Wedding Planning #4

[dietcokefanatic]

monsoon have some absolutely stunning wedding dresses.

i went dress shopping and ended up sticking with a sample sale dress I got… because a lot of the higher end wedding dresses are an absolute con.

essence of Australia dresses are almost all polyester. Which shocked me, as I figured Australian dresses would value breathable fabrics. Some high end designers are vague about what the dress fabric is actually made of. For example, they’ll mention it’s Tulle without actually specifying if it’s polyester or silk tulle.

I’ve struggled to find a brand that *isnt* polyester or nylon or poly blend.

and I get why poly fabrics are used sometimes, but the reality is that it’s a cheaper fabric. And this cost isn’t passed onto the customer. It’s also a fabric that doesnt breath and

it’s hard to assess the true quality of wedding dresses - my understanding was that a lot of the sample dresses could be lesser quality. Some of them are OK, none of them blew me out of the water.

On average we are spending £1k upwards for a poly blend dress, likely made in China, that we’ll wear once. It’s crazy!!

a friend of mine worked in a bridal shop and largely agrees.

if we were spending £1k+ where are the genuine silk, genuine duchess fabric, cottons, linens? Where is the genuine silk chiffon, mikado and duchesse? Where is the cotton lace? Why aren’t we at least getting viscose or rayon charmeuse? It’s virtually all polyester.

One brand that I have to take my hat off to, is Rixo. It has genuine silk dresses for under £1k. It’s transparent about fabrics. And it puts the pricing of some other brands into perspective, because a genuine silk Rixo wedding dress is £950.

go with the cheaper dress, because it’s almost certainly just as good quality, if not better.

Oh wow, you know your stuff! I think what I want from 'the experience' I probably won't get- I want someone knowledgeable about fabrics, styles and underwear because I don't like being the centre of attention but I know if I am dressed and feel a billion dollars, I will manage better.

I'm going to go to two or three recommended stores and then re-evaluate.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Honestly I know it’s your wedding day and fair enough if you’ve got the budget but I’d rather a holiday I think! aw £800 is really good! I bet you’ll look amazing too!

No same! The thought of having to have wedding photos anyway is awful for me so I’d never actually cope with a boudoir shoot!

Yeah that’s my thought! The pjs look nice for a photo so wanted those but without any writing so they can hopefully use them again! I’ve ordered the slippers and scrunchies off shein for cheap and looking at pjs on Etsy and then just a nice bracelet. The Buck’s Fizz would just be for while we’re getting ready then and the sweets if they just want something to nibble on while we get ready - I know I won’t be able to eat

When’s your wedding? Do you have a lot left to sort for it?

My sister got me a nice Guess bracelet for Christmas so I might go down that route for bridesmaids.
also, the Joma range, can be quite nice and you can personalize them. They aren't expensive but if you wear them all the time without taking them off (my own fault) the silver does tarnish a bit.
That all sounds really nice, can I be your bridesmaid?
I won't be able to eat either, and I need to be careful with the pre drinks or I will be crawling down the aisle from drinking too much for my nerves That is probably my biggest fear atm!

My wedding isn't until 28th March 2025 but I wanted to be on the ball in case the suppliesr booked up as I am such a worrier.
We have everything pretty much sorted now, just bridesmaid dresses, suits & the transport for guests to the ceremony venue then back to the reception. (Suits & Transport for guests my partner said he would sort and isn't it funny that is the two things still not sorted? )
Invites and order of service later in the year and likely do that on Vista Print.
then plan the seating arrangements and get some final wee bits put together like the seating chart for guests and table numbers but I've seen these on etsy for a fraction of the cost compared to some stationary companies.

When is your big day and have you much left to sort?

Its exciting to talk about it!!
---

yep, although I paid to go dress shopping. I think the session cost about £20-30? And tbh, I didn’t begrudge paying that. I was provided a service and the girl who served me was lovely. I didn’t buy a dress from them but still got that experience.

