Advice Needed.. Where do I Start?!?!!

Hi Stephanie, welcome to hitched!!

I intend on making my own invites and save the dates but I'm not getting married till August 13 so not looked into it properly yet.

A member recently posted some invites she made, they are AMAZING and worked out at 23p each to make so yes - definitely think if you hunt around you can do it much cheaper!

We booked our venue mid October last year and they were more than fine with it being so far in advance - infact she said to me the sooner the better as every single Saturday in 2012 had been booked by March 2011!

Also, make your photographer a priority, they get booked up VERY quickly and you'll need time to meet and few and decide which one to use.

I was the same as you when I joined Hitched, had NO idea about a thing, even made a post asking how the blimmin 'eck I buy a dress and everyone here on the forums has been brilliant with advice and tips and moral support when needed, so stick around!

I booked my wedding for august 2013 last September so no its never to early, you can then normally get them to agree a price freeze so saving money there!

There are allot of people that have made their own wedding invites and it depends on what your after, here is an example that one of the hitchers posted on how she made her cards

https://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/t/277015.aspx

Welcome to hitched! xx

Thanks for the Replies ?

Those invitations are so sweet! We definitely have non-traditional ideas for our wedding, and with our budget, whatever I can custom make myself, I'm prepared to! (Apart from my dress - There should be legal action taken if i ever pick up a needle & thread again..)

I've seen a few venues on the web, after your replies I think I'll go look around some abit sooner than I'd planned, just to make sure i get the date we want

Venues - can't help on suggestions but in terms of booking theres no such thing as too early, if you have a date in mind then go for it, just make sure you get them to agree to current prices as they may increase their prices over the next couple of years, also make sure you get wedding insurance as you need to be covered in case anything happens between now and your wedding (the chances of which are increased the further ahead you book)

DIY stuff - price will depend a bit on how elaborate you are thinking but you can make it cheaper for sure, and it will take time but you have that on your side at the moment. Vistaprint is recommended, sign up now and in time you'll get loads of freeby offers come through (I got 200 save the date postcards, a big lawn sign and a mug for £7!)

Don't worry about not having been to weddings recently, this is your wedding so you can make it however you want!

Welcome to Hitched x

I would suggest taking out wedding insurance before you put down any deposits

Hi and welcome to Hitched! I'm another Sheffield bride. We've booked Mosborough Hall. I wasn't too bothered about seeing it, but it's gorgeous. We also saw a couple of other venues; Tankersley Manor, but that seemed a bit too expensive for what you got; Kenwood Hall, which was stunning outside but didn't seem to match up inside. Photos would have been stunning though and also looked at Whirlowbrook Hall. I loved it there but OH wasn't sold. Which venues have you been looking at?

ETA - We booked 2 years in advance. If you're positive you've found the one, book ASAP to guarantee you get the date you want. I bet quite a few venues have bookings for 2014 now.

Hi freckles! We've only just started looking at things like venues etc on the web, so not done a massive amount of research. I've looking at Mosborough Hall too, it looks lovely and I know how popular it is so thats always a good sign! Also looked at Aston Hall and a few of the hotels in town, Aston Hall is my fave at the minute, though!

Hi,

Also a Sheffield bride here!!

What sort of venue are you after? and what areas? We didn't look at many 'normal' hotel type ones as I wanted to have loads of flexibility in catering and how the day went, and was set on outside space.

You said you had some non traditional ideas? what sort of things are you thinking?

The first thing I did was to decide what council areas I would consider and then downloaded the list of all licensed premises and looked at them on the net - making a short list of possibles to view.

I think some of the most interestuing non traditional venues I found were ecclesall woods, the botanical gardens, Wood Lane Countryside Centre, Bradfield Village Hall. Also looked at I think it was Whirlow Grange, which was more traditional but seemed happy to bend over backwards to make it how we wanted, just didn't really suit the flow of our day.

We booked with Wentworth Castle Gardens in the end (in October 2010 for June 2012). Jade, the coordinator has been super so far.

I actually think my dream venue was Woodthrope Hall: https://www.weddingvenues.com/venue3884.html

You get to use the Gardens and get married in the cider press. The couple who own the house are amazing and do just 10 weddings a year. The problem for us was that tohave the day I wanted which is quite glam it was going to cost too much for marquees etc. If we could have found the money I would have had it there!

