Shoe-String Wedding

oystercatcher

I am plus size and had silky long skirt and matching silk/lacy top made to measure by a local dressmaker. I can't remember the price now as it was a few years ago but was incredibly reasonable compared to bridal shops.

Husband wore a regular suit purchased from an outlet store. He could then use it for work etc afterwards.

Well done for being sensible and not splashing money around on unneccesary glitz that won't affect your long term relationship one bit.

I hope you have a lovely day and a long and happy marriage.

annie_d

The ones from Chine DO have boning for the plus sizes but you should definitely go for made to measure on those sites, rather than buying a size 20.

margaretclare

I've often seen beautiful wedding gowns in the windows of charity shops.

AndyBSG

sarahmtly wrote: »

I'm wondering if anyone has brought one made from China on Ebay as these seem very in-expensive and look lovely on the photos. Im just a bit worried about ordering one and it turns out awful.

Don't do it.

My wife did that and bought from a very well known Chinese wedding dress seller.

When it arrived it was a very poor fit so we took it to get adjusted by a local seamstress who told us in no uncertain terms how poorly made it was and how there was little she could do.

The material was all badly cut, poorly stitched and terribly designed such that to get it comfortable and fitting she would pretty much have to take most of it apart and restitch the whole dress.

We got a second opinion and were told pretty much the same thing so ended up buying a new dress and writing off the money we had spent on the Chinese E-bay job.

If there are 2 things I would advise not to cut costs on they are the dress and the photography.

I'd recommend buying a second hand dress ahead of a Chinese E-bay one but i'd also recommend visiting a seamstress(not a tailors) with your donated dress as you may be surprised how much it can be transformed

TBagpuss

See whethe the church has a cpmmittee or rota for the flowers. When my sister got married, she was able to speak to the ladies who were doing the flowers that week and aranged for the flowers in the church for that week to be in the colours she wanted for the wedding, ratherthan having separate, extra flowers.
She did provide some of the flowers but cut flowers are much much cheaper than gettign a florist to decorate for a wedding, or buying "wedding flowers"

We also grew little pots of flowers which were used as centrepieces at the reception - if our wedding is not until next year you would have time to do this if you wanted.

indsty

I would agree with the others who have suggested charity shop wedding dresses. Our local Red Cross has a whole section of beautiful dresses and at a glance I saw size 8 and size 24. Definitely worth a look, and you have the added reassurance of being able to try it on.

belfastgirl23

AndyBSG wrote: »

I'd recommend buying a second hand dress ahead of a Chinese E-bay one but i'd also recommend visiting a seamstress(not a tailors) with your donated dress as you may be surprised how much it can be transformed

I was just going to say this. My SIL saw a dress in a charity shop - she loved the skirt but was not so fussed on the top (shoulders were totally bare). She took it to a dressmaker who was able to take the skirt and boning and add lace around the top half to make it more covered up - which also meant it suited her frame better than most off the peg dresses would. Another friend bought hers in a sale hoping to slim into it but didn't manage to slim quite as much as she had hoped the dressmaker put lacing in at the back instead of the zip so she could still wear it. So take a good hard look at the donated dress and see could you do anything with it (after checking with the original bride of course about how much you could do in the way of alterations).

I'd say go second hand and customise what you buy. Ask around friends and family, someone will know a good seamstress who can alter a dress til it's perfect for you. Buying from china is just too risky for something like this.

The advice to try on a few brands in bridal shops to see what style/brands suit you is a good one too - as long as you have nerves of steel and don't fall in love with something....

lazer

Try the highstreet stores


BHS - http://www.bhs.co.uk/en/bhuk/category/sale-offers-4927385/wedding-1022623#pageSize=40&catalogId=34096&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&langId=-1&storeId=13077&categoryId=935991&pageNum=1&No=0&N=10266+11945&Nrpp=40&siteId=%2F13077&catId=935991&thirdCategoryId=935998&beginIndex=1&endIndex=null&pageFlag=s_20&parent_categoryId=934991&scrollto=253


Debenhams


House of Fraser


TK Maxx

Jagraf

I love this thread.

How fab you are with your priorities xx

I married one christmas so didn't need to decorate anywhere - had our photos done round the tree at the reception.

Some friends of mine married in church, hired a village hall and a hog roast, and asked everyone to come as posh as possible.

RAS

sarahmtly wrote: »

we have managed to book the function room in our local British Legion for free just costs £80 for the DJ for the night.

Relatives hired a very basic village hall, with high ceiling. They found old fashioned crepe paper christmas streamers http://www.littlecraftybugs.co.uk/craft-supplies/everything-else/crepe-paper.html?p=2
in colours that matched the bows on the bride and bridesmaids dress. They pinned it to the centre and them the top of the walls to form a canopy for not a lot of money (think they did cash and carry for that and some other stuff).