Marriage Costs

Kathy535

Have you sat down together and worked out what’s important to you both? For me and my DH it was being (not getting) married, with nice photos to act as reminders and having a fantastic honeymoon, everything else was secondary so we prioritised the photographer and the honeymoon, I got an ex sample dress (75% off), we had afternoon tea instead of a sit down meal, no favours or fancy invites, a lot of stuff was bought off eBay, we invited the people who mattered to us (not those we felt we ought to or wanted to impress) and got married on a weekday to keep costs down.

IMO a lot of wedding related stuff is completely unnecessary and only done to impress others or because the wedding industry has implied its essential. If you can agree on what you both really want and what you are prepared to downgrade or go without then you could find it all a lot cheaper. (Our wedding was less than £3k but we still had a designer wedding dress, bespoke bridesmaid dress, cake, amazing photographer, posh hotel venue and reception, fizzy wine, toasts, confetti, tiara, veil, bouquet, invites etc etc - hubby has just said ‘I really enjoyed our wedding!’) is

Tigsteroonie

PasturesNew wrote: »

A wedding is: venue, dress, ring, somebody saying the words, photos, bit of food, toast, cake, knees up.

Fixed that for you

Gloomendoom

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

Hmm. How do you control costs? I think a couple bottles on the table is OK. But a free bar is asking for trouble.

It worked for us. We provided wine: red, white and bubbly (100 bottles of each), a barrel of cider (10.5%), beer and soft drinks. Guests were forewarned that they needed to bring their own spirits. We had absolutely no trouble, just a lot of happy people.

Gloomendoom

pollypenny wrote: »

I obviously know what it means. :cool: However, I fail to understand why anyone feels obliged to provide one. Keeping up with the Joneses?.

No, just someone who believes in hospitality and hates being ripped off at wedding venue pay bars.

No pay bar: no licence needed and costs kept down.

svain

Along with discos, I consider free bars at weddings quite a dated concept these days, or perhaps someone trying to throw a bit of cash about ..... always happy to one attend though :beer:

selement

A free bar is lovely but very much a luxury and I think the majority of guests don't expect one. It's nice to provide some wine during wedding breakfast at least

Turtle

I've only ever been to one wedding with a free bar. I would always expect to pay for drinks at a wedding. I've been to quite a few weddings with a range of budgets, I'd say the free bar was a mid range wedding.

lika_86

pollypenny wrote: »

If someone visits your home for a party or dinner they normally bring a bottle.

If someone visits your home for a party or dinner they aren't normally forking out for accommodation and a present, plus drinks when that bottle runs out as well though.

mattpaint

pollypenny wrote: »

I obviously know what it means. :cool: However, I fail to understand why anyone feels obliged to provide one. Keeping up with the Joneses?


If someone visits your home for a party or dinner they normally bring a bottle.

Perhaps it's a class/manners thing?

FBaby

What seems much more sensible is to forget about the free bar, but also don't ask for any wedding presents. In the end, most guests want to enjoy themselves but not have to fork a fortune doing so. Better to spend their money deciding how much they want to drink, then forking out for a present, especially when I see bride and groom asking for cash.