i feel a bit down

Oh dear I was in a very fortunate position that I had sold my flat and had set aside an amount from the sale to pay for the wedding so I cant possibly imagine what its like to dream and wonder IF..... however, my bargain hunting skills were tip-top and we managed to get so many great deals and stuff...... I'd think 'I want thisssss...' then go and seek the cheaper option! If I didint find it, I didnit bother!

I'm sure that everything will come together for you, you are already doing everything you can, i'm sure, to keep costs down.

well done on the poundage loss though, I was determined to lose weight for my wedding but wasnt determined enough and ended up gaining weight and squeezing into my size 14 dress

huggles xx

Heya, yeah its hard going sometimes especially if you are like us and paying for most of it yourselves. We seem to be both working our socks off atm to pay for ours, along with the kids and other daily routines it can all be overwhelming sometimes.The important thing is to set budgets and stick to them. It CAN be done. Ive always been a bargain hunter and, although it is a once in a lifetime occasion, I will not go into huge debt over having something that I simply cannot afford. The list is endless with what you can have, and sometimes utterly ridiculous. Do not be afraid to ask for discounts, many suppliers will surprise you. We got a good discount on hiring our suits for just asking the question 'can you beat this quote?'.

You have to come back down to earth sometimes when you are planning and think 'What would make me and H2B happy on our day?' instead of what you think other people would want......?

Dont worry ?

Lia

XX

How long do you have left until your wedding?

I only ask as I started buying bits and pieces as early as possible so as to spread the cost. No, it won't help with the big things (as it stands, as my OH was made redundant last month, we have a shortfall so it can't work miracles unfortunately!) but by buying things like the favours, paying for the chair covers bit by bit, we are slowly getting there.

Dont feel down, it will be a winderfulday no matter what. OH and I often think how are we gpoing to afford this or think are we doing al these expensive things for everyone else to live up to there expectations and what they want?

We are saving money everywhere we can and at the moment I have 5 jobs!!!! The only spare time i get is a sunday afternoon, but when i imagine my day its so worth it. I just try and break things down week by week and budget what money im going to spend where and in what month and then bargain hunt! I spend ages looking online to make sure i have the cheapest!

You'll get there in the end babe, keep your chin up x

Hi anglefish,

Yep i could have wrote that message for you, that`s just how i feel ☹️ we have only just started to plan our wedding, and already the cost of everything seems to be so daunting. At this stage, it`s so hard to know what to spend money on and what to try and save it on.

But hey, WELL DONE on the weight loss ?

Take care

J xx

Moya, 5 jobs!!!!! ?

You must be kn@ckered girl!!

X

Hey,

I know exactly how you feel as thats what I was like with the original wedding we had scheduled for next Sept.

However, rather than skinting ourselves for the foreseeable future i sat down and worked out what was really important and have managed to do the following which may or may not be of some help for you:

Cars - using relatives cars

Guests - have 36 invited to the wedding ceremony and meal and then having a house party the following night

Dress - went highstreet and honestly, best thing I did

Table Centres - Bought candles as alot cheaper than flowers

Entertainment - student singers - they are aparently fantastic and don't want paying, however, I will be asking them to the meal (they are going to sing at ceremony then after the meal) and a token £ payment

Cake - relative is making it

Flowers - only having my bouquet, bm bouquet and button holes. The flowers for the cermony I will be doing with my mum

Sationery - I am going to make this

The other thing is, with our weddings being on NYE most venues will have xmas dec's/flowers already in so you can make use of them.

If you want to chat about stuff give me a shout.

thanks everyone i knew i woulde feel better after talking to you guys, we are trying to cut back but there are things we def would like such as videographer and photographer. it just seems as though its all never ending lol.

amee what nye you getting married please say next year then i have a wedding twin yay.

im teying to find more hours but im thinking maybe a second job for a bit to get extra cash im already doing as much babysitting as i can as it all adds up.

mum is making cake

cars were not having if we do it will be family

centre peices mum has kindley said she will do and pay for

the rest we have to pay for which is fine we dont mind its finding the money xx

I'm afraid not anglefish, its just under three months for us now!!

