To be or not to be a 'budget bride'

Hi Ladies, There is still three years to go (I know...seems like forever!) but I have been thinking hard about what I want for the big day! I know I want all my family and friends and it has to be in Ireland cos my Dad can't travel. So here is the question, we can save really hard and do the 30 grand thing...actually I dont think I could ever do that, lets say 15 or we could have a late ceremony and a big party for half the price? What have my fellow wollies done? Did you do the huge wedding thing? Was it worth the money? Did anyone do the big party thing..if so what kind of venue did you have? I've been looking and it seems impossible to find somewhere fabulous and wedding like that is not a hotel. I would really appreciate some ideas....

I reckon if you're organised enough you could probably do it really well on a budget. If you're anything like me though, you'll try to be clever and do things cheaply and then they've ended up costing me way more than they initially would've cos I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad at organising stuff! I think if you have 3 years and want to have it all, then go for it. Do whatever makes you happy!

I'm pretty organised - you know that girl from ER with the wedding book I think I want a smaller wedding and a fabulous holiday afterwards! But have no idea about a venue because hotels are SOOOOO EXPENSIVE and I dont particularly want the local GAA or Rugby club!! Or I could save and have the works - how did of you decide? I can make all the bits and buy dresses in USA but am hitting a brick wall with an inexpensive venue! Any ideas?

Well, I have to admit, I was too lazy most of the time to investigate doing things on a budget! We're going for a hotel. We were originally going to have it in Dublin (where I'm from originally), but when I looked at a few hotels in Cork (where I now live) I realised I'd nearly cut my hotel bill in half and have WAY better choice and WAY higher quality. So we went for it! I'm sure there are other posts on here about non-hotel venues that you could suss out. Depends which part of the country you're in???

You have to think about what you really want (e.g. how many people, do you want the fancy hotel or a marquee, a sit down meal or buffet, a band or just a DJ, etc... it depends on what you're trying to acheive for the day) and decide from there whether you've the money to pay for it... I didn't want to do a big and expensive wedding... then I thought about who I wanted to invite, and the costs started mounting. I have lots of family travelling, and I just want to have a ball on the day, and want them to have a ball too... so we've organised a few 'different' things that they won't have seen before - and that's costing extra. I wouldn't have it any other way though, because for me that's what will make my day extra special... to see all my family and friends having a great time with us and having a great day to remember. Think about whether you want the 'big' wedding, and if the answer is no, you're not interested in that, and you'll happily just have a few, then I think there's your answer, you're better of saving your money and going on a great holiday!! Sorry... that probably doesn't help much!

I think you could totally do it for 15K, especially with so long to prepare. There are loads of tips on this site, most brides do at least a few of the money saving things below (Ive managed to do 5 of the things on this list): 1. scout the bridal shops during their sales and get a fab dress for under a grand easily, shoes, veil and accessories can all be bought this way too. 2. buy bridesmaid dresses from the US for half the price they are here 3. Wedding cake from M&S 4. get a friend with a nice car to drive you to the church 5. make your own invites & mass booklets 6. shop around for a good deal on a hotel, one I viewed charged only 3euros corkage for wine at the meal and if you brought your own reception drinks they served them for you free 7. shop around for a band, they vary hugely in price or friends of mine used their ipods at weddings and it worked a treat, saved themselves over 2K 8. share flowers in the church with the couple before/after you or make your own with silk flowers - you've 3 yrs to get it right 9. make your own wedding favours, check ebay for favour boxes/bags 10. shop around for a photographer or get a friend to do it 11. get a friend to do your makeup and hair if it's not too compliated I'm sure people will add plenty more to this list. I think a DIY wedding is way more personal, but it's a lot of extra work. People see dollar signs when they hear the word wedding and most of us get ripped off to some extent, there's nothing wrong with finding a cheaper way to do it or doing it yourself.

For me there was no choice .. i plan on getting married once in my life .. so i plan on making it the best day of my life ... with all my family and friends present .. i want something that i will remember for ever .. if that costs me 40k so be it

[quote="pinkdress":3az3m42t] Did anyone do the big party thing..if so what kind of venue did you have? I've been looking and it seems impossible to find somewhere fabulous and wedding like that is not a hotel. I would really appreciate some ideas....[/quote:3az3m42t] We did the big party rather than wedding thing and it was definitely less than 15k (though we did it that way because it was what we wanted rather than for money reasons). We hired a small castle, got a chef in to do a barbecue (we provided the meat from the FIL's farm), provided wine and beer and I made the desserts. For entertainment we had a trad band until about midnight and then a local guy and his guitar (who is brilliant) until half two-ish. We didn't have speeches (we weren't too bothered and it would have ruined the day for the two Dads if they had to). It definitely wasn't what most people imagine as a wedding, but it was what we wanted.

Pinkdress, have you picked a date yet? We've had to put our wedidng off until 2010, so 3 years for me too.... You're prob the only other 2010 bride in here along with me!!!

what we did was write down a list of everything and prioritise what we felt was worth spending money on and what wasnt all that important to us. It has worked out great for us so far i have to say. things like invites, flowers, the cake, cars, are not a big deal to us so we are cutting back in these areas and doing it ourselves in most cases. we [u:a8fxgevk]are[/u:a8fxgevk] spending our money on the music, good food, good wine, photographer, and most importantly - the honeymoon! we had budgeted the 30k and are coming in a good bit under by our calculations right now. If you plan really good you can do it, no problem at all to you.