Great 'What I wish I’d known before my wedding' Hunt

I'm halfway through planning my wedding for August next year but I wish I'd realised at the start that with a little knowledge and confidence you can haggle the price of anything! Since realising this, I haven't paid the advertised price for anything from my dress to the photographer to the rings. Wish I'd had the sense to haggle the price of the venue and the food!

Don't spend a fortune on favours; unless it's edible or small enough to fit in a ladies clutch bag or a jacket pocket it'll probably just get left behind by most guests as they'll leave it on the table and forget to collect it on the way out.

Don't feel the need to have loads of expensive flowers on the tables. Think outside the box and do something interesting without them (loads of ideas online) or do your own arrangements using bunches from supermarkets/the market. Most people won't remember the small details of the day, more the overall effect so don't worry too much about the little things.

I didn't - I relied on a proficient friend to take the photos.

His camera broke at the ceremony (though he didn't know this until afterward, & carried on taking photos). This left us with just the snaps that others had taken of our day, & no decent visual record of our day at all. Of course the friend felt incredibly awkward about it, but there was nothing anybody could do about it, the moment had already passed.

I know it seems like the sort of thing you can save a few hundred quid on, but please don't - you don't want to regret it like I do.

Another wish we'd not wasted money on disposable cameras - most only had a few photos on and they were expensive to process.

We should have offered the food left on the evening buffet to people as they left - it had all been thrown out next morning, along with the cut wedding cake tier.

We bought a few balloon bunches to decorate the cake table and the present table, but they got lost in the big room.

Speaking as the mother of the bride, I wish I'd not bought a suit and a dress for the evening party - a dress and jacket would have done. I've not worn either since. (They were from the sales though).

We didn't go with chair covers - nobody ran screaming from the room.

As a recent newlywed, I found loads of good tips for my wedding.

Firstly, disposable cameras are so outdated and inconvenient in this technological age. You can't share the pics on Facebook! Instead, we used Trycapsule which is a free site that you can invite your guests to. As they are taking photos on their phones (as most people do), they can be automatically uploaded to your site where friends and family can view during the day. This was particularly useful for our guests who couldn't attend or who were only able to attend the evening reception. Everyone can now see the bride's preparation, the ceremony and the speeches if they weren't there! Plus, digital camera users can also upload their pics when they get back to their computers (or put their memory cards in someone's phone to upload the pictures). All our guests photos were kept all together and shared with people that I invited!

Secondly, my Mam made invitations, place cards and favour bags using things from a cheap art and supply shop. You don't have to be super creative, and it can be a good hen party activity for the morning to get everyone involved in making their place cards!

Next, the sweet table. A company we saw at a wedding fair was going to charge us £300 for a sweet cart, jars, sweets, scoops and bags. After a quick look on Ebay and a trip to Costco and Makro, we did our own sweet table for £50! Don't be sucked into the idea that you have to pay companies to make your day special. There are lots of ways to do things yourself, and family members are always keen to get involved...("hey mother....fancy making a goodie bag for the kids?!").
:rotfl: