I'm sure you already know unless you managed to miss my many posts on Instagram, tweets or this sappy blog post that I'm getting married next year (although ironically I've just realised I'm not wearing my engagement ring as I write this post - I haven't left the house today OK?). I'm not going to do too many wedding-related posts until after the event (when I will be spamming until you probably all unfollow me) mainly because I don't really want to give too much away and would rather wait until afterwards to share the details. However I thought I would do a post about planning a wedding on a budget. We're extremely lucky that my parents are paying for our venue, registrar and food, but just because they're paying for those things doesn't mean we want to spend the earth on our wedding. In fact we agreed that we'd plan the wedding as if we were paying for everything ourselves because we wouldn't want my parents to spend money that we wouldn't be happy spending as that would just be silly.
When you start planning a wedding its easy to see how people do end up spending a lot. These days there just seem to be so many elements and add-ons available, plus put the word 'wedding' in front of anything and it seems to add a fair few £££. The average price for a wedding in the UK is now £24,000 (according to Bride's Magazine) and that just seems ridiculous to me. That's a house deposit. I totally get that people want to have the perfect day, but to me one day just isn't worth all that money and I hope to prove that you can have a lovely wedding without spending too much.
The venue | Firstly we knew we wanted everything to happen in one place, which already completely cuts out the need for transport from the ceremony to the reception. That wasn't actually our reason for wanting everything in one place, we just thought it would be easier and the day would run smoother, but we've managed to save that in the process. We also knew we wanted a flexible venue where we could pretty much do everything ourselves, which cuts costs as well as making sure the day is completely your own so we've gone for somewhere that's almost a blank canvas so we can do our own thing.
The venue | Firstly we knew we wanted everything to happen in one place, which already completely cuts out the need for transport from the ceremony to the reception. That wasn't actually our reason for wanting everything in one place, we just thought it would be easier and the day would run smoother, but we've managed to save that in the process. We also knew we wanted a flexible venue where we could pretty much do everything ourselves, which cuts costs as well as making sure the day is completely your own so we've gone for somewhere that's almost a blank canvas so we can do our own thing.
The food | This is where I'm going to hide behind my hands because our wedding is just over eight months away and we still haven't booked a caterer - minor detail right? We're having our ceremony late in the day, which means we're only going to have to feed people once so straight away that's saved money - again, our reasoning wasn't actually to save money, but more to not have a long drawn out wedding (nice one making it sound like an execution Amy).
The entertainment | Again, this is something we haven't booked yet - whoops, I am not panicking AT ALL. We have looked around a lot though and I think we've managed to narrow it down to a few bands (we decided band over DJ after going to my friend's wedding and her band being amazing). It's difficult to know where to start when looking for a band, but websites like Headliner make it much easier. You can search by area, genre and budget to narrow down your choices, listen to previews of each band and then even book them through the website so you're not sending money to someone you're not sure if you can trust or not. The website was actually set up when the founders had trouble finding a band on a budget for their wedding so there are a lot of affordable options on there including some very unique and less 'stereotypical' wedding bands.
The outfits | I may not have booked a caterer or entertainment, but I have bought my dress so that's the main thing isn't it? I managed my goal of getting one for under £200 as it came in at £199. Outlets are definitely the way to go with wedding dresses, I saw some gorgeous ones in the one boutique we went to, but over £1000 on a dress I'm going to wear once? No thank you. Bridesmaids dresses will most likely be from Asos and we're not actually planning on matching suits for the best man and ushers, they can pretty much wear what they want and we'll buy them matching ties or a buttonhole to differentiate them as part of the bridal party.
The details | Because of the venue being very DIY it leaves everything up to us, which I love. Here is probably where you could spend a lot of money, but I'm planning on doing my own flowers, we're doing our own centrepieces/decorations and also providing our own alcohol (thank you very much Sainsbury's for your 25% off 6 bottles or more deal). We're also designing our own invitations and having them printed, which is even cheaper than pre-bought invitations. Looking at what you could spend on these things makes my mind boggle so I'm very glad we're doing it all ourselves.
If you're planning your own wedding I'd love to know your tips. Have you come across Headliner?
Amy x
This post was kindly sponsored by Headliner, but all words and opinions my own.