ZeppoJeff Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) So last month when me and my now fiancée went on holiday to Orlando and I got down on one knee and proposed to her. With her being a massive fan of Disney I couldn't think of anywhere better than right in the centre of Disney in front of the castle. Thankfully she said yes and never slapped me for embarrassing her in front of so many people. Now we have started the planning (I can see where this is going to get messy) I'm always up for doing something different and thought about some cool like getting married in a helicopter over Vegas. Now she was all up for this but the more we have been speaking the more she wants some people to be there. My mum won't fly that distance and some of her family wouldn't afford that kind of holiday/wedding to join in on. So what I ask you is this. What kind of price have people been spending on weddings in the uk? What kind of cool ideas have people came up with? I've already been thinking about getting married in registrar and then driving away with some close people to a lodge for a long weekend and making it more personal. Problem is who do you bring if the lodge only sleeps 10 😂 Anyways anybody's help and ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Here's a picture of the moment she said yes and made me the happiest man alive 😊 Edited June 26, 2016 by ZeppoJeff 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) Congrats on getting married!!! Best advice I can give about wedding planning, what ever the question your better half asks you about X/Y/Z just nod your head and smile!!! As for cost, a registry wedding will cost a few hundred quid at the most, on the other hand we had some photographer quote £5k+ to cover just the wedding day. It really is like everything else in life, don't get bogged down comparing to other people, its your wedding, do/spend as much or little as you want . Edited June 26, 2016 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I proposed to my Mrs at home, over breakfast in bed. Fast forward 10 months and we got married 3 weeks ago. Total cost of EVERYTHING (invites, dress, rings, venue, cake, honeymoon, etc...) was £30k. This got us a very nice country house venue in Oxfordshire, food and wine for 85 guests, and a luxury 12 day horse riding safari in South Africa for our honeymoon. We didn't pay for the cake or the photos as we are friends with people who do this professionally and I used my own car as the wedding car. We also made our own favours. All this saved us about £3k I believe. We used John Lewis for our gift list and all our gifts arrived yesterday - it was like Christmas :-) Customer Service was good - we used their Reading store. We could have done it for a different price, or on different timescales, but this was right for us. The extended part of my side of the family isn't very affluent so I had some aunts and cousins who couldn't come because of the cost of travel, room rates at the venue, etc. We sent 100 invites to get our 85 guests, and personally I think that's about the upper limit of people to have attend as we struggled to see everyone. Best thing we did during the planning was to budget it all out in Excel and to keep the plan up to date as things changed. I'd encourage everyone else to do similar as it helped reduce the worry about cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 When my wife and I got married we only had a small budget, we did a registry office wedding and just a small holiday inn wedding breakfast for 50 and an evening do for 100 guests, nothing to mental. I think it cost about £6000 all in. We were living together so people just gave us money for our honeymoon, which we had a lovely 10 nights in Florida. It was great but not too expensive. We also had a cake as a wedding gift and the photography was a gift as well. Oh and the flowers were also a gift. It's amazing when talking to people you know how some one knows someone who does stuff. Sent from my iPad using a hammer and chisel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Congratulations Jeff, good luck with the planning...you're gonna need it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirag1988 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Congratulations mate! I proposed to my now Mrs in Australia in March last year, and we just had our registry wedding. However with it being an Indian wedding it's going to be "slightly" different to yours Indian wedding is to take place in September this year with a lot of pre-wedding events happening along the way and LOTS of shopping for gifts, etc. We're looking at a total cost of around £50k (self-funded) for everything, including our registry, Indian wedding and reception (300 guests on the day in September - that's small for an Indian wedding ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Do what YOU want to do, not what your family want. That said, if you're going to spend £10K - £20K on a wedding in the UK, just do the US idea for cheaper and spend a few grand getting the parents over there to witness it. You can then have a regular big party for everyone else when you get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Do what YOU want to do, not what your family want. This ^^ We married in a registry office, reception meal with family, then a Hog Roast for friends the following weekend. In all the total cost was about £2500 . . . Best Day Ever!! So don't be thinking that you have to spend thousands to have a good time. We did what WE wanted and how WE wanted it. Congratulations toy both 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Great picture, congratulations. I was lucky, I got married 3 years ago but my wife didn't want anything big. We had a registry office ceremony with about 8 guests, then went for a nice meal, and finally had a reception with 120 guests at a local restaurant/bar, who provided a buffet. We asked everyone to dress casual as it was going to be a relaxed event, not like a traditional wedding day. There were no speeches, bridesmaids or best man, but we did have a first dance. Total cost was £1100 incl dress/rings/venue/ceremony, and I had loads of friends tell me it was the best wedding they'd been to. There was such a good atmosphere. My only regret was that we didnt get more pictures... we have about 20 from our phones but that was it. And fortunately my Dad paid for our honeymoon in Mexico...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeppoJeff Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Cheers for all the inputs guys. We've been talking quite a bit and think we arent one for big flash weddings. So its going to be quite a small wedding to keep all the cost down...we would rather save the money for the honeymoon and a deposit on a house rather than a one day event. