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kila2008
11-11-2008, 11:42 AM
Hi, after posting a reply to a request in the "wanted" section from a JT user looking for wedding stuff, I received a message from another JT user suggesting that I start a thread in this section. Due to the recession, quite a few couples are now trying to cut-down on the huge, ridiculous costs relating to getting married. This thread is proposed to suggest ideas on how couples can get married, with out spending an absolute fortune, yet without compromising on the attention to detail. I know that there are other wedding-related forums on the web, however I want this thread to be more about what couples can DIY using recycled materials, repurposed items, kind donations of items from JT users, etc

Any suggestions/contributions welcome!

Elnr83
11-11-2008, 12:15 PM
I noticed the threads you had left for other people who were getting married and I thought I could pick your brains about all your wonderful money saving ideas.

Some you have given me already are brilliant. I'm sure lots of other people could really benefit from them also.

And I thought that there would be loads of DIYers on here who could add in their ideas.

Weddings are so rediculously expensive and they needn't be. There is so much that can be done for cheaper.

A really nice idea I heard of for favours was a little envelope filled with flower seeds with a poem about love growing like a flower on the front. It would be really cheap to do also :o)

REALLY looking forward to all your DIY ideas.

unapam
11-11-2008, 02:18 PM
What a great idea!

Oxfam in Dublin city centre have new samples of wedding dresses for a fraction of the normal price. I think you have to book in advance as it is upstairs in a proper wedding salon.

Elnr83
11-11-2008, 02:40 PM
I've heard of the Oxfam shop alright.

I'll definitely be checking it out. You do need to make an appointment though :o)

tasmin
11-11-2008, 03:27 PM
hi all,

if ur getting married on a budget, why dont u make paper flowers....it should cost less than 70e

my aunt used to make these long before the fresh flowers came into fashion, and i must say, they were beautiful!!!!

i bought fresh flowers which cost 400e...money that could have been spent on other things.
and stressed myself out to bits worrying about money

all u need is crepe paper in whatever colour u need.
tin foil
paper doilies
and wire.
and a bit of time to do these

sounds like it would look awful, but they truely lovely and look just as nice in the photos.

if i find my sis's wedding photo i will post it and show u what they look like.

all the best,

tas

hi all, i've been meaning to do these as i said i would.
anyway i did a rough idea of the paper flowers, now dont judge just by these as with rippon,and fern, and more flowers of course these can look fab.

tas

TheBear
11-11-2008, 03:43 PM
I've heard of the Oxfam shop alright.

I'll definitely be checking it out. You do need to make an appointment though :o)
I believe Barnardos also have a similar set-up in Dun Laoghaire; again you have to make an appointment.

A cheaper way to do the invitations is to buy the pieces and put them together yourself. You get a template, the paper and ribbon required, you do the printing yourself. Much cheaper than getting someone else to put them together for you. Same with the mass booklet, if you're having one. An example of a website that has invitations, booklets and more (car ribbon, flowers, place cards, ring cushions...) is here - diyweddings.ie (http://www.diywedding.ie/candypress/scripts/default.asp).

Bubbles2
11-11-2008, 03:51 PM
At a wedding I was invited to recently the couple provided a disposable camera on each table and the guests then took photos of the guests at their table. I thought it was really lovely as they would be original and not as posed looking like you get with professional photographers (not meaning to insult any professional photographers out there) but you know what I mean.

kiara
11-11-2008, 04:19 PM
im really looking forward to pics of paper flowers, getting married next year and saving is becoming impossible!

kila2008
11-11-2008, 07:55 PM
Tips I have gained from my last few months as a member of various wedding forums:

Venue/Meal:
- Midweek weddings are generally cheaper and most venues will throw in extras for free to get the business.
- Off peak weddings (Early Spring, Autumn) are cheaper.
- Try to find a venue that will allow to bring in your own wine, ie charge low corkage fees. This allows you to purchase your own alcohol in Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Northern Ireland and make huge savings
-Haggle as much as possible to get the best deal you can - if you are booking your wedding way in advance - try to get the hotel to agree to a price when you are booking as hotels tend to put prices up each year
- Buffet meals work out cheaper per head
- Perhaps serve your wedding cake/dessert as the one course, ie cut out the need for both

Invitations:
- DIY all the way...bulk buy cheap card blanks. Ebay is great for ribbon (I have both from two really good suppliers so far, one in Co. Louth and the other in Malaysia - both great sellers) and other bits and pieces.
- Personalise the invitations to suit your personalities as your guests will excuse an amateur crafting attempts if they are personal to you both.
- Christmas wedding - use xmas cards as invites

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:02 PM
FLOWERS:
- If you're getting a florist, get them to do the bare minimum as you can always add to it with your own arrangements or candles
- Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, etc stock nice flowers that can be easily turned into nice arrangements. Find someone with a shrub addiction (like my mum has) and arrange with them to let you give their shrubs a good haircut - this will act as greenery (and its free) - you can fill in with flowers - keep the colour theme simple if you're an amateur like me!
- www.flowersforflorists.com - if you decide to go for it and do all your flowers yourself. Minimum order of €150 (I think) but flowers delivered to your door from wholesalers in Holland. Otherwise, Smithfield Market in Dublin is apparently the place to go, but go early. Two visits advisable - one to suss out what you want and place your order, second visit to collect. - www.youtube.com for videos giving you instructions for how to make your bouquets, arrangements, etc
- Ebay for your flower arranging essentials - oasis, trays, ribbon, diamante pins for the centre of your roses (if you want to go all fancy)

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:09 PM
CAKE:
- If you want a wedding cake, they can work out quite expensive - get baker to make a smaller cake and then a separate cutting cake that can be cut and served in the kitchen out of guests view - works out cheaper
- Add some fake tiers - polystyrene as far as I know that are iced as normal - used to make your cake look bigger
- Make your own - enrol the help of any family members or friends that have any baking skills - remember a xmas fruit cake that mammy makes every year is basically a wedding cake tier!!!
- If going the DIY route and short of baking skills - the answer is a "cupcake tower" - get some pretty cupcake cases off Ebay or there is a shop off Grafton St. in Dublin - bake some cupcakes (buns/queen cakes/etc)...loads of recipes on the web - ice them and you can get a cupcake tower stand off Ebay or make your own using old plates and a metal rod (instructions on the web....cant remember the exact website, but should be easy to find)
- Marks & Spencers apparently do ready to eat, reasonably-priced wedding cakes!

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:18 PM
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Shop around to get a good quote - remember most photographers offer different packages at different prices - you might be able to get them to just take the shots you feel are essential
- Get a photography student - go for one that is nearly finished their course or newly graduated that is interested in doing a nixer.
- Get a family member/friend with a good camera to take the pics for you
- Provide disposable cameras as previous poster suggested - remember quality of some disposable cameras can be a bit dodgy though
- Get some cheap blank cd's - put 1-2 in envelopes on each table with your address and a stamp on the envelope - ask your guests to take the cd home, put the pics from their digital cameras onto the cd and pop them in the post back to you.
- Provide a website address for one of those photo-sharing websites where guests can upload the pics they take of the wedding for you to access

VIDEOGRAPHY
- Although it is an extra cost, I personally feel that it is essential as the day will fly by soooo quickly and the photos will only capture particular moments in time
- Hire a videographer to capture certain parts of the day - vows, cutting the cake, first dance, etc
- Get family members/friends with camcorders to capture the day for you - get a few different people to do this and you can make your own entire video of the day by editing the best bits of the different camcorder tapes
- Get a film student to do a nixer!

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:22 PM
HAIR/MAKEUP:
- DIY
- Family member/friend to do it for you
- Trainee hairdresser/beautician to do it

ENTERTAINMENT:
- Get a DJ to cover the entire reception instead of a band and a DJ - this will save you money
- Get a band that is not known specifically as a wedding band - you should be able to get a good band without paying "wedding" prices
- Church/ceremony music - get family/friends/work colleagues...anyone that can play an instrument or sing (actually sing when sober, not the ones that will be singing by the end of the night!!)

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:34 PM
DRESSES:

Bridesmaid:
- Ebay
- Buy and sell on wedding forum websites
- Choose a colour theme and allow bridesmaids to wear dresses they already have in this colour...for example, a lot of women have little black dresses - you could always add a coloured ribbon to co-ordinate them all.
- High street shops
- January sales....particularly in Monsoon, Debenhams, TK Maxx - a lot of shops have cocktail dresses in stock for xmas and might still have some left over!
- Order from the US - if necessary try on the dresses in shops here at home and then order the same style off the web.

Bride:
- Buy a preloved gown from Ebay, buy and sell on wedding forums, charity bridal shops.
- If you really want a new dress - go to sample sales, order from the US
- Get your mum's or grandmother's wedding dress and get it altered - if its a nice vintage style, just alter it to fit. If its really out of date, see if you can find someone that will alter is cheaply to give it a nice modern twist.
- January sales!

mrsl
11-11-2008, 08:40 PM
Invitations:
- DIY all the way...bulk buy cheap card blanks. Ebay is great for ribbon (I have both from two really good suppliers so far, one in Co. Louth and the other in Malaysia - both great sellers) and other bits and pieces.
- Personalise the invitations to suit your personalities as your guests will excuse an amateur crafting attempts if they are personal to you both.
- Christmas wedding - use xmas cards as invites

Try http://www.easycraft.com/ for invitation card making, ribbon etc. Delivers from Malaysia but cheaper than anywhere around. Sells in € too.

shonastar
11-11-2008, 08:44 PM
My sister was at a wedding last week where the mother of the bride made the cake, it was 3 seperate tiers of chocolate biscuit cake (the bride's favourite!) the cake was decorated with flakes all around the side and tied with a ribbon, it looked (and tasted) amazing and cost nothing compared to traditional cakes. I will try and get a photo but if you google image search "chocolate flake cake" you'll see what it looked like.

kila2008
11-11-2008, 08:49 PM
KITTING OUT DA MEN!!

- If the groom and his posse own nice suits themselves, let them wear them as it will save you rental money - just get fabric and make cravats/ties (or whatever you call them) that co-ordinate with the colour theme/bridesmaids
- Get cheap suits in sales at one of those mens suit shops you always find in shopping centres that are offering cheaper suit options - at least the guys will have something that they can wear afterwards.


TRANSPORT:
- Check with family and friends to see if anyone owns a nice car that you would be happy to use and that is owned by someone willing to drive you in it.


WEDDING FAVOURS (not necessary but always a nice touch!)
- Make a donation to charity on behalf of your guest - most charities will allow you to provide written notes on the table to tell guests about the donation.
- Download free favour box templates off the web - google "free favour box templates" and you will find sites giving you a few different options - a bit time-consuming but you can then use whatever paper/materials you want - fill with sweets or whatever you want
- Christmas weddings - use christmas crackers
- Make you own bookmarks - all you need is card/or my favourite: watercolour paper purchased cheaply in pound/euro shop and some ribbon - you can print your names, wedding date, a thank you message, a love poem, quote from someone famous regarding love/marriage, pic of the two of you.
- Google this one as there are sooooo many ideas online of stuff you can make from soaps, bath bombs, personalised candles, notebooks, seed packs (as OP mentioned), etc....the list is really endless!

mrsl
11-11-2008, 08:55 PM
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Provide disposable cameras as previous poster suggested - remember quality of some disposable cameras can be a bit dodgy though
- Get some cheap blank cd's - put 1-2 in envelopes on each table with your address and a stamp on the envelope - ask your guests to take the cd home, put the pics from their digital cameras onto the cd and pop them in the post back to you.
- Provide a website address for one of those photo-sharing websites where guests can upload the pics they take of the wedding for you to access



Try http://www.mx2.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=sub&sub=CMF for cheap disposable cameras. Currently £4 each which works out at €4.91 - p&p free

Also good for cheap rewritable CD's
http://www.mx2.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=sub&sub=STG

Try http://photobucket.com/ to collect all those photos. Allows up to 10,000 photos and hours of video! For free.

