Ok, just wondering...
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Topic: Ok, just wondering...
Posted By: MumsyMoo
Subject: Ok, just wondering...
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:03pm
DF and I finally sat down last night and started to discuss wedding stuff, but we kept butting heads on certain things (if it were up to him, it would never happen haha)... So I thought I'd ask for some input from those who have done it all before 
So how did you come up with your wedding date, how much did you allow yourself to play with (money wise... We've got close to $8,000... Including help from our families) and how did you determine what you'd splurge or scrimp on? I know I want to invest in a quality photographer - NO DOUBT... But don't want to be spending an absolute fortune on one... I did think of just having friends/family with good quality cameras snapping up everything, but it's just not the same (no offence to those who have done that ) Nothing beats those gorgeous professional photos that you keep for the rest of your life! So can anyone reccommend an awesome photographer who doesn't blow the budget?
Also, did you find hiring a venue and caterer separately or hiring out a venue complete with catering cheaper/less stressful? Obviously I'm going to find this kinda thing out myself when I really start making enquiries, but always good to hear others opinions Thanks in advance, Serenity  ------------- My wee girl is the love and light of my life!
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Replies:
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:16pm
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Photography was one thing we didn't want to scrimp on either, but in the end we ended up paying $2000 for one who was excellent.
It pays to shop around with everything though! I didn't go all out on my dress. I paid $500 for mine, if I hadn't found one for that cheap I would have hired it. I hired my BM's dresses. Venue wise we used a bar n restaurant which worked out fantastic for us. Bearing in mind this was 2 years ago and in Palmy, we paid $5500. That got us a venue for the ceremony and reception, waiters, all the plates etc, they did all the setting up and cleaning up etc. We spent $3000 of that price on food and the rest went on the bar tab. I just loved the fact that we did absoluetly nothing when it came to the venue, we told and showed them what we wanted and it simply got done. ETA: I forgot to write that ours cost about $10k all up, thats with contributions from our families. With the date we chose one based on when we knew our venue would be available out of the busy wedding season so it would be easier to get what we wanted (ie, everything wasn't booked out). We ended up thinking the first weekend of April and realised it was april fools day so went with the 2nd weekend 
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Posted By: MumsyMoo
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:26pm
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Thanks for that
The other thing we're doing to save us some $$$ is to have it in low season, at this stage, we're looking around about July/August... The way I see it, we have such fickle weather that there's no point in picking a specific season, lol. And if it makes it cheaper, then why not? ------------- My wee girl is the love and light of my life!
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:28pm
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we got married a year to the day after our engagement party. only cause a friend asked at the engagement party so when will you get marred and we looked at each other and said one years time. its the only thing that didnt change in the planning.
for photographers you could try asking a photo school for some students, they should all be putting portfolios together and have photos for you to see already. we didnt have a budget but didnt save for it either, just paid as we went. my mum made my dress and my nieces, who was the ring bearer and walked up the "aisle" with me. We didnt have a best man or bridesmaid but instead hubbys son and my niece with the rings on ribbons round their necks. My sister and BIL signed the register for us. my SIL played the flute and BIL did a reading. My brother was in charge of the music as we came in the wintergardens (where we got married and had the photos) and my SIL's fiance drove us in his car. we had the after function at SIL's house and had spit roast for dinner.... we had those big wine barrels with ice for the booze and the tables and chairs all hired. It didnt cost us a fortune but boy was it a great wedding!!!! ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:29pm
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Yeah that's kind of what we did. By April the wedding 'hipe' was pretty much over in Palmy so it made things easier.
There's loads of ways to save some $ though: - cars: get friends/families nice cars (we used my parents friends cars) - flowers: pick them up from the market is waaaaaay cheaper than florist depending on what you want - invites: make them urself. we spent $50 on the paper for ours rather than getting them made for us. |
Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:33pm
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For our wedding we picked a venue that we would provide the food and drinks as it worked out heaps cheaper. I didn't find it that big a hassle finding a cateror and working out a menu. Also we went with a midday wedding and provided finger foods for afterwards which worked out cheaper than providing a full sit down dinner. Bridemaid dresses- only had 1 bridemaid and brought her a nice dress from staxs that she would be able to wear again. ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:35pm
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I love wedding planning!!
