hi, am new to this site and have only just started to think about planning the wedding, can any1 help me to make a budget when we are getting very little money!! the main problem is the reception venue and food, help???!!!
CommentAuthorH2DAHIZO
where abouts are you from.. i found a venue with a great offer in southport.. 1500 for 50 at wedding breakfast and 100 buffet :) xx
CommentAuthorWeeMintyMonkie
Are you both on benefits? Also do you have family that can help out. My uncle is doing my catering. My mum buying my dress. Mum and dad paying deposits and sil bought my brides maids dresses. I got my veil for 3quid from a charity shop and have little diamontes to stick to it. Alot of my work mates are helping out with bits and the bay of e is great for bargains!!! Making my own centre pieces!! X x x
CommentAuthorMrsMcleish2B
We are making our own favours but they aren't essential items anyway and like WeeMinty my family are buying parts of the wedding as gifts. Have you thought of a DIY wedding buffet and local village halls? Lots of the 'chain' hotels also do wedding packages which work out a good price.
Have you drawn up a budget coz that might help us advise you further xxxx
Wedding Day - 16th June 2012
CommentAuthormrssmith2b
my friend gets married in the summer and instead of having a sit down meal she is dressing her house and garden up and having a massive bbq, then at the night time she is having her evening reception at a social club. hope this helps x
I think it all depends on what you want hun. There are lots of ways to save. Both sit down and go through ideas. Are there any friends or family who can offer help ie, a cake maker in the family or someone who can help make invites? Bay of e is every brides first stop for bargains. I think when we made up our budget is was mainly how much/over how long. The bigger your ideas the more realistic you need to be with your time frame. Reception venues offer better deals for weekdays and out of season. Spend a long time researching, there is always somewhere that can offer a better deal, or throw in more for the money. Hotels offer package prices which include a huge amount for the money but be aware some places ask for a minimum number of guests. Best advice is to read and re read their contract before handing over any deposit. Maybe think of having your ceremony later in the day so you only need to feed your guests once. Lots of brides opt for an evening buffet and use the wedding cake as dessert. There are lots of things you can do hun, it is very possible. Here whenever you need advice hun. Best of luck! xxx
I have a gorgeous husband!
2 brilliant wonderful boys, a wonderful life
in Cornwall. Happiest woman ever!
Now making our house a home. Blessing 2014.
CommentAuthorKylee27
Lisa, we're doing it on £2k. Loads of the girls are doing it on a budget so you'll get lots of help! :0)
Family are helping us, I've borrowed my dress, shoes from ebay, uncle making the cake and sisters husband is a DJ so is doing our disco. The bargain hunting is half the fun.
One of my favourite shops at the moment are the pound shops, you can find some little gems! One of the mods got loads of picture frames for her table decorations from there.xx
Can't wait to be married!
CommentAuthorLisaHarris
all very helpfull ty. i dont have time to make m own things with a 3 year old and a disabled 12 week old, no we are not both on benefits, but he might as well be as he has an 8 hour a week contract!! trying desperately to find him a new job, my mum died as a baby so dont have her help, my dad is just starting a new job so maybe in a few months io could ask him to chip in, my house isnt big enogh to hold a bbq or buffet. and i have this stupid urge to impress but on a budget lol xx
CommentAuthorLisaHarris
@stevie_dee, that is a brilliant idea about the wedding later in the day!! i never thought of that. and yes ebay is one of my friends lol. i dont know alot of 'handy' people but i can start to ask around:-) its not 4 a while yet, but once i start to book things/buy things, it will feel more real! xx
CommentAuthorStevie_Dee
Where are you from hun? I tried to send you a friend request but you need to unlock your page to allow friend requests. xx
I have a gorgeous husband!
2 brilliant wonderful boys, a wonderful life
in Cornwall. Happiest woman ever!
Now making our house a home. Blessing 2014.
CommentAuthorLisaHarris
esher xx how do i do that lol xx
CommentAuthorStevie_Dee
I understand what you mean about trying to impress. We must all think that way at some point. At the end of the day tho its about you and your husband to be and what matters to both of you.....sparkle and bling is nice but it doesnt alter how you feel about each other. xx
I have a gorgeous husband!
2 brilliant wonderful boys, a wonderful life
in Cornwall. Happiest woman ever!
Now making our house a home. Blessing 2014.