Elnr83
12-11-2008, 08:40 AM
You guys are going to save me sooooo much money :o)

The access in work sucks but I cannot wait to get home and check out all the sites you mentioned.

I also found a brilliant website with really cheap dresses and accessories. I haven't ordered anything yet so I can't recommend them for reliability but I'm hoping to order something small soon and I'll let you all know what it is like.

www.lightinthebox.com

cianer
12-11-2008, 10:11 AM
At a wedding I was invited to recently the couple provided a disposable camera on each table and the guests then took photos of the guests at their table. I thought it was really lovely as they would be original and not as posed looking like you get with professional photographers (not meaning to insult any professional photographers out there) but you know what I mean.

A friend of mine did this at her wedding and it was a massive waste of money. It sounds nice in theory but what happened was that she got 12 disposeable cameras filled with photos of the table, beer bottles, drunk people's thumbs, and grainy photos of the dance floor. Disposeable cameras don't work well in the subdued lighting conditions at a wedding, and drunk people most definitely do not take good photos.

I thought it was a fabulous idea when I was at the wedding but having seen the outcome I think its a waste of money. Sorry to rain on the parade but it is a thread about saving money. =)


At our wedding my wife and I decided that there were two things we weren't willing to cut back on - our rings (because you have to look at them everyday) and the photos (because they are the memory of the day). Everything else could be cut back on. We didn't get a videographer because they tend to be more intrusive than a photographer and really who watches their wedding videos more than a couple of times? I've had to suffer through a few and they are painful if you aren't the bride or groom. Spend the money on a good photographer who will take casual shots of the day rather than the more traditional staged everybody-against-this-tree and pretend-like-you-are-walking-away-and-i'll-take-a-casual-shot photos which look crap IMO.

Our photographer cost a little more than the others but he cost a lot less than a photographer+videographer would have done. I remember him taking just two photos all day, even though there are 120 in the album. He was extremely unobtrusive and took lots of casual shots so the photos are of how it happened, hence no need for a videographer.

gillo
12-11-2008, 11:07 AM
Hi all. I would have to disagree with cianer on this one. A really good videographer who knows what they're doing will not be obtrusive at all. On our wedding day we hired a guy that came recommended by word of mouth, the best sort of advertising imo, and I can honestly say the only time we were aware of his presence was during the meal when we had a chance to talk to him, and of course he wasn't using the camera then until the speeches started. And I have to say that my wedding video is one of my ost treasured possessions, because of how it captured things on the day that I and my hubby were too busy to have noticed, and also it's lovely to watch deceased members of the family looking and acting so happy, which can never be captured in a photo, professional or otherwise.
Anyway back to the matter in hand, a good way to save money is to ask your videographer if he would be willing to sell you some stills off the film, some might just give them to you included in the price. We got some beautiful shots from ours, and made a lovely album with them.
Cheers, gillo

triciaL
12-11-2008, 11:24 AM
I know someone who went into all the wedding dress shops, tried on the dresses till she found the dress and size she wanted, 1800 euros, she noted down the size and stock number and went on the internet ,found the same dress and got it for 650 euros. As for wedding cars everyone knows someone or has a neighbour that has a merc or bmw or some type of large car. Give it a clean put few flowers in back window and ribbon on front and you save yourself a fortune.

Fizzywitch
12-11-2008, 11:33 AM
We got married 2 years ago on Halloween. We decided to go up north as it was far less hassle and so much cheaper to book a registry wedding.
I borrowed my dress from a friends niece who was a goth, so that was suitable for our Halloween wedding!
The flowers were 'wooden roses' in Black and burnt orange, there was a bouquet, 2 corsages and numerous button holes all for £38 inc. delivery!

I bought some boots in the sale at Penny's for €12, hubby wore a suit he had bought a few years before.
We had a buffet that cost €100 at a local pub, so everyone had to buy their own drinks! lol

The best man took all the photo's with our camera so he is not in that many of them! we put the photos on a disc and had them printed out at the chemist. The photo's cost €12 all in!!

So, a very cheap and fantastic wedding we all had. Everyone said it was the best they had been to because it was so much fun.

At the end of the day, we were married like everyone else apart from the fact we probably spent €200 rather than the thousands that some people can spend!

cascais
17-11-2008, 08:30 PM
hiya and first many congratulations to you both
i hope you both have a lovely day ( even though the weather will be porbably terrible...)

i had to make my own contribution to this thread, as i goty marraied recently and got lots of help from jumbletowners.

i agree completely with the invitations. there is no need to have them done, i done them myself and save myself a fortune, if you want to save on stamps, just drop them in the ltterboxes if the family lives near you ( every cent helps). i personnaly got some nice cream paper from easons at 2euro a ream and i only needed a ream and a half, i then used some of the leftover paper for my thank you cards
there is no need to print a wedding menu or names for the tables the hotel will probably do it for you ( they did for me). the names also is a personal choice some poeple refer to having seat assigned to them, if you just assign 10 people to a table of ten, you can let them decided where they seat and not have to worry about, swho should i put beside uncle smith who says dirty jokes all the time... he he he
ask the photographer to give you a cd with all the pictures and then print them in work or at home and send some with the thank you cards, i done this also and everyone thought it was a lovely thing.
do not get an album for the parents, if you have the cd of the pictures just print some nice ones, buy some nice albums in tescos and do your own.
print the wedding guest book ( i did that also) and it saved me 50 quid right there.

dress :
i got mine of a second hand shop in England and it was very cheap, get a bridesmaid or mother to get it for you and its even cheaper ( and they are happy to help -- i did not even see my one, but the bridesmaid knew exactly what i was after !)
limit the number of bridemaids, to one if at all possible ( the less number of bridesmaids, less dresses you have to buy). i got one from debenhams a cocktail dress in the sales for 80 quid and the bridemaid is actually happy she can wear it again...

cake, i spent a fir bit of money one the cake, but hey it was the first thing i got, so i was a bit naive...
only buy two or three tiers or else you ll be eating cake the same time next year !
print some cake boxes, done that too but forgot them on the day ( so poeple can help you eating the cake ). that went reaaly well, we gave away most of our cake ! and people really liked that... ( give some to the neighbours if you have some left, they will enjoy that too, while you are on honeymoon).

honeymoon. if at all possible get the guests to cover the honeymoon, we thought about that but the destination we went to wasn t the easiest, if your destination is usual enough, then it will work wonders on your budget and you will appreciate the guests presents even more .

get baskets for the favours in jumbletown and decorate them, it works really well for the favours.
for the favours i had maltesers ( you should have seen the face of the guy in tesco when i bought 60 megapacks of maltesers...), which worked out a lot cheaper than having them done. and some champagne bottles a kind jumbeltowner gave me and they worked wonders... thanks again lislaw for those everyone enjoyed them.

car
i got my father in law to pick me up and we decorated his car. i had no church as it was a civil ceremony and it works out that no one even saw the car as everyone was already seated when i arrived to the venue. another few hundred saved there.

i hope that helps a little,
all the best
hope you have a lovely time,

cascais

Chris P
17-11-2008, 08:39 PM
hiya and first many congratulations to you both
i hope you both have a lovely day...cascais
Hi cascais,

I remember well your thread in the Wanted forum -- you were the first "JumbleTown bride" :) in that you were determined to have an environmentally-friendly wedding that didn't bankrupt you! You set the example for all future green brides-to-be. Well done again!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

bluecurlygirl
18-11-2008, 03:56 PM
My sister was at a wedding last week where the mother of the bride made the cake, it was 3 seperate tiers of chocolate biscuit cake (the bride's favourite!) the cake was decorated with flakes all around the side and tied with a ribbon, it looked (and tasted) amazing and cost nothing compared to traditional cakes. I will try and get a photo but if you google image search "chocolate flake cake" you'll see what it looked like.

My brother had a chocolate biscuit cake at his wedding a few years back and it had loads of coconut in it. My mammy told me it wasn't as nice as mine (which started out as hers but I hijacked it when I got older!). I have a recipe if anyone wants it. I make it for birthday parties for my kids/nieces/nephews and they love it (as do the adults). I always have to make an extra one to bring in to the tea club at work! No cooking involved and easy to make. If you have any kids in the family they'll love helping out because it's very messy, full of chocolate and they eat half of it before it hits the tins! Will upload photographic evidence of this later!!!

bluecurlygirl
18-11-2008, 04:02 PM
I've included mars bar squares as well. These would do as favours for anyone with a sweet tooth!


GORGEOUS CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE
(For 2lb loaf tin)

Ingredients

½ lb margarine breakfast cup of sugar
1 – 2 pkts Marietta biscuits Tablespoon cocoa
2 eggs

Method

1. Melt margarine and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat.

2. Break biscuits into bite size pieces.

3. When margarine and sugar have completely melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Beat eggs and add to margarine mixture when almost cool. Mix in cocoa at this stage also.

5. Stir in the biscuits until they are all completely covered with the chocolate mixture.

6. Spoon the mixture into a greased tin and leave to set overnight in the fridge (if you can wait that long).

7. Throw everybody out of the house, put on a good movie and eat as much of the cake as you can stomach all by yourself!!!!!


GORGEOUS MARS BAR SQUARES

Ingredients

3 oz marshmallows 3 oz butter 3 mars bars
Cooking chocolate (milk) Rice Krispies

Method

1. Melt marshmallows, butter and chopped up mars bars in bowl over saucepan of hot water.

2. Stir in Rice Krispies.

3. Spoon into greased tin and leave in fridge to set.

4. When set, melt cooking chocolate in bowl over saucepan of hot water and pour over the rice krispie mixture.

5. Allow to set and cut into squares with a hot knife.

Enjoy!

Yes she's literally ladeling it into her!!!

shonastar
20-11-2008, 09:13 AM
Wow, bluecurlygirl, your little girl is so adorable!!! Sorry this comment is so short............I'm off to the shops to buy marshmallows, mars bars, chocolate etc. Can't wait to try out your fab recipe xxx

paprika
20-11-2008, 03:05 PM
Hi all,

I was able to save some money on my wedding on the jewells as well. One of my friends is very crafty and as a wedding gift she made my earrings, necklace and bracelet. They were made of small white beads and wire and the outcome was faboulus!

Regards,
p

Thanks Dave for adding the pic!

The bracelet is not on pic as it broke, and just sent it off to you Elnr, that's the white beads;)
I had two necklaces, as I changed dress at midnight and jewellery also.

Elnr83
20-11-2008, 03:42 PM
I was only thinking of making my own today!!

Elnr83
21-11-2008, 08:34 AM
They look stunning!!!

Thanks for sending me the beads :)

I'll have to start my research on how to bead like that rather than the straight line that I'm doing at the moment ha ha!

Paula Fleming
21-11-2008, 11:08 PM
hi. i work in a hotel dealing wedding is my job. i get the room ready from start to finish. iv seen sum nice ideas people do to save money. Make your own wedding invites. its very personal and you get to put what you like on the invite. eg, photo of your selfs. i saw sum lovely table decorations that are simple one that was lovely was sea shells collected from beaches, filled with sand and a tea light in it. looks great. others include flower heads like (Daisys) sprinkled on table, or flower pettels (Available from florist quiet cheep if you get them when they few days old.)

Make your own cake, or have few friends each make a tier, or sum lovely wedding cakes pre made and quiet cheep in the likes of M&S'

Use fresh ivory around your top table (Pinned to the table cloth) looks fantastic and cost nuting.

hotels offer special rates for week day weddings saving a lot of money.

Buy your wine in the likes of tesco or aldi, much cheaper than geting from hotel.

instead of favours for guests, make a small donation to your favourite charity and put note on table for guests to let them know. (much better than silly chocolates or that)

Hire all clothing, dress and suits. much much cheaper.

No need to have a band and a dj, go with either or.

