Married on the cheap?

falko89

Thanks for the advice all. Something to think about

RachRubyD

I know how you feel me and my partner only work part time on not more than minimum wage and a wedding is so expensive. It's stupid money for one day. Am cutting cost by either being a 2nd hand dress or sample one and then reselling it on ebay or something and the bridesmaid's dresses are either going to be from china (Ever Pretty) or from a local dress shop that does bridesmaid dresses for £50. I've got 6 bridesmaid's as well so had to cut cost down.

Am making my own cake (youtube is fanatisic for tips, am making a rose piping cake and it's pretty easy). Flowers are going to be mainly artificial so can be kept and decorating with cheaper flowers from flower market. Even buying a big bunch of nice flowers from supermarket and splitting them up for table decorations or bridesmaid bouquets is so much cheaper than florist.

Am not having a car because am getting married at the venue so save money there as well. And like others say just been saying jars and so on to make table decorations. You can paint jam jars in your colour scheme or add fairy lights or candles and look gorgeous. Also am making my own invites with just fancy card and a free template and i've bought white paper doily's to wrap them in and looks lovely.

It's still going to be pricey though looking at about 5-7k which is alot of money but I have a big family. My cousin is like you and had no money and 2 children but wanted to get married and in the end she and her partner went to las vegas and got married in a gorgeous hotel (they pictures where unique and beautiful) and had a big party in a function room and a evening buffet. It didnt look cheap and in fact we all enjoyed ourselves more than we did at another family members wedding who spent a lot of money on fancy venues.

duchy

Last time I got married <cough> we rented the staff social club at the local town hall and used their recommended outside caterers (who did a fantastic job of decorating the place included in the price). It worked out about half the price of a hotel venue- for a sit down meal for fifty. It had a decent sound system and a dancefloor and also had the advantage of been central so easy for guests to travel to and from.

As for "what people will think" the sort of people who will turn their noses up at a wedding just because it didn't cost thousands aren't your friends (and would probably find something to nitpick at if you spent £30K anyway). Try watching a few episodes of Four Weddings and you'll see what I mean !

Hotel weddings tend to be quite "cookie cutter" eg all the same and lack any personality regardless of cost ...... but quite honestly I wouldn't be inviting anyone who was going to turn their noses up if I invited them to share my special day.

heartbreak_star

I think there's a phrase for anyone that would sneer...

"That's their problem, not yours."

Do what makes you happy and what you can afford, and only invite people who matter to you

HBS x

apesxx

Honestly what does it matter what people think? I think weddings have gone way way over the top these days! Even if I had the money I wouldn't spend £20k on one day!!!! As others have said, the type of people that would put negativity etc on your wedding are really not friends!

Could you maybe have the ceremony and then go straight into an evening disco, cutting out the 3 course meal reception which is usually the bit that costs a heck of a lot.

Were currently in the pricing up stage but my plan is to get married at the local art gallery around 4pm Friday, the room is beautiful and is around £600 weekdays for the hire and registrar fees. It's in lovely grounds for some nice photos too. Then the plan would be to hire a local function room for the evening disco & buffet. Hoping I can do the whole day for maximum £3000 x

Moorehart

We don't have the world to spend on a wedding either, we are getting married in July and I estimate the total costs will be a little over 2k for our dream day. All because we decided to do the following... (we are lucky that the house we rent has a huge garden and our neighbour has a stunning fountain in theirs). If you don't have a large garden; you could ask a friend??

We are having a beach wedding (In England, 60 miles from the beach), by our neighbours fountain, with the reception in our garden. (If you think wedding arch, start being creative with chicken wire, balloons and flowers).

Don't be afraid of buying anything for the wedding from China on ebay. I have probably spent £20 on decor that would have cost hundreds in this country. It takes a few more weeks to arrive, but worth the saving.

Get married in the registry office - with no ceremony - a few days before (approx £145), then get a celebrant to do the ceremony on the day. I got mine for £275... so don't fall for an actor that tells you it costs £500 (shop around). You get a gorgeous wedding day... without the cost.

We purchased a semi pro camera and tripod from Argos (when the voucher deals were on). We used the vouchers to buy one of the more expensive large gazebo's. (photograph's, video and marquee covered).

Instead of buying an expensive cake, invest in a centre piece that last forever... ours was a 'huge' original wooden carved statue (£40), that you can place a small cake or cupcakes around. Unlike a cake, it won't cost £300 for everyone to throw in the bin when they get home because it's got serviette stuck to it... or they don't like fruitcake.

In almost every town there s a place where people give things to those that need... and for everyone one of those places there is a place that sells on the impractical overflow... like garden furniture, BBQ's. So make it a glamorous BBQ! Food costs will be minimal... throw in salads and pasta from local supermarkets and you are laughing. Don't be afraid to ask those places to rent the furniture for the day, they will; it's revenue for stuff they can sell on later.

There are a million and one tricks I have incorporated to make this wedding stunning... and not cost a fortune... but I won't bore.

You can have everything you want... you just need to think outside of the box.

I hope your day is wonderful

PS: You can sell everything on later!

FreddieFrugal

We got married two weeks ago.