CommentAuthorLisaHarris
true :-) how do i unlock my privacy settings??
CommentAuthorWeeMintyMonkie
Im not a very artsy person and im working every hour possible as my.h2b isnt working but iv still found the time to make some wedding invites and im doing my own centre pieces which i never thought i would do. Got all my glass pieces from charity shops. And the paints werent too expensive. You could get your 3 year old to help with wedding invites! They may not be amazing but atleast you know they are hand made and personal to you and im sure eveyone would love that!! X x x
CommentAuthorStevie_Dee
Go to the My Wedding tab at the top of the page Go down to My details at the bottom of the page it says something like wall permissions and you can alter that to allow friends to see your wall/send friend requests. xx
I have a gorgeous husband!
2 brilliant wonderful boys, a wonderful life
in Cornwall. Happiest woman ever!
Now making our house a home. Blessing 2014.
CommentAuthorStevie_Dee
I wish I lived closer hun I would help you with stuff that you dont have time for. Sounds like you have your hands very full. A good idea may be to see what ladies live near you who can offer help and advice in person as well as on here. Keep coming on and I am sure you will get plenty of support from the ladies on here. I for one will help to the best of my ability. xx
Can I just ask - what dates do you have in mind?
Is your 3 year old a boy or girl, as I have a bridesmaids dress thats never been worn that is a 4/5 yr claret and ivory if you want it, its yours. xx
I have a gorgeous husband!
2 brilliant wonderful boys, a wonderful life
in Cornwall. Happiest woman ever!
Now making our house a home. Blessing 2014.
CommentAuthorhlaraine1
we are having a registry office wedding and an evening reception in a local social club. we are buying our own food for the buffet and H2B's aunt is preparing it for us as our present. her son is doing our music. my mom's partner has given us money towards my dress and the buffet food. we are going for a meal after the service and inviting everyone to join us if they wish but for them to pay for themselves. they know we dont have much money as H2B has a degenerative illness and cant work and i have a very part time job and claim benefits. my daughter is my MOH and is buying hers and her daughters dresses as bridesmaids SIL2B is buying her daughters BM dress. my son is creative so we will buy flowers from the local market the day before and he and my mom will make the bouquets button holes and corsages. we designed and printed our own invites cost less than a tenner to do them all. SIL2B has pretty much designated herself as venue dresser and told me not to worry about it just told her my colours.
our venue has cost £40 for the evening. the register office is about £120 all together. we have decided on getting our cake from M+S less than £90 H2B got his suit in the charity shop i volunteer in. if you want any ideas and suggestions there are plenty of us on a tight budget who will be able to tell you how we have managed
CommentAuthorbridalmiss
Depending on how many guests you want to invite, another option could be to have the service at a church/registry, then if you or a family friend has a large garden etc you can go to Costco or Asda and get a load of food in, and have a party at home. A friend of mine even had her service conducted in her mum's garden and they did a wedding festival theme, which was really fun, they painted those cut out boards so people could put their heads through etc and did button badges as favours! I thikn weddings are really all about enjoying the day with your friends and family, so you don't necessarily need to have a posh 3 course meal with a disco
CommentAuthorbridalmiss
Ooh and another friend had a church service then booked out a restaurant to serve food from the main menu and they just covered the bill - we were out of there by 4pm as well because a lot of the guests had Chinese takeaways to get back to! Then in the evening they had a family only gathering...
Or try hiring a local hall but bringing your own food in to hold the party! Loads cheaper than hotel packages!
CommentAuthorAtaraxia
What we did to keep costs down was sit down and think of the wedding we wanted. We made a list of the things we needed (like a legal ceremony haha), the things we couldn't imagine getting married without, and the things we didn't really care about.
We're getting married abroad, so that's added a few extra costs but everything else we've managed to keep down. I got my dress from ebay for less than £60, I'm getting my BM dresses from a website and they are costing around £30 each, h2b has seen a suit he likes in Primark but they also have nice ones in Tesco/Matalan and they can always be used again for other weddings you may attend or for work! Ebay is a godsend, most things can be bought on there for a fraction of the price, if you don't want to buy a China dress, there are often brides selling their wedding dresses on there but for a higher price and you may need alterations! There are also some good deals on jewellery, our wedding rings came to less than £100 for both but there are websites like Etsy where you can also find good deals on rings and even cufflinks, presents for the attendants and even bridal accessories.
