Wedding Planning #4

[Tinkerbell cat]

i seriously need to get my tit together, i get married October 2025 and so far i have done nothing, currently 28 weeks pregnant and also have a 2 year old so life is pretty busy at the moment. but i'm not gonna lie i hate party planning i find it time consuming and boring (if i had the money i would have a wedding planner so i wouldn't have to do a thing) so the thought of planning a wedding just overwhelms me.

also on a budget so i guess what i'm asking is...

Where do i start
where can i buy décor on a budget?
a dress that's not going to cost and arm and a leg
what should i actually be buying

Help me pls

I got my dress in a sample sale that a local bridal shop was having. I think it was around £1200 but got it for much less, I can't remember now if I got it for £700 or £900 - but worth checking out if local bridal shops close to you are doing any sales.
Mine had loads that were cheaper too!
Monsoon do some nice dresses also.

Fb Marketplace is great for finding wee bits for your wedding, there might even be some FB groups for weddings locally to you. I'm from NI and there is one here that people are always selling stuff on.
The Range and Hobbycraft have some cute wedding stuff too which won't break the bank

 

[imtakingabath]

i seriously need to get my tit together, i get married October 2025 and so far i have done nothing, currently 28 weeks pregnant and also have a 2 year old so life is pretty busy at the moment. but i'm not gonna lie i hate party planning i find it time consuming and boring (if i had the money i would have a wedding planner so i wouldn't have to do a thing) so the thought of planning a wedding just overwhelms me.

also on a budget so i guess what i'm asking is...

Where do i start
where can i buy décor on a budget?
a dress that's not going to cost and arm and a leg
what should i actually be buying

Help me pls

I liked Monsoon and Phase Eight for high street dresses! Whistles also have nice ones. If you want even cheaper dresses then ASOS have some bargains, though I haven't tried any to check the quality.

 

[Hamburglar]

i seriously need to get my tit together, i get married October 2025 and so far i have done nothing, currently 28 weeks pregnant and also have a 2 year old so life is pretty busy at the moment. but i'm not gonna lie i hate party planning i find it time consuming and boring (if i had the money i would have a wedding planner so i wouldn't have to do a thing) so the thought of planning a wedding just overwhelms me.

also on a budget so i guess what i'm asking is...

Where do i start
where can i buy décor on a budget?
a dress that's not going to cost and arm and a leg
what should i actually be buying

Help me pls

Download Bridebook!! I only used the checklist & budget part but it was soooo helpful at setting out what to do and when, plus you can add your own tasks and it’s very satisfying ticking everything off!

I got a few decor bits from Shein and planning to stick them on vinted/marketplace so worth checking those out.

 

[Kandy floss]

i seriously need to get my tit together, i get married October 2025 and so far i have done nothing, currently 28 weeks pregnant and also have a 2 year old so life is pretty busy at the moment. but i'm not gonna lie i hate party planning i find it time consuming and boring (if i had the money i would have a wedding planner so i wouldn't have to do a thing) so the thought of planning a wedding just overwhelms me.

also on a budget so i guess what i'm asking is...

Where do i start
where can i buy décor on a budget?
a dress that's not going to cost and arm and a leg
what should i actually be buying

Help me pls

I second Bridebook! I don’t use it now, but I found it so helpful when I first started planning as I didn’t have a clue!

Join wedding groups on Facebook too! I’m in one local to my area and suppliers will post their services/deals and you can also post and ask for recommendations etc.

Not sure if it’ll help but this is everything I’ve sorted so far so March 2025:

Venue
Registrar
Photographer
Venue decor
Magician
Dress and alterations
Suit rental
Hair & makeup
Cake
Flowers (bouquets, button holes and wrist corsages)
Wedding newspapers
Cake topper
Save the Dates
Appointment to give notice of marriage arranged

So left on my to do list is:

Bridesmaid dresses
Flower girl dress
Invites
Signage
Place settings
Rings
Confetti

Obviously you don’t need everything but to give you an idea of what to think about. I’m not sure what your budget is and you could DIY a lot. I’m not artistic at all so have only DIY’d my save the dates and going to have a go at my invites, and for signs we’re considering designing on canva and printing through vista print to avoid paying loads for them! Also thinking about doing my own confetti and place settings.

