We think we have to cancel......Gutted [:(][:(] UPDATED!!!

Hi there,

I'm so sorry to hear this....is there any way you can simply down size? You're far enough away surely to reduce numbers at the venue etc....It doesn't have to bankrupt you.....

Thats awful, like penguin said perhaps you coulld downsize.

Sorry I know thats not much help, but didn't want to just r & r x

Oh god how awful for you! i have halfed the price of my wedding by having it really small during the day and then just having a massive party at night. would something like that work for you?

x

I cant really add to anything thats been already said, but I didnt want to R & R

My OH and I got married in September and I found that by doing a lot of things myself I saved sooo much money. Also pays to shop around, dont go for the first quote you get. Also have you thought about artificial flowers? they quartered my flower bill just by having artificial, plus I got to keep them afterwards

HTH ?

Oh no! There must be some way around it. Like others have said, can you downsize anywhere? Less people. Cheaper meal/drinks package. Men wear own suits instead of hiring morning suits. Wrist corsages rather than bouquets for bridesmaids. Less bridesmaids (don't know how many you're having). Buttonholes just for bridal party if you were having them for all. Have you ordered your dress yet? If not, get a sample or look out for sales. Maybe get a bridesmaid dress in white/ivory instead of a bridal gown. Make your own stationery. Do your own table centrepieces with candles (get them in The Pier's closing down sale!) There must be loads of ways you can save money, especially with so many shops doing sales at the moment. Is there any way any of us can help?

I really hope that you can sort something out. As others have said - can you cut back on anything at all? Cars? Flowers? Bridesmaids?

Make sure you look at all your options before you make a final decision.

And also remember - the getting married bit is more important than the day itself if you see what I mean.

Another idea to consider might be to marry in a registry office - then have a reception at a later date. Just a thought.

I hope you can sort something out.

Ali x

Hi

So sorry to hear this - it sucks!

The others have some fab ideas on savings and as AliLindsey says, its the getting married that matters and a later reception is a fab idea...

x x x x x Hope you sort something x x x

Oh im sorry to hear your news - have you paid out alot of deposits already? its hard i guess to scale down if you have had to already put money down. im sure you already have done this but sit down and see if there is anything you can do to make it happen & negotiate with suppliers if you need too .. as we are feeling it as individuals im sure the suppliers are having a worse time.

Good luck to you, keep your chin up x

Thankyou all so much for your lovely replies.

Me & OH had a proper sit down last night to see what options we have, I phone the venue to ask if we could go from a meal & Buffet to either or, but they said no way, as it is a sat in July.

The honeymoon can be transfered to 2010 with only a £30 per person admin fee so thats good news.

Other than that we really really carnt downsize anywhere else as we already did this last year.

FIL has asked us to wait and call him on sunday as he is doing some figures so he may be able to help but im not banking on that yet.

I will let you all know how we get on

Thanks again

Vikki xoxoxox

Your venue doesn't sound very accommodating to me, perhaps you're buffet doesn't have to be huge e.g. bacon sarnies & chips (like penguin did) or reduce the number of people you invite to the full day (as it'll probably be cheaper to have more people in the evening).

There are always ways around things...I'm sure it'll be fine

Hi Vikki,

Just to echo what other people said really, it is the fact that your are getting married that counts and not the cost of a reception. My husband and I could not afford a sit down meal etc for our wedding and so our aunts did a buffet between them for free. There are so many areas that the cost can be cut back in. I hope you have something sorted soon.

I think your venue are being out of order and should be thankful for any sort of booking given the current economic situation. Surely half the money would be better than you pulling out all together.

I have everything crossed for FIL coming to the rescue, but don't give up all together, like everyone else said.....getting married is the most important thing, you could always have the reception later on.

Oh no-sorry to hear this. cant really add any more suggestions than anyone else has but hope you can get something sorted

Vikki,

If you give a break down of what your plans are I may be able to help out with some suggestions if you'd like?

Thanks again for all your replys,

Our plans for the day is

Church Service - Free as we are very good friends with the pastor & The registar

Meal for 41 people

Buffet for 60 (even tho the venue says we have to cater for 100% we are going to act dumb when the extra turn up)

Car - Free as my mum and dad are paying

Photographer -

and entertainment - which is quite expensive but we will cut this if we have to.

all other things have been bought or made by myself like flowers, table centres ect... so i am really struggling where we can cut back. Like i said before we are happy to cancel out honeymoon and transfer the deposit to a family holiday for the year after.

