Budget wedding tips?

Firstly, if you're on a budget, sod any ideas of special shoes if you're wearing a long dress.

I've never seen a bride's shoes at a wedding, unless they have specifically sat down and flashed some Irregular Choice ones for a photo. Nor have I ever asked to see someone's shoes - it has just never occurred to me - even those of a best mate. You're always totally taken with getting a good look at the dress, not what's under it (oi oi!)

Funnily enough, the shoes has been my biggest debate with my MOH. I thought it might be nice (and a bit cheaper) to get some shoes the colour of the bridesmaid dresses. Sure I'll be able to find a nice blue pair of shoes for about £20 in New Look.

We looked out of the box for venues, our venue is a local sports centre with gorgeous views and they don't do standard wedding packages. But we've hired the place for £250 for the day and the rest is up to us! We have chosen for them to do us a grill for the wedding breakfast (chicken, veg, potatoes, salads etc) for only £8 a head ish :-)

we're also saving money on the ceremony. I'm not a fan of our registry office but all Lisenced venues are expensive! So we're having a legal 15 min ceremony in the morning just with the bridal party. No flowers, dress, rings or photos. To us it's just paperwork!

Then at the venue we're having our 'wedding', so all the normal stuff. Not legal but who cares! We get to say what we want and it's completely our wedding!

Best bit is we're paying £45 for the ceremony instead of £180! (Friday 15 min compared to 45 min on sat - they only do the full ceremony on a sat) and the venue rant charging to hold our ceremony with them :-)

You could go for a pre-loved dress or high street shops like debenhams or monsoon and even h&m have wedding dresses for reasonable prices. You could try an outlet, if there are any around you, I can advise for the midlands but not the south west sorry!

shoes- mine were £20 from eBay, Ivory and sparkly! I love them! So eBay is your friend!

Cake- m&s do a range of wedding cakes, some of them are really nice... Never tasted one though! I'm sure other hitchers will be able to fill you in on that bit!

It's cheaper to get married at the registry office than to get the registrar to come to a venue.

xx

My MOH is an amazing baker so we'll hopefully be hiring her to do the cake. She's also a qualified hairdresser and does awesome make up so saving a fortune with her! Never tried eBay but having a snoop on there now

Ebay is really good for wedding bits like invites and favours if you are having any. Also pre loved dresses, mine is a Mori Lee dress which was a sample dress and it cost me 1k less than it would of in a bridal shop

Does this sound reasonable? It looks really nice http://www.tclodge.co.uk/PDF/WeddingPackage14.pdf

The previous wedding: everything came from Poundland and you could tell, the toast was WKD Red out of plastic glasses, I was bridesmaid and she got my dress for £3 at a charity shop and it looked horrible on me (I didn't even get to try it on), and the cake was a total disaster. She got the name of the venue for the reception wrong too, so not many people even turned up for that.

High street dress - mine was £75.

Don't have bridesmaids or groomsmen.

Registry office ceremony.

Venue hire, look at pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants, galleries, museums - often have function rooms for free/min spend.

Late wedding so you don't have to feed people twice.

Don't invite too many people! Even with only 45 guests our catering bill is going to be 3.5k.

ipod instead of DJ.

Don't think that making stuff is necessarily cheaper - shop around.

How much of that are you planning to spend on a dress? I know for some people "budget" dress means £600 while for others it means £80. We have a small budget too, not quite as small as yours, but tbh we're going to be saving everywhere we possibly can, and if we end up spending as little as you I'll be thrilled! I'm thinking about getting my dress from honeypie.com, they're around 200 once you include petticoats and stuff, but don't know if that's out of your range? I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for ideas!

Have you checked out pub chains like old english inn they can sometimes do wedding packages for £1k for approx 50 - assuming you want that many to attend. I would also check out group on they often have reduced deals I've also found some smaller golf clubs have can offer more affordable deals.

Some pubs won't charge you venue hire so maybe think about having a pub lunch as your wedding breakfast but this really depends what you want And what your deal breakers are.

Hope this helps.

It sounds like they thought budget had to mean cheap but you can make some smart choices - we got a nice Prosecco in Calais for a fiver per full sized bottle which is the same price as 4 x little bottles of Red WKD (just checked the price online in case you thought I was a WKD aficionado!) and we hired champagne flutes for free from Waitrose. We probably didn't spend anymore than your friend but it possibly seemed better value.

