Saving for a wedding

JizzleMonkey

As usual MSE has suggestions for saving money (but as a newish user I'm not allowed to post the link - but its under family/cheaper-weddings)

and googling "budget wedding ideas" gets loads of ideas.

Even for your wedding it is pleasing to get the best value you can on what you spend.

Probably the most enjoyable and memorable wedding I ever went to as a guest, was where the couple had borrowed a field from a farmer acquaintance and erected a marquee. The food was a hog roast. Even the bride had wellies on under her dress. The setting was lovely. It was very relaxed and everyone seemed to have a great time. I understand that they managed everything for under £4000 for about 70 guests.

I disagree with others about wedding gifts vs cash gifts. I love the fact that so many of the objects I use daily I can remember being given as wedding gifts, its like a daily reminder of our marriage. If you have toasters and bedding etc. then make suggestions of things that would enhance your life, even a work of art. If I was being asked for cash I would rather it was going towards the wedding album than a holiday.

FireWyrm

krustylouise wrote: »

We have a budget of around £8k however our venue has come in well under half what we anticipated!

With respect, you dont have a 'budget' at all since you dont have any money saved. If you had money, then you would have a budget. At the moment, all you have are wishes and dreams, neither of which is a good thing to focus on when you are speaking financially. There really is no need to spend such vast amounts of money on a single day as most vendors and sellers often see a wedding 'comming' a mile away and change their charges accordingly. It is perfectly possible to have a fantastic day with all the trimmings for under £2K. Given that starting your married life in debt (no matter how much you want something) is never a good idea and generally puts the mockers on things from the start, I would advise you to take a long hard look at what you want for your wedding and how much you can realistically afford. By all means save, but dont be taken in by the hype about you needing this and that to be happy...you dont. If you really love this person, a cardboard box will do. I'm not suggesting that you should live in a cardboard box, only that money and a lavish wedding are not entirely necessary (despite what the wedding 'industry' would have you believe). For a start, you can have a wedding dress made, in Hong Kong, and airfreighted over here for £100-200. If you need it adjusted, a seamstress will charge you about £100 to do the work. Contrast this with an average dress price of £800 from a wedding 'boutique' and you start to see that someone else is making the money off your big day...wouldnt that money be far better in your pocket rather than theirs?

krustylouise

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Hi,

My comments are in red Apologies as i know some have already been mentioned ^^

Quick Q - Does your OH pay anything towards the bills / food when he is at yours? If not, why not?

HTH and congratulations x

Hi Mimi,

I will be brief {so please don't take as sharp!} council tax is over 12, there are arrears, finished March.
Gas and Elec are dual fuel £110 with SP, I have tried doing energy comparisons and it always ends up the same!
Water is now down to £27.69.
Mobile ends in June, don't want to extend contract as want PAYG sim asap.
My sky includes unlimited internet, line rental, evening and weekend calls and TV {only 3 packages no sports or films} do you pay £20 for all this? If so I will be ringing them tonight!
I do meal plan, and shop at Ald!
I tried selling old clothes on Ebay and after fee's and postage I made £4 on 6 items! So not worth my while.
I do get WTC for childcare, this has been factored into the income for benefits.
£10 per month on other child expenses is some tiny amount savings and rainbows.
Presents, and entertainment have just been reduced to £50 for time being.
Holiday, I've decreased to £100pm, see how I go.
As I input water amount as £83 pm I didn't think I had to input it under unsecured debts. However as mentioned this has now been paid off!

Phew! Thanks for your reply x

krustylouise

FireWyrm wrote: »

With respect, you dont have a 'budget' at all since you dont have any money saved. If you had money, then you would have a budget. At the moment, all you have are wishes and dreams, neither of which is a good thing to focus on when you are speaking financially. There really is no need to spend such vast amounts of money on a single day as most vendors and sellers often see a wedding 'comming' a mile away and change their charges accordingly. It is perfectly possible to have a fantastic day with all the trimmings for under £2K. Given that starting your married life in debt (no matter how much you want something) is never a good idea and generally puts the mockers on things from the start, I would advise you to take a long hard look at what you want for your wedding and how much you can realistically afford. By all means save, but dont be taken in by the hype about you needing this and that to be happy...you dont. If you really love this person, a cardboard box will do. I'm not suggesting that you should live in a cardboard box, only that money and a lavish wedding are not entirely necessary (despite what the wedding 'industry' would have you believe). For a start, you can have a wedding dress made, in Hong Kong, and airfreighted over here for £100-200. If you need it adjusted, a seamstress will charge you about £100 to do the work. Contrast this with an average dress price of £800 from a wedding 'boutique' and you start to see that someone else is making the money off your big day...wouldnt that money be far better in your pocket rather than theirs?

