In a dream world we'd all have an unlimited wedding budget and cost would have no bearing on our planning. But back on reality ranch with the average cost of a wedding in the UK being £15,500 (and thats down from the pre-recession average of £20k!) most of us need to find ways of cutting costs here and there.
New to the WedinLondon blog is our Budget Savvy Bride of the Week. Each week we'll bring you the top penny-saving tips from a real bride or bride-to-be.
In the hot seat this week is Claire (aka Shoe Gal), a bride-to-be from Norwich who is planning her April 2012 wedding to her fiance Andrew after an out of the blue and super romantic proposal on a local beach.
Hi Claire! Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the blog. Tell us how your planning is coming along.
"The main thing that has shocked me has been just how expensive everything is. It honestly seems as though all normality goes out of the window and when you mention the dreaded 'W' word, prices just double or even treble. The sad thing is that it seems as though most people will pay these wildly inflated prices because 'it's the biggest day of your life'. Now, I do agree it will be the biggest (and probably still the most expensive) day of my life, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up being a bargain hunter! We decided our budget based upon the money we had so kindly been offered by family added to the maximum that we thought we could realistically save. Suffice to say, I never wanted to actually spend this amount of money, but it was good to know the maximum that we had available to us."
That sounds like a very sensible approach to your budget. Have your bargain hunting skills been put to the test yet?
"The first thing we booked was the venue. We got a good deal on our ceremony venue so no haggling was required. However, when it came to the reception venue, it was more than we had planned on paying. We managed to have a good haggle, and by cutting out a couple of drinks (surely one arrival drink is enough?!) and choosing cheaper menu options, we saved a whopping £7.50 per person. This will probably save us around £450. We also opted for fish and chip cones in the evening in place of a buffet - personally I much prefer this option, and it is also around £900 cheaper!"
And what about the all-important dress?
"I went to 4 wedding dress shops, and after making second visits to a couple I finally decided which dress was 'the one'. The only problem was that it was £1,000. Now, whilst I had the budget to spend this, I can honestly say that the thought of spending so much on something I would only wear once made me feel physically sick! I signed up to sites like Preloved and Sell My Wedding Dress in the hope that someone might be selling the dress I loved. Then, I was looking on Ebay one day and typed in the model of the dress, I wasn't hopeful as had never seen one sold on there before. However, the exact dress I was looking for popped up, and - RESULT - it was brand new! It was 2 sizes too big, but that didn't bother me, it's easy enough for someone to make it smaller. I looked into it and discovered that the dress was being sold by a lady in Wales who owns a wedding dress shop. A few emails back and forth and I learned that it was a shop sample that had only ever been tried on 3 times and was apparantly in immaculate condition. It was advertised at £500 but it had the option of making an offer - so I cheekily offered £455 (including delivery) and was absolutely amazed that I won it. I was a little bit dubious as to whether my bargain hunting would pay off so couldn't relax until it had been delivered. The dress arrived a few days later, incredibly well packaged, and it was perfect - what a relief! The other bonus was that I had purchased the dress through Ebay but also by going through a cashback website, so I also earned £9 in cashback."
picture courtesy of Benjamin Roberts
Thats an incredible saving on a brand new dress. Well done Claire! Have you thought about your accessories to go with the dress yet?
"As I'm sure you can tell from my name, I'm a shoe person! With this in mind, I always dreamed that I would have a beautiful pair of designer shoes to wear on my wedding day. From the moment we got engaged and started looking at the budget, I realised that this was going to be near impossible. So I started saving straight away and hoped that I may find a bargain somewhere along the way. I set up searches on Ebay to look for Jimmy Choos and Manolos in my size and checked them all the time to make sure I didn't miss out. Then, one day when my H2B and I were away in Birmingham, I was playing around with Ebay on my phone and found the most perfect pair of Jimmy Choos I had ever seen - and they were in my size! Unfortunately, I didn't trust buying things on my phone, so waited until we got home the next day and signed straight into Ebay. I was devastated - the shoes had ended; but hang on...no-one had bid on them. I, rather cheekily, emailed the seller and asked if the shoes were still available. She said that they were and asked how much I was willing to pay. They had been on Ebay at £250 (brand new) plus about £8 postage. I decided to start low and offered to pay £200 in total - unbelievably, she accepted! I paid on the Friday and by Monday, they were being delivered. They are the most beautiful pair of shoes, and yes I know that £200 may not sound like a bargain, but they are still for sale on the Jimmy Choo website for almost £500!"
picture courtesy of Jimmy Choo
Wow, thats fantastic! So has your bargain hunting stopped there?
"No way! We have got plenty more bargains along the way. Mainly we have just haggled with everything as we are both so aware that the mark up on anything 'wedding' is so high. We have managed to negotiate cheaper rates with our photographer, videographer, transport, entertainment, florist and plan on haggling for pretty much everything!"
Thanks for sharing your Budget Savvy Bride Tips Claire! Its really inspired me to not accept the first price thats offered. Can't wait to put my haggling skills to the test!
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