No need for a phototographer as now adays photos can be taken from dvd, so if you have a dvd guy to make a dvd, after wedding sit down and pick clips you like, have them printer and make your own album. then you get to see ecactly what photos go in.

instead of a big traditional meal , why not do a self service buffet, hot and cold dishes. its a big thing these days in hotels

ask sum friends sum close friends or family instead of buying gifts to go together to pay for sumthing like the car, i did this at my wedding with a few bills and my family were delighted as then they dident have to go and try buy me a present.

if there a local dance school around (irish dancing) ask would they mind cuming to your wedding after the dinner and doing a bit of a show. its all the rage at the moment and they be only to happy to.

Hope some of this helps you. if i can help any more just leave me a message and il get back to you. gud luck

bluecurlygirl
21-11-2008, 11:29 PM
Wow, bluecurlygirl, your little girl is so adorable!!! Sorry this comment is so short............I'm off to the shops to buy marshmallows, mars bars, chocolate etc. Can't wait to try out your fab recipe xxx

Enjoy... love messy stuff like this - always good fun with chocolate!! & no cooking so easy for mammy and safe for kids to go the whole way through the process. Mmmm, scraping the bowl.. Buying ingredients tomorrow myself now. Cheers!

bluecurlygirl
21-11-2008, 11:45 PM
Great idea with the asking family to pay for stuff. We did that for my sister's wedding instead of buying a kitchen appliance together or something we paid for the band and car as it turned out which really helped them out and the wedding ended up hardly costing them anything. My brother got his wedding entirely as a wedding present - so before the day started everything was paid for and not by them! All for giving them a good start. Also if any of your mates are decent singers and they're going to be there anyway ask them if they would sing at the church as your present. That's how I got started as a wedding singer!! I love it - usually cry!!! Plus, it'd be lovely to have one of your best friends playing a key part in the ceremony.

bluecurlygirl
21-11-2008, 11:47 PM
They jewellry is absolutely gorgeous. Bet it looks even more stunning on. Seriously well-made - I wouldn't have the patience I'm afraid. Fair play.

greenone
03-12-2008, 10:32 PM
All the best ideas have been covered already, but I too work in a wedding venue (I work lots of places, but this is one of my favourites)
There are great deals for weddings on Monday/Tuesday, up to 15% off the main course and free champagne reception, etc.
IMO, favours are a complete waste of time. I have seen people splash out on expensive belleek, sterling silver, or just sweeties and the guests left them behind, dropped them and were generally unimpressed. Its quite disgusting how little regard people have for the generous intention of their hosts.
I made my own wedding invitations and delivered some by hand too. I printed a little picture on the envelopes to match the cards too. I didn't bother with place names and in hindsight, shouldn't have bothered with a table plan either. Plenty of people wander off to sit with friends or arrived late and slipped into the first available seat. And it wasn't just my guests, I regularly answer the phone at work on wedding days to the question 'What time are you serving the meal?'. Wedding guests don't seem to want to bother with all that hanging around???
My aunt did my flowers and she was fantastically green! She used cans (peaches I think) as the base and folded serviettes and florist sheeting around them. She had to eat a lot of peaches. She then used copper pipes that her plumber had left behind. She cut them as she needed them and used limes in the decoration. She got the flowers from Smithfield.
Good luck with the big day!

bluecurlygirl
12-12-2008, 11:02 AM
..... you never know!

kevinsmith
11-02-2009, 01:02 PM
In just over six months my daughter is getting married. Now that she’s set a date, I’m shopping for wedding invitations. I have seen many designs but can’t find anything I like. Have you had any experience with ordering well-designed wedding invitations?

jenniferalan
11-02-2009, 01:14 PM
I haven't any experience with Weddings but for my 21st last year I looked up websites that had free downloadable templates.

I went and bought nice water marked card.

Then i went to an internet cafe, arranged the template to fit 4 invitations on one a4 card, then typed into print format screen how many i wanted to print, for example for 100 invitations I entered 25 copies.

I cost me 0.08c 1 print a coloured A4 sheet (4 invitations)

Buy some pretty envelopes, write in names of guest etc and ta-dah!

lisaphelan
11-02-2009, 01:23 PM
i was at a wedding in westport a few years ago and they had lego men on the invatations, very trendy: here is something like it:
http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2320/2227352163_000fd753dd.jpg%3Fv%3D1204017663&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/11246063%40N07/2227352163&usg=__8-moCl74Ip6LK-_I7VnrwYM3SY8=&h=356&w=500&sz=96&hl=en&start=42&um=1&tbnid=nAOrJBTF2KD6UM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlego%2Bwedding%2Binvitations%26start%3D21%26ndsp%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3Dcxa%26sa%3DN

also lego wedding cake!!! :
http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sheknowsparties.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/lego-cake-thumb.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sheknowsparties.com/cool-lego-cakes/&usg=__1TXScikqb6VZLTe5H7MWUMNcptQ=&h=179&w=244&sz=17&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=3lJge4Y7DPs16M:&tbnh=81&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlego%2Bwedding%2Binvitations%26ndsp%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3DYya%26sa%3DN

colmsmum
11-02-2009, 02:00 PM
Hiya,

If your interested in handmade invitations, I received 2 beautiful samples from www.blissfuldesigns.co.uk, they'll send you two of your choice free. Also have a look at www.weddingaccessories.net and www.invitesgalore.com both have international shipping and loads to choose from.

Good luck,
colmsmum.

cathy
11-02-2009, 05:49 PM
as many of you may know , I m involved with a local charity shop.We got inn a NEW, with tags size 8 dress, but they are selling it for 50 euro..big saving , its worth about 500..so deffo hit the chairty shops.
Cathy

xmillyx2007
11-02-2009, 08:03 PM
I'm just after been on ebay looking at cheap dresses, not for a wedding just for myself and a couple of lovely dresses were on the pages, they said prom or debs dress but when you actually click into them there wedding and bridesmaid dresses... This person makes them to fit so if you see something you like you can contact her via ebay or email and she makes them to fit...
They are fab i couldn't belive my eyes... If you want i can try get her email address for you... or ebay details... they are cheap too the wedding dress was 11.00euro but 50.00euro to post and the bridesmaid/debs were 40.00euro
but only 18.00 to post... Really worth a look...

Chris P
11-02-2009, 08:13 PM
Three Green Wedding Videos on JumbleTown's "GreenTube"...here:

http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=45282
http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=45284
http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=45286

Ocker
12-02-2009, 01:03 PM
Young Kiara has decided to wed
So she’s looking quite hard for a bed
So JTers please do your best
To make sure Kiara has rest
Colour? Doesnt matter as long as it’s red.

waterwave
15-02-2009, 10:01 PM
For our table decorations we collected shells from the beach and spray painted them silver - but you could use any colour - we scattered them all around the table.

We got the hotel to make a punch, bought white wine boxes in lidl and mixed with sparkling water and added berries, eg blue berries and strawberries etc, went down very well as people entered the hotel.

We also had a buffet, we live by the sea so took advantage of the local fishing boats!!

Got our rings locally made - cost 500 euro and they are unique - only two in the world!!

Hope this helps!

Oh and sent thank you cards as Christmas cards!!

kaydarragh
14-03-2009, 12:44 PM
After reading posts in this thread I notice ppl talking about the marks an spensers cake. I used it and was very pleased with the result. My florist gave me cut roses to theme in but any flowers would do.. Also I used an Avon ornament for my cake topper as I loved bears. In total it cost € 120 as opposed to the €300- €400 quotes I'd been given

heart
14-03-2009, 07:55 PM
hi just thought i would tell u about my wedding. the money was very low and we didnt want to cancel it so we had the reception in our local pub. we had a hot and cold buffet. we still had the band followed by the dj. it was an amazing nite and because we had more money to spend on it we were able to ask all our family and friends for the whole day. we both really enjoyed it and didnt cost half of what a hotel would have cost us. if i could i would do it again tomorrow.

Tribesman06
19-03-2009, 11:23 AM
Cheap wedding:

Meal: Get everbody to go to a drive through fast food joint and buy their own.
Music: Get all cars to tune into the same radio station and you are sorted.
Photos: Let the local papers know in advance (preferably the local free paper). Pick up your free paper and cut out the photos.
Video: Let your local RTE, TV3 and TG4 reporters know and have someone video the news that night.........it will surely be on.
Total Cost: Approx €15 for meal deals for the two of ye.


I proposed the above to my fiance 11 years ago. Surprisingly she didn't go for it and even more surprisingly we are still happily married.

Sarah Traynor
23-03-2009, 10:20 PM
Hello everyone, I stumbled across this thread doing some wedding research. I just wanted to stick my head in to the discussion and say hi! I wrote a book about saving money for your big day, 'How to have a Champagne Wedding on a Buck's Fizz Budget'. Recently I partnered up with Aisling Mackey of www.diywedding.ie (stationery, favours, decorations) to put together www.budgetwedding.ie We are happy with it so far, it is evolving with publicity which is bringing in lots of new suggestions.

I really like your suggestions and would love if you would contribute some of them to our site! Or just have a look and tell me what you think?!

All the best,
Sarah

Moeby
23-03-2009, 11:18 PM
Hi I will be married 22 years in August, I know weddings these days cost a fortune and one wedding has to be better than the next. I have been to a number of weddings in the last few years an cannot believe the amount of money wasted just for one day. I know of someone in England that borrowed £50,000 for his wedding went to all the rounds and a year later was getting divorced and was still paying the bill!!!

I don't want to sound like an old fogie, but I think weddings are really getting out of hand, I think nowadays when there is a recession you will be respected more for saving money rather than wasting it. (The new trend now, and the bragging seems to be OH I SAVE MONEY BY GOING HERE, OR I'M CUTTING DOWN BY?)so you will actually be more trendy by cutting down on costs.

When we got married we were living in England and came to get back to Ireland to get married, we had the expense of staying in Ireland for 2 weeks and 2 weeks honeymoon in Spain (I know Spain wouldn't be good enough by today's standards but it was an achievement for us).

My sister did the flowers, my sister-in-law made a fabulous cake, the dresses were hired (on the Monday and we were getting married on the Thursday), my cousin drove me to the wedding and to the reception and we had the best time ever. Both families were down to earth and there was no pretense at trying to live a high life, we had an ordinary band with lots of singers from the family including myself and everyone had a ball. We had invited just family with an open invitation to the evening celebrations and we were told that it was the best wedding that they had been at in years. A few weddings that I attended were so well organised and there was no sing song etc. and everyone complained that they were boring.

Oh, by the way I did everyone's hair, including my own, (I'm a hairdresser) and at 10 to 2 (the wedding was at 2) I was asking where everyone was gone, I was still in a track suit with rollers in my hair, only to be told everyone was gone to the church!!

Just a thought, be yourselves and have the craic, don't try to be too fancy nobody appreciates it, everyone just wants to let their hair down at a wedding not watching their Ps and Qs as what seems to happen at weddings now.

At the end of the day, we are still married after 22 years and have 4 fabulous kids. We still live simply and it works, that's the important thing. Kind regards.

kila2008
24-03-2009, 12:09 AM
Hey Sarah, had a look at the site...looks good...was actually considering setting up a similar site a few months back with another girl I know off the wedding forums but to focus more on DIY projects from scratch rather than buying DIY kits. Personally I think if you are going to make your own invites, favours, wedding stuff....a huge part of the experience is actually designing the stuff yourself, whereas if you buy one of the DIY kits that you refer to, then the designs are usually more or less set out beforehand and you are just assembling rather than designing.

I actually started this thread to share some of the ideas/tips that I had gathered through posting & reading posts on a variety of wedding forums and because there are soooo many talented, creative people on here that I wanted to hear the views of.

I have just set up a blog a few days ago instead of a website (www.iscratchyourbackyouscratchmine.blogspot.com) as I would like to offer whatever skills I have to help people out on a voluntary basis. I feel that during the Recession, people need to help each other out as much as possible and having seen the excellent generosity and spirit demonstrated here on this site and other recycling/freecycling sites, I'm sure that there are other people that share my views on this.

I'm on a year out from studying architecture myself (after 3 completing 3yrs of a 5yr course) and instead of finding architectural work experience as I thought I would during this year, I have discovered that my chosen profession is now in danger due to the Recession.

