Wedding Budgeting

Hi,


We did work out a budget but have most likely gone over the the original budget. 🤦‍♀️
Some good tips for saving money for us was booking a wedding package through a company called Scarlett heart weddings, they have a range of packages and it makes it’s easier keeping the amount of suppliers you have to a minimum.
Favours can be just a small gesture they don’t have to a lot of money ours is included in our Scarlett heart package but friends have had cookies from Costco in cute little paper bags very inexpensive.
Our wedding rings we used a guy from Hatton garden we spent a lot in comparison to friend but it’s personal preference on styles chosen he is fantastic jeweller he made my engagement ring he is called COO jewellers.
Invites Etsy is a really good place to look lots of variety people told me vistaprint but I found them to be more expensive and not as nice!
Good luck with the planning just unfortunately anything wedding seems to just cost more money than a normal ‘party’
Hope this helps x

Https://www.scarlettheartweddings.com/
https://coojewellers.com/


Some links for the companies I mentioned.
Save the dates I also did as einvites very inexpensive but did the trick!

View quoted message Hi Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.
I’m going to have a look into these now.
It’s so expensive isn’t it, I’m trying to do it as cheap as possible but not doing it too cheap as want it to be memorable for everyone who comes to the wedding. We’ve paid a lot for a singer but we thought that was essential to give it a bit edge. It’s the small things, I might do the cookies idea that’s a good idea!Thank you!

No problem I know how hard and difficult it can be knowing what direction to look in. Hope your planning goes well. X

We researched everything beforehand to get idea of costs, as some stuff was a lot more than we thought! Once we had a figure for each element we built our budget to a level we were comfortable with and only looked at venues/suppliers in our budget. Look at the budget tool on here, alot of the elements wont be relevant but it gives you an idea of things you need to look at and helps you work out what you do and dont need,

We then looked back at things that we felt were essential and stuff that was not. we are driving ourselves and only having flowers as bouquets. When looking at venues we asked to see the chairs etc and the ones they have are fine, so no need for covers etc. Again with venues, look at all in packages but also ask for individual costs to work out which will be cheaper, we ended up building our package as we didn't need some of the stuff and have a lot of non drinkers so the all in with wine was actually not cost effective. For cake, we are getting a couple of supermarket cakes and stacking them as to be fair I don't really like cake (odd i know!) and couldn't justify the cost. for favours, not necessary, but if you wanted to do something you could make some fudge or sweets and put in little boxes or just get personalised love hearts with your names and date on. We just want people to have a great time with good food and drink, so we have cut out all the fussy décor and bits that really are not needed. It is your day so you do you and don't let others opinions sway you, you do not have to have anything, just as long as you are happy, the day is about celebrating your love and not pomp and spending on material things

Oh and invites, we made ours on Canva, some cute designs and you can personalise to your colour scheme. We will be sending as an evite and pointing everyone to our website on here to RSVP and we have put facts and key info on there. Is free, it takes some time to set up all your guests but makes it so much easier to get info quickly as you can pull reports on your RSVP and assign table for table plan and meals etc. It can be a bi tricky as there is no user guide, but you will work it out in the end. If you need any help then message me, happy to talk through things

I didnt do a budget only due to it being just five of us at wedding x so cant help you with that one

I would say favours are definitely something you can skip.


The biggest cost is likely to be your venue. And I would say food can add up to quite a bit if you get stuck in to a package. Find out if you have free reign with suppliers at your venue or if you're stuck in to their wedding breakfast packages or certain suppliers.
Areas we have chosen not to skimp on are the photographer (we're using one who has been at a couple of friends' weddings so we know what he's like) and flowers (because they are just something special to me). Having said that, we will be growing some plants and our neighbour is growing a few cut flowers, just as a few extras. This is more because it's private land so doesn't have the garden etc already there that some venues might.
In addition to that, it is definitely not cheaper to have a DIY wedding. Well, the venue doesn't work out cheaper once you get a marquee, toilets and generator. But then you can choose your suppliers.
Anyway, I think you've chosen your venue so I might have gone off on one!

