me and my feance want to get married next november but havent got a fortune to spend. Has any 1 got any money saving tips?
£1000, two years ago. We invited only close family and friends, 50 in all. Married in a registry office. I made all the invitations on the computer using parchment and a programme bought from PC World. We had our reception in a small family run hotel. We had a buffet and we paid for the first round of drinks for everyone and the champagne, then people bought their own from the bar. My dress £90, was actually an ivory ball gown bought in Debenhams. My husbands suite was bought in the sale on blue cross day. I bought the cake from M&S and decorated it myself I also made all the favors. Our one extravgance was the car it cost £200 and the flowers were expensive but i had a bridesmaids bouquet which was cheaper. We had a wonderful day and I wouldn't of wanted to change anything.
33 Responses to “How much did you pay for your wedding?”
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:49 am
Less than £400,,,,,as for tips,,,just budget everything….
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:50 am
Nothing. Got parents?
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:50 am
my wedding cost just over 5 grand but that was for everything dresses, table decorations etc. if you or anyone you no that is good at making things such as table centre pieces, favours, cake etc then you will save a bit of money doing as much as you can yourself.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:52 am
my wedding cost 3000 dollars. hire your wedding dress and suit ( your never going to wear em again!!!) get your guest to pay for the meal (30 dollars a head) instead of gifts - gift optional. HOW MANY PPL DO YOU KNOW CAN GET A WEDDING GIFT FOR UNDER 30 BUCKS. wedding presents are nice but i got 5 dinner sets. i wold have prefered money or to choose something i really wanted. the money for the meals helped HEAPS we had our reception at a motel resturant. CHEAP AS AND VERY PRETTY. everyone commented pn how nice our wedding was.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:52 am
We paid about 7,000 for a wedding for 100. I got my dress for $99 at Davids Bridal during a sale. We found a reception hall where we could bring our own alcohol, because if is provided the markup tends to be really high.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:55 am
$35 per head, plus drinks, 50 people. Weddings at the time in my home state were going for $100-150 per head. We got married out of state 4 hrs away. This helped the number of guests be a lot less, because everyone had to stay the weekend. We got married in a small small church in a small town & had the reception in a small inn. We planned everything in one weekend. We did NOT hire a wedding planner. It was beautiful & I wouldn't have done it any other way.
I didn't skimp on my gown but if you know someone that sews, maybe you can save some there. I didn't have a big wedding party or an elaborate cake. I had a "thanksgiving" like buffet with turkey & stuffing and all the fixings. I hired a DJ instead of a band. Years later people still talk about our wedding. Make it memorable for you, no one will remember all the ice sculptures & too many horsdourves.
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had a WONDERFUL and inexpensive wedding myself.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:59 am
£2000, not sure what that is in dollars, we took in a lodger and put in a lot of hours over time to save that.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 4:01 am
same here - we are getting married in registry office -
then hiring a hall for a party - were committed but skint - money cant buy you love -
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October 3rd, 2007 at 4:02 am
Ok, we saved a lot of money in various different ways.
My Mum and Grandma made the dresses (my dress + 3 bridesmaids) for £215. Compare that to retail prices and you got yourself a HUGE saving! Takes a lot of time though, but at the end of the day, you get THE dress that you want.
We kept our eyes open while we were engaged, so my husband got his suit in a sale.
We got married in our church, so we didn't have to pay anything for the service.
We had a friend do the photography, so he only charged us £300.
We even grew our own flowers - I had sunflowers
and my mother-in-law helped me make the bouquets the night before the wedding.
We had the reception in a community centre and decorated it ourselves. It looked great when it was full of people!
My husband's Mum got the cake made by a friend of hers (who is a professional cake-maker) and gave it to us as a joint birthday present, as both our birthdays were close to the wedding date.
We have a friend in a jazz band, so they played for us, and we just had to give them petrol money.
There are a few other things we did, but I don't want to bore you with the details! Just be creative, do things yourself and use your contacts! Hope it goes well
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October 3rd, 2007 at 4:03 am
Well my wife and I got married in Jamacia…. It cost us about 3 grand for our wedding on the beach and a week vacation at an all inclusive resort (Beaches Negril). We sent our invitations out about a year and 1/2 in advance so everyone had ample time to save for the trip. My wife and I didn't really want a huge wedding, and the only people I really "needed" at my wedding was my mother, father and sister; and I knew they would not have missed my wedding, even if it was no the moon……….