Have you started looking at dresses?

Anglefish I know the feeling! We have to save a huge amount in the next 9 months and I know some of it is going to have to be put on the old plastic! I was getting down about it but I know we're having the day exactly as we want it and there will be no regrets as within reason we're having everything as we want it. If I was to start again though, I think I would book the ceremony later on, say 4pm and just have a buffet a few hours later rather than a sit down meal in the day and a buffet in the evening. Having the ceremony earlier on and feeding everyone twice does add a huge amount to the budget but also means you have to keep everyone entertained for longer too! Plus you would usually pay for wine with the meal. You have to balance that though with wanting to make the most of your special day and wanting it to last for longer. If you do have a sit down meal, having organza bags with sweets is a cheap way to do favours or you could just not bother with them. To save money on the evening buffet we're having our wedding cake cut up and put out instead of having desserts on the buffet, just having different flavoured tiers to make it a bit more exciting. If I were you I'd keep bridesmaids to a minimum as dresses, shoes, accessories all add up. I found BHS have great deals on Bridesmaid dresses and if you open a store card and buy on certain days you get 20% off. I've seen quite a few posts on here from time to time where photographers and videographers offer cheap packages when they are starting out so that they can build up their portfolio. If you are going on honeymoon you could ask for vouchers towards this instead of having a guest list. Just a few ideas anyway. If it's any consolation I'm sure most of us are in the same boat!

I also have panic attacks now and again about the thought of paying for the wedding and making sure we get it to peoples 'standards'

My advice would be to prioritise to most important aspects for you and OH and make sure you have budgeted for them and the rest will fall into place. I imagine that lots of OM on here would tell you that on the day they didnt care if the favours were fantastic or the chairs had covers. I think its always good to keep in perspective exactly what all this wedding malarky is really about. You will have the most wonderful day and I think even if you could have all the things you wished for, you would still find something else to want.

Keep smiling ?

I could have wrote that post too, OH just recently lost his work so things are tight right now, so we are just having what will make us happy, not what anyone else wants! I also have been buying little things each week to spread the cost and I am also cutting down the Christmas spending. I have got alot of things off ebay aswell, I have had a clearout and sold alot of crap I didnt need so the money i got from that has gone on wedding things so that has helped. Really hope you feel better soon, Keep your chin up and keep smiling ?

Just reiterating what everyone else has said really. It can be really daunting. Because I'm still studying full time I can't take on another job really until my exams are over. But we have been taking on foreign students since May. It's a pain not having the house to ourselves but they stay in the spare room and we just have to feed them. Most places pay around £100 per week for this and it doesn't really cost much more on the food side (think it's cost us an extra loaf of bread per week!!lol) just as a suggestion really.....

The important thing is to sit down and work out what you need, what you really really want and then what would be nice but you will only have if you have room left in the budget at the end.

I'm getting married in may and OHs brother is getting married in August. Their budget is almost triple ours but I don't think I would be happy spending what they are even if we did have it!!

Just a wee bit! Im starting a new trend ..trying to make it fashionable to have huge black bags under your eyes, not sure its catching on though!!

Hey chick,

dont let it all overwhelm you. Prioritise what is important and take it from there. Im having a bugdget wedding at gretna green with a handful of guests because out families are so unconventional and scattered it was the least stressful way to do it!!! but we are having a party on our return which i am also really looking forward to!! i already have 2 young kids so i couldnt justify spending thousands and thousands even if i did have it... but thats just me!

i love a wedding as much as the next person and theres nothing wrong with going all out if thats your style. Having said that the most memorable weddings arent always the ones that are the most extravagant.... i know girls who have made themselves ill, up all night worrying about the tiniest of details ?

We all have a bit of bridezilla in us but it is meant to be enjoyable and the build up should add to the excitement - not take away the joy of planning your day.

Big hugs wee angelfish xxx

Hi everyone

thank you all so much for your kind posts im feeling more upbeat today and have been asked to babysit a few more times in the next month. im sure it will all come together its just so daunting looking at it now.

thank you all again xxxx