Must haves....,

We have taken favours off our list to us they were not that important when i thought about all the weddings i have been to in the past i couldn't tell you what each favour was or what i did with it!

The only 'must haves' are a bride, a groom, an official (Religious bod or registrar) and a couple of witnesses- after that EVERYTHING is optional!

That was our starting point, then we decided what else was important to us- Decent photographer, most of the family being there and good food were our top picks!

For me the photographer was a must, its taken a big chunk out of our budget but I have seen bad wedding photos and the brides reaction and I don't want to be left crying when we get ours back.

Photographer definately. Once the day is over it's all you have left. Ok apart from hubby lol. If budget allowed I would have it videod but it didn't and that was that but I still regret it.

Jayne i keep thinking i need to find room in the budget for a video! do you really regret it??

Yes I do regret it Lou. Sometimes I think would it have killed us to shove that bit on a credit card really. My photos are amazing I love them but it's the sly glances and funny expressions etc etc that you often miss (sorry photographers dnt shout at me). I think one complements the other. And of course things like in my case Paul never even saw my reindeer sleigh or arrival. and my photos don't really show how long he stood fighting tears and couldn't get his vows out. My budget didn't allow and that was that but if you can then I think do it.

A videographer is out of our budget too, I'm not too bothered as I hate "being on show" so to speak. However I may have to rethink this!

Although I absolutely cherish my photos I cannot describe how much I love my video. It was probably the best investment we made. We couldn't afford it at first but I was desperate for one so shaved the budget in other places.

deffo have another think about it!xx

EDIT: I didn't feel like I was on show, our videographer stayed in the background all day. I didn't realise he was there half of the time. The best bits for me is seeing the parts of the day that I missed. Like everyone arriving, the groom waiting for me at the end of the aisle. Everyone having fun whilst we were off having photos. Also most of our guests were hilariously drunk and all left us video messages which make me cry with laughter every time i watch it!xx

I agree we both hate having our photo taken but as with video you're not even aware of it a lot of the time and there is a lot you don't see and your other half doesn't see. My oh said yesterday the only time he saw my reindeer sleigh was on our photographs!

Ok now i really want a video!!!!

Originally we really wanted live music of some form or other - a band seemed to be out of our price range, so we booked an acoustic singer for the afternoon. He then cancelled & we decided to use that money for a videographer instead!

Other than that, food has been the biggest splurge - we tried five different caterers & ended up choosing the most expensive! We've saved money elsewhere though, on my bargainous dress, & getting good photographer & videographer deals for instance.

Our priorities were a good photographer, a church ceremony, and good food! We saved by ditching the things that didn't matter to us, like bridal party outfits, favours, and live music. To shave off more costs, we're DIYing all decorations and flowers, and taking the venue up on the corkage option which works out cheaper because a lot of our guests don't drink. I would have loved a professional photobooth and a videographer, but we just don't have any more wiggle room in the budget.

Our must haves were food, photographer and barn venue.

The things we have saved on are no favours, no cars/transport, complete DIY stationary, BM dresses from Ebay and no band as we aren't bothered about a party. We have a DJ if we fancy a boogie but didn't need to spend thousands on a band.

Our must haves were being able to have our dogs with us for the whole weekend and for there to be accommodation at the reception venue so we can have dinner with our closest family and friends the night before and breakfast the morning after. And a good photographer was really important. I'm wondering if we should get a videographer too now though...

We have saved money by not hiring cars or having favours and our rings were less than we expected.

I got married a long time ago, and my only regret was that I did not book a good photographer.

i did focus budget on entertainment to include Morrismen, tractor rides, percussionist and DJ. I was chuffed to bits!