Irish wedding for under €10,000

Mar1

:rolleyes:Looking to have my wedding next year , wouldn't mind having it in Ireland but also don't want to get into debt esp with times like there are.
it doesn't have to be traditional, just nice ceremony and meal & party after wards. we would have guests up to 100 . and under €10,000. i have looked at few hotels and i wasn't getting any great deals, still running into great expense.

Anybody got any ideas. please help.

kittykat84

hi mar1
have a look at the money saving wedding thread. some great ideas mentioned. particularly liked the advice about getting wedding dresses at low prices. check out http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Elegance-Wedding
some beautiful dresses there, thats where ill be looking.prob. keep bridesmaid and groomsmen to one or two if possible. other things you could do is do your own flowers , add a few candles and they ll look lovely:D. have wedding later in the day then all you need is a dj. i intend to have our wedding ceremony around four o clock and have the church lit by candle light. if anyone you know has a new fancy car or a vintage car, put ribbon on it and ye could use that as the wedding car ( after ye ve asked permission!)
after the ceremony head straight for pre drinks and meal therefore no entertainment or canapes are needed while guests sit around waiting for the meal .instead have nuts, crisps and dips around the bar to enjoy with the drink. have music on in the backround. i was at a wedding recently where there was no pre dinner canapes or music in the lobby and i didnt even notice. that alone would save a good bit. prob no need for food later on in the night if the meal is eaten later in the evening. just have tea & coffee with wedding cake and biscuits.
a friend could take photos if they are good enough. you could make you own invites and mass booklets- just need a day in an arts and crafts shop to pick up the necessary bits and a computer with printer.
if you are have the ceremony and reception in the same place it may save money - no need for flowers for hotel and church. if your getting married in the church have some one bring the flowers from the church after the ceremony and put them in the reception room. no need to decorate both places.
if you know anyone who could make the cake that would help keep prices down. theres always someone in every ones family who makes a lovely xmas cake! the hotel will provide the cake stand and knife. my sister bought the wine from cash and carry at wholesale price and used that for the wedding. in regards hotels would you think of using the golf club with its lovely scenery ( prob. discounted if you are a member) or a lovely restaurant. in restaurants you only pay for the food and can book out the restaurant and not worry about other weddings taking place at the same time.think brides of franc on a budget, steal his creative ideas and do them yourself to decorate the room.;)

Queen-Mise

I did my wedding five years ago for under 7,500k.

I'll tell you some of the things I did, but I got an awful lot of help from friends and family members.

My mother is sacristan of the local church and also an ICA member. So she sorted all the priest bit, and the altar boys. Everything was done for her because of her job.

One of the women in the ICA made the wedding cake, and all she would take was the money for the ingredients.

I got a contact from someone in the local flower arranging society, she was delighted for the extra few bob, and i showed her detailed pictures of what I wanted. She did all the lapels also, I think it cost about 200.

For my photographs I used a local amateur photographer with an excellent camera, he mounted the photos for me, developed them, and gave us back all the negatives - he charged us 300 euros/pounds I remember.

We went up to Lantz stationary, and bought blank wedding cards and wrote them up ourselves with a gold pen - they cost a fraction of the cost. In Lantz they have all the stuff for making your own little gift bags (sweets/nuts) there, again an ideal job for a family member/friend to help you make them and will also save you a fortune. I seriously considered making my own invitations - they would have been gorgeous, but just ran out of time.

For the wedding meal, we had a cold buffet (July), with a trio of deserts and soup for starter - it cost us 22 a head £/€, can't remember which. We had about 70 at the sit down meal. We brought our own wine and was just charged corkage. The meal came to about 2, 500k. We didn't do a drink after the meal or any of the pretty stuff on the table, no need for any of it.

I didn't skimp on the wedding/bridesmaid dresses or the hire of the men's suits. I remember all the clothes cost the same amount as the reception ;)

I remember buying one of the flowergirls dresses reduced in Dunnes, but then TK Maxx also does them very cheap also.

My uncle got me the wedding car as the present, but I would say that was a favour too for him.

All my family rather than giving us present/money for the wedding just did a different thing, for example my brother got the wine.

Rope in both sides of the family to see will they help, for example buying the stationery, or the wedding album rather than presents/money. It will really cut down on all your stresses. Use all your mother's and mother's in laws contacts.

And if you are going under 10k, be very willing for compromises - by using favours and stuff from people.

