Who's helping you out?

We have been lucky and have a few family and friends helping us out.

My parents are paying for our invites and evening buffet, sister is paying for my tattoos to be covered by professionals for the day, aunt is making our cake for free, cousin is a qualified beautican and is doing my make up for free, a family friend is a DJ and is doing it for cheap, my friend has just started her own photography company and is doing the photography for cheap.

We've had lots of practical offers, thank goodness...

Son in law playing organ, daughters both singing, choir, daughter 2 making cake, friends doing photos, flowers, making sure church is perfect, serving wine at drinks reception...

We are very fortunate to have so many friends and family with wonderful talents. It would be a lesser wedding without them!

So far we're doing a lot ourselves but managing to do it within our budget anyway.

We've only had help in 2 areas (wow that sounds awful, not belittling it at all because we are so chuffed that people want to help us, and it makes it more special too!) My parents are making our cake and we won't see it until the day, and my SIL2B is designing all of our stationery (I'll probably use god old VistaPrint to print it)

I've made my own flowers, decorated my shoes and will sort out all the table decorations etc. To be honest I've really loved the crafty side of it all!!

We have my h2b's brother in law doing our photos. Me and my sister are making the cake together. H2b's auntie and uncle are paying for flowers and seat covers.

We told everyone that we had saved all the money we need for our wedding but they wanted to be involved and help us have a fantastic day.

But as a thank you we are paying for them to stay at the hotel on the night of the wedding.

Morning,

The main help has come from our parents. OH's mum and dad have paid for the bulk of the venue. My my and dad are paying for my dress, BM dresses, cake and my makeup lady on the morning of the wedding.

Other than that me and OH have been pulling in the purse strings to pay for all the other bits.

My mum and step dad gave us some money so we've been able to afford a honeymoon straight after the wedding.

2 of my best friends are paying for our cake.

My MOH is lending me her left hand tonight to write out the invitations as her handwriting is nicer than mine!

A fairy godmother gave us a cheque for our honeymoon, so we were really lucky in that respect. That left our finances in better shape for everything else, although we hadn't planned outside our budget anyway.

But in practical terms, nobody is helping us. I have made (well, making) my bouquet, the BM bouquets, various decorative bits and pieces. But unfortunately, we don't know any talented bakers/florists/photographers. If I were to be completely honest, I would likely have huge issues handing over control to an "amateur" (maybe less so if it were their profession) so that's probably for the best.

I have seen some of these but a lot of them rub off onto clothing. The last thing I want is brown marks on my dress or being scared to really dance encase it rubs on my dress. Also I find it hard to find any creams, make up etc that match my complextion.

My parents and OH's parents have been a god send financially. OH's parents have paid for the band and made to measure kilts for OH, BM and FIL2B. My parents are have paid for the venue, half my dress. They also handmade the invitations and are making lace table runners.

I know my mum and dad would have done a lot more for me DIY wise cause my mum is craft mad but they don't live here but they've tried their best to do as much as they can. x

We're paying for 100% of it.

OH has nothing to do with his parents (they don't even know we're getting married, or that we're having a baby), and my parents aren't in a position to help.

My Dad and his gf are living off his sick pay after his stroke, and my mum is a widow, so living off just her income.

She's tried offering, but I politely refused.

My friend is a TOG, and offered to do the pics, but I want him there as a guest, not our tog.

same with one fo Mr FLows friends, hes a DJ but we were like 'your're a guest, you cant very well nip off halfway through dinner to 'set up'..'!!!

Im one of 5 so having my parentals pay huge amounts is impossible, my parents are paying for the cake, invites and dress, and mum and me (and mr f!) are all chipping in making theinvites.......daddy flow may even make me a photobooth 'wall'!!

The in laws have 2 kids and know his dad is very comfortable money wise. Theyve said theyll help out, but i dont know what this means or how much so weve budgeted at what WE can afford to save and pay out, anything extra is therefore a bonus! (if they could pay for honeymoon thatd be nice lol)

Well we are paying for most of it ourselves but we've been very fortunate that our friends and family are willing to help where they can.

One of my bridesmaids is the house manager at the golf club where we are having the reception venue, so we have managed to get the hire for free and the catering at a really good price per head.

My mum is also paying for my dress (love her), she got made redundant last year and unfortunately has not been able to find work since but she insists that she wants to buy my wedding dress.

My bridesmaids are buying all of their shoes and accessories.

My friend works in a florists so will be giving us a discount on the flowers.

We are paying for most of it ourselves but we have been very fortunate that friends and family are willing to help where they can.

One of my bridesmaids is house manager at the golf club where we are having our reception so she has managed to get us the hire of the venue for free and also a really good price per head on the catering. This has saved us a small fortune.

My mum is paying for my wedding dress (love her) she got made redundant last year and has been unable to find work since so it means a lot to me that she is buying my dress.

My bridesmaids are paying for their shoes and all their accessories they have also offered to split the costs of their transport between them (love my girls).

My friend works in a florists so she will be doing all our flowers at a discount.

The only person that has helped practically really is my mother in law whose made our cake. However my parents have given us alot of money, in laws and my nan, oh and of course us too!

My parents are paying for the majority of our wedding...but in terms of help from other, my tog is a work friend so is giving us a good price, the florist is a family friend & is a good price & she is also setting up our table decorations with things Im supplying myself (petals, candles etc) and we got our band for half price because OH works with lead singer.

We have paid for 75% of it ourselves with my Dad and FMIL contributing financially.

My mum has paid for my dress, veil and jewellery, the cars and a singer for an hour.

My friend has recently started up as a TOG and he offered to do it for us for free. A friend of a friend (using the powers of facebook) is starting up as a VOG and another freebie for his portfolio.

