Congrats. We're having a second go of our wedding to see the family we couldn't first time around (after lockdown #1, 30 people), so have had a chance to think about what matters and put it into practice...Speedo wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:54 amSo this is on the cards for me in the not too distant future... Any tips for keeping the cost down?! My family is bloody massive - even if I only invite first cousins and closer there's still about 40 of them!biggeordiedave wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:18 pmMy wedding was expensive in comparison to some of yours (about £6k) but about a quarter of the price of some weddings I've been to. I knew someone who spent £30k on their wedding and got divorced within a year. They're still paying for a wedding to someone they're not even married to anymore .
Are you decided on venue etc yet? That's probably the biggest spend that you can't reduce later on - if you're going with something vaguely fancy and catered, I don't think I saw anything under £100/head where we were looking. Also consider how accessible the location is, people will need to stay on-site or somewhere nearby. You can offer accomodation, but that adds up quickly, so think about who you would want to pay for an expensive hotel room for.
The rest comes down to what's important to you two, there are plenty of things that can be expensive, but maybe they're worth it if you particularly enjoy them. You can probably get away with a Spotify playlist rather than paying a grand for a band, unless that's something you want, of course.
You don't need to buy/hire your groomsmen suits - hire costs are often as expensive as a similar quality (ie cheap) new suit... I bought mine matching waistcoats and cheap ties, then anyone who didn't already have a navy suit I helped out separately.
You don't need to spend hundreds on flowers (or at least you can try to focus the spending on what the bride will carry, not decorations and expensive boutonnieres), centrepieces, favours, special coloured sashes for the chairs, etc. No one is especially paying attention to the little touches you'll end up stressing over, at the end of the day it's meant to be a celebration of you two and a party. People are probably there to eat, drink and be merry.
Try to avoid using the word "wedding" when getting quotes from vendors.
I'm a miser but also like to make things myself, rather than paying for something off the shelf. I can highly recommend signing up to one of those experiences where you craft your own rings. It ended up being cheaper than buying the equivalent from the high street, we had a nice day of it, and there's a story behind having turned some scrap into the ring that your wife/husband will hopefully wear for a long time to come.