I had a full wedding with all the finery of it - for less than 8k. The money we got from the wedding, we used as spending money for honeymoon.

My mother's friends still tell her, they really enjoyed the day, probably because it was so relaxed. It was a great day.

This is the longest post I have ever written, tell us how you get on. I can give more details on anything - and have probably forgotten loads of stuff.

antiskeptic

Mar1 wrote: »

:rolleyes:Looking to have my wedding next year , wouldn't mind having it in Ireland but also don't want to get into debt esp with times like there are. it doesn't have to be traditional, just nice ceremony and meal & party after wards. we would have guests up to 100 . and under €10,000. i have looked at few hotels and i wasn't getting any great deals, still running into great expense.

Anybody got any ideas. please help.

It could be done easily enough - you just have to trim your wick and critically evaluate at all points. Open a spreadsheet/draw an expenses chart from the start and add in every item/cost as they occur to you. Put in a best guesstimate in the case you haven't an actual cost yet and modify when the final cost of an item is known. You'll be surprised how it racks up!


1) You can pick up a once used wedding dress for a third of the new cost - if you stay traditional in that respect

2) Someone in a hundred guests will have a suitable car. See can it be organized instead of a wedding present

3) Have folk buy things for the wedding as wedding presents: flowers, flowergirls dresses. We were loaned a holiday home in France as part of our honeymoon.

4) Leave out unnecessary trimmings such as wedding cake or numerous bridesmaids.

5) Consider having your reception in a good restaurant: the food will be better for the price and you can stay in a nice hotel for the wedding night. Try Fallon & Byrnes if in Dublin. They've a nice, sunny function room for such occasions and do discounts for mid-week weddings. I gather they accomodate the party afterwards too.

6) Someone in a hundred guests is going to be a serious photographer and in this day and age - when he can pop off limitless shots for nowt, it wouldn't be hard to assemble a decent set. Get another suitably commanding guest to assist the photographer in assembling folk for the formal shots. Ditto video - someone can shoot a decent bit of footage on the day. Get them to use a tripod if in church - the ceremony is too long to hold a camera steady

7) Consider the h2b investing in a suit/shirt/tie/shoes if he'd get use out of it again (job interview/other weddings/funerals). If so you could deduct the cost from the wedding cost and "save" on clothes hire. Dark grey is the best first suit colour.

jimzy

i got married last year, we did lots of cost saving measures but still spent around 15,000. if we were doing it again we would have just had a big party & invited everyone for a big casual barbeque or something.

we had a great day, but both feel its a big enough burden without being left with a loan of 10,000...

here are a few things we did to cut costs
– a friend did our photography, turned out fantastic, saved us 1000
– didnt bother with a wedding video. saved another 1000 or so i think.
– my wifey bought her dress for a really great price.
– didnt spend crazy money on the rings, well on mine anyway, hers was a little more pricey but i guess she deserves that!
– wifey did the flowers herself, (except the bouquets) probably saved 500 quid or so.
– i cut my own hair, probably saved me 10 or 12 euro...

Mar1

Thanks everyone for you suggestions .

Queen-mise, did you have your reception @ a hotel or restaurant.

-Antikeptic i have been thinking of Fallon & Byrne their website looks lovely. so i just have view the restaurant. Only thing that would put me off there is everything finishes @ 1.00am which i would prefer it to go longer like other afters.

Again thanks for your thoughts.

NextSteps

Mar1 wrote: »

-Antikeptic i have been thinking of Fallon & Byrne their website looks lovely. so i just have view the restaurant. Only thing that would put me off there is everything finishes @ 1.00am which i would prefer it to go longer like other afters.

Mind you it's really close to everywhere and you could get an area of a club reserved for you for afterwards if you wanted.

smelltheglove

Hi Mar again, there are a lot of things you can cut costs with, making invitations yourself is a big cost cutter. Not everyone has favours on the table and the cake is another way to cut costs as you dont need to get a big huge cake.

Again as suggested above you can cut the cost on the dress, if you have flower girls and pageboys they can be dressed from Tommy wonderland for as little as 50 euro, and look gorgeous. Bridesmaids dresses do not need to be from the bridal shop, there are plenty of gorgeous dresses in high street shops also, I actually got mine on ebay for 80 each. Some grooms wear their own suits also but suit hire isnt too expensive anyway, again these costs depend on how many you need to dress.