View quoted message Hi! Thank you for this, I’ve chosen my venue and we’ve opted for afternoon tea as a cheaper option for the meal, plus I just love afternoon tea more than anything! So it’s totally me!
The venue and food is costing us about £7000 but we’re charging guests for rooms so we can £2500 back off that price woohoo!
Favours are a cost that we probably could skip, as often get left behind unless it’s sweets etc. My dad and uncle are very creative so they’re gonna make me some little plaques for the tables with peoples names on which will be like there seat place cards but something they can keep. We also decided photography and videography are the most important to us, as they’re the memories and the only thing you take away from the day. I have also booked a singer, because this is something I wanted and thought was an amazing idea! Struggling with budgeting for flowers are are quite expensive. Thinking silk and then can reuse them, and a lot cheaper and look amazing as well if you get the right ones. I’m thinking of making my own table decorations possibly tea pots and planting my own flowers in them, so they’re all a bit different along with some book stacks and a rose in a glass (love beauty and the beast kind of a theme) I just don’t know what else I’m missing! We’re up to over £10,000 already and I don’t want to spend much more 😬

View quoted message I totally agree, it’s so hard to find your feet. I have till March 2023 so I have a while.
But I need to organised and have everything sorted it’s to much 😂

View quoted message Thank you, we’ve cut down on guests now

View quoted message Yeah I’m the exact same definitely going to go over budget.
I have visions of this grand day that everyone will talk about for years. But I’m worried that it’s going to cost so much!
I’ll take a look at the supplier you suggested! Many thanks!!

View quoted message Ooh I’ve started making mine on Canva but don’t know how to get them printed etc! Or where to even begin.
I want to make them myself so they’re more personal.
I was thinking of doing an invite pack including; a front cover, magnetic save the date, the invitation, guest information and RSVP cards but not sure if that’s too much! X

View quoted message It sounds like you've got this 💪


Afternoon tea sounds really lovely. It's great when people can make things as it's more personal. My h2b and one of my bridesmaids are making some bits for ours and I really love that.

Some good advice already in the replies and sounds like you've made good progress. I think it helps to prioritise where you'd like to spend your money - we spent a lot on the band, as we want lots of dancing at our wedding, but we aren't having a wedding cake (neither of us are bothered about it, and they are really expensive!) and kept our flower budget low. We aren't doing favours - as you say they mostly get left behind so feels like money wasted. Instead, we are making a donation to charity and putting a card on each person's plate saying thank you and letting them know we have made a charitable donation on their behalf.

View quoted message Hi i think the prices some people pay for weddings can be ridiculous but our plan has always been just 5 people no family or friends. I hope you enjoy the planning how you want it is the most important thing as long as you are both happy it can still be at a budget that you both want to stick to x💗

The decorations made by you sound really good i was looking at flowers to make my own bouquet i found some artificial flowers on ebay that looked really good x💗

Hitched has some articles on budgeting which I found really helpful when we were planning ours. It's really about deciding what things are most important to you, and which ones you can let go - once you have paid for the legal bits (the stuff that's necessary for you to be legally married) everything else is optional!

If you want to cut down on flower costs, you could DIY table/ceremony flowers and just get someone to make your bouquet.

It also helps if you look for non wedding suppliers - e.g. a lot of supermarkets do cakes now, which are going to work out 1/4 the price of the cheapest 'wedding cake' from a cake maker. You can also find some lovely dresses second hand, from high street stores or mail order, which will be way cheaper than dresses from a boutique. And if the men already own decent suits, they could wear those instead of buying or hiring something specially for the wedding.

I'd ditch the favours, save the dates, wedding signs and any other extra 'bits' unless you really want them.

I wouldn't worry too much about balancing cost with having a memorable day - thinking back over all the weddings I've attended, it's actually being there to see my friends married that has been most memorable, and spending time with people. Honestly, I can't remember many details about food, favours, flowers, entertainment or anything else. I guess the venue is the thing that sticks most in the mind. So your guests are going to have a memorable day just because it's the day they get to see you getting married!