A few wedding questions on how to save on costs!! X

lumpyspaceprincess

My dress isn't technically a wedding dress, but it's from ChiChiLondon via ASOS and has cost me £70. I feel extra princessy in it, and smug at the great price I paid!

themull1

Check the venue will allow you to bring extra cakes/desserts etc. Silver tarnishes very easily, i prefer yellow gold or platinum, but second hand.. I got everything second hand for our wedding then sold it again to recoup costs. I bought sweets in bulk and had a sweet table for about 30 quid - there were boatloads.!! I bought foam bouquets that looked realistic second hand and my tiara and jewellery was second hand. My dress was a Maggie Sottero, cost the first bride £1300, cost me £75.00.

LornaC_2

A dress doesn't need to cost you thousands. You can try buying online but there's a risk involved that it will not be what it looked like on the picture. You can buy from high street shops as others suggested, or you can try dress shop outlets that sell discounted designer dresses, prices will be probably slightly higher than high street (but it depends). I am looking for a dress myself and I'm really interested in checking an outlet first but it's just me. I will try a new (I think they're rather new?) chain called Wed2b as I've read good reviews and the prices are within my budget, no more than £500 and they seem to have many cheaper ones. For me sounds like a deal, now need to check personally.

firebird082

I got my dress from Oxfam brides (they've got a few shops around) for £175, plus it requires alterations which are costing me £120. Still pretty reasonable I reckon!

GwylimT

It isn't acceptable to feed half of your guests, if you can only afford fifty guests then only invite fifty. You don't need to spend much on a dress, my wife bought one from a high street shop, I think it was next, she wore shoes she already had, I wore a suit I already had I just bought a new tie.

We had thirty guests for the wedding breakfast as it was family only, for the evening we had around 50 in total. Wedding breakfast was a sit down meal at 4:30pm, at the reception we had a hot served three course buffet, all of which was eaten.

Fuzzy_Duck

I think you probably want to cater for about 70%. At my wedding we made the mistake of catering for everyone invited and there was heaps left over. Keep in mind that's it's unlikely everyone will be able to come, so you'll almost certainly save some money on catering anyway. You definitely don't want to run out of food however, so probably best to see what your caterer suggests. If numbers are an issue, you can choose a cheaper option like a hog roast or buffet.

The only issue with silver wedding rings is that they're not as hard wearing as other metals. Having said that, all rings wear over time, so as long as you're not fussed about them looking perfect I don't see the issue. As you say you can always replace them with white gold at a later date (you may well find this is a bit of a faff though as it needs to be replated). A friend of mine has had her silver wedding ring for a year and it still looks fine.

devonsaver83

Sorry for late reply first chance online in awhile! Thank you for your replies after speaking to caterer and looking at your advice we decided to cater for 70 % and only having 80 at reception now... It wasn't really about just the money and not label to afford to invite and feed people! It was also about not wanting to waste food and just wanted some feed back from people who have been there as all the weddings I have been to have so much food leftover and as with our venue they won't allow people to take food which is left away! However one good think is they will let as do our own cakes and desserts, sweet table and cheese 'cake', so with the 3 course day meal and evening buffet I don't think our evening guests will be starving, plus more drinkers than eaters!!
Dresses all sorted now brought In local wedding shop sample sale for just £150 each!
Rings will see what we can afford nearer the day!

Thanks again for all your helpful advice people x

Harkin

I got married 10 years ago and my Silver Wedding ring is perfect, not discoloured and I never take it off. You can have it re-coated if you do. I personally could not replace it with something more expensive because I feel it has sentimental value too. Go Silver :-)

With Wedding dresses I went and tried on some just before Christmas and the lovely lady showed me a sneak preview of the January sale rail. As long as you don't mind last season just ask if they have any going into the sale. You never know.

Good luck.

judyjetson

We catered for about 75% on the evening and had a good bit left over. In hindsight, probably would have gone for 50-60%. We ate buffet food for a good few days after! Shame your venue won't allow that.

Second hand is your way to go for rings - try pawn shops, antique shops/fairs and high street shops that sell second hand. Ours came from Northern Goldsmiths, who sell second hand (or pre-loved if you prefer) and cost less than you'd probably pay in Argos.

Well done on your dress bargains - hope you have an absolutely wonderful day.

ladymarmalade

Food is always something to think carefully about.

Our three course wedding breakfast was at about 2.45pm for 80 guests. There was about 135 people in the evening (about 55 extra) and we had a hog roast. This was served at 8.30ish and we had catered for 100 people . When we booked, I thought this was way too much and there would be loads of food left over, but there wasn't. It was pretty much spot on!

As you've said, it is an easy place to make savings on (food and drink was half our budget) but eqaully you don't want people to be hungry at your wedding. I have been to a wedding where I was there from 7pm and was only 'allowed' one bacon cob (which had one piece of bacon)....I was starving and we left earlier than we would have so we could grab food on the way home.