IKEA is great for decorations, same with B&M, Poundland/99p shops who now have their own wedding ranges!
Have an off-season wedding, or plan for a weekday, makes it slightly more inconvenient for guests but the prices are CONSIDERABLY lower. There are some nice church halls that can be rented for around £100-200, or if you have a friend with a nice garden who might be willing to let you use it, that will save you money too.
Got married 27th June and blessed on July 5th 2012
Finally Mrs M :3
Love, love... Here we are.
CommentAuthorlinzi
just keep it very small. Make it an intimate cermony with just a few of you at a registry office (there are some really nice ones!) and then maybe hire a recreational hall (does your local hospital have one?) or village hall and get everyone to chip in with the catering and just have a big buffet at night time.
I don’t repeat gossip so listen very carefully!!
Started Slimming World - 23/03/2011 - 2 Stone to lose!
Total Loss = 1 stone 7 lbs.
As at 23/11 - 3 days before the wedding.
CommentAuthorEmmaLouise
Hi honey, my friend had a registry office wedding and a do in a rugby club, it was great! It's not really about how pretty it all is but who you are and your vows. Yes it's lovely to go to a big posh venue but it isn't what makes the day in my opinion. Have a small registry office wedding and then book somewhere small. One of our local hotels does a full package for 2k, whole thing, reception and wedding. So you may be able to find something like that if you can stretch it that far. Maybe ask friends and family to chip in for a buffet (bring some food!). The main thing is you enjoy yourselves, you can definitely have a wedding that doesn't break the bank. You could do what we are doing to save money and ditch the sit down meal, we are having a hog roast and a late wedding so we don't have to feed everyone twice. Hog roasts are cheaper than sit down meals. There's loads of ways to reduce costs. I did all my invites for £50, engagement, save the dates and wedding invites. If you don't mind having business card size printed invites you can do them for £8. xxx
CommentAuthorjanetx71
i guess as ataraxia has said its down to whats important to you my partner is disabled so he is on benifits and im his carer ao money is tight what we decided was what were the most important things. sit down with your finances and right out what you can realisticaly save every week or month then add up how much that will be by the time you want to get married and there is your budget. devide your budget according to whats important for you. we are having our wedding in a local village hall and we can get married there as well so contact your local council and find out costs or go on their website and have a look. but remember in a hall you have to have the dj and the caterer and the bar to bring in i prefered doing it this way as i wanted a very simple menu and a more say over how it was all going to go all in we have spent maybe 3000/3500 we sold some stuff we didnt need or use anymore on bay of e and bought loads of stuff from there as well which has saved a fortune maybe see if family members who are buying pressies will get something for the weding etc it can be done i got all my bm dresses on sale in a bridal shop an some on the bay it takes a litle more time and effort but it is doable xxx
CommentAuthorEmmaLouise
I'm sure we have loaddds of tips between us. Perhaps draw up a list of things you'd like to have (within reason but you know, wish a little) then we can all give you specific tips on those things you've mentioned. eg wedding for 50 guests, day and reception etc. x
CommentAuthorPrincess Sarahbelle
edited
i am makig my own invites and doing my fsil's brothers wedding cards at a budget price. add me i might be able to help
Im now Sarah Marie Ashton
CommentAuthorjanetx71
good idea emmalouise xx
CommentAuthorJane
hun the best way to cut your budget is by buying on bay of e all of us lady's have saved a lot an there and go to as many fyres as possible you can find bargians there to as well as look at collage photographers
yay soon 2 be Lady Jane Bradbury
CommentAuthorA.Bird2b
We're doing the budget wedding, luckily I have come into a little more money and now have around £3k to spend but when I was first planning we were looking at our minimum budget of £800. nearly 1 third of that was the license and ceremony, a £75 high street dress for me, £75 suit hire for h2b, £20 to make a dress for my little girl. £75 on rings (thanks to a well known auction site, thankfully we're not into massive bling), £100 on food and drink for a picnic reception in a friends back garden.
Now even though we have more money to spend I'm really trying to keep costs down. My sisters boyfriend is doing the photography in return for a hot meal and a few drinks, I'm making my cake and the flowergirl dresses, our reception venue have provisionally agreed a discount in return for using some of the photos for publicity (still need to finalize). There are so many ways of keeping costs down and everyone on here will be able to tell you a few of their own.
