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Probably wrong category... Wedding

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hurkleho | 15:31 Tue 14th Aug 2007 | Relationships & Dating
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Hi there! Would be grateful for any suggestions on how to carry off a really cheap wedding.

Me and him indoors are planning to get married next year, but have an extremely limited budget. Not worried about convention, but want to have a do for friends and family to attend.

No suggestion too odd...
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Most pubs these days will give you free room hire if you guarantee that x amount of people will attend and if you use them for the catering.

If you had 100 coming, cater for 50 at say �4 a head get them to do u some baloons table decorations etc shouldnt cost more than �100.00, DJ �100-�150. So for 300 quid ish you can have a good night with food.
do you know of anyone who has a big garden?if so see if you could use it and depending on how many people are coming get a gazibo(sorry cant spell that)get all your mates and family to each make something towards the buffett, this is what my mate did and it was fab we all had a great night,she got her dress in a 50% off sale it was beautiful, didnt have a sit down meal just the night time do.good luck to you both x
get married somewhere quiet with just you and witnesses then hire a hall and have party
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Wow! Really love the gazebo idea. Have the very spot and all, half way between the two family towns. Fantastic!

Wot about booze, though? Bring your own?
Hurkleho - Yes, a party gazebo is an excellent idea. You can get one from B&Q for about �70. They start at about 27ft. long, and hold quite a few people - I know - I've held stacks of parties in ours! Tell your friends and family to bring a bottle, and you could always make a huge bowl of punch for everyone to dip into - it's cheap and quick to make. Lay out a finger buffet, and I think you'll find that food's actually the last thing on peoples' minds once they all have a drink and get chatting. If you want to try a cheap but beautiful wedding - I'll give you an idea in my next post! Good luck.
Question Author
Thanks Taperface. Like the sound of a cheap but beautiful wedding... Wossit?
You can save more money if you know of a friend who can do the disco for you as a wedding gift.
Also, if you plan on having any bridesmaids, Woolworths are doing little girls party dresses for �8 and �12 at the moment. They are ones that would make ideal bridesmaid dresses as well as something that can be worn again and again at birthday parties etc. As for older bridesmaids, look out for evening dresses in the sales. If they are plan, they can soon be dressed up by adding a silk flower or two sewn at the top on one side and adding a simple wrap made simply from a piece of shiney material, all you will need is a sewing machine!
How cheap is 'cheap'..what is your budget?

I guess you are more worried about the cost of a reception rather than clothes/photos/ceremony etc.

We spent about �2,000 on our wedding 2 years ago. It sounds like a lot of money to me now, but as we paid for bits over about 6 months it didn't seem so bad...and as quite a few people still pay �15,000 and above for their weddings I suppose it was pretty cheap!

I bought bridesmaids dresses from a prom dress maker on ebay. My dress was �100 from Debenhams, the rings were about �100 each and I spent about �250 on flowers. The biggest expense was the reception, of course. That cost around �700 and we had it at a small local restaurant for about 30 people. The cakes were bought from M&S for about �70 and I decorated them myself with fresh flowers.

We also spent �100 on a childrens entertainer for an hour and a half, which was great as it meant the kids were catered for while the adults could chat and mingle for a while :o) we didn't bother with a disco and just played CDs on the restaurants system.
We recieved a wedding invite that said we are getting married on ... at ... we would be over the moon if you could join us on this special occasion. Due to our nuptual interests exceeding our income, we would obliged if you would make a dish to share, and bring a bottle or two with a sense of adventure, lots of love, John and Jane. NO GIFTS.
It was great they provided a wedding cake, Cava for toasting, some music. My friend said she was inundated with small offers from people that really made a difference when added together.
Question Author
Sense4all- that's absolutely brilliant, I'm nicking that invitation word for word ... except John and Jane, of course!

We have absolutely no need for gifts, the last thing I need is trying to find space for a crap mahogany cabinet full of Galway Crystal anyway. Brilliant!

Julie
We got married 5 years ago on a budget of about �300, we managed to hire out the function room at the Driftwood Spars, St Agnes, Cornwall for free, and my father-in-law paid for the food (�180) instead of buying us a useless present. Our clothes came from River Island, and I bought the wedding cake from Tesco and decorated it with flowers from the pub garden. We borrowed my brother's good stereo and his vast collection of music reducing the need for a DJ, and we got family and friends to take photographs of the day (which they did). Today, people still talk about what a lovely day it was, and although it was very simple, I wouldn't have had it any other way ...
By the way, the wedding rings came from a local pawn brokers - mine was an antique 22ct gold affair which fitted perfectly, and my husband opted for a silver ring with a celtic design. All in all they cost about 40 quid together. Just over a year after we got married, I was swimming in the sea at Pendower beach in Cornwall, when the force of a wave whipped it off and I never saw it again. Oh well...we're still married all the same!
Some brilliant ideas here! A friend of mine is getting married and in her invitations has asked each guest for two of their favourite songs. Then she is going to download them all onto a cd and there's the music sorted. It's also a lovely souvenier of the day! x
Also! I really think there should be a Wedding category! I posted one yesterday that ended up in here. x
This website will make your photo album cheap as chips and really original too.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore x
Question Author
All your suggestions are excellent! I'm so grateful to everybody, it's getting me really excited now, whereas before I was beginning to panic. Wheeee!
The key to a low-key wedding is planning.

List absolutely everything you need, including napkins, bottle of sherry, glasses, balloons, plate of crisps, plate of small cakes, etc.
(if you just ask for a plate you can get 500 sausage rolls and nothing sweet).
Then either put each item on a separate page in a notebook, or for the 21st century version put it on a website.

Each guest is asked to provide as many pages as they like, by tearing out the page or ticking on the website.
Then it really gets a community, friendly feel to it.
I have been involved with 2 weddings like this and it was wonderful both times.

Have a great day.
for the bridesmaids dresses, and if ur lucky for the brides dress, try TKMaxx, when I worked there a man came in and bought 6 bridesmaids dresses and his wife to be's dress because his company had offered to do the dresses and they obviously agreed before realising that the Japanese based company would provide (albeit very beautiful) kimonos which the woman didn't want! For food, Lidls do cheap buffet style stuff which I'm sure no-one will complain about!
I think sense4all's answer is brilliant!!!

my mum n step-dad recently married in a 'rush job' after 20 years together lol but I done th e catering & I onlfor about �2 per head & I only had 1 weeks notice...try to track down someone with a food warehouse member card, if your local does food n your pally try them, but when my mum annoced the nig day n said 'she didn't want a fuss' it was amazing how everyone pulled together, so I think if you go with sense4all's idea n be honest then your mates will make a day to remember xx all the best hun XX

btw I remember going to a house-leaving party & the invite said....'bring your dancing shoes, a bottle & an empty box' I thought that was class lol
Oh another idea i think is brill is to leave a few disposable cameras around so guests can take some of their own pic s then leave them for you to develope :)

PS soz about my typos I cant see all of my replies as explained in suggestions plus I've near a full bottle of wine drank LOL

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