Best way to pay for a wedding?

Lord Spence

Me and My girlfriend are hoping to get married next year but are not flush with money. We had a few thoughts, one would be to save between 4k and 5k in a credit union and then borrow around €15,000 with the hope that we could get some or most of that back in wedding gifts, I know this is not the best way of doing things but how do you get that sort of money these days.

The second idea would be to get married aborad but that is not what either of us really want and I think it could end up costing just as much.

Any suggestions or advise from people in similar postions as this is really starting to get to us. We have two kids already so we want to get married by the end of next year.

greenkittie

How about this... have a wedding you can afford and not leave yourselves short of money to spend on your kids? wow that was hard advice to think up.

warrenaldo

id agree with the save as much as possible option. but instead of spening 15k extra why not limit it to 10k or something. theres no need to go mad on it. it can all be done a lot cheaper if you want to.

CathyMoran

I think that the best idea is to just have a smaller wedding - we had a tiny but very intimate wedding that did not cost a fortune, the great thing was that we were still able to have special touches (we spent a lot on the cake) and everyone really enjoyed our wedding.

worksucks

Think if you want a wedding in Ireland and you dont mind getting a loan out for it you should go for it. Credit Union I found were the best because they let you take a break in payments if you need to.
Depending on how many months/years your wedding is you could ask a friend/sibling to do a photography/videography class they cost in or around 2.5K each if you get a pro. Also if you know any singers/bands save another bit. Make your own invites another bit saved. Do a floristry course. Hire a fancy rental car on the day instead of a vintage merc!!
I looked into getting married abroad and found it wasn't really any cheaper than Ireland only diff is your guests end up paying for flights and accommodation. Just depends on personal preference!!

warrenaldo

i dont see how spendint 2.5k on a course for a sibling to take photos is going to save any money. It wouldnt cost 2.5k to get a great photographer.

Lord Spence

Thanks for all the replies so far, We will do it in Ireland and gonna make things as cheap as possible, Have a friend who is a DJ, Cheap two man Band, Make our own Invites, No cars just One nice one for my Bride, Cake for desert , and so on.

warrenaldo

ye i think your right - sure you dont need lots of money to have a good wedding. we are not getting a band for our wedding. not because of money but just not really intrested. so we will get a dj for the night instead.

Ballyman

Lord Spence wrote:

borrow around €15,000..................... We have two kids already so we want to get married by the end of next year.

What in the name of jaysus have you been drinking??

So when your kid asks to go on the school tour with their friends they can't cos you're too busy paying off a loan for a bit of dinner and a piss up?? LOL

Honest to god. The people these days that borrow for a piss up with a bit of dinner thrown in need to get their head tested.

If you want to get married head down to your local registry office and get it done and hold on to your money for the more important things in your life, ;ike your kids education. They'll thank you for it.

wozniak

Ballyman wrote:

What in the name of jaysus have you been drinking??

So when your kid asks to go on the school tour with their friends they can't cos you're too busy paying off a loan for a bit of dinner and a piss up?? LOL

Honest to god. The people these days that borrow for a piss up with a bit of dinner thrown in need to get their head tested.

If you want to get married head down to your local registry office and get it done and hold on to your money for the more important things in your life, ;ike your kids education. They'll thank you for it.

I Blame them Desperate housewives !

Unfortunately you get nothing for nothing in Ireland Anymore, and this applies more than ever to weddings .. we were advised when researching a band, to say nothing about the fact it was a wedding until after deposits were handed over ... Made a difference of nearly 500 hard earned euros .. and the band turned up to a party (with wedding guests) )

January

they cost in or around 2.5K each if you get a pro

warrenaldo wrote:

i dont see how spendint 2.5k on a course for a sibling to take photos is going to save any money. It wouldnt cost 2.5k to get a great photographer.

It takes about €300 for a good photography course. A great photographer would cost around 2.5K, a better alternative would be to ask a student photographer to do it and offer them a figure, not then offering you a figure. It'll give them something for their portfolio.

My aunt paid €35 for her wedding dress and when she showed it to us we thought it looked worth over €1000, she didn't tell us how much it was worth untill afterwards. She got it in TK Maxx, when she was just browsing at clothes one day.

She's getting a friend to do photography. My mother and aunt are making the cake and she splashed out on the venue, which is costing 7,000 euro. That's for a champagne reception, meal for 150 guests, buffet in the night, a band, the bridal suite, rooms for both the grooms parents and the brides parents and a return trip a year later for their anniversary.

Chipboard

Ballyman wrote:

What in the name of jaysus have you been drinking??

So when your kid asks to go on the school tour with their friends they can't cos you're too busy paying off a loan for a bit of dinner and a piss up?? LOL

Honest to god. The people these days that borrow for a piss up with a bit of dinner thrown in need to get their head tested.