Hi Vikki

so sorry to hear this, this credit crunch business is so depressing. I had a post on here last week saying how tight money is for us at the moment too as we need to buy a house next year and then marry the year after. i worry how we will cope too if i'm honest, but the fact that you're wedding is next yr is obviously more stressful.

i've only been a member of hitched for 6 months now but from what i have seen over the last few months, this is the best place you could have come to for ideas and suggestions to get out of this problem. everyone is so helpful here and i'm sure with everyone's help you can come through this.

another suggestion could be if you knew someone with a big field, then you could hire a marquee and have the reception there if it works out cheaper than your venue (which btw sound really rude and unhelpful)

how about lottery tickets for favours? only £1 each? maybe that could save a few bob for you??

are you able to bring your own wine to your reception and pay corkage?? maybe that could save you a bit too?

erm...what else??!!...how about looking around charity shops for bridal party gifts or even your dress? i hear that some brides have had their dress from charity shops and had a nice surprise at how perfect it was. jan sales is another obvious suggestion

maybe you could also get someone you know to be your transport instead of hiring expensive cars??

do your own make up/hair or get a friend to do it

M&S cakes as i've heard a lot about them!!

also, maybe you could postpone the honeymoon until 2010 but still go ahead with your wedding? this would give you an extra year to save for that wouldn't it, and take a bit of weight off your shoulders for now.

i really hope i'm helping with these suggestions, like i said, i'm fairly new to this, so might sound totally stoooopid saying these things to you!!!!

good luck anyway xxxx

Hi Vikki,

Hope that you've had some good news today from your FIL! I'm not sure if this will help you out at all but some of the ways we are saving money are below:

Entertainment - instead of having a band or DJ we are going to be hiring (or buying & then selling after the wedding) some speakers which can be hooked up to a laptop or i-pod base and just play all of the songs that we have picked. I know quite a few people who have done this (including my sister) and it turned out brilliantly and a lot cheaper! Plus then we get to pick all of the songs we want sung the way they're meant to be originally! :-)

Favours - We're not having any favours as you normally have to spend a lot of money for these and at the weddings I've been too most people just leave them on the tables anyways! Maybe instead you could give each guest a personal note of thanks for coming to the wedding and what they mean to you? Unless you find that a bit mushy :-)

Photographers - I have to admit that I am spending quite a bit on photos (for me anyway!) but I am someone that will be constantly looking at them. You might find that you can downsize on the package (hopefully if you explain your situation they will be accommodating) and then ask everyone who is taking photos on the day to send them to you (in this age of digital cameras and email that should be no problem). Then you can have your professional photos but also have hundreds of relaxed photos of the day as well!

Wedding gifts - as we are already living together and will be returning to Oz about a year after the wedding we are having a wedding wishing well that I will be making myself. You can then ask the guests to contribute towards your honeymoon instead of bringing normal wedding gifts or you could even use it to pay for some of the wedding - there's lots of different ways of wording this so you don't have to feel embarrassed by asking people for money :-)

Menu - Maybe you can opt for a cheaper menu option as people will be there to celebrate the day with you - they won't remember what they ate weeks/years down the line but they will remember how beautiful the day as a whole was :-) Also, can u make your buffet any smaller with the menu choices?

Honeymoon - I have heard of a lot of people who have spent a couple of nights at some b&b's (u can get some beautiful ones in the UK and if you are staying for a couple of nights ask for a disount and also remember to say that it is your honeymoon and sometimes they will give you little extras) and have then had a 'second' honeymoon a year or so later once they've got the finances. It's also a good way to celebrate your first year anniversary!

I hope that some of this has been a little helpful for you. Wishing you all the best!

xxx

Aw no, I'm so sorry to hear you may have to cancel!

Like the others said, there are ways to cut down and hopefully you'll still be able to afford to marry next year.

A website I found that looks to be very cheap for favours is: http://www.idoweddingfavours.co.uk/

From there we worked out that we could get boxes, ribbons, and 5 flavoured almonds each for 40 people for just over £20! So about 50p per favour!

Hi Vicki,

I really hope you've had some good news from your FIL today.

Loads of good ideas from everyone else though!

If you can do the ipod thing that sounds good and tbh you're only going to ask the dj to play your fave songs anyway so that would definitely cut costs.

Also, you'll be sooooo tired after the wedding that delaying the honeymoon until later is a really good idea- you could use that money towards the wedding then.

As for favours, a bowl of sweets on each table goes down well...you don't have to spend money on the boxes or ribbon then as they only get left behind once everyone has munched the sweets anyway!

Keep us updated of FIL news, fingers crossed for you x