DH and I set a date the night we got engaged. We didn't want an overly long engagement, it'd already taken 4 1/2 years to get engaged so we decided on 12 months. DH chose 16th Nov because my birthday is on 16th Sep and he figured that way it's be easier to remember the date 
We paid for our own wedding too and did it on a budget I can't remember now how much each thing cost but in total our wedding cost about $4,000 (including hotel for wedding night and mini honeymoon afterwards). Here's what we did. * Ceremony & reception: We had the ceremony late morning and a lunchtime reception so people wouldn't drink as much and we could serve finger foods instead of a full sit down menu (also meant I didn't have to worry about seating plans). * Flowers: got the florist from New World to do them all including posy for on top of cake. Was very specific with her and she did a brilliant job at a supermarket price (I think she was actually delighted to get the chance to do a wedding). * Bridesmaids: I made their outfits as my gift to them. They did their own hair and makeup. * Wedding dress etc: I designed my dress and my mum made it with the help of my grandma who sewed tiny little beads along the 3 metres of hem (total cost was approx $200). I got my lingerie from the bendon factory shop and borrowed white shoes from a friend. I wore a family heirloom lace veil. * My hair & makeup: I did my own makeup and my mum did my hair. * Groom & Groomsmen: We hired their suits and bought their shirts * Alcohol: We bought 4 cases of bubbly (nothing else) and the wine glasses were loaned to us for free by the liqour store. * Food: We self catered. I bought everything and friends and family helped prepare it all. * Waiting staff: we hired students through student job search and asked one of my mums friends to be their boss. * Cake: This was a wedding gift from my sil * Photographer: used student job search for this too and got a student photographer who was finishing her art degree. She was really good, but cheap because she wasn't experienced yet. Plus we got to keep all the film afterwards and she got to use our pics in her portfolio. * Venue: Hired a hall and decorated it ourselves the morning of the wedding My one extravagence was $400 on a classic Jaguar as the wedding car. I loved it and it looks great in the pics. We had a wonderful wedding day and the only thing I would change if I could go back is that I would organise a casual BBQ or something similar for the day after the wedding so I could spend more time with my family and friends that had travelled to be there. -------------  
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:40pm
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We did our wedding on a fairly low budget and we wouldn't change anything.
I do recommend even more than a good photographer is getting a good videographer. We used 'the design suite' and they were fantastic. We so treasure the dvd more than our photos :-). Like the others have said, supply your own flowers and ask around...there might be a 'nice little lady' who plays with flowers for fun. Borrow cars, get someone to make the cake for you, use a place already decorated. We picked the date we had because it was before my brother and sil were leaving for overseas, and it was a date that suited my sister and bil to come over from overseas.. We had our reception at a restaurant with a beautiful view over the water. We had a buffet dinner that was $40 a head, and allowed for 3 drinks of wine per head (some would drink more some less). We didn't want a big booze up, and as it turned out, that was enough. Both our families aren't big drinkers...other than the odd uncle and friend ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: FionaS
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:48pm
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We got married 7 weeks after we go engaged (long story). We were married in June so everything was available and hence cheaper. Flowers can cost a lot but keeping them simple is just as nice. Shop around for photographers and negotiate on their full package details (we got several items removed from the package to reduce the cost).
Some of the most special / memorable weddings I've been to are the simple ones. I made my own invites and still love them. It did involve doing about 100 bows but that seemed fun at the time!! LOL. I just had one bridesmaid and that saved $$ too. I always wanted an evening, candle-lit wedding with a dessert reception (didn't get it...again, long story) but that would also enable you to save $$ as the reception is usually the most costly part. ------------- Mummy to Gabrielle and Ashley |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:48pm
we did all ours on just over 5000...we only spent 300 on a photographer and got wonderful pictures....he was a friend of a friend but as you say if you want top notch photos you will need to pay more..but ours were fab:)!My Dh wanted to be in on everything which i thought would be bad as we are totally different wasnt so bad..we did orginally have a great old house that was thousands to hire but found another one half the price.. we had only very close friends and family..so that made it down to 42. in the end after getting a dress off trademe i bought one and got it fitted.. although she was great i was made to feel like no brides ever were over size 14!!:) we got a venue with a seperate caterer who did my Mum's food at work and she was fabulous and really reasonable.. my friends a DJ but he couldnt make it so we got a jukebox which was fun..i guess for us it was about family more than other things (we just werent into big wedding) and the place we had we had to clean ourselves..which my parents did and it was great.. so it cost about 5500 and we had a fab day:) as far as the date we picked a month and the eventually picked a weekend and luckily it was free. ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Serenity wrote:Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:48pm
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for the photographer, pick one that will provide you with a CD of the photos so that you can get copies for friends and family. Saves HEAPS in reprints ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:51pm
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oh we did get a good friend to do DVD that was fab...3 copies for 300:) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:54pm
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Serenity, a friend of mine is a WAHM who does photography.