If you want to get married head down to your local registry office and get it done and hold on to your money for the more important things in your life, ;ike your kids education. They'll thank you for it.

You romantic devil. Sure ders no need for all dat goin on..... throw her up on the aul transport box and bring her down the registry office... tis da same as registerin a car in your name!

Hagar

adrieanne__x wrote:

My aunt paid €35 for her wedding dress and when she showed it to us we thought it looked worth over €1000, she didn't tell us how much it was worth untill afterwards. She got it in TK Maxx, when she was just browsing at clothes one day.

Great idea, Wedding sponsored by ReeBok or was it Nike?

bonkey

Lord Spence wrote:

No cars just One nice one for my Bride

Your definition of "no cars" is a bit strange.

DJ_Spider

warrenaldo wrote:

so we will get a dj for the night instead.

Spider looks towards his sig and offers his services! :cool:

Zambia

2,500 yoyo for a wedding Video

How about this no video for no yo yo ....All wediing videos are like seeing titanic backwards in slow motion. In short dont spend 2,500 you are the only eejit that wants to see it . Please spare your pocket and your friends attention span ..... in short no videos

CathyMoran

A friend of ours kindly videoed (sp?) our wedding and that cost nothing, there are ways of saving money and still having an Irish wedding. I think that one of the big things is to cut down on the numbers.

OP - you should be able to marry for 5K and have a nice tasteful small Irish wedding - we did.

January

Hagar wrote:

Great idea, Wedding sponsored by ReeBok or was it Nike?

Neither actually. You can actually get some really cheap nice dresses anywhere the fact that she bought her wedding dress in TK Maxx doesn't specify that she's a skanger who can't afford a €1000 dress. She liked the look of it, she tried it on, it looked stunning on her and she bought it.

MissQuackers

God there's a fair few unsympathetic posts on this thread! save money where you can i reckon, and that doesn't make you tight or a skanger!!

Lord Spence, I understand your predicament as am in the same boat at the mo. Have had to push wedding out to 2009 cos we just can't get the cash together for next year. Borrowing was attractive cos we do want to get married asap - but we have let common sense prevail. We will still have to borrow but about 5K, which isn't too bad. it's tough doing it all on your own but i think it will feel even better on the day...

Kinkykitty

CathyMoran wrote:

A friend of ours kindly videoed (sp?) our wedding and that cost nothing, there are ways of saving money and still having an Irish wedding. I think that one of the big things is to cut down on the numbers.

OP - you should be able to marry for 5K and have a nice tasteful small Irish wedding - we did.

Cathy,

How many did you end up having at yours?

CathyMoran

Kinkykitty wrote:

Cathy,

How many did you end up having at yours?

We ended up having 15 people. We saved money by having a "non-wedding" designer dress, having the flowers done by a relative, having the wedding at lunch (and availing of a lunch time special meal deal at the place that we had the reception) amongst other things.

fasterkitten

you have two kids already so it's hardly going to be the white wedding of the year. just be practical and get married in the registry office - if you really want to get married, you could by the end of the summer.

irishwed.com

Plan an late afternoon / evening wedding (4pm - 6pm) then invite guests for a wedding buffet in a local hotel / sports hall etc. Allow a budget of say €4,000 for catering and buy your wedding cake for a reasonable price from somewhere like Marks & Spencer (decorate with flowers in a co-ordinating colour). Make your own table confetti with a heart shaped hole punch and metallic paper and decorate the room yourself with colour co-ordinated balloons etc for under €200.00 - the room look really special. Buy the Bridal gown and bridesmaids dresses in a high street store (M&S, Debenhams or BHS) and similarly arrange suit hire from the same store. Set a budget of under €1000.00 for dresses and suit hire and do ask a friend to do hair makeup etc for the bride. If you know anyone with a digital camera who can take a decent photo ask them to act as photographer for the day. Select the photos you like best and have them printed in a professional photo shop for a fraction of the cost. Buy your own wedding album and make simple but elegant invitations (its easy after the first few!) No-one will miss a booklet for the ceremony so skip that bit if you wish. After the buffet your guests probaly won't care too much about the music source so ask the hotel if you can bring some CD's or your own compliation to play for the evening. Nominate a friend to be DJ for the night. If you plan well and stick to the budget you can easily have a very memorable wedding for a fraction of the cost!

You can check out www.irishwed.com for more ideas or contact us at info@irishwed.com

Hope the above is useful - we wish you all the best.

Lord Spence

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, We have finally booked our wedding for August next year. We are going to have a normal recpetion but we are going to cut back on the other costs like Video man, Wedding Cars, Photo Album, Flowers, Table Gifts etc. We are also lucky to get a family friend to Dj for free. Hopefully all will be a great day I will be sure to let everyone know how it went next year.

Thanks