Maybe part of the experience is them having a tailor recommendation, and the whole hype of ordering a dress? But that hardly seems like much of an experience to me, and definitely not worth the markup.

the dresses are marked up, I’d estimate, by around 4 times what they cost to make. For many of established bridal brands this is probably a lot more.

bridesmaid dresses are the same. Poorly constructed, cheap fabric and will still cost £50-200 for essentially a maxi dress.

buisness insider called it the biggest makeup in the wedding industry.

Women are massively overpaying for a common purchase

A report shows that wedding dresses are marked up 3.9 times more than white dresses that are the same.

www.businessinsider.com

it feels like another way women are treated unfairly tbh, but if anyone is considering buying a cheaper dress from the high street, I think you might as well considering the above.

Where would you recommend looking for bridesmaid dresses? I really don't want to go to a bridal shop for them as I was quoted £250 up. Obviously, I want them to look nice but I don't want to be paying that for bridesmaid dresses. That is before they are even tailored etc too..

 

[_Laura]

You could keep an eye out for offers too, the bridal shop I went to does £1,000 events so my dress was originally £1,300 but I had it on the event, or I could’ve had it off the peg for £895 I think but it wasn’t in my size and was a bit too big to be altered. Bear alteration costs in mind too - luckily mine are a flat £150 with the bridal shop.

Even though I can’t believe I paid £1,000 for mine, I feel like a princess in it so I love it!

Ooh is that store Cariad in Swansea by any chance?

It is so easy to get sucked into the wedding talk and costs but if you genuinely feel negatively about spending X amount on something I don't understand why people do it? Genuine question and I've been there, we were literally on the brink of cancelling because I was getting carried away, looking at an expensive photographer and then videographer on top, nearly £4000 for both, I'm sorry but no matter how good the photos are they aren't worth that! So many of you are saying oh but X amount is good for a dress/photographer etc etc but the reason the wedding industry is extortionate is because people spend those crazy amounts

I think we all set a wedding budget and are happy to pay X for a dress/photographer as long as it all comes together. Or at least that’s how my fiancé and I are planning our wedding. We were happy to pay £1750 for a photographer for different reasons (when you add up the day of the wedding + travel, hours spent editing, 2 or 3 meetings before the wedding, we didn’t think the hourly charge was extortionate) but mostly because we made cuts elsewhere to be able to afford her. We’re not doing favours or cake for example. My dress was from Wed2b, my bridesmaids’ dresses will be from Vinted, we’re DIYing our wedding flowers and buying our decor from charity shops and Facebook marketplace.

I truly understand where you’re coming from and I would even tend to agree that pictures could never be worth £4000. But I’d say that that statement is true for you and for me. It’s not necessarily true for everyone. I had seen a photographer I really loved the style of, but who charges £2500. This was more that we could justify or were comfortable paying so we didn’t go for her (we had set a budget of max. £2k for photos). Had our wedding budget been £5k or £10k more than what it is, we probably would have picked her instead. I do think that the wedding industry is insane and I’m a firm believer that the “wedding” tax is real, but I think we (in general) need to find the right balance of spending the money we’re comfortable spending on whatever it is we’re comfortable spending it on while understanding that we’re all different. Some brides will be happy with a £80 dress from Coast while others will want a £5000 dress from Maggie Sottero. Some couples will want the big traditional wedding with all the trimmings while others will be happy with a city hall wedding and drinks at the pub. Yes it’s easy to be sucked in and pay huge amounts, but I also think it’s just as easy to take a step back and think “Hold on, do I actually really want X or do I feel pressured by society to get X”. You’ll (general you, not you RandomFrog) always be able to find cheaper suppliers, no one says you have to spend £1750 for a good photographer. We could have spend half that amount for someone else, had we wanted to. I think people who want to keep up with the Joneses have always existed, but I think that’s a “them” problem, not a wedding industry problem.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

It is so easy to get sucked into the wedding talk and costs but if you genuinely feel negatively about spending X amount on something I don't understand why people do it? Genuine question and I've been there, we were literally on the brink of cancelling because I was getting carried away, looking at an expensive photographer and then videographer on top, nearly £4000 for both, I'm sorry but no matter how good the photos are they aren't worth that! So many of you are saying oh but X amount is good for a dress/photographer etc etc but the reason the wedding industry is extortionate is because people spend those crazy amounts

My partner and I have a decent budget and there are elements of the day we want to spend more money on than others.
We sat down right at the start of planning and worked out that our photographer would be between £1000 - £2500, same with my wedding dress, I budgeted between £500 - £1200 for it.
The photographer is within budget and although she is expensive, her work speaks for itself and I couldn't imagine having chosen anyone else.
The same with my dress, as much as people might think it's a lot for one day, I'm within budget and know the dress is perfect for me.