I made my own flowers also, mainly as I left it oo long, I had bought fake and decided that week I wanted real but I used grand prix roses, chrysantheums and babys breath and 4 bouqets cost me €80.

Buttonholes again, I got them on ebay but they can be made yourself too. Mass booklets can be done yourself very cheaply, if you go for Fallon & Byrne and it finishes at 1 you could decide just a dj rather than a band and a dj or just a band. There are plenty of bands around tehre with great prices. I am not sure of their rules re the music though, they may not allow anything too loud so you could go for an accoustic duo, I know a similar set up for less than 500, 2 guys with backing tracks.

Car wise you might know sdomeone with a nice merc to drive you, I was lucky that my uncle is a chauffeur so used his car and my dads car was a merc used for the bridesmaid but a wedding I worked on recently had an aunts car used as the bridal car.

Emerald Lass

My wedding is in 6 weeks and is coming in at under €10k for everything. We are having 56 for sit down meal and another 50 coming for the evening. five course meal, and sandwiches and canapes for the evening.

It IS definitely possible to have a wedding for that amount. Haggle and price around. I sonly started planning in Feb!

meal is €32.50 p/p. No dessert as the wedding cake is dessert. Found a really reliable and well priced guy for the cake - was recommended on here actually.
wedding is on a Thurs, so that saved a bit as the hotel gave a 5% discount. (would be 10% if the numbers were over 80).
Another tip is to check out bridal shops now, and also ask them when their sale is. I got a VAST reduction on my dress because I bought in Feb and as soon as it became Feb it was 'last season stock' so I got a good discount. Didn't matter to me what season it was - it was the right dress and I loved it and would have probably cried had I not been able to afford it! lol

I have loads of other savings I made. As I think of them I'll add.

antiskeptic

Mar1 wrote: »

Only thing that would put me off there is everything finishes @ 1.00am which i would prefer it to go longer like other afters.

So start earlier

CathyMoran

I had my wedding in Ireland for a lot less than 5K but I did it in an unusual way - I only had 15 guests, had a relative as photographer, no videographer, a meal in a resteraunt, MIL did the flowers, did get an expensive cake, got a normal dress (Ghost) so saved money but spent a weekend in the 4 Seasons and then a few weeks later a week in Paris (was too ill at time of wedding to go abroad) - it worked really well for us. Oh, had no bridesmaids.

larly

Hi There, seem to be in the same position as you I am also looking for venues and seeking advice. I have been in contact with Ritz resorts in Tenerife, they seem to be all above board and have invited me over, if it´s of any help to you they dont charge for the venue, only the accommodation and its very reasonable, its important to say I was advised by them that you do have to be Catholic. Trying to arrange a "flying" visit. Hope this helps but will post a review when I get back pending on cheap flights. Hey good luck!

Mar1 wrote: »

:rolleyes:Looking to have my wedding next year , wouldn't mind having it in Ireland but also don't want to get into debt esp with times like there are.
it doesn't have to be traditional, just nice ceremony and meal & party after wards. we would have guests up to 100 . and under €10,000. i have looked at few hotels and i wasn't getting any great deals, still running into great expense.

Anybody got any ideas. please help.

rom

If you are will to not have the following;

New Dress save 2 k
Band save 2 k
Photographer save 2k +
bar Extension save 420 euro
drinks reception save 500
music at church or hotel other than DJ ( friend with laptop and good speakers will save money) save up to 1k on all 3
get a friend to make the wedding cake save 500
get 2nd hand dresses for brides maid 300 euro saved
groom and other males to wear normal suits save 600 euro
get a friend with a nice car to drive you 300 euro saved
friend to do hair 200 euro
friend to do make up 100 euro
getting married in a church will cost you 300 euro for priest + 300 for church then flowers on top of that.

if you have the wedding on a thurs it may be 10% cheaper also

that should get you most of the way there. that and joining weddingsonline.ie and look out for deals on invites etc.

we got all of ours from tesco for 80 euro. we missed out on the ones for 40 euro. they are very nice. were 75% off.

