Wedding on a budget, don't think they dress is worth spending thousands on... whatever your reasons here are some great dresses available on ASOS. Alternative wedding dresses / bridal gowns!
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Friday, 8 January 2016
Thursday, 28 May 2015
We Did It....our wedding, our way!
We are back from our lovely honeymoon in Bali... so here is the who/ where / when / what and how we did our wedding weekend. Hosted Thursday to Sunday May 7 - 10th 2015. We arrange our whole wedding from scratch and without any help, and I am happy to say it was perfect for us and our guests.
Thursday was spent preparing; getting the car packed with all our DIY items (most of the wedding), driving up to the 20 person cottage in Derby we had hired for the weekend. Setting up, talking to suppliers, then drinks and dinner with the bridal party (2 x bridesmaids & 1 x bestman).
Friday morning the guys were in one half of the cottage and the girls in another (so the bride didn't see the groom until the ceremony). The guys had to collect the last few bits for the weekender and head of to set up the ceremony venue. Whilst the girl celebrated a bridesmaids birthday, had a relaxing champagne breakfast and then dressed for the ceremony. We did our make up ourselves but we hired the lovely Stephanie Layton to do our hair, and she was brilliant. We had no trail and she nailed what we had in mind just from pics!
Father of the bride arrived mid morning, collecting the bridal party and arriving on time at the ceremony venue where we met my niece the flower girl and her father (my brother). A few last minute details with the registrar then off down the aisle we went.
Friday afternoon on arriving at the top of the alter my soon to be husband was bright pink with nerves, stumbled on his first words and struggled to get my ring on :-) As Mr & Mrs we celebrated with champagne and canapes in the venue bar whilst the official family photos were taken! Then it was back to our cottage with all the family for food, drink, speeches and games!
Saturday morning was spent having a family breakfast cleaning up from the night before and saying goodbye / setting up the cottage field for our mini wedding festival... this took most of the day and we only finished in time for our guest to arrive at 3 pm ish.
We then enjoy plenty of drink, food, speeches, photos, games and the best of all a bouncy castle. The evening was finished with a sparkler photo shoot and more drinks around the fire pit. Thankfully the English weather held out for us and we had a wonderful day.
What we did and how we did it!
Everything else we did ourselves... catering / drinks and decorations
Thursday was spent preparing; getting the car packed with all our DIY items (most of the wedding), driving up to the 20 person cottage in Derby we had hired for the weekend. Setting up, talking to suppliers, then drinks and dinner with the bridal party (2 x bridesmaids & 1 x bestman).
Friday morning the guys were in one half of the cottage and the girls in another (so the bride didn't see the groom until the ceremony). The guys had to collect the last few bits for the weekender and head of to set up the ceremony venue. Whilst the girl celebrated a bridesmaids birthday, had a relaxing champagne breakfast and then dressed for the ceremony. We did our make up ourselves but we hired the lovely Stephanie Layton to do our hair, and she was brilliant. We had no trail and she nailed what we had in mind just from pics!
Father of the bride arrived mid morning, collecting the bridal party and arriving on time at the ceremony venue where we met my niece the flower girl and her father (my brother). A few last minute details with the registrar then off down the aisle we went.
Friday afternoon on arriving at the top of the alter my soon to be husband was bright pink with nerves, stumbled on his first words and struggled to get my ring on :-) As Mr & Mrs we celebrated with champagne and canapes in the venue bar whilst the official family photos were taken! Then it was back to our cottage with all the family for food, drink, speeches and games!
Saturday morning was spent having a family breakfast cleaning up from the night before and saying goodbye / setting up the cottage field for our mini wedding festival... this took most of the day and we only finished in time for our guest to arrive at 3 pm ish.
We then enjoy plenty of drink, food, speeches, photos, games and the best of all a bouncy castle. The evening was finished with a sparkler photo shoot and more drinks around the fire pit. Thankfully the English weather held out for us and we had a wonderful day.
What we did and how we did it!