Some elements of my day I do not want to cheap out on, and I don't regret or feel negatively about the money I've spent/spending as I know it will be worth it

I can still be shocked at some of the prices though lol, think a quote I was given for stationary was mindblowing and really that was one expense I was more than happy to cut back on because I was able to do my own save the dates on Vista Print for literally a fraction of the cost and they looked so lovely.

 

[RandomFrog]

Ooh is that store Cariad in Swansea by any chance?




I think we all set a wedding budget and are happy to pay X for a dress/photographer as long as it all comes together. Or at least that’s how my fiancé and I are planning our wedding. We were happy to pay £1750 for a photographer for different reasons (when you add up the day of the wedding + travel, hours spent editing, 2 or 3 meetings before the wedding, we didn’t think the hourly charge was extortionate) but mostly because we made cuts elsewhere to be able to afford her. We’re not doing favours or cake for example. My dress was from Wed2b, my bridesmaids’ dresses will be from Vinted, we’re DIYing our wedding flowers and buying our decor from charity shops and Facebook marketplace.

I truly understand where you’re coming from and I would even tend to agree that pictures could never be worth £4000. But I’d say that that statement is true for you and for me. It’s not necessarily true for everyone. I had seen a photographer I really loved the style of, but who charges £2500. This was more that we could justify or were comfortable paying so we didn’t go for her (we had set a budget of max. £2k for photos). Had our wedding budget been £5k or £10k more than what it is, we probably would have picked her instead. I do think that the wedding industry is insane and I’m a firm believer that the “wedding” tax is real, but I think we (in general) need to find the right balance of spending the money we’re comfortable spending on whatever it is we’re comfortable spending it on while understanding that we’re all different. Some brides will be happy with a £80 dress from Coast while others will want a £5000 dress from Maggie Sottero. Some couples will want the big traditional wedding with all the trimmings while others will be happy with a city hall wedding and drinks at the pub. Yes it’s easy to be sucked in and pay huge amounts, but I also think it’s just as easy to take a step back and think “Hold on, do I actually really want X or do I feel pressured by society to get X”. You’ll (general you, not you RandomFrog) always be able to find cheaper suppliers, no one says you have to spend £1750 for a good photographer. We could have spend half that amount for someone else, had we wanted to. I think people who want to keep up with the Joneses have always existed, but I think that’s a “them” problem, not a wedding industry problem.

Agree with all of that, like I say we did that too, it was getting to be £20,000 and I literally had to check myself. We went travelling for 3 months and spent £8,000 so to me it's just mind boggling that the £20,000 is standard cost thesedays and people generally don't seem to bat an eye.

The reason I put my comment was because I made a point of because a photographer costs more doesn't mean they're better or superior should I say (my personal situation) but then most comments after basically said if you don't spend £1500 upwards then your photos will be tit

If you (again not personally you, just generally) want to and can spend 10s of thousands on a wedding then happy days but also if you want to spend £10 on a wedding then also happy days, neither should be made to feel like they're in the wrong or that your wedding is going to be tit because you want to be realistic/not get yourself into debt for one day
---

My partner and I have a decent budget and there are elements of the day we want to spend more money on than others.
We sat down right at the start of planning and worked out that our photographer would be between £1000 - £2500, same with my wedding dress, I budgeted between £500 - £1200 for it.
The photographer is within budget and although she is expensive, her work speaks for itself and I couldn't imagine having chosen anyone else.
The same with my dress, as much as people might think it's a lot for one day, I'm within budget and know the dress is perfect for me.

