The Great ‘how to host a big party on the cheap' Hunt

terrie1

MpT wrote: »

Terrie! - you want to go for things that don't need to be cooked on trays in the oven (which many of the Iceland type stuff does) as you won't be able to get it all cooked and kept warm. Even if you don't mind it cold, it's a lot of faff doing tray ful after trayful and having to keep reloading the oven. What about some lovely fresh bread, and then pate, cold meats, cheeses, salads, etc., so there is not so much to prepare - you just kind of 'put it out'!
Alternatively, we went to a party last year where the hosts wanted to celebrate but didn't want prezzies. They knew some people didn't like the idea of arriving empty handed, so asked everyone to 'bring a dish for the buffet' rather than a present. It was a lovely idea, and 1 I'll certainly use in the future :beer:

Hi There,
That sounds like a fab idea, def going to fo gor the bread cheese and meat etc, most people will prob have eaten anyway so it will be something to soak up the alcohol!!
Thanks for the fab ideas!

Terrie

EssexHebridean

Several people have mentioned ways of cutting the cost on wedding Photography on this thread - I'm going to venture a slightly different slant on the subject I'm afraid. I'm a part-time photographer, I don't cover weddings on a formal basis although I have covered several on the basis of doing the candid stuff that the photographer won't be able to be in a position to get. That suits both my confidence level and my competance level to a tee. Yes, I could do a decent enough job of the formal side of a wedding shoot, but I won't go down that line as I'm well aware of the value of wedding photos and as a result my nerves would make it likely that I'd not do the best job I could for the couple.

One way that a lot of people cut the costs of their photos is to ask a friend with "a big camera" to do it for them - and sometimes this will work just fine....however, having seen some results from occasions when the opposite has happened, I'd urge a serious amount of caution on those considering this route. Think firstly - if the worst happens and things go wrong, and you end up with no useable pictures of your day, where does that leave the friendship? What happens if someone's child bashes into the photographer and knocks their (possibly £1000) kit to the ground - who pays? A professional will have not only insurance again this eventuality, but will also have spare kit so he can carry on shooting on the day. The weather takes a turn for the worst - a professional photographer can think on his feet and get the bride and groom at least under cover - he will also have pro-spec gear so will be able to continue to shoot in the rain, but I suspect your mate with the big camera will be thinking only of getting his previous electronic toy covered up......

Money save, by all means, but think carefully on where you make your economies. In ten years time it won't worry your kids if their Mum was wearing a second-hand dress, arrived at the church in her Dad's Ford Mondeo, or had a reception in an unfashionable hotel - they will, however, want to see pictures of the day, as will you.

vodkawitch1

Markrussell - I thought this site did not allow adverts?

MoneySavingStudent_2

Spoke to my grandma in law (lets call her) lol the other day. And she said one of the friends couldnt afford much for their wedding, so she went to the charity shop to get a dress, but because she was on such a small budget she couldnt afford to buy one of the dresses so she asked the owner of the store if she could pay so much just to hire it out for the weekend. And the owner of the store said yes as long as it was in the same condition when it came back and it was back in the shop window by 12pm on monday morning!

I thought that was a good idea for those on a small budget!

OberonSH

terrie1 wrote: »

Hi There,
That sounds like a fab idea, def going to fo gor the bread cheese and meat etc, most people will prob have eaten anyway so it will be something to soak up the alcohol!!
Thanks for the fab ideas!

Terrie

Hi Terrie,

We're having the same thing - self catering at our reception. We've got loads of packs of cous cous from asda (55p each), will be making sandwich fillings up beforehand and freezing them. Luckily our venue has a kitchentte we can use, so I can whack some stuff in there, pizza etc, but as it's a summer thing we're not bothered on too much hot. Salads, cut meat - check out your local ethnic supermarket for unusual nibby bits, one of ours does whole salamis at really cheap prices.

