New member planning BUDGET wedding

Coogee · by **Coogee** » Wed May 09, 2022 10:26 pm

NittyGritty wrote:
Coogee wrote:I want to track it all as sister is probably getting married next year - on a big budget - so it'll be interesting and fun to compare - she won't mind, trust me.

This sentence really stuck out. I admire your reasons for sticking to your budget, spending within your means and getting married for all the right reasons. But, if you're trying to have a budget wedding with the added bonus of sticking it to your sister, it's a little petty and mean (in a different way), Coogee.

Obviously, only you here know your sister, but I don't think I'd be amused if my sibling were trying to make such a point to me. You say she won't mind, but I fail to see how she could be falling down with joy over it. Just as you are allowed and entitled to have the day you want, so is she. Without you pointing out how you achieved the same ends by spending considerably less.

Just an outside opinion (mine) taken from the context of this one sentence (yours).

God no, god no , no way. We're very close! Nothing about sticking it to her or anything like that. Really more to show her that even a cheap budget is not a cheap budget! She's plenty of money and so has her partner and I don't begrudge them a penny at all. Her day will be fantastic - and totally different and I'll love it all and I know she'll love mine. I don't even know why I typed that - really I want to track it for me - and at the moment she's the only other person who knows we're getting married so she's the only one I'm sharing everything with. No truly, I want to track it just to track it and keep control over it. I can see how if you didn't know us that sentence might look bad but my sister would never think I was doing it for that reason. We're different people in different relationships - there's no way there would be any competition between the weddings. If that sounds like I'm contradicting myself then it's because I typed earlier without thinking or just thinking rubbish.

NittyGritty · by **NittyGritty** » Wed May 09, 2022 10:47 pm

Fair enough then, I obviously misinterpreted your post. The joys of forums, eh? Again, best of luck to you, look forward to hearing how it all pans out for you.

fixibelle · by **fixibelle** » Thu May 10, 2022 1:19 am

Coogee, fair play to you. Lots of inspiration here! Me and H2B are keeping costs down by limiting nos. at (civil) ceremony and post-wedding dinner to 20 max, but I've gone all out on a Dolly Couture dress... 800 euros or so, but it's fab. And I should get some additional wear out of it! Main additional costs will be on rings, and grub at a couple of unofficial celebratory hooleys! Think what you're doing is great and is inspiration for people who want to get married, but don't think they can afford it. Looking forward to hearing how you get on!

rosie_mama · by **rosie_mama** » Thu May 10, 2022 7:39 am

Coogee, congrats on your wedding and good luck planning! You can absolutely do it on your budget. We had a small wedding (20 people during the day and 100 in the evening) and didn't spend a lot more than you are planning and I did splash out a bit on 'extras' like chair covers, fairy lights, cars etc. so I'd say if you aren't having those things then your budget is very realistic. The church didn't cost us as much as others have mentioned either so I guess that depends on your area.

The one thing I would say is get a decent photographer. We had a family friend who is semi professional and the photos are grand but it is the one area where I wished I'd spent a bit more. When I look at friends photo albums I'm very jealous! It is one of the most important days of your life, and even if you don't dress up in expensive clothes and have your hair and make up done perfectly etc. you will still look beautiful, you all will, as you will be having fun and enjoying yourself, and so happy, and that will just make you radiant! Once the wedding is over, the photographs and your memories will be all that is left. It's the perfect opportunity to get photographs of all the people who mean something to you in your life as well, like you parents and kids, and will give them something to look back on when they are older. I know I love looking at my mum and dads wedding album.

MLeFleuffe · by **MLeFleuffe** » Thu May 10, 2022 8:55 am

Congrats on your engagement! You so have the right idea I have to say! I'm not having a budget wedding in the grand scheme of things but I can appreciate one!!! As most have said your church costs will probably be the big thing here as it seems that no matter where you get married all the costs add up. I can see that you probably don't mind that too much here though as the ceremony is the important part.

Love the dress you spotted initially. Buying online is much easier these days so don't be put off. Return policies are great on most sites. You will get a fabulous dress in the high street stores too though on your budget. So much choice these days and all the shops have so many more sales!!!

Save on your invites but doing a free wedding website - assuming most of your guests will be online that is. You can have all the details there, send the invites through the site and it will also track your RSVP's. Very handy!

I know people are saying not to save on your photographer and while photos are so important I think your plans are fine. You have 2 potential photographers there on the day and you will get lovely shots. You don't need to hire a professional in this case.

With regards to flowers, are you based in Dublin? Visit the flowers ladies on Grafton Street or Moore street and see what their prices are like. If not for them to make the bouquets you can source your flowers through them and get amazing types MUCH cheaper!

wednstyle · by **wednstyle** » Thu May 10, 2022 12:03 pm

girl on a mission!!1

check out marraige courses cos they are a rip off , there is one in kildare town that costs €60 its over two evenings or a saturday
you could save on church and get married in the hotel your having your reception!!

you go girl !!

candlequeen · by **candlequeen** » Thu May 10, 2022 12:41 pm

You can definitely do a fantastic wedding on a budget.

