Starting out in life

MattLcfc

I proposed to my Fiance back in June, the following month we moved into a house together which we are renting, and now we're saving like mad to pay for a 2015 wedding & deposit towards buying our own house.

We're starting from scratch and have worked out we can save about £500 a month between us, which would be £12,000 saved in two years time. My parents have pledged to give us £2,000 towards the wedding and another £2,000 as a wedding present, which would mean £16,000 in total. 6K towards the wedding and 10k towards the house.

So the big plan is to get married in June 2015 and then hopefully be in a position to buy around about two years from now, taking advantage of the government scheme where you only need a 5% deposit.

Feels like we're embarking on the impossible right now and it's going to be two years of scrimping and scrapping. So my big question is, do you think it is possible to achieve both with the figures I have mentioned, and any advice from any of you more experienced money-savers?

paulineb_2

Do you need a 6k wedding. It is possible to get married much cheaper than that.

poorly_scammo

You do not need a 6k wedding. See this board for ways to have a great wedding without spending a fortune. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=142

thorsoak

First of all - congratulations!

Yes - you can do it - you're living together now (so saving on travellling to meet up, only one set of living expenses etc). Yes, you will scrimp and save - very little going out, holidays, etc - but you will be saving for a purpose - your future together!

As paulineb says - you don't really need to spend £6k on a wedding - if you are not careful, saving for a wedding can become the be-all and end-all - you start to focus on the One Day - when really it is just a party to celebrate the First Day of your lives together. If you can keep the wedding costs down, you will have more deposit to put down upon your own property.

You can do it!

MattLcfc

paulineb wrote: »

Do you need a 6k wedding. It is possible to get married much cheaper than that.

The place we are looking at booking is £31.50pp for day guest, £8.50pp drinks package and a Hog Roast for 200 people at night for £540. We're working on 85 guest for the day which would mean the venue comes in at £3940, leaving £2k for everything else.

I know it's possible to do cheaper, but there's a balance between doing it cheap and still having the wedding you want

marisco_2

Firstly congratulations on getting engaged. When you say that it feels like you are embarking on the impossible right now, why is that? If you are planning to scrimp and scrap to the level whereby you have no spare money to enjoy life, then saving for your wedding and the deposit on your first home is going to turn into one long hard slog, rather than something you enjoy doing. This time of your lives is special too and for your own sakes I would suggest saving at a pace that means you can afford a good work / home life balance.

It might be worth filling out a statement of affairs, there is a link to this form on the forum. I did this a while back and was amazed at expenses I had overlooked. It helped to give me a far better overall picture of my finances and to take informed decisions.

maman

I'm another that's going to rain on your parade.

You've already taken the decision to rent together. OK that might be for geographical/logistical reasons and I'm sure you're very happy but it would have been far better if you could have stayed with parents while you saved.

So, starting from where you're at it would be madness IMO to spend A WHOLE YEAR's SAVINGS on just one day. People do all sorts of things to have a memorable day and keep costs down. There's a wedding thread on here and people have given you other links.

If you spend the money on your home, furnishings, garden, new car you'll have years to enjoy it all. A wedding day that costs a fraction of £6 000 will still be over in 24 hours.

If I were you I'd sit down with your fianc! and write a list of priorities for the wedding then do the nearest you can for the cheapest price.

hgotsparkle

I agree with the majority - £6,000 on one day is just ridiculous. I know people tend to spend a lot more but, really? Look at this way - does it mean you love each other any less if you have a wedding on the cheap? If I were you, I'd spend £1,000 on the wedding and the £15k on the house.


Personally, I wouldn't spend more than £500 on my wedding, but thats just because I believe it means the same however you do it, so why does it need to be a hugely expensive proclamation?

MattLcfc

I understand what is being said about the wedding, the problem we have is that both of us come from large families. My Fiance is one of 8 children, with all but one of them having partners, and I have 23 Aunties and Uncles! We'd love to be able to limit the day guest to say 50, but would probably start WW3 in the process!

We're hoping to save as much as possible with everything else such as making invitations, favours, centre pieces etc ourselves.

thorsoak

MattLcfc wrote: »

The place we are looking at booking is £31.50pp for day guest, £8.50pp drinks package and a Hog Roast for 200 people at night for £540. We're working on 85 guest for the day which would mean the venue comes in at £3940, leaving £2k for everything else.

I know it's possible to do cheaper, but there's a balance between doing it cheap and still having the wedding you want

And what about the home that you want to buy? You're pretty specific about the wedding requirements/costs, and therefore that is where your priorities lie.

Might I just warn you about focussing all your energies on just ONE DAY .....I've worked with girls who have their weddings planned to the Nth degree, had the wonderful day - and then within months everything has fizzled out - because once the wedding was over - there was not a lot to talk about/or do :-( I've watched friends have the heartbreak of a son or daughter's marriage breaking up in similar circumstances - so please be aware!

maman

MattLcfc wrote: »

I understand what is being said about the wedding, the problem we have is that both of us come from large families. My Fianc! is one of 8 children, with all but one of them having partners, and I have 23 Aunties and Uncles! We'd love to be able to limit the day guest to say 50, but would probably start WW3 in the process!

We're hoping to save as much as possible with everything else such as making invitations, favours, centre pieces etc ourselves.

My DH is one of 11 children. When a niece got married a couple of years ago they hired an enormous hall (church/village hall type) and we had a fantastic buffet followed by a disco. Costs were limited to wedding outfits, hall and food and whatever church fees were.

May I say, what a sensible person you sound and :Tfor thinking this through in advance. You do sound very romantic but let your head rule this time!