Our best Mans girlfriend has sourced a cake lady for cheaper than I'd been quoted and also has asked her hairdresser to do my hair. Savings for them are about £300

I think thats about it - I've made all the invites myself with a bit of help from my Mum but that's about it so far.

We are very lucky and so grateful for my parents as they are paying I'd say 75% of it.

My parents are paying for the wedding breakfast and evening buffet, flowers and centrepieces, have bought my dress, tiara and veil, they have bought the BMs dresses (we got their jewellery and shoes). My Mum has even offered to get my bridal shoes at £195 I've been putting it off as I think they are too much, but I may pay half and ask my Mum to pay the other half. They are getting the suit hire too.

We are paying for the church fees, car hire and TOG and other stuff for the reception, we also bought the invites. We'll be DIYing the OOS.

As wedding gifts we got our DJ for nothing and our cake. Our TOG is a friend of the families and will charge £300 (mostly as he is still studying but still a discount).

My sis is a hairstylist and nail tech so she will use airbrush foundation on us (for nothing and do our hair for nothing) and we will finish off the rest of the make up ourselves.

I have gathered quite a few bits to DIY and cut costs but even the small bits/detailing is costing a bit.

My PIL2B are paying for our honeymoon, which was a surprise and gratefully received.

Wow anniepie I am well jealous, send some of those connections my way please!

My mum has been the biggest help, she is getting my dress and shoes and any headpiece I choose, OH's dad has mumbled vaguely about giving us money but dunno how much, when or what for so we are trying to spend only what WE can afford. My uncle and aunt have said they will pay up to £300 for our cupcakes and my mum's hairdresser said she will do our hair for free (sadly I can't really take her up on that as she means locally, and I want to get ready at my venue.) Aside from that, another pal is a hairdresser so may help me out at the venue, and another friend has offered to play the steel drums which I can get hold of from mum's work.

My mum is paying for half of our wedding; my friend is doing my hair; my aunts and female cousins are helping me to decorate the venue the night before; OH's parents are paying for the honeymoon.

Financially, my Mum has bought my dress and OHs parents have offered to give us some money for us to use as we wish on the wedding i.e. they are not paying specifically for one thing.

We are budgeting to pay for everything ourselves but my parents have said that they will help out again if they can but I don't want to hold them to it or anything.

MIL2B is my hairdresser so she is doing my hair for me on the day (would never let anyone else near it except her anyway!) and her friend is a beautician so she has offered to treat me to my makeup and nails.

My auntie is making our cake and a friend who is a designer is designing our wedding stationary, complete with personalised crest that includes all of our favourite things!

I feel very lucky xxx

Well our budget is about £3000, so lots of family and friends are helping us out!

Mum is making the cake, also growing flowers to go in the jam jars (which she is also painting flowers on to!)

OH's Mum - making a basket with flowers in with a sign saying welcome (or something similar). She also gave us £500 when we got engaged!

Myself, aunties, mum, sisters, best friends, OH's mum will be making loads of cakes for our cake table

Reception venue - My family's home, its lovely!

All my bridesmaids etc are buying their own outfits/hair etc

My mum is helping with the catering.

Myself and sister are doing my make up as we used to be beauty therapists.

Im sure there are lots of other things but I cant think of anything at the moment.

Bx

My PIL2B gave us a fairly big cheque towards the wedding, we put the same amount of our own money towards it, then my parents did as well before adding some extra on top to cover their evening guests. So we are very lucky.

My auntie wanted to buy our cake as a wedding present to us, because that's what her auntie did for her when she got married and she said she really appreciated it and would love to see it become a family tradition if I am lucky enough to be blessed with a niece! I thought that was very sweet. She hasn't asked for any input into the cake, but I did tell her what we were planning, tried very hard to get the best value for money and ran the final design and price past her before she did the final payment.

One of my other aunties suggested paying for our DJ, but decided in the end that she wanted to get us a lasting present so she is getting us a cutlery canteen instead. Her husband is also going to video the day for us. He is a teacher and originally was going to borrow a camcorder from the Media Studies dept at his school but he got overexcited one day and ran out and bought a new one! Bless him, he's really excited. We need to record the ceremony at least for my grandparents who live abroad. Sadly our room is the only one in the register office not set up for live streaming!

My mum helped me put together 219 sweetie jars which was a task and a half! 10 or so different sweets per jar, lid, ribbon and sticky label. She also wants to make my bouquet but I think she is mad so less said about that the better!

Pretty much everything else has been either done by me or I have hired a professional. I'd love to have as many contacts as Anniepie! Seems like all our friends and relatives are either doctors, bankers or teachers ☹️ No florists, photographers or cakemakers!

Not at all showing off! Was very interesting to read! ?

We're paying for most the wedding, but my OH stepmother has offered to pay for all my necessaries for my outfit - shoes/ underwear/ jewellery, one of my friends will be making the cake, and another has offered to do my nails on the day.

I sometimes wish a fairy godmother would come and give us a cheque to go towards our wedding/ honeymoon or we might end up with a weekend in Skegness lol! (not that there's anything wrong with Skeggy of course)

We have been very lucky with both my mum and stepdad, and dad and stepmum putting in money that together totals half of our wedding costs. My grandparents are also putting in some money, which is really lovely.

We are saving heaps by doing so much ourselves; we designed our invites and printed them at work (with permission of course!), I am doing the cake and the favours (jam and sweeties),

Other ways we are saving money are by having a later ceremony so we only have to provide one lot of grub, having an iPod and also a guitarist friend who is charging us mates rates for the entertainment, using only local and seasonal flowers for the bouquets and using wedding cake as dessert.

I think though weddings can bring out the worst in people, they can also bring out the best and we have been so touched by the kindness of people these last few months.

Thats lovely and so true, for me it is the personal touches that people bring that make weddings so special