Your Wedding On A Budget

The plans for your special day may well have to undergo some pruning as the country tightens its belt.

So, forget the Hello magazine style glitz and compromise on your dreams.

Concentrate on your individual style and ideas without compromising on quality. Let us show you how to manage a wedding day on a budget that can be a delight to you, your husband-to-be and your guests.

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VENUE

When organising a wedding on a budget the key to cost cutting is to book a venue out of season or mid-week. Also seek out places that will let you bring in your own caterers and which don’t sneak in a charge for opening your wine.

Take a look and see if any Councils are offering properties as a possible venue.

Hylands House is a restored Georgian property in Chelmsford, Essex (01245 605500 or Hylands House and Estate and has no corkage or rules about approved caterers.

If you are arranging your reception from your own or a friend’s house, your local village hall committee might hire out their marquee in return for a donation to funds. This will help with your wedding on a budget. Otherwise, hunt around for a local company.

CATERING

If you are confident about DIY catering there are several routes to take.

A home made casserole dish such as coq au vin can be made in several large batches and frozen ahead of time, along with potato and parsnip dauphinoise. The latter can be cut into neat square, individual portions and again frozen ahead of time.

If you are wondering how to store a quantity of food to feed around 100 guests then hire a freezer from a local company.

CAKE

Try an M & S cake and either decorate it yourself, or get the florist to decorate it with floral layers to go between the tiers. Alternatively, you may be lucky enough to know an accomplished cook who would bake and ice your cake for you. This is another item that will help with your wedding on a budget.

FLOWERS

Most magazines will be able to tell you what’s hip and trendy at the moment but it's more important to find something that you actually like and are comfortable with, both in style and price. This will make for a good starting point when you come to meet your florist.

Grow your own table decorations – bowls of white hyacinths – or make small white pots of cut flowers. These can be prepared the day ahead, and if the flowers are placed in ‘Oasis’ foam,(obtainable from a local florist) This will make your task even easier for keeping your wedding on a budget.

Look around local hedgerows if your wedding is in summer. Cow parsley with its huge heads of white flowers can be tastefully arranged in vases at the reception venue. This is a stately plant and is extremely effective in large arrangements. This has actually been done by a leading flower arranger with great success.

GUEST BOOK

If you are inviting around 100 guests, a Guest Book is a nice idea. Something to look back on with pleasure in the years to come.

You normally come across GuestBooks at the entrance of historical buildings such as museums, galleries and stately homes, however, more brides and grooms are choosing to have them at their wedding. The book allows guests to express their thoughts.

A name column with space for comments is all that is needed. Such books can be bought from your local stationers.

YOUR DRESS

If you are fortunate enough to have a friend or relative who is a competent seamstress, you are in luck.

Don’t immediately turn your nose up at an eBay dress, there are some brand new gowns available there for £170, plus some other interesting offers, so it might be worth a quick search. Be sure to check the feed-back page for any seller. If you are having a wedding on a budget this is an entirely satisfactory way of economising - and you don't have to tell people! You could also consider hiring a dress.

Also, in the present economic climate look out for designer sales. You will some at Bridal Designer Sale Also, another site is Bridal Basementwith prices under £249

Again, not to be sniffed at - Oxfam has specialist shops selling second-hand dresses as well as designer samples.

PHOTOGRAPHER

The photographer is about as important as finding the right dress. What’s the point in looking amazing and feeling amazing if the photographer can’t capture your mood? With a good photographer you will be able to look back with pleasure over the years and each time you will bless your luck in choosing a good photographer. How dreadful not to be able to face looking at the photographs out of sheer embarrassment.

If Uncle Sid offers his services along with his new digital camera, tread with caution. There is nothing like an accomplished photographer who can organise guests into the best possible setting for photographs. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity which must not be missed. Shop around, ask friends for their experiences and most of all balance all your information to make sure your wedding on a budget is well recorded.

DRINKS

Several ways are available here. Keep your eyes open for good special offers from supermarkets. Serve a New World sparkling wine and switch to champagne for the toast. Do not serve expensive wines throughout the wedding. This is total madness when you are on organising a wedding on a budget.

INVITATIONS Make your own! Try the free downloadable package from Wedding Invitation Ideas

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT

There are probably many choices to choose from in local groups. Contact your local music college and ask for a jazz trio or string quartet according to your particular taste. Ask your local line dance club to provide a teacher to demonstrate a few simple tricks and dance routines where your guests can participate. This should keep your guests amused and entertained.

DISCOUNTS

This is a superb book - it shows you how to negotiate on prices and receive a positive answer instead of 'No' and the door slamming shut.

Learn how to save money on just about everything connected to your wedding. It's so easy - just click on Cheap Wedding Success and find the easy way to get a 'Yes' answer to your request for a discount.

In the present economic climate traders are more open to bargaining, so seize your opportunity! You can expect to cover the cost of the book at least ten times over with all the negotiating tricks that you can easily learn.