Tips for a Low Budget Wedding
I am getting married this year and did not have a lot of money so a strict budget was called for. We did not have much in savings so we will be saving as we go along and have been putting a certain amount away each week and will be doing so right up until the week before the wedding.
You cannot really start your budget until you have a rough idea of numbers for the day and night and been to see the wedding consultant at the hotel in which you plan to have your reception.
In these harsh economic times, hotels seem to have realised that not everyone has money to spend on lavish wedding receptions, and have now priced accordingly.
Listed below is what i got included in the wedding reception at €39.00 (£33.00) per head:-
- Red Carpet welcome with champagne for Bride and Groom
- Tea, Coffee, Biscuits and hot and cold punch for wedding guests
- Elegant chair covers
- Silver wedding cake stand, pillars and use of silver cake knife
- Personalised wedding menus
- Table candelabras placed on table top mirrors
- Luxury Bridal Suite with champagne breakfast
- Dinner voucher for two on the occasion of our 1st wedding anniversary
- Free access to Spa.
- Two executive bedrooms for parents of Bride and Groom
- 5 Course Wedding Breakfast
As far as the wine is concerned, I am going to buy this from the supermarket as there are usually deals to be had, and let the hotel charge for corkage which still works out less than twice the amount of a hotel bottle of wine.
Now for the dress. I bought this from a site called Dino Direct
You may or may not have heard, but it is a large online retail marketplace. The dress was only just over €120.00. (£105.00) Now you may think this is very cheap and would therefore look cheap and I have to admit I was very apprehensive but I thought if it wasnt up to scratch I could always send it back.
The dress had a back zip but i wanted to have buttons instead. They had a live chat salesperson that you could discuss any adjustments that you might want which was great.
The dress arrived and I was absolutely amazed at the quality for the price. It looks like it cost a lot more which to be honest is highly gratifying.
There is a small photo of it below
I also bought my bridesmaids dress from the site as well and the two dresses were a total of €240.00 (£208.00) including shipping. Brilliant.
Other sites that are worth taking a look at for Dresses are:-
They have a wide range of Wedding Dresses and Special Occasion Dresses at very reasonable prices.
This site is probably more for the younger person if you want a special going out dress.
I actually bought my daughters dress for the day off of this site for about £30. Well worth a look.
As for the bouquets of flowers for the brides mother, grandmother etc I was looking in Tescos Supermarket and they have lovely bouquets for around €20 (£17). All you would have to do is remove the celephane and replace with coloured tissue paper matching it up with your colour scheme. It would work out at half the price of bouquets from a florist. They also have tall orchids in pretty flower pots (about 2.5ft tall) in a thick clear plastic box and cord handle for less than €20 (£17) which I think would be a lovely present as it is something they could keep.
I was in my local charity shop one day and low and behold there were two brand new unopened boxes of cream rose petals, which by the way matches my dress, which I thought would be ideal to scatter on the tables at the wedding reception. I got these for an amazing €1.
You never know what you will pick up in charity shops. I love them.
I bought my wedding invitations from Amazon for the day and night for less than €50.00 (£43.00)
For Wedding Favors I have decided on personalised pens with our names and the wedding date. I bought these online from a company called Premier Print. It cost £29.99 for 50 pens. I thought this was a great idea as everyone uses a pen. I am going to jazz them up a little bit by making little square cards with a little "thank you" written on them and securing with a bit of thin ribbon.
I am also having a party the next day in my local pub with food and music. A friend of mine is doing the food for me as a wedding present. All I have to is buy all the food and she will make sandwiches, salads. quiches etc. So this is a great saving.
I bought little vases for the tables from IKEA for 60c each and I will get flowers to put in them, making a lovely table decoration.
All the other decorations I am buying off of the internet.
I got my dress for the next day from Littlewoods.ie for €60.00 (£52.00) see picture below, and I bought my shoes in DUNE in the January Sales for €25.00 (£21.00) reduced from €75.00 (£65.00).
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I hope you find these few tips helpful and I will be back with more as time goes on.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO IS PLANNING THEIR VERY SPECIAL DAY
