Tips for weddings on a budget

[polo_princess]

What with the "recession" and all, more and more people are having to do their wedding on a smaller budget so i thought we could use this thread to share money saving tips and tricks to help keep the cost down.

Feel free to post yours

 

[Kirstin]

Some I did, some I found when looking but didn't need to do as my wedding was small anyway.

- Off peak season date or a day other than Saturday
- Serve wedding cake instead of desert
- Later wedding breakfast so you wont need a buffet or big buffet instead of a meal
- I got one of my bridesmaid dresses brand new from ebay for £45, they were in Debenhams for £90
- Silk flowers instead of real ones
- I got loads of things from ebay from wedding shops, usually cheaper than proper shops
- Lottery tickets as wedding favours so they were only £1 each
I'll post some more when I remember them

 

[redberry3]

-ask a family photographer to do your pics
-hold the ceremony in the backyard of a friends home
-instead of a midnight lunch, serve your cake then
-have a dollar, two dollar bar....this not only helps with paying for the liquor but also helps keep consumption lower so you don't have a ton of drunks....
-make your invitations, centerpieces and favors

thats a few things we did....

 

[Sovereign]

Use students to do jobs that you would normally get a professional to do, like student photographer, make up artist, hairdresser, florist etc! x

 

[Kirstin]

My table was decorated with rose petals and candles which worked out so much cheaper than it would have done to have flowers on every table.

Flowergirl outfit was bought in the sale in BHS in June (usually after all the prepared people have bought their things) for less than £20, the dress alone was £45 before the sale.

Didn't have a DJ - we picked music ourselves and made several CDs to play

 

[binxyboo]

we saved money by....
* buying my dress from a prom dress shop - it was an ivory ball gown rather than a wedding dress (it didn't have a train)
* My aunt made our cake as a wedding present
* had fake flowers (2 bouquets, 2 corsages, 7 buttonholes = £90 - Florist wanted over £250 for exactly the same, but fresh)
* Only had one bridesmaid - only one bridesmaid dress to buy
* bought my Pageboys outfit from ebay
* bought my jewellry and tiara online (tiara cost £12)
* made my own centrepeices (wrapped sequins around some candles and put them on mirror plates)
* got a freelance photographer friend to do our photos
* got married on a friday

in hindsight, I wouldn't have bothered with favours. Most were left behind at the end of the night, so it was a waste of money.

 

[Mynxie]

make things yourself.

Easy things to make yourself are boquets and posies, invitations, thank you cards, button holes, favours, those kinds of things.

Unusual favours are cool - people remember your wedding if it's a bit different!

You can buy a cake from Asda for under £50, plain white icing fruit cakes, 3 different sizes (the 3 together total about £35/£40!) Then decorate it using ribbon and a topper.

If you want proper pictures, don't skimp on a photographer, but remember some of the best pics (as in the ones that will hold alot of sentimental value) are the ones that your friends take, so ask your friends to give you a copy of the pics they take and maybe put some cheap disposable ones on the tables too!

The "W" word can add a hundred or more pounds onto something, so when you book somewhere, ask how much it will cost for a party

 

[sarah1989]

Our entire wedding was 2,000$ CAD and here are some ways we saved money:

- Family member made our wedding cake for us
- Purchase Decorations from a Dollar Store (as we call them here), cheap doesn't necessarily mean ugly
- Student photographer
- Student hairstylist
- Bridesmaid & Maid of Honour, purchased their own dresses from lightinthebox.com
- Flowers were fake and cost 65.00$CAD (4 bouquets, 6 corsages)
- My wedding dress was only 135.00$ CAD with shipping, and then 35.00 for alterations (lightinthebox.com)
- Offer vendors advertising of their services, where in turn you get a lesser cost from them.
- Don't spend alot on wedding invitations, most people throw them out after the wedding anyways. We had 100 save the dates and 100 invitations and it only cost us 113.00$ CAD

 

[princess_bump]

good thread holly we're actually cutting costs by doing it abroad, and getting parents to help

 

[stephwiggy]

My wedding cost £700 ha ha ha

We got married in a small church (on base)
We had the photos done outside a nicer church lol
The drivers and cars we a favour for me making cakes (yes i am that good lol )

My dress was Debenhams (100 pounds) and i put beads on myself

Reception was at the familys club and we put a bit of money behind bar the rest they had to buy for !!

Ummm Flowers silk off ebay from Hong Kong

Food - again local businsess

Cake !!! We cheated and got from tesco and i decorated and made into towers

and we stayed in the local hilton


We did not go on honeymoon till this year and we have been married since 2005

Think thats it !! xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Kimboowee]

This is what we've found/done so far
- Most places give you 10-20% discount for booking in 09 for a 2010 wedding
- Buy a plain cake teirs and decorate them with fake flowers yourself
- Shop around if you have the time
- Ask bridesmaids to buy their own dresses!!
- Hire suits instead of buy
- 'Wedding' shoes are normally more expensive than just normal white/ivory high st ones!
- DIY centrepieces
- Do your own stationary, menus, table plans & place cards
- Reuse flowers from ceremony in the reception

 

[princess_bump]

how about dress in sales? i've been looking lots and there seems to be looks of sales on bridal dresses

 

[jenstar]

Get your bride's shoes in Next (they also do good bridal lingerie at a good price.)

Restrain yourself with the beauty prep- do you and all bridesmaids need a professional fake tan and nails? (Well maybe YOU do!)

