Hi

Hello,

Firstly I am so sorry for this horrible news but I will keep thinking positive thoughts for you all and truly wish you all the best. Getting married is a lovely plan and a great event to look forward to at this hard time.

id recommend getting married in your registry office first. You can do this as your main ceremony or simply have it as the “legal bit”. This is definitely the cheapest way.

Then if you want to do a ceremony with more people if you’re choosing for the registry office to just be a legal bit then local councils have halls that they rent out for events. You could have a celebrant or a family friend conduct a ceremony (you can all the songs and reading you want and really customise it to what you feel best celebrates your love as a couple and family). The hire costs of the halls are cheap (I’ve looked at two which were circa £400). They often have in house catering which I found to be really cheap but for a good menu too.

Or you could always do an evening / late afternoon ceremony which means you’d only have to provide an evening buffet but still have all the lovely bits of the wedding as well.

Then for decor you can ask all friends and family to give you their jam jars and put little tealights in them. Sorted! This always looks so pretty.

For music sign up to Spotify premium trial and construct a play list of your families favourite tracks.

Hoping this helps and gives you some ideas. Stay strong, give each other lots of hugs x

So sorry to read of your partners diagnosis. And sorry that you are going through this. It must be so tough and I hope you have your perfect day together.

The registry office do £50 ceremonies if you're able to go on their select day. I think that would just be with 2 witnesses (it is in Leeds anyway). The next cheapest option is to do it at the reg office on a date you could choose, but with more people. I think that's about £250

I think Dorothy perkins have some low priced dresses. Monsoon also do but they are more expensive. There are charity shops and outlets that do the same.. the website preloved also. I'm actually considering wearing a dress I already have that is special to me/us

I threw a 40th birthday party for my partner a few years ago and I found there were quite a few places in town that offered out their space for free as long as you had a certain amount spent on drinks. Do you have a local pub, community centre or church hall or restaurant or bar that you could ask if they have any space? Im sure there will be venues that either will rent for free, or have a low cost. Do you know how many people you would like to invite? Obviously leave your guests to buy their own drinks! If you want to have a toast, or arrival drink to the reception, it doesn't have to be champagne or prosecco.. what are your favourite drinks? It could be a fruit punch.. you could work with the venue to see what the best option is price wise. If you were bringing drink to the venue (e.g. village hall) you would save dosh too.. but as long as the venue doesn't charge corkage.

A cold buffet would be the cheapest option probably for food. I'm sure you'll have guests that would be more than delighted to make a plate of sandwiches, quiche, salads, or bake (or buy!) a cake. Perhaps you could say you dont want gifts but you'd love their support to help you get married.

The spotify playlist is a great idea.

Flowers - you could go to the markets the day before and get bunches of your favourites. If you ask people to collect jars for you, you could make your own simple arrangements

Favours - forget them. Noone needs or even wants them. And they wont for a second wonder where they are.

Photographer - Leeds has a local photography group on facebook. You could see if you have a local one and see if there's anyone willing to come an take photos for a couple of hours to build their portfolio.

Also, you may wish to look into any charities that may be able to support you:

https://www.wishforawedding.co.uk/

https://www.giftofawedding.org/

Wishing you the best of luck. Happy to try think of more ideas if they havent quite hit the mark! x

Hi,

I'm so sorry to hear your news, I can't even imagine how you must be feeling.

If you haven't given notice yet, you would probably be eligible for the Registrar's General licence, which means you don't have to wait the 28 days to legally marry. There is information about it on the Ealing council website here: https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201037/marriages_and_civil_partnerships/750/exceptional_circumstances/1

As others have said, a registry office would probably be the cheapest option - you could have a 2+2 ceremony which is £50, but I would check with them about bringing your daughter in. If that isn't suitable, you could still go for a registry office event but in a bigger room so you can invite more people.

Just an idea, but you could do a 2+2 ceremony, then ask a celebrant to perform a more personalised ceremony wherever you like - somewhere personal to you perhaps?

Whatever you decide to do for your ceremony, you could just go for a nice meal somewhere, or even speak to a small catering company about coming to your house to prepare a meal for you and a select few loved ones?

Just some ideas, I hope these might be of some help.

My thoughts are with you. X

Why don’t you contact https://www.giftofawedding.org/ They organise lovely weddings. Hope all goes well.

A Registrar General's Licence is only for people who are at home or in a hospital/hospice and death is imminent.

In this instance, I would have a chat with your local register Office. You may be eligible for a waiver in the 28 day notice. It's a little more expensive but certainly worth looking into.

I hope you get your happy day! You deserve a day of love and happiness ?