Have you thought about getting a Makro card for bulk buying?

pbalay

Hi, just read your ad and very interested in knowing who you used as musicians? Do you have their names - Id rather use them as you say they were really good. Thanks for the website you mentioned! Great info.:j

allaboutme wrote: »

For people talking about hiring students for photography there's a really good site which is designed to help customers find students who can carry out a task they want for lower than professional prices. I used it to find some musicians for my 21st birthday party and they were really really good and a lot cheaper than hiring a whole band!! I've got some friends who've had quite a bit of work doing photography for weddings from it.

www.studentgems.com

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Bo_Peep

Hi All,

We are getting married in August this year and have been planning the wedding and buying things for it since July 2007. We are lucky in that we had a big budget to start with but as time went on, I thought it would be best to spend as little as we could on the wedding (while still having the dream day that we want) and to have some money left over to put aside for the future. After all, the wedding is only one day, the marriage is for a lifetime!

Ways we saved money:

I ignored everyone who said it was too early to start planning and booked the main items (reception venue, disco, cake, chair covers, videographer) in 2007 and consequently got their 2007 prices rather than 2008's!

Our wedding is on a Friday so the photographers have done us a deal on staying later for the last dance and not charging us.

Chair covers - if your venue are skilled in setting them up you might be able to knock money off the price if you don't need the chair cover company to do this themselves.

Invitations - the invitations that I wanted on the web would have cost me £500.00 just for the day and evening invites. I made a template in MS Publisher and got my fiance to take this to his work's printing department and they printed my day invitations, evening invitations, wedding A-Z and hen party invitations all for less than £30.00!!

Stationery - I am also printing my own Order of the Day booklets (to include Order of Service).

Dress, photographers and transport - unfortunately I cannot offer any money saving advice on these areas as I totally blew out on these things as my dream dress cost £950, the photographers cost over £2000 for the package we are having and I have always wanted a horse and carriage since I was little and this is costing £800.

Table decorations, favours, tiara, little bits, etc. - I got all of this from EBay and saved a packet!

Table plan - I am making my own with an artists canvas board from a cheap craft shop and some crafty bits from EBay. Again, saved money rather than buying one ready made from a wedding website.

Cameras, menus, place cards, flowers, etc. - My reception venue offered these as part of the package which costs £50.00 per adult. I sourced my own cameras and flowers and made my own menus and place cards and they in turn took £5.00 per adult off the price. As we are having nearly 100 guests, the amount that I saved was more than the amount I spent on the flowers and cameras.

I really wanted an arch that I could decorate with flowers and fairy lights for the entrance to the room or for photo opportunities. I saw various companies offering decorated white arches for sale or for hire for £200+! I looked on a gardening website and bought a similar style of arch in green for £7.99 and some silk flower garlands and fairy lights from EBay. The decorations will hide the fact that the arch is green. Total cost: Under £50.00.

I think that's about all of my advice for now - am sitting here running through the wedding sections to see if there's anything I've missed out!

Final word of advice: Always shop around. I have seen exactly the same wedding items for sale in different online shops, some at half the price of the others!

Hope this has helped some engaged couples.

Regards,

Bo Peep.

lawlorlane

Oh, its a shame this has dried up as i am having a 1st birthday party soon for my DD and was hoping for some ideas for cheapest food/drinks - Its a BBQ party, in out back garden for 26 adults and 15 kids - Anyone got any ideas?

bebebelle

I did Pineapple and chocolate sauce on the BBQ last year . Its a Nigella Lawson Recipe from Forever Summer.I got it from the library.It was a huge hit at my party.I gave everyone their own little bowl of melted chocolate sauce, to dip their grilled pineapple in.I made sure the childrens didnt have any Malibu in it though:)It sound strange, buts its lovely.
I also did individual cup cakes, instead of a birthday cake with little flowers on top. It was so cute.

money_saving_diva

to continue on from bo peeps message - i did the same for our wedding - had a dream day but shopped around and my best tip is: I couldn't believe how much the cakes were!! shocking!! the ones i liked were really plain and started at £600!!!!!!!! :eek: also how was I to know what the actual cake was going to end up tasting like?! So, I got a 3 tier white iced cake from Marks and Spencers (who can beat an M&S fruit cake?) costs about £60, hired a swan style cake stand from local bakery, cost about £15 and my florist made 3 boquets of fresh flowers to exactly match my flowers to sit on top of each cake, they came to about £40 - with a bit of thought and planning I had my dream cake for just over £100!!:T