of a thread to get through but have saved some great tips to a word document.

I'm recently engaged and want to try and get married within the next 12-18months. Although not before October as my sister ties the knot then.

I do not want to spend a fortune or get into debt. I would ideally like to do it -all- for under £2K

I'm thinking maybe a country pub for ceremony and a simple meal for at the very most 50 guests and then more guests at night with simple buffet may be a good idea but I'm at a loss as where to look - anyone have any ideas for Ayrshire!?

I want something not tradtional - would love a quirky venue but have no idea what.

And Im not at all girly - the *squeal* factor I'm getting from everyone is starting to get a bit pache for me and I've only been home from holiday for 10 days since we got engaged!!!

Not-in-kansas-anymore

TugaGirl wrote: »

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading this thread for a while now (it’s long!!!) and just trying to take it all in!
Me and my beautiful husband to be are getting married on the 25th of June 2010 at the thistle hotel in St. Albans.
Very exciting!!
We’ve got a sort of idea of how much we want to spend on the wedding, but we don’t actually have it saved up. We’ve worked it out and we can have the money that we think we are going to spend by February next year, and we were thinking about getting a 0% credit card whilst we save the money up.

In theory this should work.. but, I’m getting a bit scared now… is this not a good idea after all?

Hello there I went to a wedding there a few years ago you are so lucky its a lovely place!!! :j
Out of our price league so we have gone with Ramada Jarvis in Watford they cant do enough to help!!!:beer: We are paying in instalments which they are happy for people to do why dont you check with the Noke if you can do it there?

shelley100_2

Hi have just been looking through your post and saw your question on Gretna weddings. Not sure if you will have booked something by now but have you tried places just outside Gretna, like Locherbie, annan or even carlisle or Dumfries a bit further out? I am getting married in Gretna registry office in July and I am having a small meal / reception afterwards in the hotel we are staying in it's in Locherbie called the Sommerton Lodge and they have been great. No hasstles about menus or packages they said just let them know what we want and they will try and do it for us! I tried lots of places in Gretna itself and they were all either fully booked or far too expensive. Good luck with the planning and hope you find somewhere.

tudorfan22

just thought id add a couple of money saving tips i found whilst organising my wedding - ive asked the local floristry college to do my wedding flowers - so much cheaper than a regular florist and i get to help a student (my student is in her 40's) to build up a portfolio and their skills.

also i have booked in for a hair appointment with a snooty hair dressers but i havent told them the hair is for MY wedding, they know its for a wedding, just not mine - the price goes down from £70 for bridal hair to £16 for hair styling!

also im considering getting my make up done for free at a posh counter in boots and buying a mascara or some other product i actually need, but much cheaper than professional make up!