I'm currently making favour boxes for my friend from scratch....cutting out the actual boxes using a free template I found online....printing little personalised labels...as I can source the materials close to home and hand them to my friend in person and its nice to be able to help out.

I also helped my other friend out with DIY projects for her wedding last summer and I'm hoping to do a few for my sister who is getting married this summer as well.

I enjoy crafting and I'm more than happy to lend a hand to anyone that wants an extra set of hands to make stuff for their wedding (for free of course!)

Not sure if you have looked at this site already Sarah, but I love reading the posts on www.projectwedding.com - forum section - do-it-yourself - loads of excellent ideas on there for very achievable diy projects with fantastic results.

Best of luck with the site!

Ocker
24-03-2009, 12:34 AM
Cheap weddings, never in my family. Advice from generations back, "Son, be like yer ancestors, stay sober and single and bring yer kids up the same way"
I'm not breaking that chain !

lopats
08-04-2009, 10:47 AM
Hi folks, i was married in december 2006 and know how expensive weddings and all the related things can be.

In relation to budget wedding tips, we got a friend to make the cake, but the M & S cakes are lovely just add fresh flowers, or if any one knows some one who would make cake for you (we just had a normal fruit type ike christmas cake) and then you could just pay for some one to ice it
Wedding dress: Ebay is where i bought mine, and only needed small alterations, we were married on a thursday so had the use of the whole venue for the entire day and night free of charge (they charge for friday and saturdays).

PS Those paper flowers sound lovely.

Sarah Traynor
12-04-2009, 09:10 PM
Kila2008 - I am sorry i am only returing to this thread today, I didn't realise you had replied. Well done on the blog, it is a great idea! I love that site projectwedding, I hadn't come across it.

Making invitations from absolute scratch, design etc sounds fantastic. I had mine designed by a girl in London for my wedding! (cheaper in England to get them designed!) I'd love to see your handywork! Aisling Mackey (who set up the site) runs a craft supplies company as well as www.diywedding.ie so there are lots of from scratch items there too. A lot of people would be afraid to go completely DIY on invites (me! - all thumbs) so I think the kits fit for them.

I must PM you.

Sarah

kingo
20-04-2009, 02:46 PM
I'm sure some of these have been mentioned before but if it helps anyone then I have one or two tips...
Flowers - Pick your own from your garden and tie them the day before and stick them in the fridge. If you want some different ones then plant them in time and grow your own.
Wine - Check out German Wine and get the names of some local importers/restaurants. The wine is cheap and amazing (Organic in most cases so no hangover!)
Shoes - They only hurt so get a cheap pairt of runners and stick on a few frills. You can get actual wedding runners on line from America for about $40 or so which is still cheaper than uncomfortable shoes. I wore them and you couldn't see them and when I lifted the dress to show people they loved them!
Cake - Anyone got an Auntie, Neighbour etc. that makes a good Christmas cake? It will be perfect. You can decorate it or get some one who is good at Art to do it!
Invites and Favors - Cara Craft Supplies... Google them. SOOOOO Cheap
Car's - Nobody really looks at the car. Borrow a nice Merc or Jag of someone. Some hotels will include it in their package.
Video - Get a friend to do it.
Photo's - Everyone has a digital camera. Put your email address on a nice card where everyone is sitting and ask them to send them to you. Can also put your thank you cards here and it will save you the price of a stamp! It can add up with 100 guests!!
Band - No avoiding... Good band = Good wedding. Barter with them and see if you can get them to drop the price.
DJ - Get your gadget obsessed mate to down load all your fav disco tunes to an ipod and plug it in. Most hotels have disco lights already!
Good Luck!!!

dublinseven
05-05-2009, 08:23 PM
hi, I'm getting married in july, my aunt is making the wedding cake. The hotel don't have a cake stand to suit the cake she's making. Does anyone know of where you can buy or rent a cake stand at a reasonable price? I need a two tier stand.
appreciate any suggestions

keep-it-tidy
26-05-2009, 03:25 PM
Bump^

...there might be a few more helpful ideas for couples who want a wedding but cannot afford the expense most ppl get into debt for!

bluecurlygirl
27-05-2009, 02:00 PM
hi, I'm getting married in july, my aunt is making the wedding cake. The hotel don't have a cake stand to suit the cake she's making. Does anyone know of where you can buy or rent a cake stand at a reasonable price? I need a two tier stand.
appreciate any suggestions

Here's a link with cake stands on sale but it's in uk so check postage. Still looking for ya.

http://www.sugarshack.co.uk/category/250/2_tier

sparkwell
27-05-2009, 02:18 PM
Have a look at ebay. I just googled cake stands and found some there.

bluecurlygirl
27-05-2009, 02:19 PM
hi, I'm getting married in july, my aunt is making the wedding cake. The hotel don't have a cake stand to suit the cake she's making. Does anyone know of where you can buy or rent a cake stand at a reasonable price? I need a two tier stand.
appreciate any suggestions

Actually, why not just use two cake boards trimmed with fancy wrapping paper and an acrylic cake separator or something like that?

bluecurlygirl
27-05-2009, 02:22 PM
Have a look at ebay. I just googled cake stands and found some there.

Yeah but did you see the postage costs? Some of them are charging €35 for postage when the cake stand costs €17-18!!!!

bluecurlygirl
27-05-2009, 02:33 PM
Here's a link:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/457307/how_to_make_your_own_cake_stand.html

bluecurlygirl
27-05-2009, 03:01 PM
More links for making your own cake stand:

http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/please-post-alternative-cake-stand-pictures

These are made from old vases, egg cups, plates....
http://www.craftynest.com/2008/10/repurposed-cake-stands/

Taja
09-06-2009, 07:50 AM
Does anyone know were you can buy sugared almonds for wedding favours ive got all the stuff to make them and was even in england the weekend just gone and could not find 1 place that sold them? just curious if anyone would know were u can buy them from? either Dublin or Northen Ireland?

Thanks

Fizzywitch
09-06-2009, 09:12 AM
Does anyone know were you can buy sugared almonds for wedding favours ive got all the stuff to make them and was even in england the weekend just gone and could not find 1 place that sold them? just curious if anyone would know were u can buy them from? either Dublin or Northen Ireland?

Thanks

Hi,

There is an old fashioned sweet shop on the main street in Enniskillen
http://www.mrsomalleys.co.uk/
I have just checked the Enniskillen website and they do have them.

But I use this shop in England and they post over here. They are lovely people and nothing is too much trouble for them!
If they haven't got any in stock, they will try to source for you.
http://www.somethingsweet.co.uk/

Hope this helps

bluecurlygirl
09-06-2009, 02:24 PM
http://www.diywedding.ie/candypress/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=119

Cheapest sugared almonds I've found so far and there's a jt member running it as far as I know.

Taja
09-06-2009, 03:09 PM
Thanks so much! ill check them both out and see what i can get Thank you

jackiet
12-06-2009, 10:07 AM
Hi

Fashion Express Dresses has just launched a wedding and bridesmaid brochure, all bridesmaid dresses only 150 euro. You have to email them and they will email the brochure to you fashionexpress@live.com, their website is http://stores.shop.ebay.ie/Fashion-Express-Dresses they also sell debs and evening dresses.

To recycle after sell the dresses on buy and sell or donedeal for 50% of the price, bridesmaid dresses would only cost you 75 euro's then.

And they have a sample dress that you can view to see the quality.

cinderella
12-06-2009, 11:27 AM
WEDDING CAKE:

I got married 1.5yrs ago and as a cost saving measure we decided to have 2 fake tiers and only 1 real for our wedding cake. This was great, as there was enough to go around on the night, without being left with loads to bring home the next day and feel that you HAVE to eat it! :-)
I used a lady based in Glenageary who does it as a hobby more than for the money, so you're not going to some company chain that is thinking of the pound signs when you utter the word 'WEDDING'. I can forward her number to you if you would like to contact her - pls send PM.

WINE:

We decided to go down the 'corkage' route and bought our wine in Tesco's. I'm not sure if they offer the same deals now, but we bought wine that was on offer at the time (obviously tasting it first) and then got an additional 5% off for every 6 bottles of wine we bought. Even with the corkage fee at the venue, we still saved money, AND were given about 12 bottles back the next day that weren't used. Now that's honesty for you....

Plus, you're gaining clubcard points when in Tesco's....

Taja
12-06-2009, 10:39 PM
hi, I'm getting married in july, my aunt is making the wedding cake. The hotel don't have a cake stand to suit the cake she's making. Does anyone know of where you can buy or rent a cake stand at a reasonable price? I need a two tier stand.
appreciate any suggestions


Hi, i was going to make my own wedding cake as realised icing was really easy and i told my mum in law and she went and baught me a cake stand im not sure were from but ive decided to get a cake from marks and spencers cos its cheep and they look nice without the hastle so next time i talk to her ill ask her were she got it from and let you know what kind of stand do u want like a traditional 3 tier stand as now u can get the stands that go in a row kind of thing, but also marks and spencers sell the tiers roughly £6 for pack of 3 so u could put it on a cake board with fancy paper on the bottom as someone already sugested but depending on how many tiers ur cake has on how many packs of the tires ud need to buy.

Also just to add tesco now sell the wedding cakes as noticed last week and there cheeper than marks and sparks but bit smaller.

Taja
12-06-2009, 10:47 PM
Hi

Fashion Express Dresses has just launched a wedding and bridesmaid brochure, all bridesmaid dresses only 150 euro. You have to email them and they will email the brochure to you fashionexpress@live.com, their website is http://stores.shop.ebay.ie/Fashion-Express-Dresses they also sell debs and evening dresses.

To recycle after sell the dresses on buy and sell or donedeal for 50% of the price, bridesmaid dresses would only cost you 75 euro's then.

And they have a sample dress that you can view to see the quality.



I was in dublin few weeks ago and went to shop called Alexander Bridal as my friend was picking up her daughters conformation dress, and as i was walking out they had a rail with about 20 dress's on from ages 4 to 11ish and all the dresses were reduced to 25 euro and my neice is coming to my wedding and didnt have her dress so baught one just hoping it would fit and looks perfect on, its was a propper flower girls dress and only cost 25 euro so if anyone only having 1 bridesmaid then deffo worth a look!

kila2008
13-06-2009, 12:40 AM
Regarding the cake stand...is it necessary for you to have a space between your tiers? My sister made a 4 tier wedding cake recently for her boyfriend's sister and instead of using a cake stand, the different tiers were stacked directly on top of each other. The lower tiers were dowelled (she used white plastic dowels she bought online but perhaps you could use timber dowels??) in order to support the next tier overhead. Each tier has its own cake board but just the type that are cover in tin-foil type stuff. She was putting black ribbon around the tiers so she also covered the edges of the cake boards in thinner black ribbon.

I have to say that it looked absolutely fabulous and I would usually be a criticising cow...lol!

Taja
13-06-2009, 10:32 PM
Regarding the cake stand...is it necessary for you to have a space between your tiers? My sister made a 4 tier wedding cake recently for her boyfriend's sister and instead of using a cake stand, the different tiers were stacked directly on top of each other. The lower tiers were dowelled (she used white plastic dowels she bought online but perhaps you could use timber dowels??) in order to support the next tier overhead. Each tier has its own cake board but just the type that are cover in tin-foil type stuff. She was putting black ribbon around the tiers so she also covered the edges of the cake boards in thinner black ribbon.

I have to say that it looked absolutely fabulous and I would usually be a criticising cow...lol!


