Freaking out

Hi!
What's the most important thing to you? Is it having great photographs to cherish, or having the place decorated nicely? I would say that most guests don't even notice the decor (especially after a few drinks!) Spend your hard-earned cash on what YOU'D like!
If you did some centre pieces, The Range do some great artificial flowers. You could also use old bottles/jars to place candles in, with perhaps some foliage placed around the outside?
In terms of photographer... we're paying for one for the ceremony and some shots between ceremony and reception and then will ask everyone to take candid shots during the reception itself... firstly we didn't fancy having someone around whilst we're eating but also we're not hugely formal and are not doing speeches, cake cutting etc.
Just remember, this is supposed to be a happy day for you, don't tarnish the memory of it by worrying about what you SHOULD have, make it what you want it to be. Good luck!

Hey no reason to panic. You can easy do that on that budget if you are willing to make some concessions:
Like having half day photographer (4h) likely will only be 500-700 but still give you amazing ceremony and family pictures.
Do your own centerpieces the day before! It can be fun. You can buy flower buckets that usually have like 60-80 stalks of local grown flowers in them for like 60-70 pounds. These make 3-4 good size centre pieces or 7-8 Mason jars each so totally in budget (that's what we do).Get some outdoor fairy lights on ebay(black friday sale coming soon) likely like 10£ each string and squeeze fresh flowers in between... bam wall decor. Can even spray them as outdoor lights are waterproof so flowers stay fresh.And the morning of your wedding just make your husband and groomsmen put them on and hang up the decor etc. Just make a drawing of what you want. No one will notice if it's not 100% perfect. There eyes will be on you and your beautiful smile for sure!Uh an fplacement cards literally go for like 100 for 10 pounds on Ebay.... like nothing.Dont panic your budget would be considered generous by many tbh. Hope all goes well@

A few observations about photography. When people are eating I don't know any photographers that take shots but if I am staying until first dance I will usually take candid shots in-between courses. Time wise if your wedding is at a Church with a 30 min travel to the reception then 4 hours will be tight to cover until meal sit down. Be careful here as some some photographers will charge extra for any extra time.

Yes I am bound to say it, but invest in the best photographer your budget will allow and they will make everything look fantastic. Choose local to save costs too.

Get DIY-ing and eating jam, save your jars, use self adhesive ribbon to decorate. Fairy lights always look good, get them after Christmas in the sales in places like supermarkets, wilco, the range. Also use uplighters to wash up the walls and hit the ceiling. Coloured paper globes. Here are a few shots of DIY ideas and how fairy lights can look.

Fairy lights and uplighters.

View quoted message That's good to know about how photographers may utilise meal times...may not be as intrusive as I originally expected. Something for me to consider ?

View quoted message

Some also use the time to have something to eat themselves. I don't need much to keep me going and there are some good shots still to be had whilst the wedding couple visit and chat to tables in-between courses but when the next course comes out I will disappear for a banana .

Are you getting married locally to where you live? May is a great time for flowers and most people's gardens look great at that time of year, so maybe you could go down the informal route of home-grown flowers in jam jars? I've seen this done at weddings and it looks lovely. Our church was decorated this way for our ceremony too, and I actually preferred it to more formal arrangements.

Photography is going to be your biggest outlay, but you can often find photographers who will do a half-day package, just the ceremony and some shots immediately after. That way, you get nice pics of everyone, but don't have to pay for a full day.

And you can find a lot of decor/stationery etc cheap online - check out ebay and etsy for starters.

Try Faune.London on Instagram for flowers!