DIY Wedding

orange_gecko

Hiya folks,
so getting married this Christmas but no venue yet (yep I know about the 3 month thing). Looking to do it just before or after Christmas. We are both based in Africa so us and friends only get back once a year.

Would like a funky, non trad place. Ideally we would combine the legal procedures, ceremony, dinner and party into one. If this is not possible, we'll do the reg office or split it into 2-3 places. Something I've been thinking about is renting a city house.

Would like to find our own venue and bring caterers, bar, band and party. I'd do a quick booze run to France and then have a free bar. Missus is Dutch so apparently free bar is oblig. Does that make sense? Any suggestions of venues/caterers? Are caterers generally cheaper than restaurants? You know a place we can rent where we can bring our own booze (optimistic I know)?

We're trying to arrange from Uganda where we're based so working on getting family and friends to help us out.

Would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Tiddlypeeps

My aunt got married in a small castle just outside Lough Rea. It was a fantastic venue. You rent the entire castle for a couple of days. She had the ceremony and the reception there and the gardens outside were great for the photos so everything happened in the one place, it was fairly relaxed.

She was trying to do it really cheap, I'm pretty sure the whole thing came in cheaper than a hotel reception would have.

The only downside to this is that you need a liquor license to sell beer so you can't sell any on the premises (not sure if there is any way around that). My aunt just did BYOB which everybody was fine with. The alternative is to provide all the drink yourself which could push costs way up.

seosamh1980

That's Cloghan Castle mentioned above if you want to look it up. Dunno how much availability a place like that would have 3 months out though?

You could drop rosedale house in shankill co dublin a line

http://m.rosedale.ie/#!Welcome%20rosedale%20House|home_page

How Strange

Caterers can work out very expensive as you may also have to hire tables, chairs, glassware, plates etc right down to salt and pepper cellars. Also table linen and napkins.

I'd suggest you hire a wedding planner if you're trying to do this from overseas. A decent planner should be able to negotiate on costs for you.

lazygal

DIY and alternative doesn't always mean cheaper. When we did the sums on hiring caterers for a private venue it worked out pricey for anything more than a basic BBQ style. I wouldn't rule out all hotels if you're on a very tight budget because planning a wedding like you've described requires you to be very hands on which is very hard when you're abroad.

conf101

My partner and I are trying to do something similar and trust me, the costs rack up very quickly, particularly if you need to hire tables, chairs, cutlery, glasses, etc.

I'd second what's been suggested above wrt hiring a wedding planner, especially if you're organising from abroad. It's something we're looking into now.

lainycool

You also have to give the state 3 months notice if you intend on marrying.

Gatica

Read her post.

orange_gecko wrote: »

(yep I know about the 3 month thing)

Sleepy

We really wanted to do something similar but the prices shot up to way beyond what we were being charged by the hotel pretty quickly.

JustAThought

Sleepy wrote: »

We really wanted to do something similar but the prices shot up to way beyond what we were being charged by the hotel pretty quickly.

If you want it to be cheap & everyone is flying back from Uganda for it, wouldn't it be a lot more cost efficient to have it in Uganda & negotiate with the airline to have the few key people flown out on a discount/group fare deal? I doubt you'll get cheaper than Uganda.

What is your budget ?

ABajaninCork

What are your intended numbers? And where are you looking to get married??

Loads of nice restaurants if the numbers are small. You could do the deed in the reg office, then have the afters in a restaurant. I agree about the self-catering thing. People think it's cheaper but in practice, it often isn't.

There's also licencing and Health & Safety issues to consider as well.

Moonbeam

The 3 month thing is just the intention to wed to the hse where you have your initial meeting etc. It can be done a year before the wedding but has to be done at least 3 months before,your venue has no effect on it.
What are your numbers?

orange_gecko

Its all going to happen in Dublin. We can marry in the reg office if necessary. And a restaurant shouldn't be too difficult to find. We plan on 60-70 people and are looking for somewhere informal, i.e. no dodecahedron's made out of napkins

We were looking a restaurant for dinner and a marquee for the ceremony and party. Costs did increase to something similar to a non formal event in town. So we are still looking at either a tent or town.

So challenge is finding a place where we can have the ceremony and a decent party location. We don't want too much walking as Ireland in Dec may not be the most comfortable weather wise. Don't want to get slaughtered on the price of booze either,.

Its just the two of us out here in Uganda, everyone else will be home in Ireland from States and UK for Christmas anyhow so timing works well that way.

Thanks for the feedback. Very handy so far

Sam Kade

I know a couple who got married in a hay shed on her fathers farm. They got a registrar to marry them and got a catering company to do the food. The music came from an iPod. The bride bought her wedding dress on eBay and sold it after for twice what she paid for it. Between cash gifts and low cost the whole affair cost them less than 2k incl honeymoon. The guests were delighted with it as they said it was a change from the norm.

mamabear82

Sam Kade wrote: »

I know a couple who got married in a hay shed on her fathers farm. They got a registrar to marry them and got a catering company to do the food. The music came from an iPod. The bride bought her wedding dress on eBay and sold it after for twice what she paid for it. Between cash gifts and low cost the whole affair cost them less than 2k incl honeymoon. The guests were delighted with it as they said it was a change from the norm.

that sounds so quirky i love it!:cool:

Chickus

What about the unitarian church on stephens green, pictures in the park and pop down to nearys for a drinks reception (hot whiskeys), and party in the Shelbourne, Fire restaurant, hibernian club..so much choice around that area.

orange_gecko

Thanks for all the help folks. Decided on Cliff Town House in the city centre and then the reg office for the legalities a few days later. When it came down to it the marquee was very complicated and not cheaper atall. Lookin forward to it now.