- Hired Sycamore Farm Barns in Wirksworth, Derby from Thurs - Mon (sleeps 20 guests)
- Hired Cathedral Quarter Hotel in Derby City for our ceremony (3 pm Fri 8th)
- Booked the Derby City registrar to officiate our ceremony (giving notice at Wandsworth Council)
- Photographer Ben Pollard was good enough to do us a deal on a two day package (2 - 5 Fri 8th & 2 - 11 Sat 9th)
- 50 person marquee hired from Tops Marquee UK Ltd (great guys, also provided us with posh loos, tables, chairs & lighting - and can provide many other wedding/party supplies)
- PA hired from JNS Hire
- We hired a 72 pint keg from Derby Brewing for local ale
- Hog roast by The Lazy Pig Co. we bought enough to feed 75, plus 5 veggie options
- Hay bales we hired from a local farmer suggested by the barn owners (20 for £50) - these were used for set up' and seating around the fire pit.
- We had bought several garden games, croquet, a Nerf, football but we also hired an adult bouncy castle from Inflatamania (this brought about a lot of fun).
Everything else we did ourselves... catering / drinks and decorations
- I bought 300 feet of bunting from eBay which was used to decorate the barns kitchen, the marquee and outside the cottage gates for guests to find us
- We bought 4 bundles of baby's breath flowers from Smith & Green at the London Covent Garden Flower market, then used it to make the bouquets, buttonholes, ceremony flowers, table flowers and flowers for my hair (£60)
- We bought two types of table clothes for the marquee tables, used jars from home with candles, photo booth glasses etc. and the flowers to decorate
- Next to the cards basket we had a guest book (i'd received as a secret Santa), plus two Polaroid cameras and plenty of film
- We also had a fun zone; this included face paint / glow sticks / stick on gems / temporary tattoos / dressing up items / disposable cameras / sparklers / party poppers
- One of our lovely friends also bought 4 bottles of random booze aka taboo and strapped a go pro to it :-))
- Along with the hog roast we provided a salad/nibbles table that contained everything from fresh salad and quiche to crisps and cheese. We also had a dessert table that had every type of cake, chocolate cake to home made pavlova. I also created a candy bar which guests where taking home with them!
- We wanted to keep the wedding as cheap for our guests as we could, so we provided a completely free bar. We bought everything you could image and not surprisingly most of it was drunk!
- The H2B spent a whole weekend creating music playlists for the wedding, both ceremony and reception... my girlfriends ending up replacing his music at the reception within 30 mins ;-)
- Bridesmaid gifts we bought from Oliver Bonas
Other things we did to keep costs low for guests was to host the wedding half way between both sides (London & Manchester), provided free accommodation for 20 family members and 20 friends, an option for camping. We provided all food & drinks and put on breakfast the next day. We also didn't set a dress code, we just suggested to come comfortable, but that wellies should be considered.
I had two outfits for the weekend, a lovely vintage beaded gown for the ceremony from House of Vintage and a white playsuit for the reception from Mango, I reused nude shoes I already own for the ceremony and blinged my wellies to say Bride for the reception. The groom worn a similar outfit both days, shirt, waistcoat, bow tie and trousers.
Before the wedding I had my eyebrows shaped, cluster lashes added and a spray tan, the most girly I have ever been! I bought a gel nail varnish and did my nails at home myself.
My bridesmaids gave me a lovely gift on the morning of the wedding, my something old, something new, something borrow and something blue which was then tidied to my bouquet.
Other details:
Insurance - Debenhams
Wedding bands - F.Hinds
Save the dates - Vista print
Invites - First Colour printers
Car hire - Avis
Home made confetti
Ceremony - 24 guests
Reception - 50 guests
Find more details here from my previous post £11k wedding, and we did manage that!!
Find more details here from my previous post £11k wedding, and we did manage that!!
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Our DIY Wedding... for under £11k
So we are really pushing to keep our wedding under £11k, this doesn't include the engagement ring, hen/stag dos and the honeymoon.
We also really wanted to minimize cost for our guests, because at our age when everyone is getting married it can become costly!