I got my cake stand today... well it wasnt a cake stand it was 4 tiers in a packet that u just put on top of each other but ive seen the ones ur on about with no tiers just the cake and they do look really nice but my bf is old fashioned and wants tiers but they had the price on and it was 6.10 euro from birthdays for a pack of 4 tiers but sure if you go North ull get them cheeper these were just plain white but they have some in marks and spencer which i thorugh was nice for the same price

David=Theresa
14-06-2009, 04:21 PM
i recently stumbled upon a site called bridesfirstchoice which allows u to rent all the dressess for the day which i thought was a great idea..at i would assume a fraction of the cost

cheepwedding
15-06-2009, 12:13 AM
Instead of having flowers in the church I had candles. Family and friends donated candle holders and stands for the day and everyone comented on how beautiful the church was. The people who got married the day before had so many flowers to go to the hotel they got left in the confessional booths and nobody noticed!!! Is there a need?!

kila2008
15-06-2009, 02:15 PM
Instead of having flowers in the church I had candles. Family and friends donated candle holders and stands for the day and everyone comented on how beautiful the church was. The people who got married the day before had so many flowers to go to the hotel they got left in the confessional booths and nobody noticed!!! Is there a need?!


I have noticed that a lot of weddings in my local church lately are using plain cream/ivory pillar candles with ivy (free from the garden) on the windows and they look beautiful and you can get pillar candles cheaply in a lot of pound (sorry euro) shops. Also, if time is one your side, keep an eye out in Lidl coming up to xmas as they usually do packs of ivory/cream candles in different shapes/sizes and packs of pillar candles and usually they are quite reasonable in price.

kincorababe
16-06-2009, 04:03 PM
Just a couple of saving ideas for you.....without losing attention to detail.

Invitations - buy the cream cards and envelopes - approx 50 in a box for 9.99. (Art and Hobbie Store) Print the information on white paper and glue to the inside. Get indian cotton paper to match your colour scheme and rip it into uneven squares (use 2 colours and overlap them). Put a gold sticker on top. Get gold stickers that say Wedding Invitation and put in the bottom corner. In total - for 150 invitations - it was €52 and everyone comments on how unusual and beautiful they are. If I have any left, I will take a photo and put up.

Photographer - Try asking a graduating art student to do the photos. Many want to increase their portfolio and are a fraction of the cost. Get them to put on a disc and print as you want them - not the €30 for each photo I paid!!!

PArty favors - only give to women. Men do not appreciate them. Alternatively - on ebay you could get candles in tins that have your names, date and picture on them for the women and match books to match for the gentlemen. I think my wedding favors were approx €60.

Another option - and I think it is one that everyone should consider - is get family members to buy something towards the wedding - like the cake or favors or maybe several contribute towards one thing.

Will post more ideas when I get a chance

pink sparkles
15-08-2009, 10:14 PM
Hey all, i'm not getting married but i think this could be an interested money saving tip for ye! I found a site called swapshop
http://www.swopshop.ie/gallery.php
You swap your old clothes that you dont wear anymore (and i know us ladies have loads of those that just hang in the wardrobe lol) in exchange for other clothes (some designer) there are some lovely things like dresses, maybe they could be useful for bridesmaid dresses, they have hangbags and shoes also.
The shop is in dublin so just though it may be a useful thing to know for money saving!

Best of luck with everyone's wedding :)

Rose.

cdnmum
26-08-2009, 09:53 PM
Hi, I got married on a really tight budget, as we were paying for our own wedding and my husband was still in school. I was the only one with a job so I paid for the whole wedding. It was in early October in Canada, which is when sunflowers bloom and when Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. It's a time of year when everything seems to be ready to harvest so, in keeping with the season, I did my table decorations in a harvest theme. I planned ahead and bought three little terracotta pots for each table, some soil, and a few envelopes of mixed miniature sunflower seeds and planted them on the date recommended on the envelope. Now I'm no genius, but sunflowers are pretty easy to grow and they all came up and bloomed in time for the wedding. They looked great on the tables and since there were 6 people at each table every couple got to take one pot home... so there was no need for table favours. Total cost of flowers: $40. Also, I bought a mixture of small autumn produce items like apples, pears, mini squash etc. and put on on each person's plate with a little name tag pinned on the front that I had made myself using a calligraphy font on my computer at home. That cost around $15. I had lots of seeds left over and sprinkled them on the tablecloths with some red leaves and voila, the tables looked quite pretty. I know that it is different here in Ireland but I'm sure you could adapt these ideas to suit a season here, for example have a spring wedding and do potted bulbs or something... anyway, that's my two cent worth. Best of luck!

shaunamona
23-10-2009, 12:05 AM
Hi,

I am getting married in Castletown Geoghegan but am not from the area. I was wondering if anyone would know any music students, that can sing and maybe play an instument at the wedding. Also a videographer student.

Any help would be great

Thanks
Shauna

dee1
31-10-2009, 12:00 AM
Hi,

I am getting married in Castletown Geoghegan but am not from the area. I was wondering if anyone would know any music students, that can sing and maybe play an instument at the wedding. Also a videographer student.

Any help would be great

Thanks
Shauna



if they have a church choir you could ask a few of them,that's what we did.we got two videos taken by guests,and apart from the vows side of it .the videos were passed around for the day,supprising how much of your wedding you miss out on.

WEDDING TIPS;get most things as presents from family and close friends.

1=gave my future mother in law my measurements,only saw dress 5 days before wedding,georgous.ivory
2=my flowers were a from my mum.
3=photo album from all guests with camera,they each were asked to donate 10 photos of the day towards the album.
4=bridesmaid wanted a particular colour,told her buy her own,as a laugh,which she did and wore it to dinner dances after.
groom and co didnt want suits,so they wore trousers shirt and jackets,very smart.wore the chlothes after.
5=got our siblings to donate towards band,they also got a disco after.
6=we ordered 1 starter 1dinner 1 desert, no choice's given,we paid.
did the choir and video thing.
Had so much fun wiht friends and family,didnt go to bed till 4.20am. woke up hoarse,next morning from all the laughing and talking, didnt have a honeymoon as aussies were over.but sure we did the honeymoon bit before the wedding,,,lol,,, still had fun though.hows that for a budget....
almost forgot cake from bridesmaid.

valpal
15-01-2010, 06:33 PM
1. Cut down on how many people that you have in your bridal party.

2. You could always have a smaller wedding cake and in the back room have a regular plain sheet cake to cut up for guests. Sheet cakes are a lot cheaper than a huge wedding cake.

3. Choose a better photographer and skip the videographer. How many times are you actually going to watch your wedding? You will most likely hang photos on your wall from your wedding. If you really want a videographer than get a student to do it for you.

4. Try to get family to help bake desserts ahead of time. You can skip the dessert table and serve your cake as dessert if you would like.

5.Watch what you pick for your dinner course. It doesn't have to be fancy or over the top. Sometimes simple meals that are good and filling are the best!

6. Shop around on 'where' you will hold the reception. Ask if they have centerpieces for the tables and what other items they have to offer. A coffee -tea bar would be a cool addition for the dessert table if you don't have too many desserts.

7. Buy inexpensive invites or make simple wedding invites. Most people just 'toss' them on the shelf after opening it.

8. You don't need the most expensive type of alcohol. You could have sparkling wine served to everyone instead of a champagne toast, or only serve champagne to the bridal party.

9. You could try to get a 'bridal sponsor' and tell them your wedding will be used to advertise their company. Well, it is worth a try. They may give you some freebies.. I have seen it done in the USA.

10. I would ask the church if they have a white runner for the aisle. I personally didn't spend much money decorating the church since I felt it was beautiful enough. I bought these 'pull the string bows' that were very inexpensive. They may sell them on ebay. You can decorate every 3rd or 4th pew or something.

bluecurlygirl
17-02-2010, 03:28 PM
Well for what it's worth, I'm not married but I've been at a buffet wedding in the past and quite frankly it was the best wedding I was ever at. Everything was on a tight budget and it didn't matter one bit. The food was great, the music was mighty and the craic was ninety. A few people on here seem to have done their own weddings and stuff so maybe pm them and see how it went.

bluecurlygirl
17-02-2010, 09:57 PM
Well yeah it was v laidback & de fact dat most of the guests did something at the wedding the whole thing meant so much more too e.g. everyone knew there was a tight budget so when my sister & i were invited we were also asked to sing so we did that for our present & other guests knew they weren't having flowers & things like that & suspected why so they offered to do that sort of thing. So they ended up with not too many gift wrapped presents but they thoroughly enjoyed their wedding and all the little things they thought they didn't want! But the food was laid out and there were big long tables set out kinda like you'd see at a banquet a "U" shape. Great crack cos everyone could see everyone else & the fun started there. Then as soon as the tables were cleared after the meal we all got up in our gladrags & rearranged the furniture to clear the dancefloor. We all got our drinks sorted, had a chat and then the band started (who were cousins of the groom) and I think every guest got up to sing at some stage so the dancing went on for about 5 hours I think!! Well I kinda remember 5 hours anyway ;-). Good luck with it wotever you do.

cathyj
26-02-2010, 07:22 PM
Instead of gifts for your bridesmaids, mothers etc - make tokens as an IOU. A nights babysitting/ A day gardening etc - to give as a thank you to your attendants.

Make your own Wonka Bars. Instead of expensive favours - buy a small bar of chocolate (25c) for each guest - make new wrappers on the computer, One choc has 'the golden ticket' and wins a bottle of wine/ champagne etc. A great laugh!

Flowers can be a huge expense. Hiring vases for centrepieces can be a good way to cut down on costs. Pop in your own flowers from the supermarkets. Goldfish bowls/ bubble vases/ tall vases can be hired on www.sweetpeadesigns.ie
There are also ideas of how to double the use of all your flowers. Your pew ends can easily become table centres etc.

Catherine

lislaw
06-03-2010, 09:29 AM
Just looking at a thread in the wanted section for budgeting tips. One jt'er suggested looking in second hand/charity shops ( or even Dunnes etc, now that I think of it) for inexpensive communion dresses to use as flowergirl dresses. And to simply add a waistband/bow in the bridesmaid colours to tie the dress in. I've also suggested adding a tulle underskirt to give the dress more volume and to add trimming to the end of the underskirt in bridesmaid colours.

Merienne
06-03-2010, 10:47 AM
To Bubbles 747- I think buffet wedding meals are great. A lot of people would do them where I'm from. The buffet style has the advantage that everybody can choose what they want, and go back for seconds at their leisure. You just que up table by table, and then sit back down and eat, it's not like you mingle while eating or anything. Queing doesn't take any longer than serving at the tables anyway.

I have to say about the weekday weddings though- not popular with friends and family. Yes, you might save a bit, but think about the fact that everybody has to take time off from work for it. I just don't think that's fair.

I honestly had not heard of favours- to me it's a ridiculous idea. I'm sure the guests honestly couldn't give a damn.

I agree with the people who say cut down on your wedding party- I'm sure you don't need 6 bridesmaids in "Vera Wang". Maybe 2 in "Monsoon" will do.

People here spend such a HUGE amount on wedding gifts. Like so many here have pointed out- ask for parts of the wedding as a present instead, at least from family and close friends. From others you can ask for a contribution to your honeymoon- that way you don't have to worry about having enough spending money saved up.

But lastly- here's a crazy idea... how about considering whether YOU actually want to have a wedding at all. Some of us choose to just be partners, even with kids and all...

TickTock
10-03-2010, 08:07 PM
http://beautifulpaper.typepad.com/oh_so_beautiful_paper/2010/01/jen-dan-wedding-crafting-with-rubber-stamps.html

I was wandering around the internet and found this site which might be of interest to everyone here on the wedding thread. You may not do it exactly the same but there are some interesting ideas. Check out the invitations on the second page.

TickTock
10-03-2010, 08:22 PM
When getting married, couples consult professionals about the event, the catering, the clothes, the hairdresser, the florist, the car hire company, the estate agent, the jeweller, the religious/registrar, the list goes on.