Emerald Lass

rom wrote: »

If you are will to not have the following;

New Dress save 2 k
Band save 2 k
Photographer save 2k +
bar Extension save 420 euro
drinks reception save 500
music at church or hotel other than DJ ( friend with laptop and good speakers will save money) save up to 1k on all 3
get a friend to make the wedding cake save 500
get 2nd hand dresses for brides maid 300 euro saved
groom and other males to wear normal suits save 600 euro
get a friend with a nice car to drive you 300 euro saved
friend to do hair 200 euro
friend to do make up 100 euro
getting married in a church will cost you 300 euro for priest + 300 for church then flowers on top of that.

if you have the wedding on a thurs it may be 10% cheaper also

that should get you most of the way there. that and joining weddingsonline.ie and look out for deals on invites etc.

we got all of ours from tesco for 80 euro. we missed out on the ones for 40 euro. they are very nice. were 75% off.

whilst roms advice is great and I agree in theory with everything he is saying, you would want some very good and handy friends, if they are to account for the cake, photographs, DJ, hair, make-up, etc. I have no friends to do these things for me so I am paying for them - but my wedding is still under €10k. but then again I am not spending anywhere near €300 for hair and make up or €500 for the cake!

another suggestion I have for you is to serve the wedding cake as dessert - get a really nice cake. If the cake is really nice, then it is surplus to requirment to have a dessert too. I told the hotel I didn't want dessert as part of the meal - that was €6 per head deducted from the total on the meals. Saved just over €300 that way. Cake to feed 80 guests cost only €270. Had I got cake AND dessert that would have been nearly €600, cake only is €270. Cake is beautiful design, and having choc biscuit tier, strawberry cream tier and a lemon cream tier. so not too shabby!

Another thing on the cake - put fresh flowers on as decoration. The most expensive part of the cake decor is the sugar flowers. So if you can get fresh flowers instead you can choose a simpler cake and save money that way.

The other alternative with the cake is to go to M&S in the north. You can order online, but you must collect it yourself. Prices start at £115 and you can have wither fruit or sponge cake.

Something else I was thinking of when you said the numbers would be up to 100 - have the wedding later in the day - say around 4 or 5, then straight to the afters. Have a more informal set up, feed everyone, rather than a day reception and evening reception. Then the price per head should be less, because its not a sit down meal as such - you are not just paying for the food at a sit down, but the service also. You could have a really classy 'buffet' style. I don't mean like a bad 21st at all! a buffet can be really lovely actually. A friend in the UK had a buffet, and it was lovely. A buffet should take the price per head down a good bit.

Haggle on the bar extension - the €400+ that some places want is crazy. My hotel wanted only €150, but after haggling I got it thrown in free.

For the toasts etc, you don't need have an open toast, but see if the venue can offer a cheaper alternative. for eg give out bucks fizz or a cocktail. My friend gave Pimms cocktails for a summer wedding. They were delicious, and she told me they worked out at only €2.50 per person. Champagne is expensive, and TBH a LOT of people don't like it. So they don't drink it, just hold it up for the toast and take a sip. in which case you have paid for wasted drinks. So if you do choose a set drink a bucks fizz is better as it liked by more people than champers alone. An open toast can be expensive depending on your numbers. So deciding in advance what to serve can mean you know exactly how much it will cost. Even if you don't save money on it, knowing in advance what the cost will be helps you know where your budget stands.

Another thing my hotel offered was jugs of orange drink on the tables when the meal is served. This is complimentary and means that non-drinkers and kids are looked after. And its a nice touch which costs you nothing.

Scout around for wedding favours (you can do away with them totally if you need to, but if you shop around you can get them cheap). I am giving a candle and sweets to each person (50 people). Candles were .50c each and are shaped like a wedding cake. The sweets were only about €20 for enough to make 100 bags. Organza bags (50 large for candles and then another 100 small for the sweets) cost only €15 inc P&P. So the whole amount comes to €60 for everything. There will be extra sweetie bags left for the evening guests to take with them.

Look out for offers from beauticians for your treatments. And if anyone offers in advance of the wedding, ask them for a voucher as a pressie. I have booked pedi & mani, eyebrow, lip, legs, bikini waxes, and a facial - they were on special as a package. Have paid for it and got a voucher outlining what I am getting. Won't be using it for a few weeks, but by paying for it now and getting a voucher for the treatments I have saved money. If I waited til the week of the wedding and paid for everything individually it would cost €60 more. And when I explained to the beautician what it was for, she offered to give a free MAC make-up trial, and if I like it and book it for the wedding she will give me 20% discount on the price.

olympia1

What have you desided ?

We went to Tenerife on our Honeymoon - and love the Island

How Strange

Yes, you can have a 100 people wedding for €10k. We're doing it so it is possible.

