When the wedding is all set and done, we ask our couples after their wedding what little tips they can offer for newlyweds on areas of their day and if they were to do it again, then what would they change. The areas that sounded like a great idea having but in reality didn't add much to their day and often were seen as a waste of money. All wedding planners, coordinators and venue arrangers agree that when dealing with many couples, there is always one thing that needs to be right. Couples need to identify it, deal with it, and then work everything else around it.
 

These are personal opinions/statements based from real weddings and hence are not meant to offend anyone. Different things are important to different people so it’s interesting to hear peoples thoughts on the areas that might actually help you in your considerations for your day and budgets and generally be aware in the areas that matter most.

Your day is your day and as individual it is, it’s the personal touches are the ones that people remember – if you can afford it do exactly what you want to do.

Here are some thoughts and tips that might interest you also

on Decorating:
wedding breakfast tables - don't go mad on decorations becuase once the tables are laid up there isn't a lot of room, keep it simple with a sprinkling of diamonds or confetti, cheap and effective.

on Flowers:

Especially table flowers- having huge and elaborate flowers on your tables eat up space and tend to get pulled apart by small children, knocked over and robbed.
 

on Centre pieces:-

Our venue offered flowers in vases for the table centrepieces, which we would have been happy with, but we've opted to ask a friend of ours to design the centrepieces and make them ourselves. Cheap and unique!

on Wedding cake:-

It is what is important to the individual but cakes can be so dear and a lot of the time they don't get eaten, we cut ours before the speeches and had it served with coffee so it all got eaten) at the end of the day they are for just a photo. M&S offer good ranges of wedding cakes (from £100) as well as Tescos (from £40) with elaborate toppers and fillings.

on Chair covers:-

Chair covers made the room look wonderful but at a cost (from, £250). If you are having a a civil ceremony within the same venue then worth having them as they can be used for the most part of the day. If however, its just the wedding breakfast then consider its worth for just 3 hours?

on Hairdresser:

Going to the hairdresser to get your hair done could be a mare- be careful if wearing just t-shirts as you need to change and get into your bridal outfit without ruining your hair, wear Dressing gown, or a zip-up top, or a button-up shirt, or a wraparound top... just so long as it doesn't have to come off over your head.

on Honeymoon dates:-

10 days after the wedding saved us £1000 due to half term holidays

on Favours:-
Can you live without favours? - most of ours got left on the tables as people didn't know whether to take them or not! Actual keepsake items people feel a bit weird taking i think as were sure if they are allowed them or not.

Try and stick to less than £1 for this, lottery tickets etc. let the groom mention, the wedding favours are for you if you are going to let guests have them. If you do opt for them, it’s traditional for sugar coated almonds but you can have roses or quality street or even Cadburys mini eggs in little organza bags, these are sweets that everyone knows and won’t goto waste. Lovehearts sweets from ebay or buy a bowl of sweets for the table

on Rings:-

hunting around at jewellers and find them on the internet resorted to a couple saving around £500

on Table plans:-

paying a lot for a table plan is also unnecessary as it's not really looked at for long and taken away after everyone is seated. We had a handmade one done, they cost next to nothing and are probably more effective. Hobbycraft is a good place to get all the board and pieces for your plans. You can accomplish a great table plan for less than £20. You can get a large piece of artists card (A1) and foam board from an art shop. The tables had an A6 size paper so plenty of room and clear and easy for people to read. I typed up each table using the template from confetti and made it larger then printed these out and cut them out (using a stanley knife and cutting board- craft knifes are crap and you don't get the same precision with scissors) then mount them onto foam board using spray fix, then mount them onto the board using glue dots as they are stronger! and you don't want the tables to fall off the day before the wedding and have to get some pritt stick off reception at the venue

on Bridal shoes:–

No-one sees them, comfort is key so use a nice clean pair of trainers or summer sandals that are comfy and still look good to change into

on not having a free bar:-

Supply wine to the tables if need be if not let people get what they like to drink themselves, ask venue if they charge corkage, it may work out cheaper to bring your own wine/champagne for the toast than paying their prices

on the Wedding Gown or Dress:-

look out for wedding dress shop sales and free tickets to designer wedding dress sales you may get a stunning bargain, also talk with bridal shops, for example, you might want to participate in one or two wedding shows that they do, an opportunity to see what gowns and outfit you like and in return expect some big discounts for your day. Also lady in dress shop gave me a good tip. If you choose a dress with a lace up back then you will need less alterations so less cost. It will be tightened or loosened to fit you.

on EBAY:– you will be surprised what you can find on ebay; confetti , invites, wedding cake napkins, dresses (from £45), shoes (from £8), tiaras (from £35)

on Cars:–

know someone with a nice prestige car, they will be impressed you asked them and obviously cheaper than anywhere else. Cars can cost a lot, if anyone has a posh car, or a sports car ask to use it to get to your wedding, they are usually thrilled that you asked, (you could save around £250)

on Talent:-

Ask fiends and family to help in areas, there might be people you know that can help in some areas and will only be too gladly to assist in your big day. Get in touch with local colleges for facials, massage's, manicures, bands, singers, cake makers, dance routines, entertainment etc. they are just as good and cost a lot less.

on 1st dance:-

Find a local dance class for a first dance routine a lot cheaper than paying someone who specialises in wedding dance.

on Flower seeds:-

Something that can be planted indoors or outdoors around the time of your wedding or that will flower on your first anniversary. Keep the love growing

on Save The Date:

you can design these on www.vistaprint.co.uk and have them printed onto small magnets, 50 of them cost us £10- bargainous!

on having Weekday weddings:-

getting married on a weekday will save you lots of money but you need to let your guests know well early in advance so they can get the day off work, you can save around £1000. It's best to people plenty of notice say 5/6 months for odd day weddings.

on Wedding fair suppliers:-

see f they can offer discounts, consultations at wedding fairs is a good time to discuss bookings and get bargains!

on Table cameras:-

dont bother, they cost a fortune to process and 80 percent of the pictures are crap. One couple gave guests blank discs to put their photos on and send back to them so they can create their own album. You can get colour-coordinated covers in each cd case, possibly print wedding date and names on cds, then tie up a stack of them with ribbon and put on each table with a tent card asking people to take one and return to newlyweds at their convenience!

On other situations, this hadn't worked well as only a few people did this which was a shame but its worth a go it might have been cos not many people noticed them. Might be worth getting the groom to mention it in his speech to remind people.

on Fireworks:- in one brides opinion - they were not worth the money and people are normally too "merry" to appreciate them at the time they are shown unless it's for new years weddings.

on Venues:-

find unusual reception venues, some venues “want” to get their reception noticed as great wedding venues and will help in going beyond many venues in ensuring you have everything you want and allow full control of the grounds and venue Some even offer free overnight stay or keep the bar going thoughout the night as well as offering great prices at their bar.

on Makeup artists:

A makeup artist on the day isnt really vital as most brides know what suits them and how to do their own makeup, however a nice manicure for bride and groom IS worth every penny as the photographer will be taking lots of close ups of your hands wearing your wedding rings.

on ideas during the wedding breakfast:

This worked at one wedding, beside each place, put a tiny envelope, each guest puts in a £1 coin and writes on the envelope how long the bestmans speech will last, minutes and seconds, the speech is timed and whoever is the nearest gets the lot!

If you've set your heart on having something, ask around to see if other suppliers can get something cheaper and similar.


Also, NEVER be afraid to ask for a discount - being cheeky helps a lot!