OUR COST SAVING TIPS:
Homemade 'save the dates' - we bought cheap children's chalk board to write the details, which will be reused at the wedding, then had our STDs printed at Vista Print who provide free envelopes (see below).
Invites - our friend designed them from picture's/ideas we provided and then our local printers (First Colour London) printed them, who also provided free envelopes. We created a wedding website to minimize the invite size, adding all the accommodation / travel details to the site www.hopfest15.blogspot.com #HopFest15
Accommodation - we've booked a cottage for the weekend and our top 20 guests will stay for free.
Guests - we've have a total of 76 over the 2 day celebration. Keeping the numbers small reduces the price... we've been good at saying no to plus ones and unwanted 'extended' family. Stay strong, its your wedding.
Food - we are doing some of the catering ourselves via M&S / Sainsbury's
DIY Candy Bar - We bought plastic retro sweet jars from Amazon (10 for £10), and then bulk sweets from Makro UK (a huge order for only £55, incl. delivery)
Wedding shoes - using ones I already owned.
Outfits - Vintage dress from House of Vintage Brides and my second outfit was a sale item from Mango.
Flowers - I'll be bulk buying these for bouquets and decoration from the London Chelsea Flower market and doing it myself (max spend £50 for 100 steams of baby's breath).
Wedding Rings - we bought ours from F.Hinds as we wanted plain traditional rings, and this was a way to save a lot.
Decorations - I've bough over 300ft of bunting on eBay for £50, plus ribbons and candles. We've also collected glass jars and baskets. I am currently making paper chains from coloured printer paper. I have also tied ribbons on all the glass jars for a rustic look.
Entertainment - we've created a playlist, and hired a PA system (no DJ), plus festival feel entertainment (face painting / temp tattoos / glow sticks / sparklers / garden games / face in the hole) etc. and a bouncy castle!
Photograph - this is where we spent more than budgeted, as we have hired a photog for 2 days plus a Polaroid camera, disposable camera and borrow a friends GoPro.
Confetti - I am making my own by drying rose petals. We regularly have roses in the house and this is a really easy cheap personal touch.
Vouchers - we received loads of vouchers for Christmas, and I have found a few online, saving us £250
Our biggest spends were venue hire (incl cottage for 4 nights) and photographer at £5700k.
Great places to find a cheap alternative:
Amazon
eBay
Ikea
Marks & Spencers
Tesco
Twitter
Any high street pound shop
We also really wanted to minimize cost for our guests, because at our age when everyone is getting married it can become costly!
OUR COST SAVING TIPS:
Homemade 'save the dates' - we bought cheap children's chalk board to write the details, which will be reused at the wedding, then had our STDs printed at Vista Print who provide free envelopes (see below).
Invites - our friend designed them from picture's/ideas we provided and then our local printers (First Colour London) printed them, who also provided free envelopes. We created a wedding website to minimize the invite size, adding all the accommodation / travel details to the site www.hopfest15.blogspot.com #HopFest15
Accommodation - we've booked a cottage for the weekend and our top 20 guests will stay for free.
Guests - we've have a total of 76 over the 2 day celebration. Keeping the numbers small reduces the price... we've been good at saying no to plus ones and unwanted 'extended' family. Stay strong, its your wedding.
Food - we are doing some of the catering ourselves via M&S / Sainsbury's
DIY Candy Bar - We bought plastic retro sweet jars from Amazon (10 for £10), and then bulk sweets from Makro UK (a huge order for only £55, incl. delivery)
Wedding shoes - using ones I already owned.
Outfits - Vintage dress from House of Vintage Brides and my second outfit was a sale item from Mango.
Flowers - I'll be bulk buying these for bouquets and decoration from the London Chelsea Flower market and doing it myself (max spend £50 for 100 steams of baby's breath).
Wedding Rings - we bought ours from F.Hinds as we wanted plain traditional rings, and this was a way to save a lot.