However, and this is the big however, you can't have a wedding with all the trimmings if you want to keep under €10k. It's all the trimmings that make a wedding expensive.

Things like favours, cars, button holes, chair covers are unnecessary expenses. If you're on a budget then you may have to cut them out.

We're having a ceremony and family lunch for €2k then we're having a party with 100 people in a private venue. We've got caterers for around €3.5k which gives us a two course buffet which includes servers and glasses, plates, cutlery and linen hire. We're having a band and dj for €2k, room hire including barmen and corkage are €1k. We're getting prosecco for pre dinner drinks, some wine at the tables. We're not having a cake, tea or coffee and there is no afters. We're not having flowers, a wedding car, bridesmaids, flower girls or any of that stuff because we're having a party not a wedding reception.

We got invitations on line for €65. A friend is doing the photos for free as a favour.

I'm paying for my own dress and my OH is paying for his suit. I'll go to a hairdresser on the day but will do my own makeup. We're going for a week away but paying for it ourselves and it won't be very expensive.

bradleycorey

Mar1 wrote: »

:rolleyes:Looking to have my wedding next year , wouldn't mind having it in Ireland but also don't want to get into debt esp with times like there are.
it doesn't have to be traditional, just nice ceremony and meal & party after wards. we would have guests up to 100 . and under €10,000. i have looked at few hotels and i wasn't getting any great deals, still running into great expense.

Anybody got any ideas. please help.

Hiya, Are u still thinking of having your wedding in Ireland??

Mail me if you need any info on cheap hotels, flowers, entertain,ent etc... you can defo do it under 10k.

Lee206

in relation to weddings under 10k. weddings based on100 persons for 5k. no problem finding them were in ireland are u looking...

Nicman

Am I the only crazy person who thinks that 10K is still mad money for just one day/evening out? Don't get me wrong there are huge savings to be made but is 10k these days still not alot? What if your'e someone who isn't into all the trimmings anyway and it's still costing 10k? I can't seem to find an option for a small informal wedding that isn't crazy money - even though we don't want any trimmings - fancy car, cake, button holes, fancy pants decorations and favours etc. Yet when a venue hears "intimate/ small/ informal" they actually hear "ch-ching"! I've found that with a smaller group of about 40 people the venue options are so limited that it's forcing us to look into going abroad which we're not mad about. Money aside - with the weather being so restrictive we're finding it difficult to find an option that's relaxed and informal and not typically 'weddingy', we're just not that couple, with all respect to the traditional wedding.
Has anyone else has this experience and come up with an alternative? Or has anyone any ideas? We're not into the marquee thing - given it's a small number we feel there would be no atmosphere whatsoever in a marquee....PLEASE HELP

clint_silver

Nicman wrote: »

Am I the only crazy person who thinks that 10K is still mad money for just one day/evening out? Don't get me wrong there are huge savings to be made but is 10k these days still not alot? What if your'e someone who isn't into all the trimmings anyway and it's still costing 10k? I can't seem to find an option for a small informal wedding that isn't crazy money - even though we don't want any trimmings - fancy car, cake, button holes, fancy pants decorations and favours etc. Yet when a venue hears "intimate/ small/ informal" they actually hear "ch-ching"! I've found that with a smaller group of about 40 people the venue options are so limited that it's forcing us to look into going abroad which we're not mad about. Money aside - with the weather being so restrictive we're finding it difficult to find an option that's relaxed and informal and not typically 'weddingy', we're just not that couple, with all respect to the traditional wedding.
Has anyone else has this experience and come up with an alternative? Or has anyone any ideas? We're not into the marquee thing - given it's a small number we feel there would be no atmosphere whatsoever in a marquee....PLEASE HELP

Its kind of all relative. if you have 10k, its not mad money, if you dont, it is. To people who have 10k, 100k is mad money. but then again, if you have 100k in the back pocket, its not. and so on.

rental cars? meh
singer in the church? meh
cake? meh - get a nice dessert
wine at the meal for toast? meh
300e for a chocolate fountain ? meh
hundreds on invites? meh email and text

rings - 50e - buy something better later on when you win the lotto
clothes - suit for him only - 200e guests can wear what they want otherwise.
dress - 200e.
hair and makeup - up to yourself how much you think you need it (hope that doesnt sound bad).
church - clever florist - 200e
hire a restaraunt. have a super duper meal at 50e a head. = 2k
hire a really good 1 man band or DJ after. 3-400e for a few hours if restaraunt allows, stick ipod on if youre really stuck.
If theres no kids hire a bus to bring everyone to area in a top nightclub. -- 150e
hotel that night? 300e.
honeymoon 2k (spend money on this, you wont regret it)

1 thing I would deffo spend money on if you can afford it is a good/clever photographer. you can get friends to take the shots but really is no substitute to pro shots. If you get lucky there, maybe 7-800e, but budget 1k. If you dont have it, no problem, stick to friends shots. Just think of it, and any other serivce as something thats out of budget and dont worry about it.

