Thrifty Pages

Budget wedding tips

Photo by Afroswede

I just noticed that the Bride of the Year Show was on in the RDS as I was driving past recently. If you are planning a wedding, here are some quick tips on saving some money...

• Save money by thinking thriftily about your wedding from the start.
• Try to think like a bargain bride.
• Get a wedding car the cheapest way possible!
• Save hundreds on your wedding dinner.
• Save money on your wedding cake.
• And if nothing else, consult the some experts on budget weddings.

Just keep it simple and enjoy yourself! Avoid some of the more extravagant accessories, like a light up wedding dress. 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I have nothing more to say.

 

Thinking about a wedding next year? Visit idealweddings.ie for budget advice

Alan Fahy from idealweddings.ie contacted Thrifty Pages to suggest that Thrifty Pages readers who are planning a wedding next year should visit his site. 

idealweddings.ie were featured in 2nd place in the October issue of 'You and Your Money' magazine as one of the great money-saving websites in Ireland.

Only set up in March 2009, the website has spread to far and wide to budding brides and grooms as it gives very easy access to a great many money saving resources.

A great way to start the marriage - planning a thrifty wedding.

Link: http://www.idealweddings.ie/

And don't forget that Thrifty Pages has a great wedding section :)

How to be a bargain bride

The Irish Times recently published an article full of advice for those readers who are braving the wedding aisle in the middle of this recession.

Some of the things that they advise include:

• Shop around various venues, and bargain with them.
• Try charity shops for wedding dresses, and hire the bridesmaid dresses.
• Create your own wedding stationery.
• Choose flowers that are in season.
• Choose a CD/DVD only package to save on a wedding photo costs (no album), or get your friends to take pictures.
• Go directly to suppliers for rings.

Link:  http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0403/1224243925774.html

Budget Weddings for Thrifty Brides

 

Photo by slava_v

Weddings justify sensible financial investment where the objective is to spend enough money to satisfy your expectations that are reasonable without sliding into excessive debt.

Top Tips:

• Borrow a friend's or relative's  car to take you to and from the church for the big day.

• If you are a bride to be, borrow the veil, tiara or wedding jewellery from a friend/relative.  This will generate considerable savings for your wedding budget.

• Make your own wedding invitations.  If you are short on time, you can purchase these at great prices from eBay, Easons, Tesco or Marks & Spencer etc.

• Rather than purchasing your wedding dress from expensive bridal outlets, you can buy beautiful and unique bridal gowns from Monsoon, or M&S for half the price (e.g. €200-€300).

• Alternatively, why not buy a secondhand wedding dress and save a bundle. Shops that sell beautiful dresses which are in mint condition include Oxfam and Barnardos. 

• Try online sources for wedding attire such as: eBay.ie, buyandsell.ie and  jumbletown.ie.

• Grooms on the other hand can buy a good quality and competitively priced suits from M&S rather than hiring one out. Your money will go much further by doing this.

• For beautiful bridesmaids dresses that look just as good as expensive designer dresses try the Next Directory.  Monsoon also stocks great bridesmaids, page boy and flower girl outfits. If you spot something you like online, contact your nearest Monsoon outlet before ordering to see if it is available.  If they don't have it instore, ask them to order it in for you.  Also check out Monsoon's non-bridal departments because their evening wear could also be suitable for your wedding.

• Put your wedding photos in albums from Next or M&S rather than being charged too much by your photographer.  For something different perhaps you can make your own DIY wedding album?

A book that should become your wedding planning bible is How to Have a Champagne Wedding on a Buck's Fizz Budget  by Sarah Traynor. 

I found this tome to be an invaluable aid in helping me to stick to my wedding budget.  It is packed full of thrifty tips which will help you to save a small fortune!

Steering Your Wedding Car Budget in the Right Direction

 
Photo by estoril

A few tips to drive down the cost of your wedding car!

• Before you jump into the driving seat and head for the hills, stop for a moment and make a decision as to what type of entrance you want to make at the wedding venue.  For thrifty weddings arriving in a helicopter is certainly not a budget option.  It really is worth saving your wedding budget for the more important parts of your big day.  Being thrifty with your wedding car budget doesn't mean that you have to forgo that stylish entrance.

