Wedding Tips start here...

mrschapman2be

Thanks I might give that a go. Manchester isnt too far, I wouldnt mind that actually. I might also try Barnardo's I think there is one fairly near to my parents. Apparently they have a bridal section, so I reckon there might be a nice range of sizes in there. Only problem I can see, is that when I come to have fittings done, I will have to go to and from Manchester quite a bit. I'll have to do some thinking.
Thanks for your help xxx

princessnicky

mrschapman2be; my wedding dress is a size 18 and from Bride be lovely 30 high st, Manchester (0161 834 4185). They generally have all dresses in 2 sizes 10 and 16 the assistants are lovely and have a wide selection of dresses (alice James in the main designer that they stock) just search google for Alice James and they have a good website with pictures of dresses and bridal gowns - I was also able to order my bridesmaid dresses from there too all the dresses come in every colour imaginble and you can order extra material for waistcoats and cravats if you want - I have ordered some for cravats so everything matches perfectly. My dress was very reasonable at just under £600 but they have dresses starting from £350 - hope this helps xx

*ps _ I am sure that they stock other designers too - also berkatex in Manchester ladies that work there are lovely and they have regular sales although there dresses are more around the £1000 mark x

svjenni

i am a similar sizeand there are quite a few places in leeds/ bradford which is a bit closer- you are better off ringing around them all and you'll get an idea of how friendly they are as well as their sample sizes.i'm pretty sure there is a specialist bigger ladies shop in yorkshire too which will probably leave you feeling like a waife as there samples are 20+

i'll see if i can find it...

http://www.thebigdayuk.com/ this one in castleford

http://www.celebrationsbridalshop.co.uk/ this one is closer, ossett

p.s. you don't need a plus size place but it might help boost your confidence a bit and these 2 will have lots that you can try

calico852

Hi Everyone!

I work for a professional, designer florist in London and we've come to realise most people don't want extortionate bills for flowers at their wedding.

So what we've done is assembled a one day crash course in wedding floristry. This way you can save money (and even buy from our supplier for your day at discounted prices) whilst ensuring the quality of your flowers isn't affected. It does cost £68.75 to attend, but this covers all the flowers you'll use to create a brides bouquet, a table arrangement and a buttonhole. You can take these home to keep. You can even record the lesson on your phone or camera so you can remember the steps when it comes to preparing for the special day.

The average cost of wedding flowers is between £600 - £1000. If you learn how to do these all yourself with the training of our head florist, you will be saving up to £800!

1 Day Wedding Floristry Crash Course in London
Availability: 10 people per course

Our wedding crash course is aimed at people wanting to purchase and create their own flower arrangements for their wedding!

Starting with an early morning trip to our supplier, we will give advice to which flowers are the best value for money. You will be shown which flowers are seasonal and when, and therefore cheaper for your wedding.

There we can also explore different types of vases and floral decoration. We then head to our studio and show you how to create the typical types of flowers for a wedding – button holes, bride’s bouquet and a table arrangement.

If you would like to attend our 1 day wedding crash course, please contact us for more information on 020 7737 1166. Alternatively, if you wish to place a private booking we can tailor the package to suit your needs, for example, teach you how to make a more complex pedestal or candelabra arrangement.

June 11th 8:00 am – 3:00pm
July 2nd 8:00 am – 3:00pm
July 30th 8:00 am – 3:00pm
August 13th 8:00 am – 3:00pm

Our website is todichfloraldesign.co.uk and you can have a look at some of our gallery images to see what standard of floral design we can teach you so you can ultimately save money.

calico852

Dear mrs chapman2be,

thebridalwearcompany.co.uk provide quite a few sizes all the way up to 28, might be worth having a look there!

mrschapman2be

Hi All
I have searched the net extensively and am thinking now that Manchester may be too far, in terms of getting there for fittings for my dress etc. I am now going to try the Barnardo's shop in London, and a few others. I have managed to find an excellent shop in Sheffield also, which I would recommend to anyone, as they go through the whole process with you (e.g putting you in a veil, bustier, hoop, nets, tiara THE LOT!) plus they also do the back of the dress up with a modesty panel if its a little small. They were amazing! Really went out of there way to get me into a dress that I loved - best of all it was £495 - its cheap as chips lol!:j
As for the rest of the wedding........

• Having a small garden house type venue, in the grounds of a beautiful hotel £500 room hire for day and night.
• Having BBQ instead of the usual sit down, 3 or 4 course meal. But will still be nice, still having it sat at tables, but will be informal, with salad, bbq meats, fresh bread,potatoes etc. Works out at £30 per head instead of their £60 per head 'fancy dinner'. My Nan will LOVE it!
• Holding the wedding on Friday 25th June 2010, so will be weekday prices instead off expensive Saturdays!!
• Sister in law to be is lending me tonnes of wedding stuff from her big day last year. Hoop & Tiara, shoes, bag and her contacts list - v.usefull!:p
• Have had to make the ultimate sacrifice by cutting our guest list in half during the day to save money. Im having 15 & h2b is having 25 as his family are bigger. Only way to save though!
• Printing out my own invites/stationary with a template I found on internet somewhere on my surfing travels. Only Im wondering wether I need a table plan? Were only having 40ppl in total? Do we need it?
• We are lucky as my in laws are insisting on paying for honeymoon -giving us £4000 budget to play with. Not sure where were going but I hate flying so will be fairly short flight I hope - any ideas anyone? Needs to be around 3hrs or less!!

Fingers crossed should go to plan, budget is around £7000 but were still adjusting. Photographer is £1300 alone!! But he's worth every penny!
Thanks for all your advice, its v.helpfull!!:T

Meenu

U could order them from India my sisters ones cost 5p-20p and they were very ornate

sunshinejoclaire

the average cost of flowers is £600 - £1000? At what kind of wedding.. a royal one?

Most of the quotes I got were £150-£300.. even then I decided that was far to expensive!

brownbabygirl

sunshinejoclaire wrote: »

the average cost of flowers is £600 - £1000? At what kind of wedding.. a royal one?

Most of the quotes I got were £150-£300.. even then I decided that was far to expensive!

:T not to mention she isnt allowed to advertise here

northernflasher

Meenu, could you give me a website or email for your sisters contact in India. I have contacted a few people in India before about invites but they either refused to deal with me or seemed very unreliable.