Getting married :)))

[Anonymous]

Hi I’m getting married next summer June 2014
I’m on a very tight budget ( ( dam recession) so I need some help and advice on everything…. Photographers, video( do I really need this ) and wedding cake and dresses…. Any advice would be welcome )
Looking forward to your reply ….

[Yvonne]

Congrats!!

Look out for sales in the bridal shops, you could be lucky to find your dress really cheaply! Debenhams / Littlewoods sometimes have great dresses too.

Bridesmaids dresses – Coast, Monsoon, TK Maxx, Debenhams – again watch out for the sales.

You could do your invites yourself. Flowers in the church, give money to the church to freshen up the ones there… if you know a florist that would do it themselves and get your own, bridesmaids and button holes etc..

You could know someone who is really good at taking pics, video – some love it, I had one and I loved it.. if you don’t get one, get guests to send on their pics to you.

Hth, and enjoy it all!

Cake – price around! Always found Coulter and Black very reasonable. M&S do fab wedding cakes too!

[Jedt]

We had a wedding video done on our wedding day and my father-in-law very kindly got us this as a wedding gift. To be honest, we probably would not have paid for it ourselves as it was quite expensive but it was so worth it. We can look back on that now and reminisce about our fab wedding day and we can see loved ones in the video who are no longer with us too. It is a lovely thing to have so if you can get someone to buy it for you as a gift or can find someone who is willing to do it at a good price, it makes a fab keepsake of your special day. It is something you can pop on with a glass of wine on future wedding anniversaries and cuddle up together!!

You can pop some disposable cameras on the tables and get the guests to take snaps at each table. This is a great way to get lots of shots of everyone there. Pick someone responsible (a good friend or family member) and ask them to take lots of pics on the day too and this can cut out the need for a professional photographer. Or look around and see if you can find someone who might do the photography, video and album as a package deal for you? You might be able to get a good price on all 3.

Cookie Momster is a fab cake maker, she may be able to give some advice on wedding cakes, she is atcookiemomsterbake@yahoo.ie or phone: 087 6231600

Invites you can do yourself and that cuts out alot of the cost. Check out Easons, Hallmark and places like that and pick some up – you can often get these on sale too online so be vigilant and see what sales come up (M&S and Next even do things like this on sale sometimes)

If you are still looking at venues, have you seen The Glenside Hotel wedding package called ‘Buy the dress’? All you have to do is buy the wedding dress – they look after invites, flowers, music, cars and everything you need for the day. They are very reasonably priced and the staff are fab. They have a dedicated wedding planner and she is so lovely. They are so brilliant and the food is lovely and garden is gorgeous too.

Perhaps you can do your own tan and make-up and get someone you know to practise on your hair to get a style you like before the big day? Or if you have a birthday and Christmas coming up before your wedding, ask family & friends for gift vouchers for a hair & beauty salon you like and save them up for your wedding day!

There are always great sales on wedding dresses so keep an eye out for them in newspapers, online etc.

Hope some of that helps – best of luck with it. Wish I could do it all again….my wedding day was the best day of my life!! 😀

[chewieodie]

Ooooh…. exciting times! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

I agree fully with everything previously mentioned. The more you do yourself, the less you pay….
BUT, don’t be scared of telling your prospective suppliers that you are working to a very tight budget, and can they work around…. "x"…. ?

I can only give advice in two areas…. one being that myself and my "musical partner" are wedding ceremony musicians…. sometimes when you choose your music, you may be able to get a special "package" deal if you select the same musicians to provide both the church and the cocktails….
Once again…. the more you bring on board…ie… piano, guitars, gospel choir etc… the more you pay…. 😉 So, decide on the sound you are looking for, and go from there…. Does your church have "resident musicians"…. they may do a deal for you… 😉 x

AND, the other department would be the cake… 😉 I’m a hobby baker, so I don’t have a "business" so to speak. Once again…. decide what you want, and go from there. You have a budget, let your supplier know. Also, don’t be fooled into the mindset of…. I’ll have one layer cake… and two dummy layers. In the long run it won’t save you as much money as you think….as the cake decorator still has to spend the time in the decorating of the dummy layers too… so, whilst one may think… "ah sure, its only one tier of real cake"… other than the "baking" the work remains the same and you will be charged accordingly. I have to make my first wedding cake at the end of June… and I am really looking forward to it…. the bride is a neighbour of mine, and I’ve always baked for her kids and her engagement etc etc…. so, she asked me to do her cake for her…
SO….. do you know someone that bakes?? Someone you trust? That MAY be a cheaper option for you too… 😉

HAVE FUN!!!! It is SUCH an exciting time….. 😉 Can’t believe my wedding was 19 years ago… YIKES!!! x

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