I’ve seen people DIY their centrepieces and stuff and like someone else has said, you could sell on then afterwards too, I just know mine would look awful

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I second Bridebook! I don’t use it now, but I found it so helpful when I first started planning as I didn’t have a clue!

Join wedding groups on Facebook too! I’m in one local to my area and suppliers will post their services/deals and you can also post and ask for recommendations etc.

Not sure if it’ll help but this is everything I’ve sorted so far so March 2025:

Venue
Registrar
Photographer
Venue decor
Magician
Dress and alterations
Suit rental
Hair & makeup
Cake
Flowers (bouquets, button holes and wrist corsages)
Wedding newspapers
Cake topper
Save the Dates
Appointment to give notice of marriage arranged

So left on my to do list is:

Bridesmaid dresses
Flower girl dress
Invites
Signage
Place settings
Rings
Confetti

Obviously you don’t need everything but to give you an idea of what to think about. I’m not sure what your budget is and you could DIY a lot. I’m not artistic at all so have only DIY’d my save the dates and going to have a go at my invites, and for signs we’re considering designing on canva and printing through vista print to avoid paying loads for them! Also thinking about doing my own confetti and place settings.

I’ve seen people DIY their centrepieces and stuff and like someone else has said, you could sell on then afterwards too, I just know mine would look awful

My wedding is in March too and we literally have the same things left to do I found Vistaprint so good for save the dates that I think I will use them again for invitations. My friend has one of those machines that people use for making signs so going to borrow that and maybe try it myself but no doubt it will look like my 7yr old nephew has done it
When are you considering sending your invites btw if you don't mind me asking? I'm March 28th and it keeps throwing me when would be a good time for invites. Don't want to send too early but don't want to send too late either.

 

[lilchicken]

I’m selling a lot of my wedding decor on Facebook marketplace/Ebay.

One of my favourite pieces of decor was actually some faux foliage/faux flowers. It was pretty inexpensive from Amazon/ebay but looked so nice in photographs.

 

[Kandy floss]

My wedding is in March too and we literally have the same things left to do I found Vistaprint so good for save the dates that I think I will use them again for invitations. My friend has one of those machines that people use for making signs so going to borrow that and maybe try it myself but no doubt it will look like my 7yr old nephew has done it
When are you considering sending your invites btw if you don't mind me asking? I'm March 28th and it keeps throwing me when would be a good time for invites. Don't want to send too early but don't want to send too late either.

Aw I’m 22nd March so we’re close together!

A cricut? I see those and they look so good but I can’t justify buying one when I think it would still look awful doing it myself I’m just so bad at that stuff! Hope yours turns out lovely!!

I’m not sure either to be honest I’ve seen things saying 3-4 months before but I want to avoid Christmas as everyone’s so busy then, but I don’t want to leave it til January when I’ll need rsvps by February! So I was debating maybe the beginning of November? Our wedding is only 50 guests and some of those are our parents/siblings and bridal party so we know a lot will be attending anyway so hopefully won’t be a lot I’ll have to chase

 

[Hamburglar]

@Kandy floss @Tinkerbell cat I would do start of November with RSVP by end of Nov, then you’ll miss the Xmas period but still have plenty of time to chase! I did mid January with a Feb RSVP for our May wedding.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Aw I’m 22nd March so we’re close together!

A cricut? I see those and they look so good but I can’t justify buying one when I think it would still look awful doing it myself I’m just so bad at that stuff! Hope yours turns out lovely!!

I’m not sure either to be honest I’ve seen things saying 3-4 months before but I want to avoid Christmas as everyone’s so busy then, but I don’t want to leave it til January when I’ll need rsvps by February! So I was debating maybe the beginning of November? Our wedding is only 50 guests and some of those are our parents/siblings and bridal party so we know a lot will be attending anyway so hopefully won’t be a lot I’ll have to chase

They will fly in!