Nicman

clint_silver wrote: »

Its kind of all relative. if you have 10k, its not mad money, if you dont, it is. To people who have 10k, 100k is mad money. but then again, if you have 100k in the back pocket, its not. and so on.


1 thing I would defo spend money on if you can afford it is a good/clever photographer. you can get friends to take the shots but really is no substitute to pro shots. If you get lucky there, maybe 7-800e, but budget 1k. If you dont have it, no problem, stick to friends shots. Just think of it, and any other serivce as something thats out of budget and dont worry about it.

Totally - it's all relative! I still think though that people who still don't have that kind of money, just go along with it cause they reckon compared to the 30k their best mate spent on their wedding that it's great value! But yes - relative all the same.
I totally agree on the photographer thing, my hub to be doesn't but I'll get around him! On the other items - that's exactly where Im at, leaving out the un-necessaries etc but where we're struggling is finding that restaurant or similar feeling place for that kind of money - everywhere we've looked at that has a small area and nice atmosphere is €70+++ p/head! Extortion. Looks like there's lots of options in Dublin/ Wicklow/ Cork but none in or near the West...

lazygal

We spent over 10K-not including honeymoon. We had a pretty traditional wedding, and we didn't go overboard on things like flowers or my dress. I'd say 75% of the cost was food, drink and the band, the things that people appreciate.

We had the money saved and allocated for our wedding and didn't want to skimp on things that were important to us, like our guests, so we consider it money well spent.

I wouldn't cut back too much on food and drink, I've been to those bargain hotel weddings and the food has been nothing to write home about. I'm glad we spent money on photos and a DVD, years on they are still lovely to have and you can't recreate those afterwards.

There's some things I think people are mad spending money on - like backpacking holidays or cars, but we didn't spend the amount we did to keep up with the Jones, we spent it because we wanted the party and could afford it. Not everyone wants to spend money on weddings purely to engage in one-upmanship.

gazzer

We had our Civil Partnership last year and spent 8 grand. Had 150 guests at the service and for the meal and evening entertainment which went on until 3.30am.

Ways we saved money.

We used our cake for the dessert
For the evening meal (not the main meal) we knew that not everybody would eat so we only ordered food for half the guests. Even at that it wasnt all eaten.
Bought our wine up in Enniskillen
Did out our own invites online
No cars on the day. We just drove in our normal cars to the venue
Had a friend do the photos
We mixed the music for the night in the weeks leading up to the big day and played it through a laptop and hired speakers on the night.
We bought our rings online (€100)
Had karaoke instead of a band (went down a storm).

We didnt go on a holiday after the big day. We waited till later in the year when it was cheaper.

Gatica

Why would you dig up a 4 year old thread to point out that 10000 on a wedding is mad money? If you're looking for suggestions on how to have a wedding to a specific budget, you're better off starting a new thread anyway.

If you're good at DIY, have a look on weddingsonline.ie they have a great forum and some DIY threads for making things like centre-pieces, your bouquets, invitations and so on, which should hopefully save you money if you do it right. If you're good at baking and want to have a cake, make it yourself. Fruitcakes can be made weeks/months in advance.
TBH, out of everything on offer at weddings I'd appreciate a cake the least - I'm more keen on the goujons after midnight.

A lot of expense in weddings is to do with couples trying to do everything they thing is expected: cake, car, reception, flowers...
No one cares about the car, except the B&G usually. Flowers are a nice touch, but not a necessity. Have your ceremony later on in the day and you won't feel like you've to keep feeding everyone between 1pm and 3am - skip having a sparking wine reception. Have a BBQ or buffet rather than sit-down meal.

Our wedding was expensive, but we saved up for it and were delighted as to us it was worth every penny. We've great memories of the day as do our families. We can always work to make more money, but you only get married once.

Nicman

gazzer wrote: »

Ways we saved money.