Some elements of my day I do not want to cheap out on, and I don't regret or feel negatively about the money I've spent/spending as I know it will be worth it

I can still be shocked at some of the prices though lol, think a quote I was given for stationary was mindblowing and really that was one expense I was more than happy to cut back on because I was able to do my own save the dates on Vista Print for literally a fraction of the cost and they looked so lovely.

That is fab for you! As I say allocate your budget to where you prefer but you've said 'we've spent minimum £1000 on a photographer and I'm glad we haven't gone for 'cheap'' in response to someone genuinely being astounded by costs.

I personally think that could make anyone not just OP feel like they need to spend more to have decent anything which is just not true (and was my original point)

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Agree with all of that, like I say we did that too, it was getting to be £20,000 and I literally had to check myself. We went travelling for 3 months and spent £8,000 so to me it's just mind boggling that the £20,000 is standard cost thesedays and people generally don't seem to bat an eye.

The reason I put my comment was because I made a point of because a photographer costs more doesn't mean they're better or superior should I say (my personal situation) but then most comments after basically said if you don't spend £1500 upwards then your photos will be tit

If you (again not personally you, just generally) want to and can spend 10s of thousands on a wedding then happy days but also if you want to spend £10 on a wedding then also happy days, neither should be made to feel like they're in the wrong or that your wedding is going to be tit because you want to be realistic/not get yourself into debt for one day
---


That is fab for you! As I say allocate your budget to where you prefer but you've said 'we've spent minimum £1000 on a photographer and I'm glad we haven't gone for 'cheap'' in response to someone genuinely being astounded by costs.

I personally think that could make anyone not just OP feel like they need to spend more to have decent anything which is just not true (and was my original point)

''Not cheap at £2000 but it was the one thing I didn't want to cheap out on'' was what I said word for word, so I do apologize if my wording may have upset or made anyone feel bad. That wasn't my intention.

Perhaps I should have worded it better as I meant more the style of her photos, what her package included, and her experience in terms of 'cheap out' rather than the cost.
so that's my fault.
I have no doubt any photographer I had gone with would have produced quality work no matter the cost.

In saying that, I don't think any photographers are cheap anyway, all the quotes I got were over the 1k mark but that might just be where I am in NI and them taking into consideration travel costs around NI. I had no clue about photography costs before getting engaged.

I didn't say that if you don't spend £1500 upwards your photos would be tit. My photographer has a package for £1200. I know you get a lot of photographers for less than we paid, and their work is brilliant. We would have paid less too only all the little add-ons brought it to what it is.

I understand what you are saying though and I apologize again for how I worded it.

 

[RandomFrog]

''Not cheap at £2000 but it was the one thing I didn't want to cheap out on'' was what I said word for word, so I do apologize if my wording may have upset or made anyone feel bad. That wasn't my intention.

Perhaps I should have worded it better as I meant more the style of her photos, what her package included, and her experience in terms of 'cheap out' rather than the cost.
so that's my fault.
I have no doubt any photographer I had gone with would have produced quality work no matter the cost.

In saying that, I don't think any photographers are cheap anyway, all the quotes I got were over the 1k mark but that might just be where I am in NI and them taking into consideration travel costs around NI. I had no clue about photography costs before getting engaged.

I didn't say that if you don't spend £1500 upwards your photos would be tit. My photographer has a package for £1200. I know you get a lot of photographers for less than we paid, and their work is brilliant. We would have paid less too only all the little add-ons brought it to what it is.

I understand what you are saying though and I apologize again for how I worded it.

I appreciate your apology and re-explanation, I apologise for maybe being a bit defensive also!

It is just the general thing with weddings that the cost of everything is crazy - I just wanted to make the point to OP that you can find good for cheaper (and as you say still not cheap by any means!)

Hope you have an amazing wedding day

 

[Mamacita]

Apologies if this has been mentioned already but I saw Meshki now has a wedding collection which might be good for cheaper dresses and accessories

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I appreciate your apology and re-explanation, I apologise for maybe being a bit defensive also!

It is just the general thing with weddings that the cost of everything is crazy - I just wanted to make the point to OP that you can find good for cheaper (and as you say still not cheap by any means!)

