Hi, I'm a new member- engaged since late last year, but only really started transitioning to fantasising to planning proper in the last couple of weeks (when I've been lurking around here- it's an excellent resource). Finding myself completely overwhelmed by it all (particularly as I'm currently overseas, away from my fiance, for the next several months due to circumstances outside my control- hence the weird posting times compared to GMT).
Does anyone have any advice on working out what a realistic budget is, as a fairly freeform exercise? We have some ideas about the kind of wedding we want, but the first line of what we want is no debt- so in order to work out what we can have, we need to work out what we can afford and plan accordingly. (This also influences the dates, as the longer we wait the more money we can save up) At this stage, the central ideas are that we'd love a historic location (fiance says castle. I don't think we can afford castle), in a convenient area for us and most of our guests (the northwest, hopefully not too far from major cities), we want a small guest list (definitely under 50), and we want it to be as formal an affair as we can afford. If we can manage it, we'd like to do something a little unconventional with regards to the ceremony- have a pagan ceremony (fiance's a pagan, I'm not religious but I support him) and fix up the paperwork with our parents and witnesses in the register office another day (this means we don't need a licensed wedding venue). Some of our most important guests will be flying in from the southern hemisphere so we feel the pressure to do this "properly/ really well" quite acutely. I've also been doing some browsing and I feel the lack of money problem particularly acutely (we're both pursuing postgraduate qualifications and so money is a little tight). One of the ways that that might be alleviated is that, due to unavoidable family commitments, it will need to be a winter wedding (late December to mid January, no matter the year), so there may be some winter discounts there?
Also, if it's not too much to ask in my first post, does anyone have any ideas on venues, particularly historic/ unique ones, on a budget? I like the look of Worsley Court House in Salford (combination of price, the way it looks in photos online, and that it's relatively convenient for us)- does anyone know anything about that? How does one go about finding venues that aren't licensed for weddings (with or without a wedding package, but one that could incorporate both ceremony and reception? And how does one cope (venue, attire, timing, anything really) with a winter wedding? I come from a semi-tropical part of the world and I cope with English winters pretty badly, even wrapped up like the Michelin Man, let alone in a dress!
Thanks for reading- I'm sorry I do go on a bit!