If anyone is considering entering into a (someone please think of another word for it!) 'partnership', could I recommend you have a chat with another professional, a solicitor, regarding what really happens regarding property and children in the case of break-up, or death. I just suggest this as I've heard horror stories.

maggied
11-03-2010, 12:23 AM
hiya tic tock you were very polite with the "partnership" i do have another name or 2 for it but i won't go there lol .but i had a look at that paper website you suggested omg some of the ideas are brill love the place setting tags with the keys very unique and memorable .lots of ideas to "steal"
maggie

TickTock
11-03-2010, 12:40 AM
Glad you liked it Maggied. I always laugh when US sites put O's and X's for hugs and kisses - It just makes me think of Oxo!!

maggied
11-03-2010, 01:35 AM
i know what you mean about the xoxo and i did fall into this trap of signing off with this in texts etc. but only cause my sister brought me back a watch from n.y. and the label was xoxo the sales assistant told her the way it was pronounced was "so so" and i thought it was quirky anyway the watch was only so so cause its long gone and i'm still xoxoxo ing .enough about xoxo have you been crafting lately ?
maggie

TickTock
11-03-2010, 09:55 PM
I've replied to Maggied on the papercrafts thread. Also mentioned there that I neither do the lol thing either as it makes me think of lolling about......and lollipops!

maggied
11-03-2010, 11:55 PM
tick tock , and just what is wrong with lollipops ? kojack never had a problem with them ...lol..(.sorry )
maggied

cathy
12-03-2010, 09:39 AM
My local charity shop has a beautiful designer wedding dress, size 12 , selling for 50 quid and two bridesmaids dress, by vensu? size 10 and 12 for only 80 for both.So its worth popping into your local charity shop.cathy

TickTock
12-03-2010, 10:17 AM
Kojak!.............and don't we all know what a sucker HE was!!!! hee hee.

Cathy, good one - and doesn't Oxfam have a special second hand wedding shop?

Must dash.....late for college!!

Bettd
25-03-2010, 07:10 PM
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Shop around to get a good quote - remember most photographers offer different packages at different prices - you might be able to get them to just take the shots you feel are essential
- Get a photography student - go for one that is nearly finished their course or newly graduated that is interested in doing a nixer.
- Get a family member/friend with a good camera to take the pics for you
- Provide disposable cameras as previous poster suggested - remember quality of some disposable cameras can be a bit dodgy though
- Get some cheap blank cd's - put 1-2 in envelopes on each table with your address and a stamp on the envelope - ask your guests to take the cd home, put the pics from their digital cameras onto the cd and pop them in the post back to you.
- Provide a website address for one of those photo-sharing websites where guests can upload the pics they take of the wedding for you to access

Pat and me got an old-timer from Kilkenny who had been a Press Photographer, and a top professional in his day , because he's retired and just wants something to do , and wants to help young couples get married traditionally in Church in the midst of this recession, because he remembers going through all of it himself and wants to help . And he travelled here to our wedding, Home, Church, Hotel and all in Dublin, charged no travel expenses, gave us two CD's full of the most beautiful photos you could imagine , quietly used the Top Gear in film and digital photography equipment and cameras like the expert he is - a guest remarked that a fellow like that could do it in his sleep ! We asked him how long he had been a photographer. He was a Photographer and a Journalist on a provincial newspaper called The Munster Express in Waterford , altogether a Professional Photographer for forty-four years .

And we got an album too, basic twenty 10X8 photo enlargements, it's gorgeous - but he gave us an address to of a firm called Miniphoto here in Dublin where we could keep adding pages to our album as we liked and as we could afford, plus the address of his professional lab, LSL, just to mention his name, we have added another twenty already , at cost :-)

All in all we had quoted £ 2000 for the fabulous job this old Pro did for us for 500 Euro all told, yes, FIVE HUNDRED , he wanted 600 but settled for 500 Euro up front - and he even gave us a personal present a couple of months afterwards of Pat and me in a beautiful photo he took of Pat placing the ring on my finger at the altar, to a BIG 10x12 inches size in a nice frame - FOR FREE, because he took a liking to us as we did to him, and I'm having him back for when my first is born for the christening when he is to do a huge 16X20 wall portrait for our sitting room of baby, framed and all, and he promised that for less than rwo hundred .

All and all, this old Pro ( sorry for calling you ' old' , Michael ! ) , was a God send, he even attended here at the house as me and my bridesmaids were getting ready, he produced some funny shots too, me in curlers and all, but he captured everything of our wedding day, absolutely everything, and he was working quietly all the time through the reception until he had to go and take the train back to his home in Kilkenny , and didn't charge us for that either !!!

He kept quietly taking the photos like the expert he is all through, we have a wonderful pictorial record from start to finish. He DID insist on posing and taking both our families and us in traditional groups, but we didn't even notice much, and he made sure they were all taken, the traditional photos, before anybody had a drink ! He wouldn' t touch a drink himself all through the day - and it only took him 20 minutes to take as many family groups, again expertly, posed to perfection, I love the skin tones he brought out in me too . We are thrilled with those groups , so are all our friends and guests, we never saw anything quite like it .

A Pro Photographer to his fingertips , a gentleman and a scholar as Pat observed, quiet but amusing, witty, even funny . And all for a mere 500 Euro , we felt like we were robbing the man, but he said he was delighted to be of service as it gives him something to do for the day now that he's semi retired. We just simply can't recommend Michael McGrath of Kilkenny enough , that's him, just google that, Michael McGrath, Photographer, Kilkenny City, and you will thank your lucky stars. He goes anywhere in Ireland just for the day out, Thanks again , Michael, if you ever chance to read this . Bettd xxx

VIDEOGRAPHY
- Although it is an extra cost, I personally feel that it is essential as the day will fly by soooo quickly and the photos will only capture particular moments in time
- Hire a videographer to capture certain parts of the day - vows, cutting the cake, first dance, etc
- Get family members/friends with camcorders to capture the day for you - get a few different people to do this and you can make your own entire video of the day by editing the best bits of the different camcorder tapes
- Get a film student to do a nixer!
Pat and me got an old-timer from Kilkenny who had been a Press Photographer, and a top professional in his day , because he's retired and just wants something to do , and wants to help young couples get married traditionally in Church in the midst of this recession, because he remembers going through all of it himself and wants to help . And he travelled here to our wedding, Home, Church, Hotel and all in Dublin, charged no travel expenses, gave us two CD's full of the most beautiful photos you could imagine , quietly used the Top Gear in film and digital photography equipment and cameras like the expert he is - a guest remarked that a fellow like that could do it in his sleep ! We asked him how long he had been a photographer. He was a Photographer and a Journalist on a provincial newspaper called The Munster Express in Waterford , altogether a Professional Photographer for forty-four years .

And we got an album too, basic twenty 10X8 photo enlargements, it's gorgeous - but he gave us an address to of a firm called Miniphoto here in Dublin where we could keep adding pages to our album as we liked and as we could afford, plus the address of his professional lab, LSL, just to mention his name, we have added another twenty already , at cost :-)

All in all we had quoted £ 2000 for the fabulous job this old Pro did for us for 500 Euro all told, yes, FIVE HUNDRED , he wanted 600 but settled for 500 Euro up front - and he even gave us a personal present a couple of months afterwards of Pat and me in a beautiful photo he took of Pat placing the ring on my finger at the altar, to a BIG 10x12 inches size in a nice frame - FOR FREE, because he took a liking to us as we did to him, and I'm having him back for when my first is born for the christening when he is to do a huge 16X20 wall portrait for our sitting room of baby, framed and all, and he promised that for less than rwo hundred .

All and all, this old Pro ( sorry for calling you ' old' , Michael ! ) , was a God send, he even attended here at the house as me and my bridesmaids were getting ready, he produced some funny shots too, me in curlers and all, but he captured everything of our wedding day, absolutely everything, and he was working quietly all the time through the reception until he had to go and take the train back to his home in Kilkenny , and didn't charge us for that either !!!

He kept quietly taking the photos like the expert he is all through, we have a wonderful pictorial record from start to finish. He DID insist on posing and taking both our families and us in traditional groups, but we didn't even notice much, and he made sure they were all taken, the traditional photos, before anybody had a drink ! He wouldn' t touch a drink himself all through the day - and it only took him 20 minutes to take as many family groups, again expertly, posed to perfection, I love the skin tones he brought out in me too . We are thrilled with those groups , so are all our friends and guests, we never saw anything quite like it .

A Pro Photographer to his fingertips , a gentleman and a scholar as Pat observed, quiet but amusing, witty, even funny . And all for a mere 500 Euro , we felt like we were robbing the man, but he said he was delighted to be of service as it gives him something to do for the day now that he's semi retired. We just simply can't recommend Michael McGrath of Kilkenny enough , that's him, just google that, Michael McGrath, Photographer, Kilkenny City, and you will thank your lucky stars. He goes anywhere in Ireland just for the day out, Thanks again , Michael, if you ever chance to read this . Bettd xxx

Bettd
25-03-2010, 07:21 PM
I'm so totally disorgansed ( I'm a writer) Pat and me got an old-timer from Kilkenny who had been a Press Photographer, and a top professional in his day , because he's retired and just wants something to do , and wants to help young couples get married traditionally in Church in the midst of this recession, because he remembers going through all of it himself and wants to help . And he travelled here to our wedding, Home, Church, Hotel and all in Dublin, charged no travel expenses, gave us two CD's full of the most beautiful photos you could imagine , quietly used the Top Gear in film and digital photography equipment and cameras like the expert he is - a guest remarked that a fellow like that could do it in his sleep ! We asked him how long he had been a photographer. He was a Photographer and a Journalist on a provincial newspaper called The Munster Express in Waterford , altogether a Professional Photographer for forty-four years .

And we got an album too, basic twenty 10X8 photo enlargements, it's gorgeous - but he gave us an address to of a firm called Miniphoto here in Dublin where we could keep adding pages to our album as we liked and as we could afford, plus the address of his professional lab, LSL, just to mention his name, we have added another twenty already , at cost :-)

All in all we had quoted £ 2000 for the fabulous job this old Pro did for us for 500 Euro all told, yes, FIVE HUNDRED , he wanted 600 but settled for 500 Euro up front - and he even gave us a personal present a couple of months afterwards of Pat and me in a beautiful photo he took of Pat placing the ring on my finger at the altar, to a BIG 10x12 inches size in a nice frame - FOR FREE, because he took a liking to us as we did to him, and I'm having him back for when my first is born for the christening when he is to do a huge 16X20 wall portrait for our sitting room of baby, framed and all, and he promised that for less than rwo hundred .

All and all, this old Pro ( sorry for calling you ' old' , Michael ! ) , was a God send, he even attended here at the house as me and my bridesmaids were getting ready, he produced some funny shots too, me in curlers and all, but he captured everything of our wedding day, absolutely everything, and he was working quietly all the time through the reception until he had to go and take the train back to his home in Kilkenny , and didn't charge us for that either !!!

He kept quietly taking the photos like the expert he is all through, we have a wonderful pictorial record from start to finish. He DID insist on posing and taking both our families and us in traditional groups, but we didn't even notice much, and he made sure they were all taken, the traditional photos, before anybody had a drink ! He wouldn' t touch a drink himself all through the day - and it only took him 20 minutes to take as many family groups, again expertly, posed to perfection, I love the skin tones he brought out in me too . We are thrilled with those groups , so are all our friends and guests, we never saw anything quite like it .

A Pro Photographer to his fingertips , a gentleman and a scholar as Pat observed, quiet but amusing, witty, even funny . And all for a mere 500 Euro , we felt like we were robbing the man, but he said he was delighted to be of service as it gives him something to do for the day now that he's semi retired. We just simply can't recommend Michael McGrath of Kilkenny enough , that's him, just google that, Michael McGrath, Photographer, Kilkenny City, and you will thank your lucky stars. He goes anywhere in Ireland just for the day out, Thanks again , Michael, if you ever chance to read this . Bettd xxx I'm so totally disorganised as usual ( I'm a writer )
but Pat has managed to fish out this photographer's details for all here interested, it's Michael McGrath, The Studio, 18 Dominic Street, Kilkenny City . Mobile 0879145714 and email : PhotographerOfKilkenny@gmail.com, also a website at http://KilkennyPhotographer.yolssite.com .
Now that should help make everybody's wedding day who manages to get Michael, and I'm real pleased to be of help. Cheers, Bett .

