Getting married - bit scary : any advice!

[Night Train]

If I wore a dress at all (and I'd be happier in jeans!), I'd go for something nice, but not necessarily 'wedding specific'.

A dress that is only used for one event and never worn again could be replaced with a dress that would adapt to other formal events and get more use. It would also be a nice reminder of the special day each time it is used.
Same with shoes.

At my wedding we sent a little red envelope with each invitation. We told the guests that the envelopes were a Chinese tradition for anonomous gifts of cash towards our first joint household purchase, a washing machine and tumble dryer. It worked fine with gifts ranging from a few coins to many tens of pounds. A few guests bought traditional gifts including cookware and crystal brandy glasses but we had enough to get a washer and dryer that saved me a lot of hand washing.




Would a wedding list of bike parts get past scrutiny?

 

[Yellow Fang]

You can get a wedding dress for £45 off ebay.

 

[Arch]

At my wedding we sent a little red envelope with each invitation. We told the guests that the envelopes were a Chinese tradition for anonomous gifts of cash towards our first joint household purchase, a washing machine and tumble dryer. It worked fine with gifts ranging from a few coins to many tens of pounds. A few guests bought traditional gifts including cookware and crystal brandy glasses but we had enough to get a washer and dryer that saved me a lot of hand washing.

That's a neat idea!

Or, there could be a big donation box on the top table.

 

[Night Train]

That's a neat idea!

Or, there could be a big donation box on the top table.

We had a 'donation box' at the entrance to the reception where guests could post their envelope in and no one will know who put in the £100 and who put in the small change.

 

[TVC]

Congratulations.

I was 42 when I married Mrs VC (not saying how old she was, I'm a gentleman)

I've told the story before, but we married in a rainforest on a small island in Fiji, then had a months honeymoon in Australia which included 10 days in a waterfront apartment in Sydney Harbour, then a spell up at Cairns with 3 days on the Great Barrier Reef. All in for less than £8.5K

Actually it cost me nothing really, but I had to get tw*tted off my bike in order to claim the compensation from the drivers insurance - so I can't recommend it.

What I can recommend is going abroad and getting married, either on your own as we did, or as a good friend of mine did, move the whole ceremony to Europe. My mate got married in a proper castle in Saltzburg with the full works, and flew all his guests out, and it was way cheaper than a bog standard hotel wedding in this country.

 

[Black Sheep]

decide how much your budget stretches to and stick to it.

we didn't have a sit down 'wedding breakfast'

our wedding was around 2pm iirc, the idea being it gave time in the morning to decorate rooms ourselves (bride, bridesmaid and parents at reception, myself, best man and any local / early guests at the church) it also gave time for people traveling down that day to get to us without setting off at stupid-o-clock in the morning.

we then had an evening reception as a seated buffet, so formal tables, but buffet food.

table decorations were made by myself and my wife in the weeks before hand,

the reception building looked like it had been chiselled out of a lump of concrete in soviet russia and flown in, but inside it was really nice, located in the centre of town so that we didn't have to provide transport.

managed to negotiate a deal on the wine and a deal that meant that children under 10 didn't count towards our guest numbers.


friends of ours went to gretna green for a small romantic wedding before going on holiday in scotland

 

[Black Sheep]

forgot to mention, there are springing up many second hand wedding boutiques selling only second hand dresses that are as good as new but a fraction of the cost. Because they are bought by the shop they are in good condition and not really dated

oxfam are getting in on the act too.

 

[Glow worm]

Nice one- congratulations!
And I've found you the perfect venue Delia's Canary Catering

 

[PK99]

A dress that is only used for one event and never worn again could be replaced with a dress that would adapt to other formal events and get more use. It would also be a nice reminder of the special day each time it is used.
Same with shoes.

My wife's wedding dress of choice was an off the rack white summer dress from Laura Ashley for £40 - but hat was 30 years ago, i guess prices have risen since then!

 

[chillyuk]

I'm 64 and been married to my wife for a little over two years.

Enjoy the day, the best is yet to come!

 

[citybabe]

Congratulations!


It doesn't have to be expensive.


When we got married we had our wedding ceremony at the hotel. The hotel had 10 rooms and everyone paid for their own room. We only wanted a few people there with us. The hotel done us a lovely wedding buffet afterwards and we all just sat in the bar talking and drinking through the evening instead of having a disco. We managed to keep our costs down and we still had the greatest day.


Enjoy your day

 

[thnurg]

I have one piece of advice for marriage. Ignore any idiots who tell you that marriage is about give and take. It's not.

It's about give, and give, and give, and give. As one gives, so the other receives, but there must not be any take.

 

[AnythingButVanilla]

I have one piece of advice for marriage. Ignore any idiots who tell you that marriage is about give and take. It's not.

It's about give, and give, and give, and give. As one gives, so the other receives, but there must not be any take.

You old romantic

 

[Telemark]

First off, congratulations!

My friends got guests to pay for the honeymoon And they categorised what each gift would be - we bought them drinks in the moonlight and a spa treat.

That's a great idea, a friend recently got married and just asked for contributions to the honeymoon, which, while obviously useful, made it a bit impersonal. In the end we asked if we could give them something else instead, as they had given us some much used gifts, that we remember them by each time we use them ...

Our own wedding was quite a bargain in the end - we were both over 35 at the time (not saying by how much ), Mr T had just finished a degree as a mature student, so we didn't have lots of spare cash. As has been said by somebody else, we didn't see the point of spending many thousands of pounds on a single day rather than a bit more long term, but still had a close family celebration (registry, 20 people) near my parents, and a small ceremony at a loch side followed by a big party (family again & friends, 70-80) with a ceilidh in Scotland.
We had some amazing friends organising the local village hall, the band & hot buffet catering (they are professionals), with us preparing salads, providing lots of soft drinks, friends bringing cakes, wild flowers picked locally, candles & napkins on the tables, glass rental locally ... both sets of parents insisted in contributing, so one set brought a car boot full of champagne & very nice wines to the party - we still have one left-over bottle ), and friends/family helped decorate the village hall and sweep it the next morning.
It was quite informal, but at the same still felt like a proper wedding.

I have worn my non-white-meringue dress a couple of times since, and Mr T's kilt is in regular use, too...
Mr T wanted a white wedding ... that's a wedding in the snow rather than the meringue , which we managed, followed by a week's ski holiday in a little pension in the Alps (who gave us a special honeymoon price when we mentioned the occasion, without any prompting on our side ).

My dad is an excellent photographer, he did some semi-professional photos, and we got quite a few guests' collections which was great. And Mr T's mum & aunt made the most beautiful wedding cake ...

So if the future Mrs M and her friends are very artsy, there is plenty of scope to get their talents put to good use!

T

 

[Silver Fox]

Congratulations.

I genuinely wish you both every happiness.