I've had her to my house to get photos of the girls. She doesn't charge a sitting fee. I know she does weddings as well, here is her website http://www.cheekychops.co.nz - Cheeky Chops There is no price up there for Weddings but it's definitely worth contacting her when the time comes. She's looveellly and will definitely be excellent photography for a good price! 
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Posted By: Roksana
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:55pm
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Well we spendtoo much on the wedding, but I can tell you it would have been much worse if I didnt end up doing half the stuff my self.
I had loads of time to organise my wedding so I did lots and lots of research. I visited many decor people to see what they can do for my wedding (and then stole the ideas I liked best and prepared all the decor myself with the help of Mum and Auntie). Catering was done by a family friend and charged us less that half price per person and we had 450 people. And it was a buffet type arrangement. I made all the invites by hand, and I was very happy with them (I always prepare the invites for all family occations). Go to gordon harris and have a look at their sample invites and see what you like and make it yourself. Cake we bought ($600). Booze we bought and hired big plastic bucket time things from party hire places. We had a family friend who is a photographer to do our wedding and it was half price. Unlimited photos and we got the negetives. he even printed them out for us. $400 and we had a DJ and video man for ($600) my BIL paid. Hair make up done in a wedding hair/nail/makeup place (paid for by my parents) $350 Dress was the most expensive thing $1800, imported from India as well us my Hubby's suit ($850). We didnt have brides made and grooms men as we had an Indian wedding but bought my cousins (my flower girls) Indian outfits for $160. We hired our Limo for $250 because we didnt really need it for that long. The hall we hired came fully with all tables and chairs. $600 (??) I got fresh flower arrangements for each of the table (26) + main table (x2) from a florist that knew me very well as I worked in the same plaza and we kinda were like friends....and she charged me very little for them. We had a friend who offered to be our bar-tender!! So yah, I suggest do lots and lots of reasearch. Try and do half the things yourself...yes it will be stressful but it will be way cheeper. Edited to say that: the date we chose was very carefully planned as my DH's family all wanted to attend from US/CANADA/FIJI/AUSTRALIA & UK. after MIL called many many times it seemed that the date that would be great and we would get the hall is 30/03/02. So that was that!! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: FionaS
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 2:59pm
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Oh yeah, cakes are shocking. Don't tell the person you're look for a wedding cake and I'll bet they'll charge you less!
I didn't actually find planning the wedding stressful at all so did doesn't have to be stressful, even on a budget :) ------------- Mummy to Gabrielle and Ashley |
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:20pm
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Oh yeah, I did my own invites too. I got paper and wax and a wax stamp from gordon harris and ribbon in my DH's family tartan from spotlight - they looked fantastic, really effective and different to what anyone else had done (I was one of 5 friends that got married within 6 months of each other).
I loved planning my wedding and would happily do wedding planning for a job if anyone would pay me - it definitely doesn't need to be stressful. My DH was quite involved in everything too but he set a rule really early on that we were only allowed to discuss wedding stuff once per week because I was so into it he was hearing about things 24/7 and getting sick of it so I started a folder of ideas I liked and we set aside an hour every weekend to go over details and make decisions together. -------------
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Posted By: ohanlon82
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:33pm
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just been the through the process about 2 months ago..
if you can get married in offpeak season so worth it.. you can cut cost heaps. remember to ask around friends and family we ended up getting BM dress made from aunty for free just material.. cars for free - pressie from a freind. and they were mint cars. favors free from another friend.. also if possible look for a venue that does BYO - cut cost heaps.. we spent $2200 on booze just shop rates worked out venue prices would have been nearlly $5000.. huge saving you dont have to have flowers and things like that.. totally up to yourself really :) and budget even look at a lunch thing or something like that.. less on booze or even a sunday night thing... :) good luck ------------- http://lb2f.lilypie.com/TikiPic.php/RPaODBg.jpg |
Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:37pm
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We used these http://weddings.digitalpix.co.nz/gallery/ - photographers they were awesome! You can see a sample of the pics on our http://www.freewebs.com/nashwedding - wedding website ------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months) I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
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Posted By: josephnia
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:54pm
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I made/did almost everything to do with our wedding, we self catered, it was BYO, I bought my dress, veil and shoes second hand off TradeMe, made the invites and all stationery, made table runners and napkins etc etc.