Hope you have an amazing wedding day

No not at all, don't apologise - I can completely see where you were coming from, and how my post was worded. I would hate for anyone to feel that way or to take that from my comment because that wasn't the intention.

100% you definitely can - like you said the cost of weddings is crazy and when you first start planning it is so unbelievably overwhelming. I couldn't get over the price of wedding stationery. Ended up doing my own save the dates on vista print for honestly a fraction of the price I was quoted by a company, and it was so easy to do myself and quite fun. They turned out really well, So I'm going to do my invitations, table plans etc that way too.
If I ever come back in the next life I hope I come back as a wedding vendor of some sort

Thanks so much

 

[_Laura]

It's so difficult with weddings, isn't it?

Our budget is pretty much around the national average for weddings, and sometimes I feel like I need to justify myself for spending that much money on a day but also for not spending more!
Sometimes, I feel like couples who elope or have a small wedding come across as judgy (not on this thread which I find very supportive! Just generally speaking) by saying that it doesn't matter, it's just a day, that they wanted to focus on the marriage rather than the wedding, we don't need to show off, etc. I even notice it within my family. My SIL and her husband had a "small" wedding in the sense that they went to the city hall and paid for a meal at their favourite restaurant. And don't get me wrong, it was a lovely wedding and it really suited them. But every time wedding planning is mentioned, my SIL and MIL are always quick to tell me that it doesn't matter, that people won't remember most of it anyway, etc. We set a budget that works for us, so please don't imply we're being ridiculous by spending that much. And the opposite is also true, I've definitely been guilty of saying that things we're not getting (favours or cake) don't matter or that people won't remember the flower centrepieces anyway when, if I'm being completely honest with myself, I only say this because we can't afford it all and these were the things we decided to save money on! I know I wouldn't be saying this if we had unlimited funds

I genuinely love this thread and how open-minded everyone is!

 

[lilchicken]

My sister got me a nice Guess bracelet for Christmas so I might go down that route for bridesmaids.
also, the Joma range, can be quite nice and you can personalize them. They aren't expensive but if you wear them all the time without taking them off (my own fault) the silver does tarnish a bit.
That all sounds really nice, can I be your bridesmaid?
I won't be able to eat either, and I need to be careful with the pre drinks or I will be crawling down the aisle from drinking too much for my nerves That is probably my biggest fear atm!

My wedding isn't until 28th March 2025 but I wanted to be on the ball in case the suppliesr booked up as I am such a worrier.
We have everything pretty much sorted now, just bridesmaid dresses, suits & the transport for guests to the ceremony venue then back to the reception. (Suits & Transport for guests my partner said he would sort and isn't it funny that is the two things still not sorted? )
Invites and order of service later in the year and likely do that on Vista Print.
then plan the seating arrangements and get some final wee bits put together like the seating chart for guests and table numbers but I've seen these on etsy for a fraction of the cost compared to some stationary companies.

When is your big day and have you much left to sort?

Its exciting to talk about it!!
---

Where would you recommend looking for bridesmaid dresses? I really don't want to go to a bridal shop for them as I was quoted £250 up. Obviously, I want them to look nice but I don't want to be paying that for bridesmaid dresses. That is before they are even tailored etc too..

my wedding is in just over a month and the pressure is starting to really build

I got my bridesmaid dresses on sale from Th&Th. They were about £80 each I think? If you’re feeling super frugal, you can definitely get brand new or lightly used TH&TH on eBay/Vinted etc because it’s such a popular brand. I’m going to be selling one because a bridesmaid can’t attend anymore.

I was very set on a specific colour which limited me a bit more.

I ordered a ton for my bridesmaids to try on;

the multi one, infinity dress, that was about £60 from Amazon and I was surprised at how much my bridesmaids actually liked that one.

We tried a few from ASOS but were limited in our choices there. The most expensive was £60

I ordered a few from Ever pretty. The quality was meh for the price, and the colours could vary quite significantly across different styles. I think these were about £75 each but annoyingly, the brand charges a return admin fee. There’s a ton of choice though and compared to other websites at least the cost isn’t ridiculous.

id suggest looking at regular shops (New Look, H&M, Zara etc) in case you see a maxi dress you like. My friends got their bridesmaids dresses form the likes of Oasis, ASOS, warehouse etc. I only know of one person in all the weddings I’ve been to, who has actually gone to a bridal/bridesmaid shop for them.
---

Ooh is that store Cariad in Swansea by any chance?

