Is it possible to have a wedding with a few grand?

gsxr1

My missis and myself really badly need to get wed.

We have been together for 17years now . Have a house . Have a great little 6 year old lad and engaged 9 years.

We keep putting it off . Long finger.

Its getting to the point where we have to pull our fingers out and do it.

Im not working due to redundancy and she just got back into work after a year out. Funds are very tight.

Nither of us want a big wedding.

Straight family and a best friend each. under 20 people.

What are our options with 3k. I just want to marry the girl. I dont care for the big ceremony that surrounds it. She is of the same thinking.

We live in Naas but want to get married in our home town of derry.

seamus

Not sure what the costs of a civil wedding are in the UK, but here in Ireland it's only a couple of hundred euro.

Then you can book a hotel or something to stick on a meal for the 20 of you. Will probably come in way less than €3k.

gbee

Wedding and church hire is about €300, a few exceptions are vastly more. A hotel might be too much for just twenty people but you'd get a Monday restaurant [usually closed on a Monday] without too much bother I'd imagine.

Limo hire €80 [more if it has to wait around for the ceremony so just hire it to go to the restaurant from the church ~ just like a debs.

partyguinness

Absolutely...getting married myselfin August and costing about £6k in UK....Civil Registry...most of that is going on ring, dress and photographer.

For your budget....my buddies got married in a Civil Cermony in the regsitry office and then then to the local for a meal....end of. Cost feck all.

BC

Its 150 euro to register the marriage with the state.
Then church or registry office costs of a few hundred euro if applicable.
Then you could go for a meal. Try places like the Schoolhouse, Fallon & Byrne etc who all have function rooms for smaller groups. The schoolhouse is about 40 euro per person for the meal according to their website.
Just noticed you want to get married in Derry, i'm sure there are plenty of places around the same price or cheaper.

After that you can spend as much or as little as you want on entertainment, flowers etc. For a dress, if you want a traditional wedding one, Debenhams, Monsoon and other high street shops do reasonably priced ones. Also the Bridal shop in Barnardos and Oxfam have new dresses for about 200 euro.

seamus

gbee wrote: »

A hotel might be too much for just twenty people.

Well, you wouldn't get a banquet hall, but many hotels will have smaller private dining rooms that'll cater for 15-30 people.

partyguinness

My sister is selling her wedding dress for £100.00....if you are interested....just a plain white satiny dress...no frills or pom poms

A wedding is only as expensive as you want it to be...just be careful of it snowballing.

How Strange

Yes, it is definitely doable just be realistic about what you can get for your budget.

We had a civil ceremony and lunch for 20 people including wine for about €1500. Photos were done as a pressie, I paid for my own dress (€500), shoes, hair and makeup but they were my little indulgences which I could have easily done cheaper if I had to.

It was a fantastic day, I wouldn't do a thing differently and everyone had a great time.

gsxr1

thanks. It would not be till late in the year. But this thread has been very positive. I am panicking a little , but it all seems reachable.

With 20 close friends who all get on well , even a small reception would be mighty craic.

We would like it to be in our local church in the Creggan in Derry city.

Im actuary looking forward to this now. lol

thanks so far for all your suggestions. very helpful.:D

enfield

I knew a couple like you wanted a no hassle wedding. What they did was. Family only were invited, no after wedding function. Wedding was held in the registry Office with witnesses only. Bride and Groom had hired 3 7 bedroomed houses for the weekend in Dungarvan over looking the Golf course and sea. The guests could bring their kids and share the houses and all have a weekend away. The evening of the wedding the 12 guests and the Bride and Groom booked into a restaurant and had a meal with the 12 guests (their kids that they brought were not invited to the meal)
Then the 12 family members shared the weekend with the bride and groom( who had a house on their own) Meal about 500, houses about 2000 at the time (less now). Dress and wedding suit was nothing special as only witnesses were at the ceremony. They would only be worn once anyway.
Everyone had a great time and no-one was ripped off.
I really enjoyed it.
regards.
Tom.

John Mason

it is absolutely do-able

me and the OH are planning on doing it for 500e.

registry office, dinner for 20 people.

big party that evening.

150e for registry office
my dress 40e
photos - free, everyone brings cameras to these things
4.50e for bus to the office
he already has a suit
my brother is going to my bridesmaid in his army gear
dinner in a friends restaurant, so mates rates apply



party venue - free and a free DJ thrown in

WaltKowalski

irishbird wrote: »

it is absolutely do-able

me and the OH are planning on doing it for 500e.

registry office, dinner for 20 people.

big party that evening.

