Have you been to a lot of wedding this year? I certainly have and can show you my bank balance to prove it. You could be forgiven for thinking 2013 would be a quiet year on the wedding front seeing as many people are superstitious and with it being ‘2013’ I was sure this year would relatively lack-lustre but no chance. This year I have been to 11 weddings, you heard right 11.
Now, before you start thinking I must be some socialite with thousands of friends I must tell you I am at that age, 29, where seemingly everybody is getting married, I even have my own wedding planned for 2014 (yes I am superstitious).
So what has the 2013 wedding season taught me? Above all we are now in an era of DIY weddings. I have seen various friends go DIY in various aspects of their wedding and I am going to outline some of my favourite ideas that I saw and share one of two of my own. Hopefully combined they will convince you that you do not need a venue with everything included (that costs the earth), nor do you need very expensive caterers to prepare all the food.
One of the most expensive parts of the wedding is the venue and the furniture i.e. the tables, chairs etc. One of my friends told me they spent £8,000 on a venue and that included up to 10 tables each sitting 10 people, that is a maximum of 80 people in one room all sat at an empty table for 8k – madness!
Another savvy friend of mine went down the DIY route and got their tables and chairs online; they were delivered without any hassle and cost a fraction of the price. You have to be a savvy shopper to find these places online but companies like The Workplace Depot have a wide selection of tables and chairs that are perfect for weddings. Combine these with a nice venue (not necessarily a stately home or manor) and you should be able to cut the cost by at least 50%.
Another area of a wedding that is eye-wateringly expensive is the food… Now before I hear you say, the food is very important hear me out. I completely agree food is very important at a wedding, it is one of the talking points and certainly a part people will remember for all the right or wrong reasons. Now I am not going to suggest you do all the food yourself or with family as that is a tall ask, however at one of the weddings in the height of summer I did see that the bride and grooms family had made all the canapés and evening snacks – I thought this was a great idea, firstly because they were delicious but also for the cost saving. Having a 3 course meal for 80 or 100+ people is expensive enough. If you add on canapés for everyone and evening snacks the overall cost can nearly double. I know from speaking to other couples that you can easily pay £20 per head for canapés that is quite a saving if you prepare yourself or better yet have a family member or two do them for you even if you pay them £50 for their trouble.
I have to say I took my hat off (not literally as I was not wearing one – the wedding was not that posh) to one couple as they had scraped the the DJ in favour of an iPod and amazing play list and to be honest no one knew the difference. The music was blaring, lights going crazy and people having a jolly old time. They saved £500 on the cost of a DJ and I don’t think anyone really noticed. All I would say is if you are going to go DIY on the music front get an amazing set of speakers from Bose or similar. You cannot beat a great set of speakers and everyone at the wedding will thank you for it and best of all you can take them home with you and even put some of your wedding money towards them if you want to – everyone is a winner.
Lastly cars, I cannot believe how much money couples spend on wedding cars, one of the eleven weddings this year saw £1,000 spent on 2 cars that they travelled in for 10 minutes and had a few snaps taken next to. Wedding cars has to be one of the easiest ways to DIY and save some serious money – simply get your own car and go all ‘tacky’ with it, put some tin cans tied to the back and have some fun. It will bring a smile to your guests face, will be a talking point and it will mean something as it is your car, not a borrowed one for 5 minutes. Alternatively if you know someone in the family has an older car or better still a classic ask to use that, it is your special day and your guests will want to do whatever they can so take the opportunity with both hands and ask for favours.
These are just a few of my DIY wedding tips, I intend on applying these and other ideas to my own wedding in August next year, whether the Fiancé will allow me to is another matter altogether. I am convinced if she had her way we would be getting married in the footsteps of Kate and Wills and spend a budget to match.
Image via Wedding Chicks
Have you got any DIY wedding tips for us? Share in the comments below!