I think we all set a wedding budget and are happy to pay X for a dress/photographer as long as it all comes together. Or at least that’s how my fiancé and I are planning our wedding. We were happy to pay £1750 for a photographer for different reasons (when you add up the day of the wedding + travel, hours spent editing, 2 or 3 meetings before the wedding, we didn’t think the hourly charge was extortionate) but mostly because we made cuts elsewhere to be able to afford her. We’re not doing favours or cake for example. My dress was from Wed2b, my bridesmaids’ dresses will be from Vinted, we’re DIYing our wedding flowers and buying our decor from charity shops and Facebook marketplace.

I truly understand where you’re coming from and I would even tend to agree that pictures could never be worth £4000. But I’d say that that statement is true for you and for me. It’s not necessarily true for everyone. I had seen a photographer I really loved the style of, but who charges £2500. This was more that we could justify or were comfortable paying so we didn’t go for her (we had set a budget of max. £2k for photos). Had our wedding budget been £5k or £10k more than what it is, we probably would have picked her instead. I do think that the wedding industry is insane and I’m a firm believer that the “wedding” tax is real, but I think we (in general) need to find the right balance of spending the money we’re comfortable spending on whatever it is we’re comfortable spending it on while understanding that we’re all different. Some brides will be happy with a £80 dress from Coast while others will want a £5000 dress from Maggie Sottero. Some couples will want the big traditional wedding with all the trimmings while others will be happy with a city hall wedding and drinks at the pub. Yes it’s easy to be sucked in and pay huge amounts, but I also think it’s just as easy to take a step back and think “Hold on, do I actually really want X or do I feel pressured by society to get X”. You’ll (general you, not you RandomFrog) always be able to find cheaper suppliers, no one says you have to spend £1750 for a good photographer. We could have spend half that amount for someone else, had we wanted to. I think people who want to keep up with the Joneses have always existed, but I think that’s a “them” problem, not a wedding industry problem.

im doing similar things for my wedding honestly our approach sounds very similar! I love how sensible and thrifty brides are these days.

I agree there’s a balance of wedding tax but also… paying people for their expertise. Our caterers so far have been excellent, know the venue well, will be helping with setting up etc… and it’s honestly a huge weight lifted to know someone professional and experienced has it all in hand. I’ve been to a wedding where the bride and groom went for a super cheap caterer, and he was awful. Didn’t hire enough staff, overcooked the food. Members of the family had to make sure the tables were properly set up with water and serve canapés because the staff were untrained and there were too few.

our cake has been gifted, our favours are sweets that cost £20 for everyone, I’ve sourced all our decor from charity shops and will be doing the venue flowers. My dress is a sample sale from a high end designer that I got for £350. My bridesmaids dresses were on sale. My veil and hair accessories are from Vinted/ebay.

there are good and bad suppliers at all ends of the spectrum I think. One thing I noticed is that wedding photographers put their prices up _a lot_ if they are able to start getting their photos printed in magazines, get industry recognition or manage to get a celebrity wedding. It’s not that their photographer is better, it’s just that they are well known.

I met a photographer I loved who quoted us £1200, and a photographer I thought was awful at a wedding fair was charging £2500. Price doesn’t always correlate to quality.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

my wedding is in just over a month and the pressure is starting to really build

I got my bridesmaid dresses on sale from Th&Th. They were about £80 each I think? If you’re feeling super frugal, you can definitely get brand new or lightly used TH&TH on eBay/Vinted etc because it’s such a popular brand. I’m going to be selling one because a bridesmaid can’t attend anymore.

I was very set on a specific colour which limited me a bit more.

I ordered a ton for my bridesmaids to try on;

the multi one, infinity dress, that was about £60 from Amazon and I was surprised at how much my bridesmaids actually liked that one.

