I'm getting married! Now what!?

skintchick

Congratulations!
I get married in 97 days (can you tell I am counting?!) and I'd say you need the following:
venue
entertainment
flowers
photographer
dress and accessories
suits for men

but you do not have to have:
favours
videographer
expensive cars
fancy food

As well as posting here, get on the Confetti forums as they are very busy and on Bride and Groom loads of people are doing cheap weddings and have hints and tips.

Decide what is important to you about the type of day you want, then work round that. i wanted a riverside location so compromised on numbers of guests, for example.

MsChazzer

Congratulations! Aren't wedding fairs scary?! Good for getting some contacts too.

I think everyone has given good advice, try thinking outside the box a little when it comes to halls etc. There are lots of village halls in the pretty villages up near Wetherby, and then you get your own caterers in for a lot less than £50 a head. Council and university venues can be good but they are getting in on the whole wedding = expensive thing.

smileysheep

Congratulations,

We too are aiming for an Aug 2009 wedding and at 2.30 (saving money by only having one meal) we are getting married in a church then going to an old English Inn and having a BBQ as this means we can have a choice of meat for everyone (Big fan of toby cavary too!).

LouBlue

KittyKate wrote: »

Hi guys, well, on the 6th March my wonderful boyfriend of 5 years got down on one knee, presented me with a sparkly diamond and became my fiance

Now what!? I've been to a wedding fair today and it left me a bit confused! People kept coming up to me and saying 'are you the bride?' 'have you thought about xxx and yyy' (all things I hadn't even considered!!)Any suggestions, do's and don'ts very welcome...I expect all new fiances feel a bit lost!

Congrats KittyKate! :j We got engaged on my birthday in Jan but are not setting a date yet, we are trying to move house first. But I won tickets to the National Wedding Fair in London last month so we thought we'd go. Had a great time, it wasn't busy as it was on the first day, a Friday, wasn't going to try any dresses on but they were practically dragging you over to try them, so I did. That was the best, have lots of great photos on my pc for when I need cheering up. Just told everyone we hadn't set a date yet and they were all really nice and I just took a load of brochures away with me. I don't have any parents so we will be footing the bill ourselves, so there is no way we can do it at the moment but I am enjoying being a fiancee and do keep an eye on this Board.

Just make sure you both have the day you want - I know it will be stressful at times but communication is key, between you and OH, and the parents/inlaws, if anyone is interfering too much, nicely but firmly, nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand. Look forward to seeing how everything is going for you! xx

Lemon_Tree

congratulations, i'm getting married Sept 27th, i can't wait. I'm in suffolk so not the cheapest place and we've found a perfect barn where we can have who ever we like to cater, do the music etc. The only thing they specify is the bar in the evening but that only costs the price of drinks he doesn't charge to turn up , we don't even have to pay corkage. I've seen some lovely community centres and church halls as well so don't rule them out. I've found wedding fayres a bit dissapointing - went to one and no one would speak to me, even stood next to a cake person who stood on my foot and didn't even appologise, then the next on i went to i was constantly accosted including the rude cake woman.
There's loads of people who have picked up beautiful cakes at M&S or the supermarkets, - i'm going for someone in my sister's village who makes wonderful cakes at normal rates. I've been obsessive about getting what I want at the prices I want to pay, not what they want me to have. As long as your certain then they can't push you into something you don't want.

Krystaltips

Lemon Tree, you're sharing my wedding day!! It seemed so long ago before christmas now it seems to be racing towards us at great speed... Are you very organised?

honey_bee1384

Congrats to all getting married.

I got engaged about 3 weeks ago. We set our budget, found a venue and set the date, 20th June 2009. Until you have done that, I dont think you can do much else.

Now we have a date, we have got our mate to DJ at "mates rates" and are currently talking to a wicked photographer to negotiate a cost. Fortunately my h2b's mum is a florist and has offered to do the flowers, so we will only pay cost price for those, she said she can help me with favours too, so that will be really helpful.

Going to sit down tonight and sort through what we need to book now and also look at wedding insurance.

Apparently now is a good time to start looking for dress, I dont need telling twice. Got to make sure I stick to my budget, I know I could get carried away.

It's nice to meet other b2bs. Good luck with your planning.

lorn_2

weddings can be as expensive or as cheap as you want them to be. If you are on a tight budget, or just want to be green,

Have a different day out wedding dress shopping............try out some of the charity shops that specialise in wedding dresses..............the money goes to a good cause, costs you a fraction of the price, and you are recyling too!

nicole136

congrats everyone
My wedding is 21st june this year! and we have saved so much, Firstly
dress, debenhams in sale £130 (Haggled the last £50 off, and opened store card)
bridesmaids x 2 , BHS in sale £30
invites, order of service, thankyou cards, made by mum as a present
car, friends jag driving us as a present ( i would have been happy with any car, with ribbon, could not imagine paying £300 for 2 journeys!!!)
Photos, friend is a retired photographer- present
DJ - friends, present
reception, this is what seems a lot, but you get the whole package from welcome drinks, to wine with meal, to champagne toasts, room hire, MC, overnight room, main room overlooks sea!!! 5 course meal, and buffett for equivalent number for evening, which immediately follows daytime meal, so am inviting 50 for day and a further 50 at night, when the buffets gone its gone!!!!!! its 50 x £40 (£2000) which is great.
every thing elase i have borrowed, from veil, tiarra, jewellery.
mens suit hire is £50 each - debenhams
we are doing without:
favours
flowers in the church (just keeping the previous weddings flowers up!!!!)
flowers on tables ( mum in law is going to put some cheap decs, )
bridesmaid bouquet - ebay £10
My advice is to ask people to do thier services as a present! and then ask any past brides about anything they can lend!
get bridesmaids to wear own shoes
I imagine it will cost £3500 max!

only thing i need to sort is my bouquet - but put off by the prices, I want real flowers though... any ideas how i can save? Gonna get the thankyou bouquets seperately as they are half the price

nicole136

I bought all the dresses at the end of the "wedding season" in sept so all massively reduced