New here - looking for advice?

[krissie1234uk]

Hi ladies, I'm new to this section. I've been engaged for over a year now and have finally got my butt in gear and started planning. We are planning on getting married in April 2011 (not very long to plan, but my grandad has cancer and I would really like to get married while he is still with us).
My partner Euan is 27, I'm 22 and our son is almost 18 months. We are trying to keep costs down to a minimum. We are going to get married in the church across from our house and have found a venue we both like. It's this village hall about 20 mins down the road from us. It's a grade 2 listed victorian property with fabulous windows and exposed beams and we both love it. It's a bit on the small side but we'll make it work.
So onto the advice. We are planning on going straight to the reception from the church and having a cold buffet and champagne, then any evening guests will come later on and we'll have a potato pie supper type thing. Does this sound like a doable thing?
We were hoping to do the food ourselves to keep costs down, has anyone ever done this/is doing this and have any tips or recipes?
If I think of anything else I'll add it later

Thanks in advance ladies and hope to get to know you all

 

[honeybee2]

This sounds amazing!!!!!!!!

The good thing about it is a) you have a venue that you can dress up with anything (ie. thousands of candles, vintage bunting (think english garden party style) or with long white tulle drapes hanging from the wall (the list is endless and they're not expensive either!!!) b) you can get your own alcohol, I found that costo & tesco did amazing alcohol in bulk for really cheap!! c) you can get your own caterers in and trust me, shop around a bit (look on the web under caterers) in the yellow pages, advice of friends and you will save thousands on catering!!! In house caterers are always soooo expensive.

Before I booked for a all in house venue at a castle, I was booking a marquee and everything I was arranging myself from the booze to the food to the decorations to the electricity but then i got scared it was going to rain and cancelled it all. All in all, the marquee suppliers (apart from the marquee itself) was going to cost me a fraction of the price because I was hiring independent suppliers.

Be warned though if you are doing this- always use a company with references and one that you trust to keep well financially- the last thing you need is a supplier going bust. In this case wedding insurance is a must and you can get it as cheap as £15.

Good luck planning- if you need any tips then let me know!!! Ive been planning for 2 years!!! (and changed my mind about ten times) xx

 

[krissie1234uk]

We were going to try and do our own buffet for the day guests, my Uncle used to be a chef so considering asking him for some guidance. I couldn't believe how much the hotels and such charge for feeding your guests!!! That was partly the reason we decided to go down the private venue route!
We are also going to have a go at making our own wine and getting some personalised labels printed up. We have been given all of the equipment to set up and so just need to buy the kits. We've worked out it can cost as little as 80p for a bottle of wine this way, which means we can provide plenty for guests at very little cost!
I'm so excited, just a little nervous at the thought of everything that needs doing!

 

[elmaxie]

Fantastic!

I think you need to find out what your venue allows too just incase they say no alocohol, candles, music past a certain time or pinning things to the walls etc etc....also if you can get in the day before to decorate saving you alot of time too. Ask family for help with this and leave someone in charge who knows what you want too so you can go and do other things too!

As for the buffet so long as you dont mind spending the day before cooking and making sandwiches etc etc then your fine and also try to get family roped in...if not why not ask a few close members of your family to help by making sandwiches on the day and before going to the church dropping them off at the reception venue?? If your buying/supplying the stuff they may be more than willing to help out leaving you free to enjoy your wedding morning! But use only trusted relitives!

Also table decor is so easy to do too (hopefully your venue has tables/chairs etc and hiring from independant companies is cheaper than you might expect for table cloths and table wear)....and can be really cheap! I bought lovely silk petals off ebay for a fraction of the cost and scattered them on the tables made it really quite romantic. I bought lanterns from ikea and had them as my table decor too with just a few tea lights for inside for the evening to romantic up the mood...

My only concerns would be getting people roped in to pour champagne and caterers for your potato supper...which I have no clue what that is

Get guests to bring a bottle or two of alcohol and dont forget to cater for kids and drivers!

Emma.xx

 

[krissie1234uk]

Haha, potato pie supper is just like a stew with either minced meat or stewing steak, gravy, potato's and onions. Rather than having it as a pie, I was hoping to have pastry hearts on the side.
My family have offered to help out with the buffet, which is a fab help. I'm not sure on what to do about someone serving and clearing up after the food, that's my first issue.
We checked with the venue about alcohol and thats fine. Good point with the candles, didn't think to ask! Thanks!

 

[honeybee2]

oooo its so exciting!!!! i cant wait to advise you as the time goes on- im sure it'll be a wonderful experience- i love DIY weddings!!!! so much fun!!!

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

Hey, first of all congratulations!!

It is very do-able.

My h2b and I are having a registry office wedding, followed by a reception in a town hall ballroom (it is gorgeous) with a cold buffet that is being done by family members.

At first we were going to do the food ourselves but others offered to do it for us and it has been a huge weight off my shoulders since.

And it definitely keeps costs down!

Good luck

xXx

 

[<tiny_toes>]

That all sounds amazing and just like what we're hping for too!! we're looking at may next year so just the same as you with starting out on planning making the food is a great idea and im sure you family and friends will all love to help! and you can get creative and make all the invites and orders of services yourself to reduce costs too! lightinthebox.com is amazing for bridesmaid dresses too xxx

 

[krissie1234uk]

Ohh QueenMummy, can't wait to see pictures of your wedding. It will be lovely to see some ideas for decorating etc. What sort of food are you having for your buffet? Does your reception venue have a bar? If not, how are you solving this?

Tiny-toes, thanks for the website idea, I'll go have a look around! What are your plans so far? Have you set a date? It will be great to have someone else planning etc at the same times, help us both keep on track I'm sure!

I've been looking at wedding cakes today and I've found a great site where you can buy edible roses and alsorts of cake decorations that are ready to stick on! https://www.rainbowsugarcraft.co.uk/shop/Sugarcraft_Flowers.htm It's this one if anyone wants to have a look. The more I think of to do myself the more excited I get.

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

Luckily our venue does have a bar, but it won't be a free bar.

If yours doesn't have a bar you could try and look for costs of hiring a bar, or bulk buy toasting wine, and soft drinks and tell people to bring their own alcohol if they want to drink.

We are having a traditional buffet, sandwiches, pizza, loads of salad, sausage rolls, quiches, chicken goujons etc then having cold cuts of meat with rice and a couple of pasta dishes.

Then lots of desserts too.

Are you doing your own wedding cake?? Over the past year I've learnt how to make and decorate cakes in the past year so I shall be doing our own (eek haha)


xXx

 

[krissie1234uk]

I'll probably just buy a cake from Marks and Spencers and then rope my sister into helping me decorate it! I only want a simple cake and looking at the prices of those sugar flowers I'll save a small fortune. Wouldn't like to chance making my own cake, that would probably end in disaster. I'm sure your cake will be gorgeous, you can have it exactly how you want it without having to worry about cost, which is brilliant.

We are planning on making our own wine, I'm just nervous that I'm going to end up forgetting something with the alcohol. The only problem with hiring a bar is the space it takes up... Hmmm, decisions decisions!!

 

[honeybee2]

private message me if you need tips hun!!! xx