Does my wedding budget look about right?

chelseablue

Thank you all

The budget came from me just looking around online.

*Hopefully* my parents and partners mum will contribute a bit

LEJC

no bridesmaids I can understand...but surely the little man in your sig deserves a suit for the day as number 1 pageboy???

ceb1995

chelseablue wrote: »

Thank you all

The budget came from me just looking around online.

*Hopefully* my parents and partners mum will contribute a bit

With any wedding costs I'm a firm believer there'll be a way to find a cheaper alternative, perhaps you could make a list of things that are a priority for you and your partners and for the things that aren't either do without them or find cheaper options. we found that quite helpful for us to decide where to make cuts.

LEJC

....AND one final piece of advice....before you commit any further or book anything up

get a wedding insurance policy....it may prove to be the best money you spend...debenhams,and a couple of other insurers do them and they are not horrendously expensive but worth their weight in gold if thing start to unfurl nearer the day.

google a few and get something that matches your needs.

chelseablue

LEJC wrote: »

no bridesmaids I can understand...but surely the little man in your sig deserves a suit for the day as number 1 pageboy???

Oh yes how could I forget him! He'll be getting a suit too, he'll be 4 by then

LEJC

You could also make quite a saving on something like your veil...if you are prepared to go to ebay rather than the bridal retailer that sells you your dress.

Its one item that quite literally you can pick up so much cheaper either new or from someone selling a very expensive one on....and it could sort out your "something old" tradition.

When you are looking for your dress too...have a look at sample sales and the sale rail ...or even plan to have a day out at one of the wedding dress outlet shops...if you find what you want then very good savings can be made that way.

Go to a few wedding fayres too...lots of different types of things there and whilst you may see the high end expensive versions on show it will certainly give you ideas of ways that you can personalise things your way to make the wedding just as you want.

Call in favours of friends too if you can,its amazing once you staert to talk weddings to friends and family how many can recommend someone or know someone who can help....you may not want a wedding car but if you have someone in the family who has a nice car its lovely for them to bring it to the venue just for you to have a few photos or a ride round the area....failing that you could even opt for an executive type taxi(the sort used for an air port run).....or as one friend I knew hired a black cab for an hour....much cheaper and more quirky than your standard wedding car!!!

How are you going to send your invites....post...start buying a book of second class stamps each week now that will spread the cost and also negate any postal price increase next year,
also remember to budget for those invites that may be evening only rather than an invite to the whole day

Nicolefury

Ok I get married in June, budget is under 10k and have so far spent

Officiant fees £595 (including registrar and notice of marriage fees).
DJ £160 (Mates rate)
Photos £500 (Mates rate)
Cake Approx £200 (Family making it)
Flowers £200 (Mother in law doing it)
Stationery £150 (All designed by myself so saved a fortune)
Rings £400
Dress £600
Shoes £20
Veil - TBC
Hair and makeup £450 (myself and three bridesmaids)
Groomsmen outfits £350
Venue £3,500 (daytime 65 guests, evening 120 guests, food for everyone)
Decorations £200
Drinks package £1000
Sweet cart £100
Sweets £75
Bridesmaid dresses £75 total (smug face)
Transport £75

= £8650 so far.

I expect other things to pop up yet so £1350 in the budget to cover this.

Best of luck, weddings are a nightmare.

chelseablue

Thank you

Yes starting to realise weddings are a total pain.

I hate feeling stressed and making rash decisions so my plan is to organise one wedding item each month so I'm not trying to think of it all at once.

paddyrg

When you get prices for anything , don't start the conversation with "We're getting married and..."

Just about everyone charges a wedding premium (although with most bridezillas it's the equivalent of danger money) where a non-wedding equivalent will cost you less.

michelle09

OH and I got married in late 2015 and it was under 10k. We had 99 guests all day, no evening guests (I don't like having two tiers of wedding guests so didn't have any myself!). If I'd have had it my way it would have been 5k but my parents were contributing and had some set ideas on things:

Our breakdown:

Invites £80 (SIL designed, home printed, most of the cost was postage. Who really remembers the invite?
Church Service £900 (Church, banns, order of service, church bells, marriage prep course)
Rings £600 (mine and OH. Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham).
Brides Outfit £230 (secondhand dress, new shoes and underwear. Borrowed veil and used old jewellery)
Grooms Outfit £200 (new suit, tie, shirt and shoes.)
Bridesmaids Dresses £300 (for three)
Ushers/Best Man £100 (ties, they used suits they already owned)
Hair: £100 (normal hairdresser charged her standard rate. Cut and styled five of us).
DJ £500
Reception Package £3800 (welcome drink, two course meal, half a bottle of wine, toast drink for 100 people)
Photographer £800
Singing Waiters £1000 (my one foray into terribly expensive wedding traditions. They were incredible though).
Decorations £190 (placenames, favours, table plan and decorations).
Flowers £50 (bought them and made buttonholes etc ourselves)
Car £0 (borrowed from a friend)
Cake £0 (made by an amazing friend who also gave us a single layer cake of the same type for our anniversary last year).

Total: £8850. And it would be relatively easy to knock a fair chunk off that price.