U-turn on wedding plans!

It sounds ideal but be honest with your venue now. They may not allow you to transfer the booking to an evening party.

I would double check the wording of the cancellation policy - 20% of the deposit for cancellations sounds very low, are you sure it doesn't mean 20% of the cost? For comparison, ours is 50% of the venue hire cost if we give 6 months+ notice, or 100% (over £2k) if less.

As Paula said, I would have an honest conversation with your suppliers, and be prepared that they may not want to swtich to evening only, as this wouldn't be as profitable for them, and they may prefer to offer the date to someone who will take th whole day.

Your honeymoon budget seems huge to me relative to the wedding, and you haven't listed that in your top priorities - is it an option for you to go ahead, but delay a honeymoon (or vastly reduce your budget for it). This would also mean you could incorporate gift contributions to the honeymoon. You don't need me telling me but you then also don't "need" to buy favours or have flowers - or, you can absolutely minimise any spend on these things if that makes you happier.

If you are already now set on getting married abroad, given money is an issue I would just urge you to make sure you are fully aware of how much money you will really lose if you cancel your existing booking.

Hi!

We found there were lots of hidden costs getting married abroad I initially wanted to as we both have huge families and the the cost of a uk wedding was spiralling. We also were intending to have the wedding and then carry that on to our honeymoon (same country etc) but then a lot of guests were also thinking of making the wedding their summer holiday, staying for a week or two after the wedding.. this made us reconsider because we really didn’t like the idea of our honeymoon turning into a huge family holiday ??

We found that a lot of abroad packages give you very little choice in regards to cake options/ flower options/ food options etc it all seems to be just one option per price bracket

Like the previous two posters, I agree that your price & hotel seems like a fantastic deal. And I do think you’d have to contact the people you have already booked to ensure they’re willing to swap. My fiancée is a wedding photographer and after being booked for a full day wedding, it would break contract to change the hours etc, which might incur other costs.

At at the end of the day you just have to think about what you want, and if it would bother you that certain people may not be able to attend

Hollie x

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the advice.

I looked into weddings abroad and, like you said, there are lots of hidden costs. Most are about 1K on top for a symbolic ceremony only and 75% of your guests have to be staying at the hotel where you marry.

My OH isn’t keen on spending our honeymoon with people either and he would have to pay for his mum to go which would defeat the whole point of trying to save money!

We have had a chat about it and we are going to stick to the original plan. I’ve decided I will try to save as much as I can between now and October (which is when I don’t have anything non-wedding related to pay out for) and then start saving properly post October. I’ve identified areas in which we can save (i’m not going to have fresh flowers for the centrepieces and I am going to try and get the dress I like second hand etc etc) so i’m sure that we can do it.

Thanks for your help, it’s much appreciated x

I'm glad you had a chat with your H2B and feel a bit better about things - sometimes just coming up with a plan makes all the difference - it gives you back the feeling of control.

hope you have a wonderful wedding! X

Thank you fellow Mrs Jones to be! I’m going to start a thread on money saving tips ? x

Hi Mrs Jones2020

We're getting married the weekend after you and we have set a low budget of 12k all in. We're having a vintage themed, low key wedding as we are 49 and 54, and don't need a three ring circus! After all, it's about your committment to each other that is the ONLY point of the whole day. We're also trying to make it as sustainable as possible, and ditch unnecessary things and plastic as much as possible.

I used to be a Wedding Coordinator for a National Trust property, and here's how I am slashing costs:

I am buying lots of cheap but pretty glass and crystal from charity shops to be candle holders to decorate our venue; this will massively reduce our flower costs. Candles are super cheap in Ikea, they burn well for hours and there are plenty to choose from.

I'm making vintage bunting from old crocheted doilies,(ebay) and a flower arch from a cheap garden arch from Aldi, covered with the £5 voile/net curtain from Ikea, and then covered in silk foliage and flowers. This will be our top table backdrop which can double as a backdrop for the photo props I have bought from The Range for the evening guests. I looked at a Photo booth but to be honest, I thought they were a bit tacky for a wedding and really expensive!

The flowers from our ceremony will be taken to our reception venue to be reused.

I'll be making bouquets for me and my 2 Bridesmaids, 2 flower girls and button holes and corsages from in season locally sourced flowers. There's tons of tutorials on YouTube etc. I'm making confetti from dried flower petals - again, lots of info on YouTube.

I'm making the invitations and other stationery, going to use the long winter nights to keep myself busy! You can get lots of cheap craft items at HobbyCraft and The Range.

As for favours, we have ditched them in favour (sorry!) of a donation to charity instead. They just clutter up a table and how many people really need even more "stuff"?

To keep our guests entertained during the room turn around and for any one who wants a bit of a chill out, I have bought a load of board games and 3D puzzles from charity shops. I'm going to have these left out in the mezzanine area of our venue.

I've already bought my dress! I went to Wed2B in Liverpool, as they are samples, end of lines and generally massively discounted. They have branches elsewhere, too. I set a budget of £800 for my dress, in the end it cost £599, and the alterations are £125, so I am quids in!

Our reception and evening do are in a tea rooms/event space, they were so much cheaper than a hotel or functions room.

So far, we have booked our ceremony venue (National Trust property where we met), our reception venue and we are using a young couple who have just set up their own photography business about 2 years ago. They are charging us £550 for the whole day for the two of them, with an Engagement photo shoot, USB with all the images, printing release and 20 big prints.

We did think about marrying abroad, but with all the new restrictions and legal changes, plus the whole Brexit fiasco, we didn't have much confidence in doing that. Plus, it's the cost for everyone else, and for some of our families, there are also physical accessibility issues.

Hope this helps you a bit! There's so much you can do to reduce costs, so don't get downhearted!

Ali xx

Hi Ali,

Thanks so much for your tips, they’re great. I had already thought of using candles. As it’s an October wedding, I think they’ll look lovely. I really like your idea of charity shops for candle holders. I’ll start hunting! X

Hi there.

If it's an October wedding, have you thought about maybe using pumpkins/conkers/foliage from the garden?

Just picked up a load of doilies in charity shops this weekend. Going to spend the summer hols from school (I'm a Teaching Assistant these days) making doily bunting!