We did hire a professional photographer but I made our own digital album from the Frogprints website and I'm so stoked with it and it only cost $135 all up as opposed to the $1000 or more to get it made(took some time though!) I also found a fabulous florist who only charged $250 for 3 bouquets, 7 buttonholes, table flowers, hair flowers and rose petals. Another way we saved heaps was getting 3 different flavoured and sized mudcakes from The Cheesecake Shop and putting the cake together ourselves - it easily served 80 guests (and a lot of people had more than 1 piece) with almost the whole bottom tier left over and it only cost about $120 and was sooo yummy
Like others have said shop around, try not to say wedding if you don't have to and for me TradeMe was my best friend! -------------  
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Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:59pm
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What we're doing is having it at a local golf club in the clubrooms where DP's Mum is a member - $250 for 2 days hirage which includes the tables, crockery, tablecloths, cutlery, glasses etc. They shut off the club for members from about 2 hours prior to when it's needed. Having the ceremony at the end of the 9th green, where there is heaps of space for people to sit/stand, and has a gazebo which is where we will be. Photographer - using a friend's friend who has just started her own photography business but isn't established as such, so not as expensive, but I have seen her photos and she is fantastic. We wanted it in summer, in the warmth, but have to fit in with the speedway season as DP races - so we've chosen March which is typically slower for meetings. Booze has to be bought through the golf club, but we pay the cost price - so wholesale prices, although we have to pay the club manager to be bar staff, at $12ph. We will get a caterer in, but you can get pretty decent menus for $30-40 ph. My dress I will probably get off the net after trying them on in shops locally. There will be 1 bridesmaid, and she should have her own dress already. DP is just wearing nice black pants and a white shirt - quite casual/informal. Flowers will be through my fave florist but will be simple. Makeup/hair through my regular beauty therapist and hairdresser who are fairly cheap anyway!! Ummmm....invites, will make my own, they work out sooooo much cheaper!!! Oh, and the cake will probably be made by Mum's workmate who does professional cakes - just have to make sure it's not royal icing is all!!
We're probably looking at around $8-10k total. My parents are paying for catering and probably some of the alcohol, and DP's parents will also help out a lot. |
Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 5:37pm
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Man....all this organising etc , money to spend....having a wedding is sounding less and less appealing
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Posted By: AliaDawn
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 6:25pm
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I still have to arrange our wedding... only problem is we have virtually no $$ for it atm. Been engaged 3 years now... what some of you call a "small" wedding I'd call a decent sized one... my idea of a small wedding would be Me, Mike, Seb, and whatever family could be arsed coming... aka probably parents/grandparents/siblings. My mum is a good musician, so that would be sorted... actually my sister is studying photography this year at school, so would consider that. Mike has a decent analog camera. We don't drink, so wouldn't provide alcohol. Food we are picky so wouldn't be fancy... want a nice outdoors venue, wouldn't need caterers I should think. but clothes LOL that's where the $$$ would be going... -------------  
 
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:15pm
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Ok mine was in Palmy and also just over 2 years ago too. But our photographer was $800 and she did an amazing job and I love all of my pics - its was something I was not scrimping on. Things we did:
Hope that helps. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:15pm
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Some of you may know that I planned my wedding in 8 days at 39 weeks preggers (nesting?). Mum and Dad gave us $5000 to put to our wedding and we came in just under that.