I honestly don't know how much I want to spend on a dress, as long as it looks good! I heard Oxfam are really good for wedding dresses so was going to look there. I'm not sure about a pub reception, there's one I go to with my grandparents a lot but it's a bit out of the way. I don't think we have to worry too much about the amount of guests, 50 could even be stretching it a bit! We'd be using my iPod no matter the budget, just need to buy one lol. I'll have a look into golf clubs and things, sure my mum can help too

We are also on a budget so always searching for deals. I bought my dress from a bridal outlet for £490 and shoes from Ebay for £20. My Aunt bought her dress for £80 from Monsoon which was equally as nice. There are a lot of websites out there advertising cheap wedding dresses that are made in China - from what I've read in reviews they may not be worth taking the risk for.

Venue wise- Groupon sometimes have wedding package deals on and I have also seen photography packages on there too. It's worth asking a friend or family to do the photos/video on the day. You can always make the wedding album yourself online eg. printerpix, photobox etc xx

Good point. You can also get a decent bottle of prosecco for £4 in Tesco, if you choose a half price offer. No need to go to Calais! And with that tip about free flute hire, you can have a decent drinks reception for a song!

(Just choose a venue where you can supply your own drinks, lol)

My budget tip is to really think about your friends and family and utilising their talents! We've manage to sort cake, invitations and ceremony music from talented family/friends who are more than happy to contribute!

My budget is about the same as yours and so far, I'm just about within it! I bought my dress second-hand and am having it altered by a dressmaker friend as that worked out cheaper than her making it new. My flowers are being made by another friend. My cake-maker was found on facebook and is giving me a fabulous deal. I bought most of my outfit on either facebook or ebay and my bridesmaid's dress and two flower-girls cost 39.50 for the three. There are bargains out there to be found if you hunt hard enough.

But my biggest advice is not to get caught out by costs you haven't anticipated. I hadn't realised that if you don't get married in a registry office, you will have extra costs to pay for the registrars to attend your venue - mine are £436 which is a large chunk of the budget.

We are having our ceremony on a weekday as that is the cheaper option, but having a party on the saturday after. Look for village halls and local sports centres or holiday inns which all offer value weddings - don't worry about a sit-down meal - it's nice, but not vital.

Put your wants and desires in order of priority and then cross off everything you can live without - or put them in another list - the if we can afford it list. They are the things that would be lovely, if you had the budget, but don't matter in the great scheme of things.

Talk to all your friends and relatives and ask them to help out. Instead of gifts, we've asked everyone to provide something for our evening buffet - we don't need presents and we can live without a honeymoon, but we want them all to enjoy the party and celebrate with us - so far, everyone thinks it's a great idea! Do you know anyone who can bake and decorate a cake for you? How about asking someone who likes crafting to make your invitations as their gift to you? You will find that your friends will love to help and be a part of your wedding - it makes the day special for them too - at least, that's what my lot tell me!!!

With dresses as others have said charity shops, pre loved or you can get really good deals on sample dresses in bridal shops.

Go DIY with as much as you can, as well as getting friends to help with what they can like hair / make up / cake making etc anyone with good skills really.

Ebay for a lot of stuff you need to buy, loads of great deals.

Flowers you're cheaper doing yourself if you have the time & patience.

If you know someone who can give you a lift to / from venue and save on wedding cars.

Photographers try students or if you're having a weekday wedding you might get a good deal.

Shoes - mine have foxes on them, trust me you don't have to go traditional or expensive at all

So many ways you can have a great wedding on your budget and not have it look cheap, try not to stress you'll do fine!

With regard to dresses, near me there are lots of shops that do sub £500 dresses, preloved and ebay are good too. Another thought is to look at bridesmaids dresses, they are often around the £125-300 mark and can usually be ordered in Ivory too. I went to various shops and just lied about my budget so I got an idea of what suited me, then looked for it elsewhere. I've actually ended up having mine made by a dress maker and it's cost half the price of the dresses I've been trying onand based my design on. But to reassure you, I tried on a new mori lee which was £1300 and then found it on ebay for £120! but changed my mind and didn't get it. At least it shows there out there though.