We tried a few from ASOS but were limited in our choices there. The most expensive was £60

I ordered a few from Ever pretty. The quality was meh for the price, and the colours could vary quite significantly across different styles. I think these were about £75 each but annoyingly, the brand charges a return admin fee. There’s a ton of choice though and compared to other websites at least the cost isn’t ridiculous.

id suggest looking at regular shops (New Look, H&M, Zara etc) in case you see a maxi dress you like. My friends got their bridesmaids dresses form the likes of Oasis, ASOS, warehouse etc. I only know of one person in all the weddings I’ve been to, who has actually gone to a bridal/bridesmaid shop for them.

Oh my goodness!! I can only imagine the nerves but you are going to have thee most amazing day, just try and enjoy the build-up as much as you can - it will all fall into place

Ah thank you so much for this, such a help because I've had no idea where to start. Going to bookmark this post and go through every single place

I have heard of Everpretty and JJ's house which are the only two I have looked at so far really to get more of an idea on colour than anything else. The thought of the return is annoying though, I begrudge return fees for anything I buy haha.
I never even thought of Amazon

Thank you for the tips xx

 

[RandomFrog]

I got my bridesmaid dresses from Lavetir - was a bit of a gamble at the time because I hadn't heard of them but they're amazing quality and fit my bridesmaids perfectly.

If you've got time before your wedding, black Friday sales are so good! Sounds obvious but I didn't even think of bridal stuff being on sale for black Friday but I saved a couple of hundred easily

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I got my bridesmaid dresses from Lavetir - was a bit of a gamble at the time because I hadn't heard of them but they're amazing quality and fit my bridesmaids perfectly.

If you've got time before your wedding, black Friday sales are so good! Sounds obvious but I didn't even think of bridal stuff being on sale for black Friday but I saved a couple of hundred easily

Thats such a good idea, I didn't think about black Fridays sales. I must keep that in mind
Going to have a nosey at Lavetir now too.

 

[Kandy floss]

My sister got me a nice Guess bracelet for Christmas so I might go down that route for bridesmaids.
also, the Joma range, can be quite nice and you can personalize them. They aren't expensive but if you wear them all the time without taking them off (my own fault) the silver does tarnish a bit.
That all sounds really nice, can I be your bridesmaid?
I won't be able to eat either, and I need to be careful with the pre drinks or I will be crawling down the aisle from drinking too much for my nerves That is probably my biggest fear atm!

My wedding isn't until 28th March 2025 but I wanted to be on the ball in case the suppliesr booked up as I am such a worrier.
We have everything pretty much sorted now, just bridesmaid dresses, suits & the transport for guests to the ceremony venue then back to the reception. (Suits & Transport for guests my partner said he would sort and isn't it funny that is the two things still not sorted? )
Invites and order of service later in the year and likely do that on Vista Print.
then plan the seating arrangements and get some final wee bits put together like the seating chart for guests and table numbers but I've seen these on etsy for a fraction of the cost compared to some stationary companies.

When is your big day and have you much left to sort?

Its exciting to talk about it!!
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Where would you recommend looking for bridesmaid dresses? I really don't want to go to a bridal shop for them as I was quoted £250 up. Obviously, I want them to look nice but I don't want to be paying that for bridesmaid dresses. That is before they are even tailored etc too..

Oh yeah I didn’t think about the Joma jewellery! People in my office always get those for people for occasions so I’ll have to have a little look, thanks!!

Hahaha same! I know I need to limit any drinks to just one Buck’s Fizz in the morning since I definitely won’t manage to eat anything

Ooh I’m 22nd March so just before you! Everyone told me when I booked it how quickly it would come around and I didn’t believe them but the one year hit me so fast two weeks ago I was shocked haha yeah I’m basically all sorted just little bits to do like invites, confetti, flower girl dress for my niece etc.

Oh have you? I saw them more expensive on Etsy like £100 for a seating chart! The stuff on Etsy is so cute though I’ve had to reign myself in 🥹

I need to sort my bridesmaid dresses too! Currently eyeing up six stories which are around £100 and you can get 10% off. I saw lush looking ones on Lavetir too so glad someone’s mentioned that and I’m going to have another look there!
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Ooh is that store Cariad in Swansea by any chance?