Our wedding was attended by about 20 people…all close friends and famliy…..
You really can't beat getting married on a beautiful island on the beach…….
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October 3rd, 2007 at 5:19 am
Ours including everything (outfits, cars, reception, meals, honeymoon, flowers, hair/makeup artist) came to approx £10,000. This was split (not equally) 3 ways between both sets of parents and my husband and I. Although it does sound like an awful lot of money (my initial goal was approx £6,000 but my parents gave the go ahead for other stuff), we saved a lot of money by having some handy friends (someone who baked the cake for just the cost of the ingredients, and professional wedding photographers who gave us an 80% discount so it just covered the cost of the album and the digital printing).
Money saving tips are to shop round for your wedding dress. I saved about £300 doing this and found an even nicer dress! Shop round for a photographer, even if we hadn't got the 'mates rates', the photographers we had were a husband and wife team and so nearly half the price of other companies yet they are brilliant. Check out deals at hotels or other venues as sometimes you can get good deals with some freebies thrown in! You can generally set a budget with the other companies such as the florist. Tell them you only want to spend X amount and they will be very helpful.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 5:32 am
Anyone can do a wedding on a budget. If you want saving tips and free stuff to help you organise your wedding go here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Easywedding/
Join up (its immediate) Under files there is a whole .doc of money saving tip. Great simple ideas!
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Easywedding/
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:53 am
28,000 for about 125 people- open bar ect…..
That includes my dress and all the little extras in that price.
Go on the knot.com and plug in how much you have and it will show you how you should brake up your money.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 6:10 am
About 15 grand all in including Honeymoon. Flowers were wedding present, band was paid for by group of friends all chipping in. In laws paid for dress & Car which belonged to a friend of ours who starting new business, My Parents paid for Reception.
Go abroad - forget your family. Sandals will do complete wedding package and take care of everything and you will have best holiday ever that way you your wedding and honeymoon is combined. If friends & family want to come they pay for themselves
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October 3rd, 2007 at 6:22 am
My wedding cost £275!!
My dress was £200 and the registry office was £35 and our rings cost £20.00 each.
We booked a registry office in Wales and went on holiday, half way through we got married.
My husband wore his suit that he wears for wedding, interviews etc, my flowers were given to me as a present, and we had fish and chips (bought for us by our witnesses).
Our witnesses took pictures and then had two sets developed.
It was a fantastic day and one that we will remember forever, as it was totally us.
The main expense was the dress, but a friend said I would regret getting married in jeans! Don't think I would have though, as a wedding dress wasn't really me.
Think about cutting costs, borrowing suits from friends, having people pay for the wedding instead of giving gifts.
Do a reception yourself, think that the more people you invite, the more it is going to cost!!!!
Keep it small and personal to you and your partner.
Congratulations and good luck for the future.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 6:48 am
£1000, two years ago. We invited only close family and friends, 50 in all. Married in a registry office. I made all the invitations on the computer using parchment and a programme bought from PC World. We had our reception in a small family run hotel. We had a buffet and we paid for the first round of drinks for everyone and the champagne, then people bought their own from the bar. My dress £90, was actually an ivory ball gown bought in Debenhams. My husbands suite was bought in the sale on blue cross day. I bought the cake from M&S and decorated it myself I also made all the favors. Our one extravgance was the car it cost £200 and the flowers were expensive but i had a bridesmaids bouquet which was cheaper. We had a wonderful day and I wouldn't of wanted to change anything.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 6:50 am
My husband and I payed a total of $3,000 total for our wedding. That includes the rehearsal dinner (at a local steak house) food at the reception (a 3 course meal with the option of two main courses) to feed 300 plus people, the cake, the DJ for the dance, the reception hall, all the plates, table cloths, utensils, decorations, the church, the flowers, my dress, bridesmaids dresses, tux rentals, absolutely everything. No one helped us pay for it either, and the total cost was $3,000. We had 300 plus people at our wedding. I had 7 brides maids and 7 groomsmen. To save money on the meal at the reception, my mom and I spent three whole days before the wedding preparing massive amounts of food. My dress cost $100, we watched for half price sales at stores that sold wedding decorations. Another thing that ended up saving money is that I bought him a nice wedding ring (around $1,000), but he didn't buy me a wedding ring or engagement ring (and four years later, I'm still waiting for either one…lol) You just have to be smart on what you spend and eliminate the things that you don't need. Just remember, it's just one day, and no one really remembers the expensive details anyways. Don't break yourself financially - it isn't worth it. We didn't go on a honeymoon at all though - I wish that we would've spent less on the wedding and went on a honeymoon, even if it was just camping 10 miles away…but we didn't even do that. Good luck!