I'm simply useless at those websites URLs , and now I have to correct that photographer's website URL because Pat has pointed out that I got it wrong, as usual ( GRIN), above . It's http://KilkennyPhotographer.yolasite.com .

Oh and please don't overwhelm the poor man, as he is in his early Sixties and semi-retired, Best Wishes, Bett .

JEZ838
27-10-2010, 11:39 AM
Hi All,

These are the things I'm doing to cut costs.

My uncle is doing the photography for me. He's an amateur but quite good. I am going to book him a room in the hotel as a thanks you.

I will get my wedding dress from www.lightinthebox.com or the wedding outlet near Dublin Airport.http://www.thebridaloutlet.ie/

I am just going to pick up Supermarket flowers and make bouquets the day before. http://www.ehow.com/video_2274028_make-hand_tied-bridal-bouquets.html

I am making invitations from ebay items. I will also check the charity shops for Ribbon and material to give the invites something special. http://www.do-it-yourself-invitations.com/wedding-invitations.html

I am buying favours for the children only. For the adults I will buy small boxes or envelopes and make my own table top trivia using a printer.

Hope this helps someone. Its so expensive even with all the cuts i'm making I'll still have to save over 10,000.

TickTock
27-10-2010, 01:25 PM
Some stuff to check out at your leisure:

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf39336709.tip.html
http://www.veilubridal.com/frugal-wedding.htm
http://www.frugalbride.com/weddingcakes.html (I like the cupcake wedding cake!)
http://www.thefrugallife.com/frugalwed.html
http://www.squidoo.com/cheap-wedding-tips
http://hubpages.com/hub/Frugal-Wedding-Centerpiece
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/10/9-fun-frugal-wedding-ideas.html
http://augandeverythingafter.blogspot.com/ (included just for the lovely photos)
http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/145300328 (wedding stationery ensemble)
http://ecothriftybride.blogspot.com/ (included just for the heck of it)

mkane70
15-01-2011, 08:25 PM
Hi, I cannot pay the silly prices for a wedding cake in November, Infact I refuse to pay in the vacinity of 500 euros for a 3 tiered cake. Its preposterous. , Does anyone know of anyone who makes home made wedding cakes? I know there are loads of talented people who make cakes for friends ,family etc and this option would be perfect- Im looking for a 3 tiered cake, 12/10/8 inches, fondant icing , with navy ribbon, and either real or iced flowers. Flavours would be - ttraditional, choc biscuit and vanilla. I live in the Portlaoise are and would value any help. cheers and happy new yr to u all - Michelle

mkane70
15-01-2011, 08:29 PM
I've heard of the Oxfam shop alright.

I'll definitely be checking it out. You do need to make an appointment though :o)


ive been to oxfam, and its pretty good alright, all sizes, and u do have to make an appointment, be prepared though as these dresses may have makeup on them etc and may require a dry clean. My friend picked up a dress for 350 and it was sensational. she gave it right back to them afterwards...

fionaf
23-01-2011, 12:41 AM
hi, great tip for a fab looking cake, Make a 2 tier cake look like a four or five tier by making the same shape out of cardboard, cover with sheet icing to match real cake layers, if you buy a plain white cake in M&S and add sparkles and a ribbon matching your bridesmaids it looks fab, everyone still gets a piece of cake and your cake looks like it cost hundreds

Purplerain
12-03-2011, 11:21 AM
hi dont know if this is of any use,if you put in a search (Mariannes Brides) this shop is in Wexford and they hire out wedding bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses and all other bits,their dresses are 2011 stock and they do packages.

miss lilac
13-03-2011, 06:16 PM
Saw a programme recently where they used old china tea cups and teapots. Filled them with soil/compost and put lovely bulbs into it a few weeks before the wedding to be ready in time for centre pieces on the tables. Also another hint was to use sellotape across the cup each way to make square shapes in order to put rose stems etc into it without falling out of the cup. They looked lovely. Vintage china is all in at the moment for weddings I believe.

Bettd
28-05-2011, 06:23 PM
Pat and me got an old-timer from Kilkenny who had been a Press Photographer, and a top professional in his day , because he's retired and just wants something to do , and wants to help young couples get married traditionally in Church in the midst of this recession, because he remembers going through all of it himself and wants to help . And he travelled here to our wedding, Home, Church, Hotel and all in Dublin, charged no travel expenses, gave us two CD's full of the most beautiful photos you could imagine , quietly used the Top Gear in film and digital photography equipment and cameras like the expert he is - a guest remarked that a fellow like that could do it in his sleep ! We asked him how long he had been a photographer. He was a Photographer and a Journalist on a provincial newspaper called The Munster Express in Waterford , altogether a Professional Photographer for forty-four years .

And we got an album too, basic twenty 10X8 photo enlargements, it's gorgeous - but he gave us an address to of a firm called Miniphoto here in Dublin where we could keep adding pages to our album as we liked and as we could afford, plus the address of his professional lab, LSL, just to mention his name, we have added another twenty already , at cost :-)

All in all we had quoted £ 2000 for the fabulous job this old Pro did for us for 500 Euro all told, yes, FIVE HUNDRED , he wanted 600 but settled for 500 Euro up front - and he even gave us a personal present a couple of months afterwards of Pat and me in a beautiful photo he took of Pat placing the ring on my finger at the altar, to a BIG 10x12 inches size in a nice frame - FOR FREE, because he took a liking to us as we did to him, and I'm having him back for when my first is born for the christening when he is to do a huge 16X20 wall portrait for our sitting room of baby, framed and all, and he promised that for less than rwo hundred .

All and all, this old Pro ( sorry for calling you ' old' , Michael ! ) , was a God send, he even attended here at the house as me and my bridesmaids were getting ready, he produced some funny shots too, me in curlers and all, but he captured everything of our wedding day, absolutely everything, and he was working quietly all the time through the reception until he had to go and take the train back to his home in Kilkenny , and didn't charge us for that either !!!

He kept quietly taking the photos like the expert he is all through, we have a wonderful pictorial record from start to finish. He DID insist on posing and taking both our families and us in traditional groups, but we didn't even notice much, and he made sure they were all taken, the traditional photos, before anybody had a drink ! He wouldn' t touch a drink himself all through the day - and it only took him 20 minutes to take as many family groups, again expertly, posed to perfection, I love the skin tones he brought out in me too . We are thrilled with those groups , so are all our friends and guests, we never saw anything quite like it .

A Pro Photographer to his fingertips , a gentleman and a scholar as Pat observed, quiet but amusing, witty, even funny . And all for a mere 500 Euro , we felt like we were robbing the man, but he said he was delighted to be of service as it gives him something to do for the day now that he's semi retired. We just simply can't recommend Michael McGrath of Kilkenny enough , that's him, just google that, Michael McGrath, Photographer, Kilkenny City, and you will thank your lucky stars. He goes anywhere in Ireland just for the day out, Thanks again , Michael, if you ever chance to read this . Bettd xxx

Michael McGrath photographed a murderer!!! Seems our old wedding photographer is leading an exciting life, a lot more exciting than folk half his age. He had a dramatic photograph of Garda struggling with an escaped murderer on the ground on a city centre street in broad daylight published right up there on the front page of The Kilkenny People newspaper last week. That's our old wedding photographer Michael McGrath for you, irrespressible, you can't keep a good one down, old photographers never die - they don't fade away either! Bettd.

lushington
01-06-2011, 11:53 AM
Hi, I cannot pay the silly prices for a wedding cake in November, Infact I refuse to pay in the vacinity of 500 euros for a 3 tiered cake. Its preposterous.

500 Euro! That is silly money, I thought that this was budget tips. That is so wimdu oxox

andy61
13-07-2011, 10:20 PM
my mother made cake, mother in-law made dress.
sister in law used same dress.
for recption ask guests to bring food dishes if summer have bar-b-q

melissabell
19-07-2011, 11:19 AM
Wow!!! I think I'll actually use that idea!!! Thanks a mil :)

I noticed the threads you had left for other people who were getting married and I thought I could pick your brains about all your wonderful money saving ideas.

Some you have given me already are brilliant. I'm sure lots of other people could really benefit from them also.

And I thought that there would be loads of DIYers on here who could add in their ideas.

Weddings are so rediculously expensive and they needn't be. There is so much that can be done for cheaper.

A really nice idea I heard of for favours was a little envelope filled with flower seeds with a poem about love growing like a flower on the front. It would be really cheap to do also :o)

REALLY looking forward to all your DIY ideas.

crystal32
07-08-2011, 08:01 PM
Budget Green Bride here,

Great this link has started - everyone should get together for stuff like this more! Theres so much money to be saved!!

link to article in independant here:
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/love-sex/big-white-wedding-our-big-green-wedding-is-a-quarter-of-the-price-2578170.html

..I got married in march - it was the most fun day of my life, and it was mostly handmade by us so it was within our budget. Neither of us are traditional in most senses, so it was easy for us to be original with ideas for our Big Day, and save loads!

We actually got married the day before in the registry office - it only costs €150 & €10 for the cert (which you also have to pay anyway) - but we avoided the marriage course, the flowers / candles / decorations etc for the church, and the "donation" of €500!!!
So, our first wedding was a quiet affair in the Dublin registry office with immediate family only, and we went to the hotel next door and had lunch in the lounge - each paid for their own. The we hit the road for Wicklow where we started dressing the reception room for our Big Day the next day! We invited some guests down that night and had a meal/party in my families house there (the accom was self catering houses so it was cheaper than a hotel), so we saved a few bob, and had a great party to boot! The wedding was in Kippure estate (www.kippure.ie) - its an adventure centre! We all had breakfast together in the dining room to start the day - and then went our separate ways to get ready. My mums friend is a hairdresser, and she did my hair (and the rest of "the girls" – the usual bridal suspects!) - she did an amazing job, and it was her wedding gift to us! My friend is a make up artist, so her gift was to finish my make up and do a few of the girls too. My dress I found in a shop on Aungier St Dublin... its actually a debs dress, but its a ballgown so it was perfect. It was actually purple so I didnt have to go the whole Bridal shop route! (mind you, I did start off there!). My bridesmaid dress was also a debs dress which we got online. My (other) best friend married us in front of our guests which was amazing (another reason why we got wed the day before - we couldnt have legally been wed outside in Ireland!), anyway, she bought her own outfit. My husband bought two suits (one for each day), and he just told the guy in the shop that he was going to a function and wanted to look smart- they did him a great deal and threw in a belt, tie & shirt! The groom and the dads etc all had suits (every fella DOES!) so we let them wear what they wanted. Nobody matched, but when in life (other than weddings) DO people match? As long as everyones comfortable it doesnt really matter if they have the same shade of tie/shirt/suit...does it? We had personalised cufflinks made by an artist I had met - she took a piece from my dress and buttons of mine for them - they were magic! I made all the flowers myself - out of felt and buttons! I spent ages making them, but i loved every bit of it and gave myself enough time. The buttons I got from guests - everyone sent me one, so when I walked down the aisle i had some of everybody with me! I did the flowers for my bridesmaid & two little flower girls hair pieces. My mum covered two (charity shop) baskets with ribbons & the girls threw pot pourri down the aisle in front of us as we walked back down. My friends helped me make the boys button holes & a few brooches - similar to the flowers (buttons & felt) but more personalised for each person wearing them. Our ceremony was unique - we wrote it entirely ourselves. As we werent in a Church, we werent tied to readings or anything we didnt want to say. We each wrote a reading, picked a few poems we loved, and did a celtic hand-fasting (where hands are bound by ribbons to signify the physical bond of marriage). That was it. It was perfect for us. oh yeah - and I sang myself up the aisle!
After that, everyone moved to an area outside where tea & sambos was served and we had our photos. We had dressed the venue ourselves so saved a fortune on the fee there - and it was exactly the homemade tea party feel we wanted. I had made all the centre pieces in advance too. My mum got flowers in lidl the day before and did gorgeous arrangements for around the venue too.
The favours were teacups (that the guests brought themselves and swopped!) filled with sweets and a quote tied to the handle with ribbon. Dinner was a buffet (it was much more relaxed than a formal meal and suited our day better, aside from the obvious that it was the cheapest option!) The meal was gorgeous, and everyone was delighted with the range of choice - and everyone Loves to go back for seconds!!! A number of guests brought desserts, and my sister made our cake so that brought costs down further. It wasnt the "spectacular" kind of cake people usually expect, but we loved it just the same - and so did everyone else because it fitted the relaxed day we had. Afterwards, we went outside and lit some chinese lanterns (that we had got for €2 each in a garage) and let our guests make a wish as they sent up in the sky, it was magical. The band did a brilliant job, and luckily for us, they were good friends so it was a gift too! The usual hilarity followed,and then my husbands dad took over to do DJ with his computer (hooked up to the bands sound system)with all the songs we had uploaded in advance. A great night no doubt about it. Breakfast was a communal affair the next morning - another buffet. It went down a treat. Everyone was relaxed, everyone had had a great time. And we realised our dream.