We used our cake for the dessert
For the evening meal (not the main meal) we knew that not everybody would eat so we only ordered food for half the guests. Even at that it wasnt all eaten.
Bought our wine up in Enniskillen
Did out our own invites online
No cars on the day. We just drove in our normal cars to the venue
Had a friend do the photos
We mixed the music for the night in the weeks leading up to the big day and played it through a laptop and hired speakers on the night.
We bought our rings online (€100)
Had karaoke instead of a band (went down a storm).

We didnt go on a holiday after the big day. We waited till later in the year when it was cheaper.

Great tips Gazzer, can't believe you did it for that price for 150 people! Well done and sounds like you had a blast!

Apologies Gatica for digging up an old thread, Im not a regular poster on Boards and obviously not up on the boards-etiquette yet! I agree, you only get married once and so we don't want to have any regrets - that's why we changed our mind on going away on our own to get married but everyone is different too, as I said all respect to people who prefer a typical wedding or whatever you're into. Regardless of whether you have the money or not I just was making a point that it seems alot for one day that's all. Thanks for the tips though

Gatica

you're right, it is a lot for one day when you think of it in terms of how much money it really is... but hopefully a couple is left with a smile on their face and head full of good memories rather than disappointment and debt.

Anytime a restaurant/hotel has to cater to large numbers be it wedding or christening they'll charge more than your standard restaurant meal unfortunately. Best way to save money is to have immediate family only, reserve a large section of a restaurant and you're done. You'll probably get much better value for money for <50Euro a head.
As you said, suppliers hear wedding and they see $$ in their eyes, whether it's small or big. If you can hire a venue that lets you bring in caterers, that's another option, as buffet will be cheaper again. Don't mention wedding, just say family reunion.

Nicman

Thanks for that, we're considering a restaurant thing alright, just trying to find a suitable one and true - telling them it's just a family party means they may not attempt to rip us off completely!

January

I'm booking my wedding within the next few weeks and I plan on doing it all for under €10,000 for 150 people.

Strict budget and my mum will be doing the cake but it can be done. The hotels are doing great all inclusive deals now.

clint_silver

Nicman wrote: »

Thanks for that, we're considering a restaurant thing alright, just trying to find a suitable one and true - telling them it's just a family party means they may not attempt to rip us off completely!

I wouldnt be afraid to tell a restaraunt its a wedding. Tell the manager you love the food there and thats why youre picking that restaraunt for your wedding and ask to speak to chef to see what he thinks will work. Agree a couple of different menu options, the manager will then source and price it.

Bear in mind the following though
1. Theyll need extra staff in the restaraunt floor, bar & kitchen and they'll need extra stock to cater for extras so if its a little extra more then you were thinking that maybe why. But if I seen 50-60% added as a "wedding bonanza", Id be arguing it.

2. Hotels have kitchen kit (banquet holding cabinets) to keep mass produced food warm (hams, beef, fish) on plates without over cooking. restaraunts most likely do not have these cabinets as theres no need (theyre quite expensive), so they cook everything to order at the time. So theres logistical things that you have to consider when picking a menu for a lot of people. The chef will guide you on whats possible but you then have to know if you're deciding to turn up late the entire meal could be ruined. (just saying to bear it in mind on the day)

tatli_lokma

Gatica wrote: »

We can always work to make more money,

you hope!!

Gatica wrote: »

but you only get married once.

you hope!

I agree with Gatica about they only expense you need to go to are for things that you feel are important/worthwhile. Don't be sucked into doing 'the done thing' if it is something you could live without. But in regards to the above comment, no one knows what is around the corner, and as you rightly say, starting off married life in debt is not an ideal situation. So if you do want to spend more or buy additional things, then save for them and then have the wedding. Don't go taking out loans, putting things on credit or relying on gifts of cash to pay for things.

there are two ways to start planning - first way, decide what you can afford and then shop around and investigate what you can get for that. Or the second way, decide all the things you really want for your wedding, tot up the costs and then save enough to cover those costs. Either way you need to compromise - either have it now and for less and illiminate some stuff, or compromise by waiting until you have saved more. But don't compromise your possible future earnings on paying for something for the next 3-5 years when as a newly married couple you could have so many more things to be committing yourself to in the future - maybe a new home, kids, travel etc. I would much rather have a smaller wedding than postpone having kids for example.

nelly123

All very interesting. Has anyone got any suggestions of restaurants (Dublin) that you can book out? Probably about 150 guests