Decorations - I've bough over 300ft of bunting on eBay for £50, plus ribbons and candles. We've also collected glass jars and baskets. I am currently making paper chains from coloured printer paper. I have also tied ribbons on all the glass jars for a rustic look.
Loki is unimpressed I wont let her help!
Entertainment - we've created a playlist, and hired a PA system (no DJ), plus festival feel entertainment (face painting / temp tattoos / glow sticks / sparklers / garden games / face in the hole) etc. and a bouncy castle!
Photograph - this is where we spent more than budgeted, as we have hired a photog for 2 days plus a Polaroid camera, disposable camera and borrow a friends GoPro.
Confetti - I am making my own by drying rose petals. We regularly have roses in the house and this is a really easy cheap personal touch.
Vouchers - we received loads of vouchers for Christmas, and I have found a few online, saving us £250
Our biggest spends were venue hire (incl cottage for 4 nights) and photographer at £5700k.
Great places to find a cheap alternative:
Amazon
eBay
Ikea
Marks & Spencers
Tesco
Any high street pound shop
Monday, 24 November 2014
One Appointment, One Wedding Dress Bought!
So that wasn't to hard.., I had originally wanted a sparkly, beaded wedding dress, and I thought I'd end up with a prom dress as I had set a rather tight budget. I really don't like the idea of spending hundred if not thousands on a dress I'll wear once!
So after suggesting to H2B that I might wear a coloured dress as most prom dresses aren't ivory or white he wasn't to keen, that is when I gave up on sparkles and went for a vintage dress.
I Google, I tweeted, I search and search... Etsy, eBay and all the other places I thought I could find vintage. All I really came across was replica vintage wedding dresses, then I found Vintage Lane Bridal in Bolton, which I was going to visit later in the year as I live in London.
One night on twitter I saw a post by Brides magazine suggestion vintage brides to check out House of Vintage in Shorditch London... boom!
I booked my appointment for this Saturday just gone, Nov 22nd, my 'Maids' and myself picked 8-10 dresses and started the process of elimination.
Whilst trying the dresses on we were talking to the shop owner Marcia and she put one of our dresses to the end, to try on last. As she had decided which she mentioned later sound like what I had originally wanted when describing how we came about to want a vintage dress.
I put this little number on and wow, there and then both the 'Maids', myself and Marcia thought it was a winner. I'd also picked one other I was keen on from our selection. We stood and eyed them both up and had a chat about HopFest15.
I was hesitant to buy it there and then, it was a lot of money to spend, having not seen any other dresses... but I thought if I don't buy it now someone else will, and to be honest I really hated the process of trying all these dresses on and once bought I can tick that off my list! So 30-45 mins into our appointment I had bought my wedding dress :-)
Both Vintage Lane and House of Vintage Brides have all sorts of dress and pics do not do them justice. If you are a bride on a budget, love vintage styling or just want something more unique do check them out.
Prices range from £200 - 1000. Mine was a total of £650, which for an almost fulled beaded dress quite the bargain.
* one thing to be aware: vintage dresses my have some damage from the age... mine is missing a few beads on the very bottom. Which you can't see when on and if I wanted I could have fixed.
So after suggesting to H2B that I might wear a coloured dress as most prom dresses aren't ivory or white he wasn't to keen, that is when I gave up on sparkles and went for a vintage dress.
I Google, I tweeted, I search and search... Etsy, eBay and all the other places I thought I could find vintage. All I really came across was replica vintage wedding dresses, then I found Vintage Lane Bridal in Bolton, which I was going to visit later in the year as I live in London.
One night on twitter I saw a post by Brides magazine suggestion vintage brides to check out House of Vintage in Shorditch London... boom!
I booked my appointment for this Saturday just gone, Nov 22nd, my 'Maids' and myself picked 8-10 dresses and started the process of elimination.
Whilst trying the dresses on we were talking to the shop owner Marcia and she put one of our dresses to the end, to try on last. As she had decided which she mentioned later sound like what I had originally wanted when describing how we came about to want a vintage dress.