November is probably a good idea and gives a bit of time for people to get back to you, you know yourself there will always be a few people leave it to the last minute and end up needing chased Other than family and close friends although I still want mine to respond to me for my anxiety reasons
We were thinking of putting QR codes onto the invites so people could RSVP back quicker though not sure how easy that is to do
---

@Kandy floss @Tinkerbell cat I would do start of November with RSVP by end of Nov, then you’ll miss the Xmas period but still have plenty of time to chase! I did mid January with a Feb RSVP for our May wedding.

Great thank you Sounds good.

I have some flaky far out family coming to our wedding, the type that let you down last minute but wouldn't actually tell you so I'm a little bit stressed about that I suppose there is nothing I can do about that other than just check in with them closer to the wedding and check everything is still ok for them to make it. I think my invites are the most stressful part atm, we aren't having kids at the wedding either so will have to try and word that a certain way on the invite lol

 

[Hamburglar]

@Tinkerbell cat (keep tagging you instead of quoting bits )

QR codes - vistaprint have a free QR code generator (even if you don’t end up using them you can get a QR code), I did a wedding website and typed the URL into the invites but a QR code would’ve been much easier.

I had the same with flaky family but you’re right there’s not much you can do other than keep checking. Maybe have a few people on the evening guest list that you could “bump up” at short notice if anyone drops out. I was surprised only 1 flaky person didn’t show up (but VERY irritated as they didn’t even tell me, I found out ON the day )

Kids - we only had immediate family children, so I put this on my website (which you could do something similar on the invites), nobody complained to my face I’d like to think most people are either understanding, or excited for a night without the kids

Are kids welcome?

As much as we love your little ones, unless they are named on your invitation, we will not be including them in the ceremony or reception as space in both venues is super tight! Hopefully this is a great excuse for a child free evening!

 

[givemethegossx]

Thank you everyone for all the info and ideas! 🤍

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

@Tinkerbell cat (keep tagging you instead of quoting bits )

QR codes - vistaprint have a free QR code generator (even if you don’t end up using them you can get a QR code), I did a wedding website and typed the URL into the invites but a QR code would’ve been much easier.

I had the same with flaky family but you’re right there’s not much you can do other than keep checking. Maybe have a few people on the evening guest list that you could “bump up” at short notice if anyone drops out. I was surprised only 1 flaky person didn’t show up (but VERY irritated as they didn’t even tell me, I found out ON the day )

Kids - we only had immediate family children, so I put this on my website (which you could do something similar on the invites), nobody complained to my face I’d like to think most people are either understanding, or excited for a night without the kids

Are kids welcome?

As much as we love your little ones, unless they are named on your invitation, we will not be including them in the ceremony or reception as space in both venues is super tight! Hopefully this is a great excuse for a child free evening!

Ah excellent thank you so much!

That is really helpful and great to know vistaprint offer the QR codes because that is who I went with for my save the dates and I can actually work their website A website sounds really handy too, will definitely look into that!

Yes this is my worry, and I can totally understand your irritation. How annoying My friend got married recently and about 8 people dropped out in the few day beforehand, she was basically a full table down and I felt so sorry for her. A couple of those people actually told her the morning of the wedding which didn't add to her stress levels. I know things come up but I just think that is really tit tbh
Great idea about bumping someone up, haha must keep that in mind for sure.

We are only having immediate family children too - 3 nephews and 1 niece. I'm going to bookmark your comment and put exactly that on the invite haha I hope you don't mind My nephews and niece are lucky they are even getting an invite
I feel like I'm just worrying and creating problems that might not even happen but I'm just trying to think of all scenarios to be prepared.