Invitations and RSVPs £35 from Paperchase
Ceremony registry office - £150 (Monday)
Reception at hotel across the market place from office - about £1100
(that included room with lovely view of the church for most of the day, lunchtime buffet for 40 people (lots of extras added as were afraid of people being hungry - ended up taking leftovers home which lasted a week!), glass of prosecco or orange juice on arrival and one for toast - done as number of bottles as worked out much cheaper. Decoration of the room, tables and chairs. Cake stand)
Got nice place cards from amazon for £1.99 including delivery
The car we used was my wife's Fiat 500, her Dad drove it. All cleaned and shinned up with ribbons which looked really cute, especially as it was meant to be a nice small wedding.

My Dad did the photography, but everyone had cameras and we collected them all together, got lots of lovely moments from different people, going to make a photo album using online service.

Cake was beautiful, made by the sister of the nurse who my father in law knows from his appointments at hospital. £90 for three tier, looked beautiful with matching ribbon colour and roses, and best one I've ever eaten.

Wife's mother is a retired hairdresser and a friend of hers who used to work for her, but now owns her own salon came and did my wife's hair and make up for free. Looked stunning.

The only things we didn't try to save money on was my suit and her dress. My Mum and Dad took me to buy my suit which was about £350 and her Mum and took her to buy her dress £500. Which isn't ridiculously expensive but is more than we would have paid if they hadn't been got for us.

So all in all including everything, even the bits we didn't pay for directly as others wanted to, it can't have been much over £2000 and certainly less than £2500.

But we have both said that it wouldn't have mattered how much extra money we had chucked at it. Nothing could have made the day more special. It was our marriage that was the most important part not the extra bits, the extra bits like people having to sit around for 4 hours while 'pro' photographer does endless combinations of group photos, tend to distract from what the point of the day is. Everyone has said what a lovely day it was.

I hope whatever you do, you both have a wonderful day.

TBagpuss

As others have said, think about what you will enjoy, and can afford, not what other people will think.

Some things to consider:
- registry office ceremony will probably be less expensive than a church, and will definitely be less expensive than a hotel.
- dress. Consider buying second hand - did you know Oxfam have a couple of wedding shops? They have lots of dresses, shoes, tiaras etc and of course they have all only been worn once so are in v. good condition. My sister didn't buy from them in the end as she found a dress she loved elsewhere (end of season ex-display, so significantly reduced). Also look at posh frocks not sold as wedding dresses.
- reception - consider your local village hall. My sister's reception was at the village hall (right next door to the church, which also meant less driving around, and only parking once). It is also worth looking at places such as any local rugby club / sailing club / cricket club - if they have their own club house they may well be set up for catering and are often cheaper than hotels as catering / events is not their core business. I once went to a fantastic wedding at a rugby club - the meal was bangers and mash and each table had a big jug of beer instead of bottles of wine. It was a lot of fun and no-one though the couple were 'cheap'
- wedding car - no one sees you arrive as they are all in church/in the registry office. other than a brief photo as you leave paying for a car is mostly going to mean paying a lot for very little. We went to the church in my parents car when my sister got married, total cost was the £5 or so the car wash cost and a couple of ££ for florists ribbon to put a bow on the front. Ask around about you could probably find a friend or family member who has a white or silver car if you want one.
- flowers. Consider buying your own and making up your own bouquets, We did ours the evening before the wedding, it was actually a really nice, relaxed evening. My sister got married in church and by speaking in advance to the ladies on the flower rota we were able to coordinate with them, so they normal flowers for the church for that week were in the colours my sister had chosen. She bought some flowers to add to the normal ones both to tie in with the bouquets and to make sure there were plenty, but there was no payment to a florist to decorate the church.
centrepieces / flowers for reception. Plan ahead and think about what you want. At my sisters wedding we had little pots of growing alyssum on each table, with ribbon round the pots (this is the same florists ribbon that went on the car, and on the bouquets) plus home made origami flowers.
- decor - we were in the village hall. We had a big roll of white paper banqueting roll which we used to over the tables, then a roll of gauze to make runners of. We also used more of the banqueting roll to cover the noticeboards in the hall (which had posters about WI Brownies etc on them). By coordinating with the Hall early on, we had access the day beofre the wedding for most of the set-up and this invovled both sets of parents, the couple themselves plus the bridesmaids and ushers, so no one person had to do too much.
- food. Have a buffet. Do you have a local college which does catering courses? they may be able to help with the food and/or service. You can rent glasses, crockery and cutlery from big supermarkets.
- buy your own booze.

swingaloo

Im getting married in July. Everyone is meeting at the registry office, my little niece will be a bridesmaid and we are having a vintage tea party in my sisters garden afterwards.


Ive been collecting vintage crockery, decorations etc from charity shops, car boots and ebay for a few weeks. Its cheaper to buy glasses from the charity shop than to buy plastic glasses! Ive probably spent £40 on all my tableware and decs.


im having around 30 guests and Im doing the food myself (expecting to spend around £200 on food and drink).


My dress was £40 but it not a real wedding dress as its second time round and Im to old for the traditional wedding dress. the flowers I will do myself, invitations cost me £6 and they are really nice. Im not having a wedding cake, instead my niece is making me cup cakes and Ive bought a tall stand as a centrepiece to put them on. All together my day will prob cost less than £500 including the ring.


Im sure I don't have any family/friends who will talk about it negatively but too be honest if I did they would get shown the door.


We have been together 15 years and I want this to be our day and as informal as it can be.


I want a relaxed informal day

CharlieRabbit01

I cant comment on the quality but this deal ooks good on groupon, but it is £2500

http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/dealbank_en_gb/the-park-hotel-wedding-venue/57901478

maybe they'll have other deals?