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October 3rd, 2007 at 7:18 am
I'm planning my wedding at the moment. My fiance and our families set a limit of £15,000 - which we've already broken, so I think its gonna end up costing in the region of £20,000 - £25,000. There are so many money saving tips though, weddings have now turned into a total circus regarding money, and everyone wants something bigger or better than their friends. Its all superficial really, as long as you've got your close friends and family around you, who cares about what you eat or where it is? You could get a relative to make the wedding cake, eat traditional grub like bangers and mash or steak and chips, have a pay bar at your reception, get a dress on ebay, hire the mens suits, create a wedding playlist from your ipod and rig it up to a speaker to avoid having to pay for a band or a speaker, ask the bridesmaids to wear their own shoes, get your mum to do your make up (providing you trust her with the make up brush!), etc etc. The list is endless! The only thing you should have to worry about it having a great time and looking forward to marrying the person of your dreams!
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October 3rd, 2007 at 7:29 am
Mine will be in February I have a budget of 5000, I found a great catering place that includes everything, chapel, band, cake, drinks I will be able to have a post-party! We are going to use my inlaws wedding rings. We will rent his tuxedo and my Mom is going to do my dress.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 7:42 am
Ours was 25K for hosting 200 people for a traditional type wedding - nothing fancy-dancy.
Best ways to save money - have a buffet meal, don't skimp on the full open bar, though. Don't pay a lot for photography, that really eats up a lot of funds. Have your favours be small, but nice - such as candy or chocolate, packaged inexpensively, but pretty. Don't go nuts on decorations such as expensive centerpieces, simple is just as nice.
Good luck.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 7:50 am
We're looking at about $30,000 for 200 people. It's mostly my fiance and me paying for it, our parents and family will be helping out where they can. I know it sounds a little expensive but we are putting money away each month towards that and moving in together. I don't want to go into debt over the wedding and moving in so I've thought about getting a seasonal job over the holiday season to help pay for it all (doing both at the same time will be expensive) I know what I want and if I have to work a little harder to get it, then I will step up and do it
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October 3rd, 2007 at 8:06 am
Hi and congratulations:
Here is the same advice that I have given others:
1. Keep things as simple as you can.
2. Have a small wedding party.
3. Have a small guest list.
4. If you can't have a small guest list, then possibly do a cake, punch and coffee reception.
5. Enlist HELP! If someone offers to make the cake, let them.
If someone knows how to arrange flowers….let them.
6. Print your own invitations using "boxed sets" that you can buy a Target and other discount or craft stores.
7. Do everything simply…….a bowl with floating candles for centerpieces is one idea.
8. Another idea for simplicity is to have the bride carry just a few nicely arranged flowers - tied with a nice satin ribbon. The same for the bridesmaids….have them carry 1 or 2 flowers instead of a big huge bouquet….you can save tons by doing that.
9. Don't waste money on a limo OR favors.
10. Go "outside the box" when it comes to a reception venue. Banquet halls and hotels can be expensive. Look around at other options….VFW halls, church halls. Because the reception is the biggest chunk of a wedding budget, this could be a substantial savings.
Good luck!
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October 3rd, 2007 at 8:15 am
marry in eastern europe. we will marry in poland and for everything i want and food and drink (all alcohol) for all guessts will be £2000…- £2500. ps polish wedding are for 2-3 days party!!!
