Budget Wedding Tips!

[maggied]

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]

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]

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]

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]

tick tock , and just what is wrong with lollipops ? kojack never had a problem with them ...lol..(.sorry )
maggied

[cathy]

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]

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]

Originally Posted by kila2008

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]

I'm so totally disorgansed ( I'm a writer)

Originally Posted by Bettd

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]

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_ma...-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-invitation...vitations.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]

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-...ing-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]

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]

Originally Posted by Elnr83

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]

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]

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.