Organise wedding in 7 months - can it be done??!

JG1

We would like to get married this September. I have some ideas and i know we need to book the venue and church as soon as possible to get things rolling.

We are looking at around 80 guests and know that we are limited as some hotels will not consider less than 100 for weekend weddings.

I am not into the big white wedding and we are hoping to do it for about 10k. Is 7 months unrealistic? Can anyone suggest venues in the Dublin/Meath/Wicklow/Louth area - venues that are not going to screw you, are flexible when it comes to menus, corkage etc and serve good food.

Thanks!

Noelie

It sounds like you want a Saturday wedding, if so i think you are going to have to look outside of Dublin. I was looking last June and the earliest saturday I could get was October of this year in a hotel we liked and that wasn't going to screw us.

Do you mean 10K is for the reception or for the entire wedding. If it's just for the Reception you should have no trouble getting it for that amount. If it's for everything it will be tight but other will come on and say they have done it for less so it can be done. you just may need to cut some things out.

Best of luck.

wildsaffy

Yes it can be done - have often helped people do it for around €6 - €7,000.

If you pm I can tell you further.

wildsaffy:)

Gillo

I'd say you can do it, but I'd be curious to see this thread turn into a running commentary as time goes by- ie, what has been booked whats causing problems etc.

We're taking two years to book our wedding, but I was told that I was having a christmas wedding last Jan, it would have been too late to book anywhere for last year hence the two years.

jubi lee

yupo a firend of mine had her's sorted within 2 weeks. and they did the whole white wedding thing. he proposed in july, they got married in october!

debzcar

Hiya, I'm more or less doing the same thing... we're getting married in Sept. 2008 and we have a budget of 12,000. We've got a venue for the reception, meal and afters for 4,000 euro - everything included. 80 people for the meal and up to 200 for the afters. 1200 euro for band and DJ. The photographer is working out at 1850 euro. Have to go and source flowers and a dress this weekend! I've been told that you need about 4 months for the dress, as it may have to be ordered.:D

derek27

Of course it can be don'e... 7 months is ample time imho. The only major concern is being able to reserve the venue and the church/priest for the date. The rest of it can be taken care of at a leisurely pace over the 7month period. And remember, most family and friends are usually quite eager to take responsibility for organising some aspect of a wedding, so don't be shy to ask for their help

debzcar

We checked all the hotels in our area and for what they were charging, I could have bought a fairly new second hand car! In the end we are having the reception in a golf club and we're not even members, they can't do enough for us and the extras that hotels are charging for are free at the club. There's still a corkage charge of 5 euro, but we can bring our own wine, which we sourced in Waterford. Trust me, not only can it be done in 7 months, you'll have no problem in bringing it in under budget.

Grawns

I've given myself 3 months and I'm getting married on the 1st of March.
There is no problem as it's a winter/spring wedding.

If I had to think about a wedding hanging over me for a year or 2 I'd go mad.

Positive things about my choice.

Much cheaper as they're very keen to get your business. Highly unlikely anyone else is going to be looking for a last minute hotel, church etc in the winter, spring

Everyone can come as it's not a holiday period ( I also made sure that the 6 nations weren't on the weekend of the 1st.)

Bands, dancers are unlikely to be booked, you get your pick.

In terms of organization

It's only as complicated as you want it to be. The wedding suppliers know what they are doing and will guide you and advise you along the way. I am totally clueless but people have been incredibly helpful. Boards and weddingonline are a good source of information. The only big deal is the dress I think. They seem to want about a year of your life what with fittings etc.

Me, I bought the first one I saw and i'm delighted. It was only €94 in the sales at Xmas in Monsoon but I have a good figure and can't see the point in spending money I don't have on a dress I will only wear once. If I was loaded I still don't think I could do it but then I spend most of my time in the bargain alerts forum!

Things I still have 2 do.

Get a cake! Marks and Spencers will do for me.
Hire the bus ( 10 minutes)
Pick the wine ( 1 day)
Get the flowers ( I live near Smithfield and have a green fingered aunt.) ( 1day)
Pick the readings (1/2 day)
Wedding rehearsal (couple of hours)
Finalize the numbers with the hotel ( 10 minutes)
Talk to the band ( 10 minutes
Table plans, church leaflets, Write my Dad's speech, ( 1 day)

The reason I have so much left to do is that I've been avoiding this stuff. It reminds me of studying for exams are something. Always have been a crammer. Now where's my nintendo ds. I need some wedding distraction.

happybee

I'm getting married in approx 12 weeks and my budget is a hell of a lot lower then 10,000!
My mum volunteered to make the cake
My Dad and uncle are trusted photographers
i bought my dress in Oxfam bridal shope for less then €200 and its a massive traditional dress
Its being held on tuesday in Tralee so hotels are near falling over each other to get the business
weekday weddings often result in discounts,we're getting 20%
I'm buying the 4 bridesmaid dresses online at €80 each
My best friend is a make-up artist
I'm a hairdresser so I'll be doing everyone elses hair
The ceremony is at midday,so theres a drinks reception at my parents house afterwards
the venue for that night hasnt actually been chosen yet,but its a tuesday night so I'm not worried (going to Kerry this thursday to confirm a venue)


ehmm...what else...i'm sourcing flowers from a local lady and the same goes for the DJ and I'm hiring a mini-bus to transport everyone.