TIPS:

Go through the list of necessaries and traditionals - and work out what YOU actually want your wedding to say about you two. In doing our budget we realised we didnt LIKE most of the traditional ideas - so we scrapped them!

Budget properly. And stick to it. Work out exactly what you want (and WHY!). Work out what you can really afford. Give yourself a few hundred over budget – just in case!

Don't skimp on a photographer. Its the one thing you cant go back and change - and theyre the ones to give you the memories in print to keep forever. It IS possible to find a very good photographer that doesnt cost the earth. Shop around on it - find a few that you like the style of. See who's offering deals. Haggle. And DO meet them before you book. Ask them their style and how they do it (you dont want a bossy photographer who takes over on the day! Also find out what they are going to give you afterwards (do you HAVE to buy an album to get the photos, how much per photo do they charge, do you get copies of ALL the photos on disc regardless of if you get prints etc.)

Decide at the start that your Big Day is about you and your partner, and love. Its not about stress of fussing or details.... forget this at your peril! As long as you keep it about the real things, everything else will work! I promise!

Give yourself time. Research ideas and give yourself time to change your mind about things. Its worth spending a bit of time on the net just looking up details of other peoples weddings - then make a list of what you do / dont like!

Avoid using the "W" word (wedding!) as much as possible - people who hear it automatically see €€€ signs flashing before them!!! I told people I was going to a fancy dress party, 60th, christening....ANYTHING other than use that word!!! And people still went out of their way to help me - you dont have to tell everyone its for your wedding, you know it is - save yourself some money and keep your mouth shut!

Put your foot down. no matter what the wedding planner / shop assistant /family member (or whoever else!) says... its YOUR day. Its YOUR dream. Its also YOUR money!!!!

Find our what skills and talents family and friends have - people really DO like to get involved, and its ok to ask!!! They can make it your present if you want, and then you've got something useful that you will always remember! Dont underestimate people either - everyone has the ability to be great!

Food - its probably your biggest cost. If youre not happy with the menu, dont use it. Dont be afraid to tailor it more to what you want. Ask for other options, see if they will allow you bring somebody in to cater, or get friends and family to bake and bring! Dont forget YOU'RE paying the bill!

Shop around - but dont drive yourself nuts. you know what you want, work out how much its worth to you, and stick to it. If youre having trouble finding something, delegate the job to a close friend and Move On!

Talk it out - make sure you have a team of 2/3 people you can go to at any time to bitch/moan/rant/cry - & laugh with. Dont overbear any one person, but dont allow any one thing get on top of you. Theres no reason to get upset about anything, it will all work out on the day.

Set time limits and deadlines for each task. If its not done by the time you set, forget about it - leave it behind and move on. If it couldnt be done in the time, its not worth the stress and hassle of pushing twice as hard to get it done - and then the other things suffer for it!!!

Keep some things loose - dont plan everything to a minute detail. If you allow a few things have a bit of room for change on the day it means it cant go wrong because you had no expectation of it! Leave room for surprise and you WILL be surprised! ( I had no idea of hair/makeup/jewellery until I had it together on the day - and I couldnt believe how stress free I was! Believe me, I'm a perfectionist and cant believe I managed to follow this rule myself!)


Thanks for taking the time to read this - I hadnt realised I had so much to say! Now for the reward - SEE our wedding!!!
http://www.giveusagoo.com/blog/?p=1176

The best of luck to any brides to be - your day will be unique & amazing because its exactly what YOU made it!
Crys
x

Chris P
07-08-2011, 08:19 PM
Hi Crystal32,

I've just had a peek at your wedding album -- really impressive stuff!
Many thanks for sharing your words of wisdom and fabulously distinctive album. And finally, congratulations!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

crystal32
07-08-2011, 08:27 PM
Hi Chris,

Thanks!

I've been meaning to get on here and do this for ages - I've just been so busy since we got married! it was the most wonderful and relaxed day ever, and it didnt break the bank either. Everyone is still talking about the weird and wonderful day they had. Nobody will forget it for a long time thats for sure! I just wanted to share because life is too short, and everyone should be happy. Stress isnt a nice thing, and weddings create a LOT of that - but they dont have to! Its amazing what you can do if you believe in it enough and just go for it! plenty of times I wasnt sure if I was mad, but it all paid off in the end!

Good luck to all the budget brides out there - and the JTers of course - theres a wealth of information and resources out there for the taking!
Crys
xxx

Chris P
07-08-2011, 08:39 PM
Hi Chris,

Thanks!

I've been meaning to get on here and do this for ages - I've just been so busy since we got married! it was the most wonderful and relaxed day ever, and it didnt break the bank either. Everyone is still talking about the weird and wonderful day they had. Nobody will forget it for a long time thats for sure! I just wanted to share because life is too short, and everyone should be happy. Stress isnt a nice thing, and weddings create a LOT of that - but they dont have to! Its amazing what you can do if you believe in it enough and just go for it! plenty of times I wasnt sure if I was mad, but it all paid off in the end!

Good luck to all the budget brides out there - and the JTers of course - theres a wealth of information and resources out there for the taking!
Crys
xxx
Hi Crystal323,

It's clear from your wedding-album that all of your creativity and hard-work paid off handsomely.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

Laura h1
09-08-2011, 10:04 AM
Hi Crys - well done i got married 5 years ago & had it in a castle the big day i always wanted but my sis is plannin to get married & wanted something different i will show your article & photos so she can think outside her big box thanks again for sharing your fab photos u looked amazing xxx Laura

crystal32
09-08-2011, 10:42 AM
Hi Laura,

Thanks for the message. Congrats on your wedding, I'm glad it was your dream. I hope your sis has the day she wants too - its totally possible as long as she's open to possibilities! Glad i could be of help and maybe a bit of inspiration too!
The best of luck to you both
Crys
x

miss lilac
10-08-2011, 12:32 AM
loved your ideas and your wedding photos too...thanks for sharing them with us on jumbletown....just goes to show...where there is Love...anything is possible..have a wonderful life together....good health and happiness to you both all the days of your life...

dcmedia07
20-12-2019, 04:13 PM
Here are 12 Tips to Plan Your Wedding on a Budget

1. Avoid guest list bloat.
2. Ask for wedding help instead of wedding gifts.
3. Hold the ceremony at home, or outdoors.
4. Do the catering yourself, or hire a family-owned restaurant.
5. Go minimal with the flowers.
6. Skip the groomsmen and bridesmaid gifts.
7. Make your own invitations.
8. Borrow stereo equipment or use yours from home.
9. Stock the bar yourself.
10. Display ‘vendor cards’ in exchange for reduced rates.
12. Price shop for decorations – and consider buying used.

if you're looking for wedding videographer consider DC Media - Irish wedding films. https://www.dcmedia.ie/
DC Media provide various types of videography from single camera to multiple cameras usage.

DC Media are very budget minded and can accommodate all client budgets by offering various wedding day packages.

DC Media pride ourselves on the high standards and professionalism we invest in all our wedding films.

MilianaCrawford
27-05-2020, 08:26 AM
Here are 12 Tips to Plan Your Wedding on a Budget

1. Avoid guest list bloat.
2. Ask for wedding help instead of wedding gifts.
3. Hold the ceremony at home, or outdoors.
4. Do the catering yourself, or hire a family-owned restaurant.
5. Go minimal with the flowers.
6. Skip the groomsmen and bridesmaid gifts.
7. Make your own invitations.
8. Borrow stereo equipment or use yours from home.
9. Stock the bar yourself.
10. Display ‘vendor cards’ in exchange for reduced rates.
12. Price shop for decorations – and consider buying used.

if you're looking for wedding videographer consider DC Media - Irish wedding films. https://www.dcmedia.ie/
DC Media provide various types of videography from single camera to multiple cameras usage.

DC Media are very budget minded and can accommodate all client budgets by offering various wedding day packages.

DC Media pride ourselves on the high standards and professionalism we invest in all our wedding films.

oh thanks , very useful list

derek2021
08-02-2021, 05:26 PM
1. What is your experience of filming weddings and occasions?
This should be your first priority question. The experience of your wedding videographer will show how much ability he has to explore the area and to capture every minor detail beautifully. For catching every little detail, an experienced videographer is important.
2. Do you have any links in the photography area?
In the film industry, photographers and videographers are usually connected to each other. If your videographer has already worked with someone, it can be very helpful. Hiring both the persons of same taste can give the best outcome.
3. What type of style do you use for the documentary?
Every videographer has its own style of capturing. Some use a typical traditional style while some have a cinematic point of view. Therefore, before hiring you should be clear about your own demands and what the videographer is offering.
4. What are your demands from us?
All the videographers have their own demands. For example, some particular type of music, some artistic backgrounds, and some specific locations for shoot etc. While hiring any videographer, you should trust them completely; else you can hire the one who has the same thinking as yours.
5. What pricing do you expect from us?
This is very important because you have to select the one according to your budget. Really high class and professional videographers can overburden you with their demands. It is better to check the cost of each group before hiring.
6. Are you completely free on the booking dates?
You should book the wedding videographers for the whole day. It is because some videographers have multiple booking for the same day and then it becomes difficult for them to give you proper time.
7. Do you have any backup plans?
It is important to know because, in case of any mishaps with your types of equipment, your event can be destroyed.
Best Wedding Videographers
If you are looking for a wedding videographer in Dublin have a look at my website www.reelirishwedding.com

HarveyHD
19-07-2023, 11:43 AM
1. What is your experience of filming weddings and occasions?
This should be your first priority question. The experience of your wedding videographer will show how much ability he has to explore the area and to capture every minor detail beautifully. For catching every little detail, an experienced videographer is important.
2. Do you have any links in the photography area?
In the film industry, photographers and videographers are usually connected to each other. If your videographer has already worked with someone, it can be very helpful. Hiring both the persons of same taste can give the best outcome.
3. What type of style do you use for the documentary?
Every videographer has its own style of capturing. Some use a typical traditional style while some have a cinematic point of view. Therefore, before hiring you should be clear about your own demands and what the videographer is offering.
4. What are your demands from us?
All the videographers have their own demands. For example, some particular type of music, some artistic backgrounds, and some specific locations for shoot etc. While hiring any videographer, you should trust them completely; else you can hire the one who has the same thinking as yours.
5. What pricing do you expect from us?
This is very important because you have to select the one according to your budget. Really high class and professional videographers can overburden you with their demands. It is better to check the cost of each group before hiring.
6. Are you completely free on the booking dates?
You should book the wedding videographers for the whole day. It is because some videographers have multiple booking for the same day and then it becomes difficult for them to give you proper time.
7. Do you have any backup plans?
It is important to know because, in case of any mishaps with your types of equipment, your event can be destroyed.
Best Wedding Videographers
If you are looking for a wedding videographer in Dublin have a look at my website www.reelirishwedding.com

You've asked so many questions that it's hard to find answers. I think the easiest thing to do is to look at a wedding videographer's portfolio to get a sense of their style. This is especially handy if you don't know what you want. And so you can watch a few videos and then it will become clear.
Hi all.