Out of interest

We didn't, but then we didn't have to as our wedding cost less than £500.

If we had to save, we'd have saved in one of my accounts, as h is terrible with money and if he had access, he'd have spent it. Our wedding money would have come from Hs wages, we wouldn't have accepted parental contributions

We were really lucky in that my parents paid for anything related to the actual wedding (registrar) and the whole reception. OHs parents gave us 2.5k for other bits so we only had to save about 1k ourselves. We did that with a monthly payment into a wedding account.

We starTed the fund off when I got a tax rebate in January and have one of those big water bottles from an office machine which we stick all our savings and change in, so we can't dip in to it easily as its pretty hard to get the notes out! We're also counting on OHs tax rebates this April and next which are usually about £1500 plus I have some compensation coming my way. I lost my job in feb so I'm looking for a new one so we can put more in the bottle were hoping to save enough to pay for our honeymoon too

Our wonderful parents have contributed quite a lot, which we are so grateful for. We're saving as much as we can every month from D's salary to pay for the bits we need to. It goes straight into his savings account because he does all the paying for the wedding bits.

We had a monthly deposit into a high interest savings account and then put aside any extra money into an ISA account. Luckily, my OH had savings so we already had a good starting point. Both of our sets of parents are also helping out here and there too.

We were/are pretty much the same as you. Got engaged at quite a bad time (I think) financially as I am saving for my Masters too but OH wanted to get married this year rather than next. My parents offered to pay for the meal which has helped an enormous amount but we are paying for everything else. So far it's been tough saving x amount each month on top of the MA savings but I didn't want a flash day which helps and we're getting married in Wales which is a lot cheaper than London, where we live. We are making most of the little bits ourselves and have had family friends offer to do flowers and the cake.

Other than that we have had noooo social life since October and I got a temp job over Christmas to pay for the Church and bridesmaids dresses. That was a complete drain and was utterly knackering. Most stuff is done and it's only the small stuff left so it is all possible! You have more time than us to save too. I cant WAIT till July now. Sick of being poor but it'll be worth it and at least I know I can save like a trooper after this is all over!

Good luck!

Luckily having a joint effort, my parents putting the most in so far, my OH makes good money so annoyingly doesnt have to save as such. I on the other hand is sick of saving, I have always been a saver, but had to totally up it when the Wedding came about and getting a bit sick of it now, 2 years without clothes shopping is not making for a happy person! ha. But needs must and theres light at the end of the turn, 64 sleeps, and all I'm saving for now is spends for the Honeymoon, whoop!

We've been saving a certain amount each month into one of my old savings accounts and whenever we've paid for wedding stuff or deposits the money comes from here. At the moment we're paying it all ourselves, i think my parents would like to contribute to something even if it's only the DJ or wedding car. I haven't put any pressure on them, so if or when they do it'll all be appreciated. Same goes with OH's dad.

Yeah, we got engaged whilst im still at uni, other half runs his own company which he makes a good profit from, but because he pays for 90% of our outcomes. he doesn't have much spare, and is a terrible saver!

So far we are on track, although when a company went bust he had to lend money off his mum before we were engaged to pay for our outgoings that month, normally his mum will get it back off him the next month, but the next month he proposed and she said o keep the money for the wedding, so ive turned into a nag to get it back off him, he's been told end of April now (over a year later) or there will be consequences lol.

We are hoping to save between £10k - £13k as long as things go to plan, I will finally have finished my Legal Practice course next May so then, even if its a 9-5 office job untill i find a grad job i will just save every penny from that.

We have a joint saving account like you but also our BM brought us a pot that you need to smash open you put £1 an £2 coins in it it is great when we get £1 or £2 we put them in there you dnt notice not having them we drilled the bottem the other day as it was full but also so we can keep it we have £660 in there we have now put sumthing over the hole at the bottem an are re-useing it, i think its great :-) xx

We've been really fortunate-my parents are paying for the vast majority of things with a few additional touches being paid for my us.

We already have some savings for if we need them but we're not planning on using them as they are for the house deposit. we are just paying for wedding things as they appear and sort of saving by not using all the money in our accounts each month so there's money there for when something needs to be paid for. We're not getting married till August 2013 so I can't see why we would need to dip into the savings as we have plenty of time. We're getting married abroad so it's cheaper too. We're paying for it all ourselves even though his parents very kindly offered to pay for some.

Cutting back on treats, weekend breaks, holidays, meals out, etc.

By the wedding date we will hve saved £10k in 20 months - hard going!

We are in the same boat as you. we both put away £100 a month each into my savings account as OH isnt good at saving we would like to save more but OH is at uni and only works 2days a week so things are tight for us. we are shopping around for items for the wedding and getting the bet price things rather than the first things we see. we are having friends do the photos and having a home made cake to cut costs down. i would suggest setting your self an overall budget which will help you to save that much. also we are buying little bits each month rather than see huge amounts of money being psent all at one time.

We put aside money every month and put it into our savings account. We got engaged soon after buying our house and me getting a new job, so we now have extra money after bugeting for our bills and living! We also saved a little bit extra when saving up for the deposit on our house.

Neither of our parents have offered to financially contribute to our wedding and we would never have taken out a loan. OH dad did, however, offer to pay as he was desperate to keep his daughter happy when he found out her boyfriend wasn't invited to the day!! BUUUT shes not having her own spoilt way on Mine and OHs day!!! HAHAHAHA!