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Congratulations mate! I proposed to my now Mrs in Australia in March last year, and we just had our registry wedding. However with it being an Indian wedding it's going to be "slightly" different to yours Indian wedding is to take place in September this year with a lot of pre-wedding events happening along the way and LOTS of shopping for gifts, etc. We're looking at a total cost of around £50k (self-funded) for everything, including our registry, Indian wedding and reception (300 guests on the day in September - that's small for an Indian wedding ) I went to an indian wedding a couple of years back, was bloody AWESOME! Must have been 600 people there, we had a great curry too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 For our wedding I proposed at a Chateau in the Loire Valley (we were living in Paris at the time) - we got married when we got back to the UK so we organised three events: 1. Had a registry office event which 20 friends and family attended followed by some food in a restaurant (floating restaurant on the Thames) we funded 2. Took immediate family (ten of us) to the Chateau in France I proposed in for a blessing and lots of wine 3. Hired a big pub in Putney Heath and invited everyone we knew So we had three events over the space of one month. Total cost around the £8k mark all in. We got a pro photographer when in France (cost 350 Euros for about 200 photos!) but otherwise relied on other people. Our friend did the cake on the Putney party. My parents paid for coaches to ferry people over to SW London (most of my family are in Essex). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Do what YOU want to do, not what your family want. This ^^ We married in a registry office, reception meal with family, then a Hog Roast for friends the following weekend. In all the total cost was about £2500 . . . Best Day Ever!! So don't be thinking that you have to spend thousands to have a good time. We did what WE wanted and how WE wanted it. Congratulations toy both It was a very good day Have to agree with Doogy, do what you 2 want to do. We got married in a registry office, lunch in a local village restaurant for 30 or so family and close freinds and then a big party 2 days later at the local golf club for ALL our freinds and family, Can't remember how much it all was bu less than £4k, it was our best couple of days and we'll remember it forever becuse we were so happy not because of a swanky venue but each to their own obviously. We chose to splurge on our honeymoon, 2.5 weeks in South Africa, selfish but we enjoyed and remember every minute of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Yes we spent a fair amount on Honeymoons! Antalya and Rome - brilliant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Congrats. Ours is so far looking to cost 50k including everything and it's only 150 people. No honeymoon though. Only got one pre wedding event as it's gonna be a half Indian half English affair. Her dress is £1700 before alterations and accessories & shoes and she'll only be wearing it for 1.5hrs (Indian reception later) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDUNKZ18 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 wow...i'm shocked people actually spend over 20k on a wedding.. i know its an important day but.. 20k or more for one day!.. each to their own though. for me i'd be looking at registry office then a whole weekend party with friends and family, save your cash for a house, or a supercharger.. haha. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 On an ideas note, hire out a mansion which sleeps 24+. Check out cottages4you for loads of places. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Wise choice Jeff, putting the money towards a house deposit. Stupid blowing tens of thousands on a one day event in my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Kay Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Bit harsh saying people are stupid for blowing cash on a wedding! I wasn't up for a big do but mine just snowballed and with honeymoon we spent just shy of £40k. It was New Year's Eve, we had around 200 people in a massive Manor House and most people stayed over. I'd do it again every year if I could as I had the best time ever. So shocked just how much I enjoyed it, so you do what ever makes you happy no matter how large or small your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Congrats Jeff and Melissa! Can't advise on wedding costs as mine was in Romania back in 1827... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Do whatever suits you and your budget... People being 'shocked' at X amount being spent on a wedding have no idea where those other people are in their lives in terms of housing / salary / disposable income / priorities / etc. Do what's right for you (just don't get in to debt for it; not worth it imho!) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Also, the second you add the word 'wedding' to any hire of venue/catering/clothes/cars, you automatically incur the standard WTO 50% Wedding Tax. B*stards. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiddyZed Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Congrats! Awesome picture! I proposed to Mrs last December in Mauritius (She's half Mauritian but never been there!) and we're still in the planning stages however we've set a date for next August (2017), got the venue booked and looking at the florist, cake, dress, rings etc etc I think the wedding will come in at just over £14k (for around 80 guests). We're very lucky as my Mrs parents are covering the majority of the cost for the wedding here in the UK and then my parents are having a party for us over in Morocco (I'm Moroccan). But as many people have said its down to what you want. We've just recently bought our first place together and there's no way we would've been able to shell out £14k on a wedding. By the way - your helicopter idea is mental! Would be awesome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 our wedding was about £5k all in, hired a converted barn which slept 18 people for a 3 night weekend which was £2100, then a further £600 on wedding venue, £2000 on catering Saturday night, and maybe £600 on food/drink for the rest of the weekend. didn't bother with a florist, getting a cake made, a photographer or a DJ - morrisons, M&S, friends and an ipod with some BIG speakers covered all of that. and for any wedding presents we asked for money, which paid for half the honeymoon to Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Yes thats a good point, we asked for money also as gifts, we lived in a one bed flat in Putney, we didnt need a tonne of stuff at the time! Monetary gifts took a huge chunk out the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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