Hi and thank you for your reply. We have set a budget as 8k {and yes I don't have that, though my partner makes much more than me and has savings....as mentioned all I'm trying to do is contribute what I can}

I do appreciate what you're saying about money on weddings and the exploitation by companies. We found a hotel that we love, and have been quoted £2000 for ceremony, room hire, food {for 30 people day and 50 in the evening} plus drink. This, for our location {lake district} is the cheapest. We both do not wish to have a registry office ceremony {personal preference} and wish having the ceremony and reception in the same place we save on transport.
I haven't mentioned that I won't be buying my dress from Hong Kong, I guess people assume that I want to spend over and above, when that certainly isn't the case. We are having a small wedding and will be doing things just as we want, and will not be influenced to spend more than we have to. As it happens right now, all in it looks as though we may come out at 5k, which is half than we initially anticipated. While I do appreciate your comments, I only came on this board to ask for advice on how to make cuts to my everyday spends, NOT on what I should do for our wedding day.

Thanks again for your reply.

Tixy

krustylouise wrote: »

We are planning on getting married October 2015 so we have 21 months to plan and save! x

Thats good - plenty of time to plan and save. Maybe set yourself a target to raise over the next 20months? What about £3000? or £2500? do you think that would be achievable for you?

As you yourself have said hopefully the wedding may come in under what you had originally budgeted between you and you obviously know could definitely do a wedding cheaper if you wanted to or needed to. And I'm sure you'll be looking around to reduce the cost where you can and still get the day you want.
But if this is the wedding you want, and you can afford to save up for in advance then good luck to you and I hope you have a very happy day.

krustylouise

flamingo747 wrote: »

Would it make sense for you to use some money from the wedding fund or from oh to clear your card, and then you pay the money back? Better for your credit rating and more flexible to repay. You're be a married couple soon woth joint finances, so you needn't be too worried about being proud.

(this is meant in a nice way, hoping it might be some help)

I'm happy with the credit card being paid off £60 pm, as it's 0% it's not accruing any extra charges x

krustylouise

Tixy wrote: »

Thats good - plenty of time to plan and save. Maybe set yourself a target to raise over the next 20months? What about £3000? or £2500? do you think that would be achievable for you?

As you yourself have said hopefully the wedding may come in under what you had originally budgeted between you and you obviously know could definitely do a wedding cheaper if you wanted to or needed to. And I'm sure you'll be looking around to reduce the cost where you can and still get the day you want.
But if this is the wedding you want, and you can afford to save up for in advance then good luck to you and I hope you have a very happy day.

The only thing we have to pay for atm is the £500 deposit for the venue. After that, we have a year to save our butts off for everything else. I have also got a quote for wedding insurance with 5% discount :money: because as much as we love each other and hope for the best we have to be realistic and responsible, prepare for the worst.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

krustylouise wrote: »

Hi Mimi,

I will be brief {so please don't take as sharp!} council tax is over 12, there are arrears, finished March.
Ah ok - No good asking for it to be 12 months then lol What will the new bill be in March after the arrers are paid. And as someone asked - are you getting the Single person discount. Bear in mind this will change once your married.

Gas and Elec are dual fuel £110 with SP, I have tried doing energy comparisons and it always ends up the same!
At least you have looked Keep an eye on it if the bills go up though

Water is now down to £27.69 Excellent

Mobile ends in June, don't want to extend contract as want PAYG sim asap.Might be worth asking how much it will be to buy out, If you have a decent phone you could sell it to offset the buy out costs the buy just get a cheapie

My sky includes unlimited internet, line rental, evening and weekend calls and TV {only 3 packages no sports or films} do you pay £20 for all this? If so I will be ringing them tonight!
Ah i missed where the Net and calls was inc. I would still shop about - Do you NEED unlimited internet? Sometimes cheaper if you downgrade

I do meal plan, and shop at Ald!
The reason i mentioned this was that for the past year I've had my shopping down to £30 (tesco and local shops) a week for 3 of us , a dog and 2 rabbits lol have a look on the old style board on MSE for ideas. Have a look for a greengrocer - ours does a MASSIVE veg/fruit box for £10

I tried selling old clothes on Ebay and after fee's and postage I made £4 on 6 items! So not worth my while.
Car boot? Facebook Selling pages?