Its very do-able.But I really think it depends on the person having the wedding.
I think getting married on a weekday from my experience,immediately gives you way more options.
And try to do it outside of Dublin.Look for family-run hotels.
The hotels in Dublin are w*nkers.

Its not because I'm stingy,I just cannot justify paying massive amounts of money on my wedding.

olaola

Yeah - defo!

We did our in less time - last year!

We only chose our venue in March - I think we only booked it at the start of April and our wedding was the 31st August.

TBH - There was PLENTY of time, we had about 130 at the wedding.

Mind you - the dress shop nearly had a heart attack. I bought the dress near the end of April. No problems though - it arrived in plenty of time.

JG1

Thank you all for the positive vibes and suggestions!!

Wildsaffy, i will PM you later.

Does anyone have recommendations for venues in Dublin/Wicklow/Meath/Louth/Kildare? Someone recommended a 'posh' hostel in Newgrange which had a courtyard and all the guests could stay there. Good food and pleasant surroundings are key factors.

whosedaddy?

Lots of time...

People that wait 1 or 2 years have their own reasons. Like getting the one particular Saturday in the chosen hotel...

There are pitfalls tho.
Venue - don't get encouraged when the venue manager will look at you when you ask for a September date ...... in 2008. Be flexible. Sundays (if the church is doing Sunday weddings) or Mondays are equally good days.
Plus they are not as booked up and usually cheaper. Also those min number limitations usually don't apply.

Church booking for same day.

Accomodation reservation for guests if you up the country. They need to know as well as your guests in case there is a lot of travel involved.

Band selection: this took us the longest of all tasks. Went around the country a bit to listen to a whole lot of bad bands...

DJ / church music: won't take much time... big enough selection.

As mentioned before getting wedding dress ordered will be one factor. (wedding dress shops will not take orders after a certain date prior to the wedding as they can not guarantee delivery in time to allow for alterations, etc) If you pick dress off the rails somewhere not problem.

Notice to the state - 3 month me thinks.

Get as much done as early as possible. to keep some time to relax.
the rest is plain sailing...

The most important thing is to enjoy your wedding! I know a few that didn't cause they were too exausted from all the preparation, in particular if you are on a budget that requires a lot of your time doing stuff.

Venues is a hard 1, as everyone ususally only has full knowledge of one venue. We went to Darver Castle in Co. Louth with about 90 guests on a Monday... Worked for us.

mikeanywhere

Of course it can be done. I am shooting a wedding that the bride organised in around 4-5 weeks, now thats some doing alright!!

JG1

Whosedaddy and wildsaffy, i have pm'ed you both.

cch

If you haven't made the appointment with the registrar (which everyone has to do since the recent law change) then do that asap!! I rung the Dublin office this morning to make the appointment to meet with them and give three months notice and the first appointment they could give us was in June! :eek:
And given the day that's in it, it's just going to get busier

sparky08

There's also the option of a civil ceremony in a hotel. We paid our deposit in December 2007 and got a friday in June 2008. We also went for Friday 13th cos you can nearly have your pick of DJ/band/photographers etc cos not too many people are willing to get married on that date. Started looking for my dress in November, and nearly every shop I went to had me hysterical about the time constraints but went to Bridal Shop in Baldoyle and after two visits got sorted. Making cake, invites and favours ourselves. DJ is a friend, the other thing we have to get sorted is photographer. Getting bridemaids dresses made for 190 each and they don't have to be sorted till 2 months beforehand.

sparky08

These might help
www.thestationhousehotel.com
www.centralr.com/Newgrange_Lodge_Hotel.html

Snowbie

We planned our wedding in mid sept 07 and got married at the end of January,4 months to do everything and no short cuts either. We made the day special as we both deserved it.
Thats including minding the 4 kids and getting through christmas.
If we can do it anyone can.
The melodrama of some planning their wedding in 2 years makes me laugh.I'd crack up waiting that long.

101 at our reception and 30 more to the evening. Total cost of entire wedding was more than 12K but less than 15K.
Fantastic day all round.