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October 3rd, 2007 at 9:00 am
My wedding cost less then $700.00. That included a round trip ticket from Arizona for my mom ($150.00). Marriage license $30.00. Went on the net and found some wedding invitations. Copied and pasted what I liked onto my computer. Then I went to KINKOS and got some really pretty paper with matching envelopes and printed up my own invitations for $15.00. New gold wedding bands $150.00. I got a suit from J.C. Penney and had it altered all for $65.00. New black pants, socks, belt, and collarless white shirt- $75.00 (for my husband) that were all on sale. Hair-$17.00 including tip. I had the jewelry. Shoes from Payless $10.00. Food, Decorations, Tables, Chairs (rented), Party Favors-$95.00. Renting the Gazebo, and Pavallion $10.00 at the local park. Flowers, Boutineers for the family, Head piece $65.00 (silk flowers). Photographer $50.00 including prints and negatives. (went to the local college and hired a photography student for two hours). We didn't have any bridesmaids or groomsman. But IF we ever have a recommitment ceremony (were strongly inclined to do this again).. we will probably do it on the trip were planning for ourselves. Good luck to you.
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Myself.
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
I GOT MARRIED ON SAT JUST GONE IT COST US 2500 WHICH IS GOOD GOT MY WEDDING DRESS FROM CHINA, ALSO MY DRESS ONLY COST 14.99 MADE TO MY SIZE, THATS ARE HONEYMOON ASWEL.LET ME NO HOW YOU WANNA DO IT ILL HELP
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October 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
my wedding is costing about £11k, make sure you get your dress of http://www.houseofbrides.com, try it on in a bridal shop then see if its on this site, will save you a fortune and they deliver to the UK
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October 3rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm
we did our whole wedding for under £2500
my advice would be to look around for ideas! Also we did alot of our wedding ourselves and ebay.
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getting married on 7th december 2007
October 4th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Find yourself your dress in either a charity shop or hire one. Do your own invites on the computer. Has for the do afterwards. See if there is a pub near you and if there have a room big enough for you to use and see if there do a buffet. My 2 piece outfit cost me about £90 pounds the rings cost £70 pounds each. Where i had my do the room and the buffet together cost £400 pounds. Hope it helps.
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October 4th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I recently read in a bridal magazine that the average cost was £20,000! bit too much for a day out methinks!
Check out ebay for some ideas, there are often wedding dresses for a fraction of the cost and the craft section will give you some ideas on how to do your own placecards, invitations etc. You could do your own invitations on the pc and bridesmaids dresses could come from the high street and be used again. Get people involved, there is always someone with a hidden talent such as hairdressing, sewing, cake making etc. People are usually very happy to help out too.
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October 4th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
about 3 grand, we got married in gretna, and only invited people that really mattered.
U could try a mid week wedding as you can get things cheaper, buy stuff on internet.
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October 5th, 2007 at 2:12 am
About £2000.
We bought our wine etc abroad, which the hotel we hired were ok about, get married in an off peak season, many places are crying out for business in their quiet periods, so you can normally haggle for a good deal. Make your own table decs, buttonholes etc. I got loads of artificial flowers and made not a bad job of them, print your own invites.
Have a fantastic day, and enjoy your life together!
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my own wedding
October 5th, 2007 at 7:23 am
My wedding cost around £3000. My mum gave us £1000 as a present as we were planning on doing it in secret then having a party at a later date, but she didn't want to miss out, so she helped out with the cost!
My brother took the photos and my uncle filmed it, that saved us a fortune!!!!
Don't go to specialist wedding shops for stuff like invitations etc, as they charge over the odds. We were fortunate enough to find a stall in the local market that does most of the organising for you.
They supplied all the flowers, tiara's, decorations for hall (they decorated it for us as well), the cars and the cake, and it saved us an absolute fortune!!
Shop around and ask family to help!
Good luck!!!
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October 7th, 2007 at 2:15 am
my daughter spent a small fortune, there are lots of ways to cut corners, dj instead of a band, decorate your own car instead of a limo, buffet style meal instead of sitdown dinner, cash bar instead of open bar, a lot of flowers are prettier and cheaper than roses, have your cake made by someone you know, it will be cheaper and probably taste better than a professional will do it, have a friend with a good camera be your photographer, video tape it yourself with a tripod, dont get extravagant with champagne fountains and ice sculptures etc, have your friends help you decorate your church the night before, it wont take long and costs a lot less than a florist doing it, have your rehearsal dinner at a local pizza joint or something cheaper like that, buffet style, not a fancy sit down place………..there are lots of ways to cut corners so you dont start married life in debt up to your eyeballs………good luck and congratulations
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