We're getting married in a church, reception in a hotel, on a Saturday, 250 on guestlist, with band, DJ, venue decor, all the legal bits, standard bits n bobs, gifts, favours, church decoration, etc - and so far I'm bang on budget with just over €1800 spent and only rings, suits, centrepieces, and a few other little things left to get. Providing things keep going in the right direction, the whole lot is coming in at under €8500.

It definitely, definitely can be done. Some of the prices I've seen for things are shocking, but sniff around and call in every favour that you can - we've a relative doing hair, a friend doing photos, another one with vintage cars. Best of luck wit it and don't hesitate to PM me if you want any bargain info, at this stage I'm a pro at sniffing them out :o0

beaches · by **beaches** » Thu May 10, 2022 2:54 pm

One point I will add - be careful with the pre-marraige course. Check with your priest first to see if he is particular on the courses that he will accept. When we were getting married (in Co Galway) we were told that there were only three courses in the country that were acceptable for our church. Two were local and one was in Dublin. I had almost booked another course before I found out and if I had I would have lost the booking fee and ended up paying twice!

Best of luck with it. :wv

Coogee · by **Coogee** » Thu May 10, 2022 3:43 pm

candlequeen wrote:You can definitely do a fantastic wedding on a budget.

We're getting married in a church, reception in a hotel, on a Saturday, 250 on guestlist, with band, DJ, venue decor, all the legal bits, standard bits n bobs, gifts, favours, church decoration, etc - and so far I'm bang on budget with just over €1800 spent and only rings, suits, centrepieces, and a few other little things left to get. Providing things keep going in the right direction, the whole lot is coming in at under €8500.

It definitely, definitely can be done. Some of the prices I've seen for things are shocking, but sniff around and call in every favour that you can - we've a relative doing hair, a friend doing photos, another one with vintage cars. Best of luck wit it and don't hesitate to PM me if you want any bargain info, at this stage I'm a pro at sniffing them out

That's seriously impressive. Way more so than mine - in fact I don't see how it's possible. 250 guests - if the hotel charges just 25 euro a head (and I haven't seen any that cheap so far) the budget would come to 6,250. Throw in the minimum legal costs and you are already over 6,500 leaving you less than 1,500 to get all the clothes, shoes, band, DJ and decorations etc. Even at rock bottom prices with a few freebies that seems pretty miraculous. Would love to know your secret.

iuil1999 · by **iuil1999** » Thu May 10, 2022 4:42 pm

I really hope all this comes together for you because it'll prove it can be done!
I sometimes regret spending so much money on my wedding and think I could have done it a lot cheaper but my OH was insistent on "doing it right". I disagreed with his opinion and saved on as much as I could.

I think the dress you have seen is fab but there are loads of dresses on Ebay and DoneDeal which are around that price so you'll have plenty to chose from. Or you could keep an eye on the buy and sell section of this site.

I'll keep an eye out for any bargains I come across and send them on to you!

Happy planning! :wv

candlequeen · by **candlequeen** » Thu May 10, 2022 7:16 pm

[Removed, just wanted to give OP an idea of what was out there O-O

]

by **ttc2012** » Thu May 10, 2022 8:06 pm

WOW

candlequeen impressive!

Coogee · by **Coogee** » Thu May 10, 2022 10:27 pm

That's amazing candlequeen! You've done a fantastic job. I'd love to do something like that but H2B's family don't eat any buffet food - no rice, no lasagne. It's meat potatoes and 2 veg only for them.
I really have to learn to use ebay! You've got some brilliant bargains there.
The one thing I wonder about is how much time it took. That's another thing I really don't have a lot of. Bargain-hunting is time consuming and while I don't want to postpone the wedding on that basis - it does mean the pressure is on!

candlequeen · by **candlequeen** » Fri May 11, 2022 12:07 am

Coogee wrote:That's amazing candlequeen! You've done a fantastic job. I'd love to do something like that but H2B's family don't eat any buffet food - no rice, no lasagne. It's meat potatoes and 2 veg only for them.
I really have to learn to use ebay! You've got some brilliant bargains there.
The one thing I wonder about is how much time it took. That's another thing I really don't have a lot of. Bargain-hunting is time consuming and while I don't want to postpone the wedding on that basis - it does mean the pressure is on!

I was politely told by one of my future sisters-in-law that "Mammy will not eat any of that stuff, she'll probably want a dinner" and my response was that 'Mammy' was more than welcome to go and order a dinner in the bar. We are paying for it, not 'Mammy'. Some people are delighted, others are disgusted - but neither of us want the whole traditional formal meal, we want to keep it light-hearted, and if people don't like it, that's fair enough - the bar serves food. We attended a buffet wedding last year and it was brilliant, really enjoyed it. Some people were delighted because they were loading their plates with the stuff they liked. Sometimes I do get into a bit of a panic because I think it's not good enough, but I KNOW the hotel and I know the food, and I know it'll be lovely no matter what it is.

I only started planning after Christmas, honest to God I didn't have a tap done until the end of January this year. I did develop a bit of a tendency to sit up until 1-2am trawling eBay, but mostly I just wrote a list of everything I needed to get and went on the hunt for one thing at a time. If you need any info on sellers or pics of anything, give me a shout.

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