Just shout if I can help with anything!

Oh yes, we are also just starting to make our own invites - we are printing most of it, and then decorating with ribbon and pearls. I think we should be ale to do our full stationary set (100 sets of invites, RSVP, info book, order of service, place cards, Thank you cards) for about 20p - 25p a head.... oh maybe a bit more because that doesn't account for ink, but does include buying things like card punches and a guillotine and other equipment that we don't have.

We are having what I suppose feels like a traditional day - quite glam, but with lots of quirky touches!

DM x

In which case, I can wholeheartedly recommend Bradfield Village Hall - though not your side of Sheffield; but its a village hall that you hire, had a bar etc and they help with set up etc on the day. They use Hazel's caterers who I found to be very reasonable and flexible when I spoke to them, but essentially you get the hall to do with what you want, and there is some outside space too.

Wood Lane Countryside Centre is very similar - a bit smaller in regards to total numbers I think but has good gounds and very personalisable space.

And of course Wentworth - you share the gardens with the public (but on all our visists its not been busy and they have ben very nice public!) until 5pm, then it is all yours. They hae lots of outside space that you can actually have activities in, or just to explore. There is also an adventure playground for the kids till 5pm (and then the adults can go inonce the public have lft!)

I think the problem with some of the hotels (for me - not judging anyone elses venue choice!) was that they feel a little bit carbon copy - because the rooms can be quite imposing its hard to make them yours....

Particularly the first 2 (based on the prices we saw) can work out quite affordable, and allow you to do lots yourself. Wentworth probably is more, but for us meant we had to provide less ourselves so cost for our day was about the same.

x

Mosborough Hall is really popular, when we booked 2 years in advance 2 of dates we were looking at had already gone! Another reason it is good to book as soon as. Someone from work got married at Aston Hall, it does look lovely. I'd recommend getting a list of as many possible venues as you can and arranging to view them all. That way you might stumble on a gem and sometimes, ones that look nice online might not have a good 'feel' if you see what I mean.

Darkmoomin, I've just looked at your venue, it looks gorgeous!

Thanks! We think so!

Thanks so much everyone's replies are so helpful! Regarding Wedding insurance, who did you all go to for yours?

We went to Ecclesiastical - because they let us choose our own cover levels. Was having issues with most of them because we don't have a v expensive venue, catering, dress etc but have an expensive cake (honestly, don't ask!) which meant they were quoting for much higher cover than we needed for other things.

I found it really tricky because it was asking you to insure how much it would cost t replace your dress, or book another venue should something happen... not to insure what you were spending, if that makes sense?

Anyway we paid £50 for what feels like a very comfiortable amount of cover (no point buying any insurance if you are going to underinsure!)

Oh yes, while I think of it, I can recommend our photogrpaher (he is in New Zealand, yes, but last year and this year he is booking weddings over here in the summer to coincide with a visit to family etc):

http://www.eylandimages.com/

or another photographer friend of mine whose work I love:

http://www.marmalade-photography.com/

for flowers I can't recommend Plantology enough - they did my BMs wedding too and have been more than great

http://www.plantologyfloralcreations.co.uk/

For dresses, I got mine from Emily Bridal, but also had good experiences in Freya Bridal, Choola and Blissful Daze (where they happily let me try on dresses waaay above my budget. And New York Bride in Eckington, who sells a big range of very good condition samples.

And of course I must recommend my good friend at Imogen's iImagination who does bespoke headwear and milinery:

https://imogensimagination.co.uk/ (click on thelinks to see pictures, or find her on facebook!)

Don't think I've had enough to do with other companies yet to recommend them!

Congratulations on starting your wedding planning journey! For venues in Sheffield, places like Sheffield Town Hall or Whirlowbrook Hall could be great options, depending on the vibe you're going for. Booking early is always a good idea—2 years ahead is definitely not too soon, especially if you're eyeing a specific date or venue. For DIY invites and decorations, it can be a cost-saver, but do keep in mind that it might be more time-consuming than expected. If you're crafty, use AI images for print on demand wedding favors or décor items if you're looking to add some custom designs while saving time and money.