• DIY Car Hire - you could perhaps use your own car, but if the paintwork lets you down you could always borrow a friend's or relative's vehicle to drive you and your betrothed to and from the venue.

• Classic Car Clubs - we at Thrifty Pages decided on this option when we got married.  After researching different car hire companies we found that we really could hire a cheaper car after contacting our local classic car club.  We managed to secure a really beautiful 1950s Reilly for a very thrifty rate.  The driver was also the proud owner of his car and was more than happy to show us around the vehicle before the wedding as well as driving us to our destination on the big day. 

• Think Laterally - Try contacting your local funeral directors who may also hire out their fleet for weddings.  This is what my bank manager did for her wedding and found it to be thrifty option by getting the best man to drive it!  You could also check out renting luxury cars by contacting car hire companies in your local directory. 

How to Save Hundreds on your Wedding Dinner

For our wedding in October 2007 my husband and I enjoyed a delicious and stylish 5 Star wedding dinner without automatically being billed for those 5 Star prices.  This is how we did it...

Photo by tracyhunter

1. First things first - communication is key. 

Before you decide to book your venue for that all important wedding dinner, make sure that you can first of all build a good rapport with your banqueting or event manager who will be overseeing your big day at the venue.

You will be amazed at how far venue staff will extend a helping hand to help you curb your expenses if you are straight up with them about your requirements and budget from the outset. Clearly explain what your budget is and how you would like to do things for less without scrimping on quality.

In these recessionary times, hotels for example, should only be too happy to help trim off any unnecessary excesses. If not, shop around elsewhere.  There are many good deals to be had now that the Celtic Tiger has gone into hibernation.

2. We saved hundreds of Euro for our hotel wedding dinner by opting for the following:

We swapped the conventional 'Wedding Dinner Menu' for the hotel's 'Business Banqueting Menu'. This may be called the 'Corporate' or 'Business' menu at your hotel.  The food is exactly the same quality, the cutlery is the same fancy silver and the crystal glasses are also exactly the same. The only things missing with the Business Banqueting Menu option were the excessive ribbons and flowers on the tables. 

3. We decorated the tables ourselves with our own flower arrangements, plants or balloons. 

Don't be afraid to personalise your own tables at the hotel.  Why not buy some beautiful Marks & Spencer lilies or orchids in pots for your table centrepieces?  You can also add your own trinkets or ribbons already bought from craft or gift shops.

4. You can save on your wedding drinks bill too...

Normally the hotel's own house wine is a perfectly viable option.  Ask the banqueting manager for his or her advice on this.  Also ask to taste it first just in case!

For the wedding toast you can save a small fortune by opting to top up the wine for the toast instead of offering a different drink for the toast.

5. We offered tea and coffee as the drink of choice for our wedding guests' arrival prior to the dinner. 

This helped us to shave a great deal of our wedding bill at the hotel. 

6. Don't be afraid to ask for a special deal for your wedding party at your venue. 

If you don't ask you don't get!  We were lucky enough to secure a great rate for a room in the hotel for the 'afters' event.

Four Tips to Save Money on your Wedding Cake

It's very easy to save money on your wedding cake. Here are four top tips you may want to try...

1. Buy your wedding cake in Marks & Spencers. We bought one for our wedding and it was delicious.  The cake looked professionally made and cost us a fraction of what standard wedding cake would.

2. Decorate your cake yourself.  I decorated my M&S cake using fabric butterflies I found in a gift shop and some fancy ribbon found in a fabric shop. The cake looked great!

3. If you enjoy baking (or have a relative who enjoys baking), home baking your wedding cake is certainly an option.  Perhaps it is time to start dropping some hints to your baking relatives suggesting that a homemade cake would be a great wedding present?

4. Do you actually need a wedding cake?  Perhaps something unique and different is the order of the day.  How about buying a shop made novelty cake, perhaps with your groom's favourite football team or car?  That could make him smile ;)