150e for registry office
my dress 40e
photos - free, everyone brings cameras to these things
4.50e for bus to the office
he already has a suit
my brother is going to my bridesmaid in his army gear
dinner in a friends restaurant, so mates rates apply



party venue - free and a free DJ thrown in

Wow - that's impressive.
I thought minimum fee to the GRO if having a registry office wedding was €300 though?

We having the most economical wedding possible for us.
Church ceremony with 35 guests,
Meal at a restaurant for 35.
Party at my parents house with catering and free bar for 150 guests.
The party's success will depend on the weather - so it may be a disaster.
It's costing us €12,000.

The one expense I'm not scrimping on is a good photographer.
I still love to look at my parents wedding album - 35 years after the event.
I hope that 35 years after our wedding, we, and our children, will look at our album with the same affection I look at my parents.

goat2

gbee wrote: »

Wedding and church hire is about €300, a few exceptions are vastly more. A hotel might be too much for just twenty people but you'd get a Monday restaurant [usually closed on a Monday] without too much bother I'd imagine.

Limo hire €80 [more if it has to wait around for the ceremony so just hire it to go to the restaurant from the church ~ just like a debs.

i was at a wedding, where the reception was held at a restaurant bar, with a big pateo area it was beautiful, there were about 100 of us at it last summer, all her friends about 5 of them cooked for the two days before it in their own homes bought the groceries and prepared the lot, it was their wedding present to her, it was a buffet, eat what you like as much as you like it was beautiful had a local band afterwards, we had a ball, it was one of the best i had been at
the answer is
you can
call on your friends and family now to roll their sleeves up, if you have got one friend a chef, he she will give advice on what do do and how to do it

Heineken Helen

goat2 wrote: »

i was at a wedding, where the reception was held at a restaurant bar, with a big pateo area it was beautiful, there were about 100 of us at it last summer, all her friends about 5 of them cooked for the two days before it in their own homes bought the groceries and prepared the lot, it was their wedding present to her, it was a buffet, eat what you like as much as you like it was beautiful had a local band afterwards, we had a ball, it was one of the best i had been at
the answer is
you can
call on your friends and family now to roll their sleeves up, if you have got one friend a chef, he she will give advice on what do do and how to do it

That sounds lovely... to be honest I think having people involved is much nicer than receiving gifts or money... as it's like everyone participated in making your day special. I'm on a mission to find out my friends hidden talents in the next couple of months... whether they like it or not

goat2

Heineken Helen wrote: »

That sounds lovely... to be honest I think having people involved is much nicer than receiving gifts or money... as it's like everyone participated in making your day special. I'm on a mission to find out my friends hidden talents in the next couple of months... whether they like it or not

also there are alot of people who have done these photography night classes, they would be very good at the album making, someone with a camcorder and camera within your group, there was this girl i know who received a beautiful wedding album from a friend, she did not even know on her wedding day that her friend was doing this, when she received this she was over the moon, i saw this album and it was beautifully done
Then if you have someone good with flowers , using alot of greenery we see around us and some flowers you could have beautiful displays,

Heineken Helen

goat2 wrote: »

also there are alot of people who have done these photography night classes, they would be very good at the album making, someone with a camcorder and camera within your group, there was this girl i know who received a beautiful wedding album from a friend, she did not even know on her wedding day that her friend was doing this, when she received this she was over the moon, i saw this album and it was beautifully done
Then if you have someone good with flowers , using alot of greenery we see around us and some flowers you could have beautiful displays,

I have quite a few friends who are into photography and I plan on doing the whole disposable cameras on the tables thing! BUT I still think it may be worth spending the money for a proper photographer as I may regret it later if I don't?

I'm willing to take the risk with the flowers though so I spose everything is a personal choice... flowers may be the most important thing to somebody else.

We've decided the one thing we don't mind splashing on is the rings... as it's the one thing we'll have forever. And I've decided I don't mind splashing on the dress... just cos but everything else, we'll enjoy haggling!

noodles333

hi, can someone tell me how much it is to get married in registry office in naas is it 150euro for everything or is that just for registration bit confused, thanks

Monife

noodles333 wrote: »

hi, can someone tell me how much it is to get married in registry office in naas is it 150euro for everything or is that just for registration bit confused, thanks

150euro if you are just getting married in a registry office, extra charges (mileage etc) apply if you want the registrar to come to a hotel. If you want a church wedding, different church fees apply as well as the 150euro to register your marriage legally. Also it costs around 10 or 15 euro for your marriage certificate.