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

I've got my dress from ebay, it is my dream dress and in stores it cost £1200, but I got it for £200..
I asked if I could go and try on the dress first and she was fine with this..

Village halls/church halls are cheap to have receptions, and you can usually decorate any way you want to..
If you want to have waiters/waitresses go and talk to the local college and ask if you can 'hire' some of the catering students.

Look in places like Asda Living for centre piece ideas.. My mum found me some candles in vases for £4 and I'm going to get some beads to put inside the vases in our colour scheme!

xXx

 

[ALY]

We used the same car for me and the bridsmaids it took them 1st and then came back for me and my dad x (it was £180 cheaper than having another car )
we hired a a private room in a pub instead of somewhere expensive
the dj was a friend so asked him to do it x
bought bridesmaid dress for holly and robyn from BHS
get married as late as you can that way you jusr pay for a buffet
hire suits
my nan bought all the drinks of cham for the toast

just dont do what i did and buy 3 dresses

 

[Lil_Baby_Boo]

Well made a list of what we wanted and a list of what we could do with out............

We're making our own invites, favors and doing all the venue dressing ourselves. Use ebay for chair covers as companies that come in a do them for you can charge over £2.50 per chair, where as you get them off ebay and they send you a few sizes to try and then they'll send enough for the day and out works out at £1 per chair (but just for white)

A car was on our 'do without' list but we managed to get a really good deal and the company are picking grooms party up, then my bridesmaid and then coming back for me and my dad and also doing OH and me a drive after the ceremony.

Also asked friends for recomendations and its suprising who knows who....one of my friends recomended a cake maker who is doing us a 4 tier (proper professional cake) for £100!! Another friend works for a craft centre where they make bouquets out of silk flowers so we're getting all our flowers made there for a bargin price......plus they can be kept.

We're buying crystal type candle holders for table centres but we're also going to give them (once finished) as keep-sakes to our parents, nan's etc.

Be prepared for things to jump off your 'do without' list on to your 'I want' list..........I didn't want chair covers but having seen the room dressed without it just doesn't look right where we're getting married.



OOOHHHH - I love taking about my planning

 

[Sarahkka]

We did everything (ceremony then reception) at the same venue, which was a big savings. We had ours at the Zoo in the botanical gardens. I didn't spend a penny on decorations as the site was one big spectacular garden! We had a small break between ceremony and reception for pictures (about 30-45 mins as the rest we did ahead of time), so none of our guests had to leave the site and figure out what to do with themselves and we had no transportation costs.
We chose a buffet, as it was not only cheaper, but I liked the idea that there would be less waste. People only took what they wanted to eat.
We made a donation to the Zoo in lieu of favours. I find favours are one of those really pointless traditions. Very few people keep them and I just hate creating more clutter and junk if I can avoid it.
I just asked each of my bridesmaids to wear a little black dress, rather than try to make everything match exactly. That worked really well. Noone had to spend cash on something that would never be worn again.
That's all I can think of at the moment.

Oh, one thing that I think is important is to question all the dozens of traditions and see if they are relevant to you and your OH or not. It's not just about saving cash - it's also about creating a meaningful ceremony for yourselves. It feels much better to choose the things that matter to you and leave out whatever feels like an empty ritual. Who cares what any of your guests think if you don't have favours or you want a backyard BBQ as your reception? If it feels right for who you are as a couple, it will be a genuinely lovely event for everyone. The wedding industry puts some powerful pressure on brides, in particular - be strong and don't be afraid to say no thank you!

 

[danni2609]

we bought an ordinary red prom dress from a local shop cost way less...
hired part of local pub and paid for food for just close friends and family think we only had about 30 people in total there
we made our own cake
got my dress from debenhams

 

[charlieann]

got my dress 2nd hand off ebay.... £60
shoes 2nd hand off ebay.... £5
grooms and bestman's suit asda... £20
bridesmaids dresses ebay... 3 x £20
cake m&s plain 3 tiers... bogof £50
favours, made shortcake and wrapped them up with s-i-l, approx £5 for ingrediants/ materials
boquet, wedding present from aunty
buffet, wedding presnet from other anty
tiara, gift from OH grandma
car, driven by OH cousin in his posh car with added ribbon... free/gift
venue and meal was gift from parents
biggest expense photographer, originally £300 for ceremony and group shots with images on cd and we own the rights (so meny photo places offer 50 free prints as inroductory offer). upgraded to £400 package which included getting ready and reception shots, with 60 prints + rest on cd

 

[subaru555]

We're saving by having only ourselves at the wedding ceremony! (other than witnesses from the hotel)
The whole thing includes a photographer (75 photographs and cd), evening meal reception style for two!, wedding cake, certificates, ceremony etc

Having a reception with buffet and disco when we get home which costs £220.

I loved a certain brand of dresses (Hollywood Dreams) They start from £2,700. Phoned and found out the designer and found she designs for another company virtually the same dresses although they started at £1200 with that company so bingo! (Tiffany Bridal)

I got my bouquet to be made in artificial flowers so I can take it with me abroad and keep it as a beautiful centrepiece in my lounge for memories.

I'm wearing either heels I bought for my sisters wedding but never wore or flip flops if it's on the beach. (I can adjust the height of the bottom of my dress with the hoops) You'll never notice either way as you can't see them!

Tiara on eBay.

Jewellery will be about £100 but spending that as we have extra money due to not taking family.