My dress was $299, DH's suit was $1300!!!!!!- he isnt evena suit guy! Flowers, I just went with a simple posy of gerberas and a buttonhole for DH, cost $90 I think Make up and Hair (hair mwas expensive...but always is and it needed doing anyway). Make up was $90, but refundable with a purchase Fake Tan, Venue: We married at our celebrants house. We had our dinner at a very flash restaurant and paid $110 per head for a degustation menu including wine. We then stayed the night in a hotel. Guests: Mum, Dad, MIL, FIL, BIL + girlfriend. When push came to shove family was all that mattered. Friends understood and still sent us gifts!!!! They all paid for their own accommodation (except my folks as that was part of the $5000). Photographer: friend of a friend who does it for a hobby. chargedus $400 and we got to keep the CD. Cake: Mum brought one down from the Rocket Kitchen in Auckland. She even dropped it at the airport and it was still ok! I got ready at the celebrants house while DH got ready at the hotel with his family. I decorated the room with tea light candles. I walked "down the aisle" to Dave Dobbyns Oughta be in love. We did a reading from Now we are 6 by AA Milne and got everyone to recite the Irish Blessing to us. While we signed the registrar the celebrant played a tape of a celtic band from Manawatu that sing a version of the Irish blessing...if I could get a copy it would be great. After the ceremony we popped some expensive champagne and toasted. I think we had 2-3 bottles of champagne. (I got a glass and it is in every photo...yay the pregnant woman drinking) Then we moved on to the restaurant which is also at the hotel. Had an amazing 7 or 8 course meal and then all retired back to our rooms. Next morning we all met up for the included breakfast. It was totally perfect (except for the wicked diarrhoea I had that night....thought I was going into labour). I wouldnt change a thing! |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:19pm
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I forgot my flowers were $200 for 3 girls and 3 sprays for ladies and 5 button holes for men. We knew the florist A lot of things can be done by people you know. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:34pm
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My friend had her wedding on the beach at pauanui , the reception was a bbq type thing at her parents bach in pauanui, her dress was custom made cos she was 7 months pregnant at the time, and was about $1000 , that was the biggest expenditure.
Such an awesome day tho,my friend was grinning her head off that day, which is good,since she was dead 3 months later 
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Posted By: susieq
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 8:12pm
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Hey caitlynsmygirl dont you even think about not having a wedding,
I want to be mother of the bride just once. wont be able to at your brothers if he does ever get married and your sister wll you know there is no way she is going to get married |
Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 8:25pm
| It so depends on what you want. We want a relaxed day that's about celebrating our relationship with our friends and family (probably about 60 guests total - we both have quite big families!!!). DP is semi-traditional though, and has certain things he won't budge on (like custom-made rings, although his uncle is a manufacturing jeweller so we only pay for materials). That's ok though, because at the end of the day, it's about you and your DP. I would be happy with a registry office ceremony because I just want DP to be my husband, and to be his wife. Sometimes we forget about that and get all obsessed with the minor details of the day. |
Posted By: HippyMama
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:12pm
I love reading about "big" weddings but I eventually packed it all in and we called our date just over a year sooner than initially planned - and just went to the registry office all dollied up  We spent about $900 all up I think.------------- Mama to two earth walkers & two angels. Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being. ~ Kittie Franz Next Slingbabies! Meet - Friday 4th May !! |
Posted By: WestiesGirl
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:16pm
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I loved planning my wedding. I would definitely do it all again in a heart beat .
But I guess it depends on what kind of wedding you are after. DH only wanted to spend $10k but we ended up spending just over $15k. BUT it was worth every single penny. My advice is give yourself time and research everything. I bought lots of things off ebay and trademe. Got my veil for $30, corset for $25 (which I didnt end up wearing, long story), guest book for $40 and a few other things off ebay. I bought my jewellery off a US web site for $20US. Bought things from spotlight instead of a wedding shop. We had our ceremony and reception in the same place, $1400 to hire for the day. They provided EVERYTHING, chairs, tables, cutlery, red carpet, sound system etc and did all the set up and cleaning. We didnt need to hire a thing. We spent $3k on catering and $1500 on our bar tab. We are members of a car club so we roped a few members in to borrowing their cars (they were also invited to the wedding), we also gave them petrol vouchers. A family friend made our cake, 3 teir mud cake. It was divine.
