I thought I would share with you some of the lovely photos of our wedding. I can’t believe that we are coming up to our fourth wedding anniversary; the time seems to have slipped by. And before you ask, yes, we are just as happy as ever. Cute! And it is also a milestone for my better half; the longest he has ever lived in one place.
Our wedding was on a strict budget for two reasons; we were short of money as Jim had been unemployed for six months so I would have to pay for most things and we both believe that you shouldn’t start married life with debt (apart the mortgage). But looking back on it, even if I had had a larger budget I wouldn’t of done anything different. We had everything that was important to us. I would of liked a lovely sunny day, but even money can’t buy that!
Church flowers done by a friend of the family
Church flowers done by a friend of the family
My tips for budgeting a wedding:
1. Before you start, decide how much you can comfortably afford by saving up before the wedding or working more overtime or selling stuff.
2. Now put aside a chunk of this (I suggest 10%) and the remainder is your budget. This reserve is because everything costs more than you think.
3. Between the both of you, decide on two or three aspects of the wedding that are important to both of you. We decided on food and photography. Expect most of your budget to go on these things as they are important; the rest is ‘dressing’.
4. Think outside the box. In other words, don’t think or mention ‘wedding’ when looking at venues, dresses etc. Village halls are much cheaper than hotels!
5. Personalise the day and put in some of your personality. For example, make the decorations or invitations, hire a swing band.
6. Ask favours and rope in friends and family to help with things like the set up and clear up, and possibly even the chauffeuring.
7. Reduce the number of people you invite and reduce the length of the party – both of these will save pounds.
8. Making stuff yourself doesn’t always save money when you take into account the time it will take you and material costs.
I also made back some of the money I had spent by selling or reselling some of the things on eBay – I even got a sizable profit from the vintage china!
Place settings of vintage china, handmade menu cards, favours of wooden hearts and name tags
I made the table flowers – mix of garden and bought flowers in Ikea vases
My mother made the cake – multiple people decorated it when the chocolate ganache finish had a mishap.
I made my own jewelry after seeing how much it was to buy.
I wanted an ice-cream cart of van but couldn’t afford to hire one so my Father made this, I bought a small freezer off eBay and filled it with homemade and bought ice cream!
I made the table plan with a home printer and pretty wallpaper on foam board.
Another view of the jewelry I made – hair comb, diamante pins and earrings.