Wedding on a Budget - Help!

mariaalice

clumsyklutz wrote: »

A church wedding can really add to the costs, between premarriage courses, donations, paying for sacristans, church decor and other sundries. We never considered a church wedding but based on our local church I know others have used we saved at least a grand not doing the church thing.

I never considered a church wedding, really just not for me! Though the mother in law to be wasn't too happy about it! I told her if she wanted to pay then that was fine by me - That shut her up!

Is 35-37k net income or gross? If it is net I don't see how a couple could save a decent amount of it over 2 years.

That's gross, and to be honest a guess based on what the fiance is earning this year - odd hours in Tesco - wages go up and down! So it is hard to try save a set amount when you don't know what you'll be getting from week to week! He has suggested moving in with his parents while we save - but I said I'd rather just elope! I need my own space!

There's lots of small ways to save money along the way - I'm doing my own flowers, sourcing them from a wholesaler - a relative is making our cake in exchange for a bit of web design on my part - we designed the invitations ourselves and printed them with Vistaprint.

@kaki that sounds ideal as to what I want - just not what he wants! He wants a big wedding with lots of guests!

I have arranged with a friend who's done several beauty courses to do hair, make up and nails for me and bridesmaids on the day.

I have also asked my mother who's very into flowers/ flower arranging to do flowers - she said no problem!

She also knows a lady next door who is cake baker (she lives in the countryside -my mother knows bloody everyone!) who said she'd be more than happy to do cake at cost - which is great!

It's the bloody venue that's setting me back - everyone has their opinions but I can't afford any of them! I wanted a nice simple summer wedding beside the sea - (parents have a mobile in Dublin during the summer - very spacious areas beside it - would be an ideal spot to put up one of those fancy marquees!).

What do you all think? Would it be a good idea or ideal on a very tight budget?

I just want people to celebrate with us - I don't care where - but I think it's ludacris to go into debt for your wedding!

If you want by the sea look at Sean Og hotel in Wexford, its not a five star hotel but its very good value for weddings. It is possible to get married on a budget and have a traditional wedding in a hotel you just have to cut back on some thing and call in favours.

clumsyklutz

pooch90 wrote: »

As a massive coincidence, the Waterside is on Four Weddings tonight (will be repeated I'm sure) and the bride's budget was 3500.

Oooh what station will have a look

name0123

also Dont tell the Bride show is looking for applications if you are into that, I think they give you 10K for your wedding dont they?

myself and the OH have been engaged for quite a while but we cant seem to 'justify' spending loads of money on a wedding when we have a house to get right but then again I dont want to just go to registery office, we are both from large close families so to bring just immediate family for a meal we would still be looking at the guts of 50 people incl kids which alot would be considered adults when it would come to meals

I am half thinking of getting married with just parents there and then going away on a honeymoon but telling no one up to it we are getting married, what would people think of that if their sibling did that?

lazygal

I would want my siblings to have whatever wedding they wanted, and not feel they 'had' to spend money on what's essentially a big party. If they chose to do a quick ceremony and head off, I'd think fair play to them if that's what they wanted.

kaki

Totally agree about the marquee idea being expensive, I wrote a blog post about my own experience trying to organise a marquee wedding - but it always ended up been just as (if not more) expensive than a traditional hotel/venue wedding, with a lot more hassle.

Another tip (for the benefit of your partner!) would maybe be to fix 2-3 appointments with wedding coordinators at venues; an opulent one, middle-of-the-road one, and a more budget-friendly one - and bring the OH along - it'll be an exercise in opening his eyes as to the actual costs racked up in organising a full-blown wedding!

It's easy to have an idea of what you want but be completely oblivious to the costs involved, most people only plan a wedding once after all.

pooch90

clumsyklutz wrote: »

Oooh what station will have a look

Will be on Sky Living again. It's only briefly on it though but looks nice with the sea.

clint_silver

Ive played weddings in the waterside since it re-opened in its current format a few years ago, always a good atmosphere, staff are really friendly, great room for a party.

niallam

9 x 15m fully lined marquee, 150 people fed with 3 course meal, all equipment rented, seats, tables and chairs, cuttlery etc, 8 bed mansion that was ours for 3 nights... All covered for 9k.

The bar covered itself so you could say add that in there as being covered fully, and we had €2 drinks all day and night as I already said.
Our marquee was €1750, fully lined, floor and it was a brand new marquee, companies out there were looking €2800 before they put lining or a floor into it, they're the ones that are still back in 2007 with their pricing, and then after their 4.5k quote would add "+ vat"

Our wedding was so different to the norm, church followed by hotel with a big square room for dinner and dancing.

Any wedding will be expensive if you aren't willing to do a lot of work yourself

pooch90

That's still 9K without any clothes/flowers/band/photos etc though isn't it?
That wouldn't be my idea of 'on a budget' TBH.

January

I've a 10k budget for everything :eek: I'm on track for keeping within it though!

niallam

pooch90 wrote: »

That's still 9K without any clothes/flowers/band/photos etc though isn't it?
That wouldn't be my idea of 'on a budget' TBH.

On a budget can mean any price really, doesn't always mean a low budget, some people can just stretch a little further. I was trying to give people the idea that a marquee wedding is no dearer than a hotel if you do it right.
I earn the same as the OP and herself doesn't work, minds our child at home, to me that's actually harder than work

clumsyklutz

January wrote: »

I've a 10k budget for everything :eek: I'm on track for keeping within it though!

Fair play to you! My budget's about half that - for everything! But Im trying to call in all favours and received email from waterside saying that they would be willing to reduce costs from their wedding package, should we not need certain items, which is also good

D3PO

clumsyklutz wrote: »

I really think that's a problem with a lot of hubby's to be - they don't understand what it actually takes price wise to plan a wedding, I actually remember him saying 'All I have to do is show up in a suit and be on time' - I think that sums up most men's participation in the wedding planning process!

just because your OH is like that don't assume its the norm, I controlled and planned the budget for mine, my brother and best mates did likewise. Ive another fried whos due to get married later this year who regularly called me for advise on what kind of pricing x and y should cost etc.

men are far more active in the planning process than you seem to imagine.

D3PO

clumsyklutz wrote: »

Fair play to you! My budget's about half that - for everything! But Im trying to call in all favours and received email from waterside saying that they would be willing to reduce costs from their wedding package, should we not need certain items, which is also good

you can defo have a really good wedding for 5k like I said its about identifying whats important and then allocating the money accordingly.

clumsyklutz

D3PO wrote: »

just because your OH is like that don't assume its the norm, I controlled and planned the budget for mine, my brother and best mates did likewise. Ive another fried whos due to get married later this year who regularly called me for advise on what kind of pricing x and y should cost etc.
men are far more active in the planning process than you seem to imagine.

I'm not imagining things - I live with the man, he actually said to me 'all I have to do is show up'! You may be one of the few men that are actually properly involved in the wedding planning process, - but he and countless others I've spoken to all said their man was of little or no help. I wish he was more involved!