We have set aside the maximum we are willing to spend to get everything we want, but this isn't really a budget we'd ideally love as much change out of this as possible so we can but it towards a few days away on our own as a mini honeymoon and anything left will contribute towards or family holiday next year after the wedding, so far based on quotes that I have collected as well as my parents saying they want to contribute towards the wedding this will be possible, but I have 15 months to go and I'm well aware that there is still alot of things still to buy that I haven't even started looking into.

Regards

L x

Oh and I have started collecting all our loose change which I hope will cover most of the hair and make up on the day as well.

This whole ex exercise has made me realise just how much money we waste every month! I have put almost all of my wages into the wedding fund each month, but I am on maternity leave so I have dramatically reduced my toddlers childcare whilt im off work (saving £500 a month!). Our family have all chipped in enough to cover the cost of the venue.

We've each been putting between £500-£1,000 away each month for the past 12 months plus with our online business, any money we make from that goes directly into the joint savings account. We both have other full time jobs so we class that business as our savings money. It's been hard work though, no clothes shopping, not as many meals out but to be honest it's been good as I think we'll carrying on saving a similar amount after the wedding so we have something put away for emergencies.

We're paying for everything ourselves, although OH's parents keep offering to pay for things so they will probably make a small contribution towards the end.

We are lucky enough to be getting a lot of help from our parents.

We did have £25k saved (I have always been a saver not a spender) however half way through our engagement we decided we wanted to buy a house so all our savings went on that. However since then we have just been putting spare cash into our ISAs. We also haven't been on holiday which has also helped massively. We have done nothing to our house since we moved in. Once we are married we will have the joys of having to save for a new roof for the house - infinitely less exciting.

x

I received a small amount of money when my fathr passed away and my mum and in laws have contributed 1K each. I have been putting away between £500 and £700 per month up until November. But unfortunately my flat which I let out is now empty. The tenant had a agreement until the middle of Marh but upped sticks and has left, so has scuppered our saving for the wedding. Originally the plan was that our savings would cover everything, but due the tenant leaving and not receiving any income from that and haing to pay 2 mortgages now, we're probably going to be £3K short which will be covered by an interest free redit card. Not ideal and certainly not what we wanted, but unfortunately we were too far forward with our planning to cancel/ reschedule

We're rather haphazard. We're lucky in that we have a good joint income and earn more than we spend, but we don't have a wedding savings account. We're paying for things as they need paying, and so far we've managed despite a house move, 2 mortgages and spending about £10k on the new house last year! I have enough in savings to pay for everything if we had to make final payments suddenly, but ideally we're paying for everything from current accounts and will just use my savings for the honeymoon/travel balance.

We are putting all spare that we have into a savings account. Hard at the moment as OH is self-employed and work is short. We literally have enough left each month for food and petrol, and at current rate of saving we'll still be 2.5K short and no honeymoon. Currently looking at interest free on purchases for 12 months credit card incase were still short in September. Yikes!

We got engaged just before moving 300 miles away with no savings and me just finishing Uni with debt i wanted to pay off..... We had to borrow money from my Grandparents in order to be able to move which i wanted to get paid back before saving for the wedding...

Fastforward 14 months and we've got everything paid off now and have just started being able to save for the wedding - every month we pay any extra money after paying rent/bills etc into an online savings account to save for the wedding, which only i have access to (OH is awful with money!!!) and that i just transfer money from to either my own or our joint account when i need to pay for wedding things .... so far so good! We're paying for everything ourselves so really important to us that we had a good wodge of savings before starting to book anything and i'm a big worrier and like to over-budget for everything "just in case" so hopefully all will work out ?

We are saving month by month now, my parents have offered financial help, though we are saving as if we are paying for everything so if they cant help out it doesnt matter! I work shifts so the amount we save depends on my wages every month, some better than others! Trying to keep all costs as low as poss, having a whale of a time scouring for best bargains out there!!

We're saving monthly too, but nothing that will stop us doing what we like (we're still going away for 2 weeks, weekend breaks, leeds festival etc) - I'm putting £200 away and Luke's putting £150 away (I make more than him) so by September next year we hope to have saved £5000.

Our parents are given us £3000 each towards the venue but they're paying for other things along the way (my mum has bought me loads of brooches for my bouquet and lots of vintage cut glass bowls and vases for the sweet table etc and MIL2B is given me the money for the invites once we've sorted which we definitely want).

Oh, we're also using a spare bank account I have and never use - I like to keep on top of finances and will be doing all the paying!

I'm the one keeping an eye on our finances too, my OH just has a standing order for the account and then when anything needs paying i arrange it and pay the deposits. The only things he knows the prices that we're paying are for the DJ, Harpist and wedding car as he was there when i we were booking them! When anybody else asks him what something else costs he shrugs his shoulders and looks at me!!

That's what we said, we would cut back on going for £80+ meals out that we used to do alot, but now we eat out at places where its £30 under. I still buy things and we are going on a cheap holiday together this year, we are missing the festivals this year thou. (do you live near Leeds?)

We said as long as we were on track and still having fun, I would hate to have done nothing for the two years we were engaged, as much as I am looking forward and wish it was sooner, it is just one day, so I don't want to put my life on hold and feel like i've had to miss out on things.

xx

This also applies for me and H2B gets commission on top of his wages so it's hard to know exactly what either of us will get paid every month and therefore how much we can spare - such a pain in the bum!