Haha yes! I went to Laura May Bridal outlet in Cardiff before Christmas for their £500 event and the girl was lovely but they didn’t have much I was interested in, so I ended up booking with Cariad and they were so lovely. I didn’t actually go on the £1,000 event as I booked before it was announced so I asked to change to one of those dates but the owner said if I picked something due to go to the event she’d sell it for £1,000 anyway and she did! I also nearly picked a Maggie Sotero she had on loan which would be £1,700 and she showed me my dress which was so similar and obviously £700 less so I found them so good and helpful!!

 

[calmyourritas]

Where would you recommend looking for bridesmaid dresses? I really don't want to go to a bridal shop for them as I was quoted £250 up. Obviously, I want them to look nice but I don't want to be paying that for bridesmaid dresses. That is before they are even tailored etc too..

I got mine from Ever Pretty for around £50 a dress. I got them via Amazon too so we could order different sizes and use their returns service

 

[_Laura]

Haha yes! I went to Laura May Bridal outlet in Cardiff before Christmas for their £500 event and the girl was lovely but they didn’t have much I was interested in, so I ended up booking with Cariad and they were so lovely. I didn’t actually go on the £1,000 event as I booked before it was announced so I asked to change to one of those dates but the owner said if I picked something due to go to the event she’d sell it for £1,000 anyway and she did! I also nearly picked a Maggie Sotero she had on loan which would be £1,700 and she showed me my dress which was so similar and obviously £700 less so I found them so good and helpful!!

Aw that’s really good of her! Cariad was going to be my next stop but I fell in love with a dress from Wed2b instead! I love their set price for alterations!

I was tempted by some of the outlets (Laura May or The Bridal Den) but I found their lack of transparency really annoying! Unless there’s some sort of events where all dresses are the same price, they never disclose their prices and just suck you in with their “prices from £199” tag line I messaged both Laura May and The Bridal Den in Ig to enquire about the price of a certain dress and they didn’t reply so I didn’t want to give them my money

 

[Kandy floss]

Aw that’s really good of her! Cariad was going to be my next stop but I fell in love with a dress from Wed2b instead! I love their set price for alterations!

I was tempted by some of the outlets (Laura May or The Bridal Den) but I found their lack of transparency really annoying! Unless there’s some sort of events where all dresses are the same price, they never disclose their prices and just suck you in with their “prices from £199” tag line I messaged both Laura May and The Bridal Den in Ig to enquire about the price of a certain dress and they didn’t reply so I didn’t want to give them my money

Yeah the alterations price was what got me between there and Gems and Jewels in Brecon because my friend had her dress there and said they were good. I loved the dresses on wed2be and was going to go - I only didn’t because I asked if they had the dresses I liked in my size in Cardiff or Swansea and they didn’t. Their stuff is stunning!

Oh yeah I don’t think I’d have gone to the normal LMB shop - I think their dresses can be mega expensive? I messaged them about a certain bridesmaid dress they posted the other day and they told me it was £305 and it was the outlet page I loved the look of High Society too but think they’re similar to LMB and All About Eve so couldn’t tell if they’d have much in my budget because they all just replied saying “starting from £1,000”, which was really the maximum I wanted to spend so I thought they wouldn’t have much in my budget, but thought if I went I’d feel pressured to buy something!

 

[dietcokefanatic]

So on the dress note... I've absolutely fallen in love with Rosa Clara designs but they're so dear.

Is it a horrible experience walking away from a lovely dress you can't afford?
Should I try them on and scratch the itch? I might hate them but at least I'd know.

I can't find anything with similar vibes so recommendations also appreciated.

 

[Leo100]

Anyone reccomened any reasonably priced white hen do outfits or where to look? I've had my hen do but it was a chilled hot tub weekend so didn't dress up but I'm going out again locally for a lunch/drinks so nothing too dressy but would still like to dress up a bit. I saw a beautiful white asos top with sheer ( if thats how you spell it )arms with flowers on and white wide leg trousers but the top was £65 which is way too pricy for me so possibly thinking along those lines but not seen anything similar, open to other options though