I do get WTC for childcare, this has been factored into the income for benefits.
This will also change once your married

£10 per month on other child expenses is some tiny amount savings and rainbows.

Presents, and entertainment have just been reduced to £50 for time being.
Even a month though is still quite high..... Family and Friends will understand your trying to save.
For xmas my 2 DD get £100 each. for their birthdays they get £50

Holiday, I've decreased to £100pm, see how I go.
As someone has pointed out - Ditch the hol in oct, go on a sun one (A week in devin during half term has cost me £84 for 4 people with the Sun holidays)

Yes a holiday abroad would be nice - so why not ask for monetary gifts at the wedding for a honeymoon (and take your child?)

As I input water amount as £83 pm I didn't think I had to input it under unsecured debts. However as mentioned this has now been paid off!
Ah well ignore me lol

Phew! Thanks for your reply x

Hi, again - comments in red

krustylouise

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Hi, again - comments in red

I did have a downgraded internet package and kept going over the usage and kept getting bills from BT for £60 pm for internet alone! I was so mad that I didn't have sky tv and could've had calls tv and internet for less than what BT were charging for just internet.

£10 is fantastic for fruit and veg! Is it pre packed or is it pick and mix? sound brilliant! I will look to see if anywhere near me do that.

Car boots, I don't have time for these as I work full time, and weekends there is no way I could get up with DD at 4/5am to sit there all day. Facebook, I'm not on it anymore, though this may be an option.

The presents amount includes party costs, which I do appreciate are still high, and I will look for ways of cutting this, last year DD had 2 parties {1 for her friends at a local cafe/animal place - adults weren't allowed including her family, except us due to size} so I then had to put on another 1 at home for her family to come round, her Dad doesn't contribute at all to these costs, which is fair enough he pays maintenance, but he doesn't mind coming along and eating the food!

I would LOVE to go to Devon/Cornwall but trains to there are £300 from where we are, and I suffer panic attacks driving further than round town, so driving is a no!

Initially I suggested our honeymoon be a holiday for all 3 of us, as I haven't been without DD longer than a couple of days, and everyone said I was crazy and its our honeymoon and we can't do what honeymooners do with a young girl in tow!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

krustylouise wrote: »

I did have a downgraded internet package and kept going over the usage and kept getting bills from BT for £60 pm for internet alone! I was so mad that I didn't have sky tv and could've had calls tv and internet for less than what BT were charging for just internet.

Is the net not included in your phone?

£10 is fantastic for fruit and veg! Is it pre packed or is it pick and mix? sound brilliant! I will look to see if anywhere near me do that.

It's all organic fresh fruit/veg. The person I get mine from will allow you to make your own box up if you ask but he doesnt adviertise that he does that and states its a "seasonal" box.

Car boots, I don't have time for these as I work full time, and weekends there is no way I could get up with DD at 4/5am to sit there all day. Facebook, I'm not on it anymore, though this may be an option.

What about friends? THey might buy them. Failing that there are always those "buy clothes per KG" but i think they are a rip of tbh!

The presents amount includes party costs, which I do appreciate are still high, and I will look for ways of cutting this, last year DD had 2 parties {1 for her friends at a local cafe/animal place - adults weren't allowed including her family, except us due to size} so I then had to put on another 1 at home for her family to come round, her Dad doesn't contribute at all to these costs, which is fair enough he pays maintenance, but he doesn't mind coming along and eating the food!
To be honest, My eldest DD has ridicouls parties - always OTT (esp the cake) this year though she has been told that everything will be stopped. If she DOES have a party, she wont be getting many presents from us (As she invites nearly the full flipping class, who will all each bring a present)

DD2 had her birthday this year, at home with a few friends, cost was very minimum. We also had immidate family over to this and that was it.

I would LOVE to go to Devon/Cornwall but trains to there are £300 from where we are, and I suffer panic attacks driving further than round town, so driving is a no!

The sun holidays cover all of the UK - and even abroad. Worth looking into, your not too late to join!


Initially I suggested our honeymoon be a holiday for all 3 of us, as I haven't been without DD longer than a couple of days, and everyone said I was crazy and its our honeymoon and we can't do what honeymooners do with a young girl in tow!
Sod what others say, what do YOU want to do

Above ^^