For invites I made them using pda card and craft, but check prices against hobbycraft too if your going for plain white or ivory. My work kindly let me use their big printer to print them, but I know the local college would've also done them for a small fee (it was 22p per a3 sheet for coloured print).

favors - most people wont notice if there not there and unless there edible may be left behind. Cookies are really cheap and easy if you feel you must give something.

flowers - if you must have real, go for what's in season. Alternatively fake are really good these days. I've also seen some great variations using Lego toys as buttonholes! You don't have to have flowers as buttonholes!. Your bouquet also has options, I've seen some amazing origami flower ones home made. Also if you decide you want real, try your local college again, most that run floristry courses will do cheap wedding packages, just give them a ring and have a chat as some don't advertise the fact.

i got my shoes from bhs, there lovely lace ones with memory foam soles for £30! Their wedding sections definitely worth a look.

cant think of anything else right now but will post more as I remember! Good luck x

This group- cannot reccommend enough. Anything you ask for on a budget (they specialise in up to £3000) they endeavour to find! Honestly a God-send!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Budget-Bride-Bargains/578553222161455?fref=nf

Thanks everyone

I found somewhere that without a sitdown meal would come to around £720, and it's gorgeous. The meals look good too though so I may have to ask my grandparents very nicely if they can help out a bit

Seriously, huge thanks for that. I've only glanced at it really so far and potentially already found my shoes!

Not sure exactly what our budget will be but aiming for £3-£4k max. Mainly because I am a tightwad lol, and I just can't justify the expense for a wedding (it's our second time each).

I have bought my boots from Ebay for £5, my dress is coming from Ebay too for £175 (handmade handfasting dress). OH's outfit came from Camden Market. Our rings came from Birmingham Jewellery Quarter where we got a really good price as the places there have direct deals with gold suppliers (mine is 18ct white gold with diamonds for £380!). My Mum's friend is making the cake, a friend of a friend (semi pro) is doing the photo's for a cheap rate as she is starting out on her own, my Dad's band are playing for free, a family friend is doing the buffet, and our wedding breakfast is at Pizza Express so we are paying per head for exactly what people want and not paying for a package with X amount of meals.

Suppose my advice is to trawl Ebay for bargains, and to pull in any favours from family/friends etc.

Not a problem- currently my favourite thing online! ?

My advice would be to always look at the price, not the saving. So a dress which costs £450 from an outlet might be saving you £1000, but ignore the £1000 and concentrate on your price: that's 20% of your entire budget!

Work out how much your ceremony will cost: cheapest way to do it is at the registry office. Some of them are really lovely, some less so. remember to factor the cost of giving notice, certificates etc.

Subtract this from your total and then set about allocating budget to everything in order of importance to you. Eeveryone has different priorities so I woudn't begin to advise how you do this but for example: if you can make a bouquet yourself of silk lillies for £25 but gerberas for £15, are the lillies important enough to you to spend £10 on? Or flowers really important to you and you would rather spend lots more on fresh bouquets? This sounds nit-picky but on your budget it would be very easy to spend the lot on things which aren't important to you. make this day about your tastes and what you want most. If you are going for a theme then go for one which adapts well to inexpensive DIY. Lots and lots of daisies in jars look fab and are inexpensive (especially if you do it yourselves) but woudl look ridiculous as part of a '30s glamour' wedding for example. Ask favours from family and friends: they can always say no if they can't do it. Bear in mind that these are favours so don't be too prescriptive with what is essentially a gift.

From what you've said about the last budget wedding you attended it seems that you particularly noticed the plastic cups and non-traditional drinks: you can hire proper glasses for free from some supermarkets if you can arrange collection and dropping them back. You can buy very drinkable wine from Aldi for about £4 per bottle. Or if you invite enough people you could have an event bar come to you and you'd only pay a deposit and for wine for the tables as they would do the rest for cash.

If you have the time and patience you can do many things inexpensively.

Good luck!

I know that a lot of "off the peg" wedding dress outlets have made strong headway in America and they're being quite popular over here too. You dont have to make an appointment with a few and some actually have exclusive designers to their name. I think the majority of the dresses are like under £500 or something. I've heard a lot of good things about one called the wedding dress factory outlet, which is in London, and I think there's one in Manchester too. Might be worth a look? Hope that helps.

There are some great ideas on here!