I put this little number on and wow, there and then both the 'Maids', myself and Marcia thought it was a winner. I'd also picked one other I was keen on from our selection. We stood and eyed them both up and had a chat about HopFest15.
I was hesitant to buy it there and then, it was a lot of money to spend, having not seen any other dresses... but I thought if I don't buy it now someone else will, and to be honest I really hated the process of trying all these dresses on and once bought I can tick that off my list! So 30-45 mins into our appointment I had bought my wedding dress :-)
Both Vintage Lane and House of Vintage Brides have all sorts of dress and pics do not do them justice. If you are a bride on a budget, love vintage styling or just want something more unique do check them out.
Prices range from £200 - 1000. Mine was a total of £650, which for an almost fulled beaded dress quite the bargain.
* one thing to be aware: vintage dresses my have some damage from the age... mine is missing a few beads on the very bottom. Which you can't see when on and if I wanted I could have fixed.
Monday, 14 April 2014
High Street Wedding Dresses April 2014
Topshop's latest arrivals could fall into the wedding dresses bracket! But benefit from being cheap and available... plus some wedding accessories you might want last minute :-)
**LACE BUSTIER MAXI DRESS BY RARE £65
**OYSTER PINK METALLIC SPILT MAXI DRESS BY RARE £49
**POLY JUMPSUIT BY TFNC £55
TALLULAH ESPADRILLES £16
GLORY HIGH SHOES £58
MEL POP SPECIAL BOW SHOES £35
MEL LOVE CITY SANDALS £24
PROM SPARKLE STONE TIARA £20
FLORAL LACE DUSTER JACKET £55
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
H&M does Wedding Dresses?
H&M are offering a wedding dress for only £59.99 following after many other High Street stores, who have understood that many Brides to Be don't want to spending hundreds if not thousands on a wedding dress. With Weddings these days costing more and more, why not save yourself a few pounds on the dress, you will only be wearing it once after all...
I am a big fan of High Street or cheap wedding dress alternatives, this one isn't necessarily my taste but still what a bargain!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2575464/The-60-wedding-dress-H-M-unveils-debut-gown-new-bridal-range.html
I am a big fan of High Street or cheap wedding dress alternatives, this one isn't necessarily my taste but still what a bargain!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2575464/The-60-wedding-dress-H-M-unveils-debut-gown-new-bridal-range.html
Monday, 10 February 2014
Get married at Thornbury Castle this Oct for £3000
This beautiful Tudor castle on the edge of Gloucester has an amazing wedding offer for Sun - Thurs weddings this October up to 20 guests for only £3000! Find all the details below.
On selected dates in 2014.
Wedding Ceremony to take place in the Library or Lounge area of the hotel, Flowers for the registrar table, Wedding Breakfast (3 Course) for 20 x people with Coffee, Reception welcome drink after the ceremony РEither glass of house wine or soft drinks, Canap̩s to be served with reception drinks, Glass of Red or White House wine to be served during dinner, Toast Drink with the speeches Рa glass of Prosecco per person, Accommodation in classic 5 x bedchambers for the evening of your wedding on a Bed & Breakfast basis.
http://www.thornburycastle.co.uk/
On selected dates in 2014.
Wedding Ceremony to take place in the Library or Lounge area of the hotel, Flowers for the registrar table, Wedding Breakfast (3 Course) for 20 x people with Coffee, Reception welcome drink after the ceremony РEither glass of house wine or soft drinks, Canap̩s to be served with reception drinks, Glass of Red or White House wine to be served during dinner, Toast Drink with the speeches Рa glass of Prosecco per person, Accommodation in classic 5 x bedchambers for the evening of your wedding on a Bed & Breakfast basis.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
GET THE LOOK: Garden Party Themed Wedding
Can't believe it has taken me this long to consider this theme, country chic, cheap, vintage, classic, budget.... so my many options!
Here is my take of a Garden Party wedding...
Here is my take of a Garden Party wedding...
Monday, 9 September 2013
Budget Troubles!