Instead of a videographer we used our own video camera and I gave my brothers tasks to do (they were ushers) for the day. They did a great job! Also got a copy off my Grandma's video camera which was great. My Bridesmaids and flowergirl's dresses were hired and they paid for that. The groomsmen and DH suits were also hired. You definitely can do it on a budget. Use family and friends if they are good at things to help to save you money. ------------- Our Angel July 08  Gone but not forgotten
And to complete our family, our princess has arrived 
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Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:39pm
I don't feel pressured at all....any of you want to adopt me???im toilet trained.... Actually,i should be more interested in weddings, im a bridesmaid next year and i bet my friend (who doesnt have the net-HOW does she live?) would appreciate any tips i can give her, so i must pay close attention to what you all say
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Posted By: BuzzyBee
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:47pm
LOL ------------- Single Mum to a darling wee boy of 3 years :) |
Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:50pm
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Go on soph...u know Lucas would love a (much older ) sister
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Posted By: BuzzyBee
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 11:01pm
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LMAO ....Who's Soph? ....you mean Steph? (and I thought my memory was shocking haha) ------------- Single Mum to a darling wee boy of 3 years :) |
Posted By: BuzzyBee
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 11:02pm
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At least you got the starting with S and finishing in PH right hehehe ------------- Single Mum to a darling wee boy of 3 years :) |
Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 12:15am
| haha you know what? i called my DP Paul the other day , simply cos his name is Phil and starts with a p and ends with an L same with Paul and it was late and , yeah , Soph, Steph ....as soon as i posted it i thought, hmmm thats not right, but never mind,now you have another name, lucky! i only have one! |
Posted By: susieq
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 8:56am
| Still will look forward to a wedding one day (caitlynsmygirl) |
Posted By: susieq
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 8:57am
| And you are right, you may be able to give both Loren and Ferrolini ideas for there weddings which you are bridesmaids for |
Posted By: Phat_Cat
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 10:53am
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well we spent around the 8k mark (from memory it was over 3 years ago LOL) we saved heaps by finding people to do things for us in lieu of gifts. We had a friend do our flowers - she was a florist but does it for people now and then as a hobby type thing. My foster mum decorated and baked one tier of my cake (i was going to do my cake myself and had started to bake it but when she heard she insisted on doing it), a friend was supposed to do my hair and makeup but ended up doing it myself as she had family dramas so was late and did my wedding parties hair first. We pd $1800 for our photographer that was one thing i didnt want to scrimp on. We pd $250ish for our venue as i was a member of the club that it belonged to so got a discount. Bought our own alcohol, hired a jukebox (was ok except some teens found the reset button on the back and kept pushing it if they didnt like the song) my BIL did the catering as he was a supermarket manager so we got a discount on alot of stuff. MIL made some of the wedding party dresses and a so called professional dressmaker did mine & the two flowergirls and totally stuffed them up!! DH & boys wore black pants & bought the shirts and hired just the waistcoats. Didnt have wedding cars as where we got married no-one saw us arrive... Changes? a few buy my dress for starters!!! didnt have a videographer wished i did a friend was supposed to but didnt do it and maybe hire/fine a couple of nice cars for a different photo idea oh and one piece of advise stick to your guns!! i ended up with 2 bridemaids, 2 junior bridesmaids, 2 flowergirls when initally i was wanting 2 bridemaids (maybe 3) and a flowergirl but was put in a difficult position..... but thats OK we are going to renew our vows for our 10th wedding anniversary.... ------------- Tristen - 24/06/07 Rylan - 11/12/08 Angel Babies -14/08/05 & 21/01/2010 Curtis - 26/02/12 |
Posted By: cat007
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 10:37pm
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We did our wedding on the cheap too. I made as much as I could - invites, order-of-service cards, serviette rings, place names, table decorations, confetti, chocs for tables etc - cheap as. I got candles from $2 shop, ivy & ribbons and made nice table decorations. The bridal party sat at a table in the middle of the room with guests around us - no expensive table up front and guests were able to approach us easier. Hired a DJ - bands never have enough of the popular songs.
We found it was cheaper to have it at a local resort & restaurant - it only cost $5000 and we got two venues, ceremony and reception, fantastic food (buffet), waitresses, all non-alc drinks, nibbles after ceremony, and a bonus hotel room for the night all for the one price. We had a winter wedding and chose mulled wine instead of a bar and it saved us having to have to pay for everyones drinks (and guests were happy). I designed my own dress - our one luxury but I found it was slightly cheaper to hire a ready-made one from a wedding dressmaker. Bridesmaids paid for their own dresses and have been able to wear them again. We also got the grooms & men to buy a nice jacket from Meccano - they got to keep them and wear them again and they wore their own white shirts, black pants. Us girls bought nice fake-fur jackets from Pagani and can also wear them again. Photographers - we went with middle of the range but made sure that we got the photos on CD as well as proofs. We never did order any photos from them as we printed off from the CD and did our own albums. Sooo much cheaper. We also got a friend who loved photography to take photos and she added so many more to the collection - had over 1200 photos in the end at no extra cost. Wedding vehicles - we didnt hire any as guests wouldnt see them anyway - however our budget did stretch to allow $600 to be spent for vehicles and so we hired helicopters instead to take us to our photoshoot. That was a blast and our guests were able to enjoy waving us off too. If we had had our photos on site in the gardens we could have saved that too. All up it cost us $10k for our wedding - with all the trimmings and luxuries! Was well worth it. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  [/url http://lilypie.com">
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