Hunting down a uni student is a great idea, as they will need to build up their portfolio, so it's a win-win. We are having our good mate do the pics, he is a uni student as well and is really flipping good

My biggest tip is DIY. I am making my own invites/stationary, jewelry & bouquets (with the help of BMs) Another great suggestion is to utilise family/friends talents. My auntie is doing our wedding cake as a gift. With flowers, you could grow your own, or buy some fresh from a supermarket and create your own centerpieces/decor.

Be ruthless with what you can live without on your day, for example, we aren't bothering with cars, accommodation, favours, even a seating plan (for the mo, if we go for this particular venue, it will be informal, easy-going, outdoor dining).

The high street is coming out with some very nice wedding dresses and shoes, definitely worth a look! Rather than a DJ, get your (or someone else's) laptop, rig it up to the speakers and create a playlist for the evening

I'm also on a small budget (and a tight wad) Here's what I'm doing to save money:

-Reception venue is a local village hall. Comes in at a grand total of £225, including bar and is in the middle of the gorgeous Essex countryside. It is also a blank canvas for me to transform!

-I'm growing my own flowers (roses and sweet peas) and am arranging them all myself, including buttonholes, bouquets, table decorations etc.

-My friend is doing the photographs. For free

-Food will be an afternoon tea/light bites affair which will all be homemade cakes, sandwiches, sausage rolls etc by myself Mummykins and MIL.

-I'm buying a plain cake from M&S and decorating it myself

-All the decorations will be homemade. Bunting, heart strings and jam jars of flowers.

-I've designed all my own invites and order of service and am using the big fancy printer at work (Sshhh!)

-We will be getting taxis to the church. I can't see the point in paying for a big fancy car which no-one will even see!

-We are getting married at 4pm so we don't have to feed people multiple times

That's all I can think of right now. Like others have said, prioritize what you really want and leave the other stuff behind for now. My non-negotiables were my dress and the church so those were the things I've splashed out on. Hope I've helped someone!

We're keeping costs as low as possible too. Making all my own stationery my invitations ended up costing 50p each to make. Our venue is the local golf club, just £75 for the day. Making use of a student tog, not bothering with wedding cars (its a 10 minute walk from home to church, reception a 5 min drive. Why spend hundreds on a car?)

The only thing I didnt want to skimp on was my dress so I saved for that separately rather than it being in the wedding budget and mum and dad topped it up as a wedding present. Agree with the others about shoes but you may not have to compromise. If you stslk the internet enough you can catch the sales on specialist wedding websites. I bagged a pair of shoes rrp £180 for £30 incl delivery the other week. (Still waiting for them to arrive, really hope they fit!)

Some people say hire is cheaper, I happen to disagree. When it comes to things like centre pieces, chair covers, bows and anything you would be able to sell on, buy them at a good price by looking around then sell them and get some of your money back after the wedding. This is what I'm doing, eBay is great, also if you have any local shops, get friendly with the staff, the amount of things Iv got at a cut price due to being friends with them for so long is great as I get things at wholesale price!

I agree with the others, think outside the box, best of luck.

Having a weekday wedding is certainly the best way to save money, as most wedding professionals will not already have bookings, and you can almost certainly hunt around for a competitive deal. Not necessarily a benefit, but mid-week weddings generally have less attendees (due to work commitments), meaning your catering costs are reduced. Make a list of the essentials that you want, and book early to ensure you receive a great price - this will generally mean putting down a small deposit to lock in the booking, but it will ensure you are not affected by any price increases.

If there are items that you really want, but do not fit within the budget, you can always consider requesting a quote for a shorter package - for example, if you want to hire a photo booth, but your budget won't stretch far enough for a 5 hour deluxe package, ask for a basic 2 hour package, even if this isn't a package offered on their website. I have been to a number of budget weddings, and these have been some of the best celebrations I have seen - it is your happiness on the day that will be remembered, not the food bill.

Best advise check tes*o out they do amazing occasion wear for such cheap prices, we wanted 60pound flower girl dresses and got them for 25 very similar they do all bridal party including bride also b*s are god sends especially for bridal! keep an eye out with them though as they often do 30%off days x

Why do people * out shop names?

I cant imagine Tescos are scouring forums just to say 'stop saying nice things and promoting us'