So we went to this wedding on Friday, I was just extra (didn't actually know the Bride and Groom)... boyfriend went to Uni with the Groom. From the beginning this wedding looked like it was poorly organised (from the guests point of view).
They invited 50 of their closest family and friends to the wedding service and reception... both were held in a venue no where near where they live and far away from any guests. The church was an hours drive from the reception venue... the venue it self was beautiful, but the area it is in can only be described as the butt whole of England, not helped by the endless rain.
The problem was that unfortunately this couple were obviously on a budget, but trying to include everything and everyone...
They obviously wanted their friends and loved ones to attend but couldn't afford to feed 100+ people so only invited friends to the wedding and reception then the guests other halves were invited to the evening party - upsetting many guests (which to me was very selfish of the guests). They then tired to add number to the day by cutting the drinks down to 2 glasses per head and adding a Saturday BBQ for the partners who couldn't attend the day... (which wrapped early as not many people attended)!
Many couples apparently fought about one half only attending the evening as it added cost, or waiting time or guilt as to weather only one should go... or not wanting to go and spending 8 hours in the sh*tty Premier Inn looking out over the A1 for 8 hrs but knowing your boyfriend really wants you with him!!
In the end the partners went and sucked it up or just didn't go...
What I have learnt from this is if you are on a small budget keep it to a small crowd, always pay for more than 2 drinks for your guests and don't put an extra day on for whiny girlfriends/boyfriend of friends - the people you have invited have spent money and taken time to spend this day with them make sure its the best day everyone can have - including you, you don't want to spend the day worrying.
Things I would do different:
* Ensure my guests have enough to drink
* Consider guest - they've taken time off work (if during the week) / paid money to travel + for hotels + for clothes and gifts
* Don't change plans because you can't make everyone happy
* Ban drugs from the wedding - SO RUDE
* Think about the logistics
- As a PA/EA I think about making things as easy as possible for my boss at all times, I would have this approach to my wedding as well, for myself and my guests.
They invited 50 of their closest family and friends to the wedding service and reception... both were held in a venue no where near where they live and far away from any guests. The church was an hours drive from the reception venue... the venue it self was beautiful, but the area it is in can only be described as the butt whole of England, not helped by the endless rain.
The problem was that unfortunately this couple were obviously on a budget, but trying to include everything and everyone...
They obviously wanted their friends and loved ones to attend but couldn't afford to feed 100+ people so only invited friends to the wedding and reception then the guests other halves were invited to the evening party - upsetting many guests (which to me was very selfish of the guests). They then tired to add number to the day by cutting the drinks down to 2 glasses per head and adding a Saturday BBQ for the partners who couldn't attend the day... (which wrapped early as not many people attended)!
Many couples apparently fought about one half only attending the evening as it added cost, or waiting time or guilt as to weather only one should go... or not wanting to go and spending 8 hours in the sh*tty Premier Inn looking out over the A1 for 8 hrs but knowing your boyfriend really wants you with him!!
In the end the partners went and sucked it up or just didn't go...
What I have learnt from this is if you are on a small budget keep it to a small crowd, always pay for more than 2 drinks for your guests and don't put an extra day on for whiny girlfriends/boyfriend of friends - the people you have invited have spent money and taken time to spend this day with them make sure its the best day everyone can have - including you, you don't want to spend the day worrying.
Things I would do different:
* Ensure my guests have enough to drink
* Consider guest - they've taken time off work (if during the week) / paid money to travel + for hotels + for clothes and gifts
* Don't change plans because you can't make everyone happy
* Ban drugs from the wedding - SO RUDE
* Think about the logistics
- As a PA/EA I think about making things as easy as possible for my boss at all times, I would have this approach to my wedding as well, for myself and my guests.
Friday, 1 February 2013
GET THE LOOK: Rosette Themed Wedding
Do you love to ride your pony, or just a rosette pattern fan? There are more than one way to incorporate this into a wedding theme... have a look below and make it work for you! Also a great DIY wedding project if you want that personal touch or perhaps you are on a budget.
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