 

[Kandy floss]

I’m so glad it’s normal now to not have children there tbh! 🫣 the only children we’re having is my niece as flower girl and my partner’s niece. Then I’ve told my bridesmaid her baby who will be just over 1 can come in the evening for a couple of hours just because her parents will be babysitting him during the day and they’re invited to the evening so can bring him over for a bit

What’s everyone’s colour schemes? I feel like mine is going to look so boring as my flowers are white and green the same as the centrepieces and my bridesmaid dresses will be champagne 🫣 we have darker table runners then I’m hoping will break it up and want to have gold photo frames for table numbers. Photos below:

I do like the scheme but worried I’ll regret it but my partner really likes how “clean” it all looks and he didn’t really want a proper wedding to start so I want him to have a say in it all

 

[Hamburglar]

Ah excellent thank you so much!

That is really helpful and great to know vistaprint offer the QR codes because that is who I went with for my save the dates and I can actually work their website A website sounds really handy too, will definitely look into that!

Yes this is my worry, and I can totally understand your irritation. How annoying My friend got married recently and about 8 people dropped out in the few day beforehand, she was basically a full table down and I felt so sorry for her. A couple of those people actually told her the morning of the wedding which didn't add to her stress levels. I know things come up but I just think that is really tit tbh
Great idea about bumping someone up, haha must keep that in mind for sure.

We are only having immediate family children too - 3 nephews and 1 niece. I'm going to bookmark your comment and put exactly that on the invite haha I hope you don't mind My nephews and niece are lucky they are even getting an invite
I feel like I'm just worrying and creating problems that might not even happen but I'm just trying to think of all scenarios to be prepared.

I used vistaprint for all of my wedding stationery, was really pleased with everything. If you can be flexible on when you order stuff they more often than not have a discount on every few weeks!

That’s awful for your friend! It’s such bad manners unless someone is dying or dead.

Of course I don’t mind! I probably stole it from somewhere Our family children were lucky to get an invite too they were mostly well behaved although I did see some of the older ones sneak out to McDonald’s after the meal

I’m so glad it’s normal now to not have children there tbh! 🫣 the only children we’re having is my niece as flower girl and my partner’s niece. Then I’ve told my bridesmaid her baby who will be just over 1 can come in the evening for a couple of hours just because her parents will be babysitting him during the day and they’re invited to the evening so can bring him over for a bit

What’s everyone’s colour schemes? I feel like mine is going to look so boring as my flowers are white and green the same as the centrepieces and my bridesmaid dresses will be champagne 🫣 we have darker table runners then I’m hoping will break it up and want to have gold photo frames for table numbers. Photos below:

View attachment 2937906

View attachment 2937907

I do like the scheme but worried I’ll regret it but my partner really likes how “clean” it all looks and he didn’t really want a proper wedding to start so I want him to have a say in it all

I let one of my bridesmaids bring her baby for some pictures then she was packed off with grandparents

I love your colour scheme, it’s timeless! I had black/white and a hint of gold which made it easy to coordinate everything rather than worrying about different shades.

 

[Kandy floss]

I used vistaprint for all of my wedding stationery, was really pleased with everything. If you can be flexible on when you order stuff they more often than not have a discount on every few weeks!

That’s awful for your friend! It’s such bad manners unless someone is dying or dead.

Of course I don’t mind! I probably stole it from somewhere Our family children were lucky to get an invite too they were mostly well behaved although I did see some of the older ones sneak out to McDonald’s after the meal




I let one of my bridesmaids bring her baby for some pictures then she was packed off with grandparents

I love your colour scheme, it’s timeless! I had black/white and a hint of gold which made it easy to coordinate everything rather than worrying about different shades.

Tbh my friend was like I just want one photo of him in a little suit he can go then

Ah thanks! I do like it then just worry but a girl I know had similar last year and her photos were stunning (she spent a lot more than me though)! Aw I love black and white themes when I’ve seen them on TikTok and stuff they look soo elegant

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I used vistaprint for all of my wedding stationery, was really pleased with everything. If you can be flexible on when you order stuff they more often than not have a discount on every few weeks!

That’s awful for your friend! It’s such bad manners unless someone is dying or dead.

Of course I don’t mind! I probably stole it from somewhere Our family children were lucky to get an invite too they were mostly well behaved although I did see some of the older ones sneak out to McDonald’s after the meal

I did look at someone doing the whole wedding stationary thing for me but some of the quotes were insane, I managed to get 80 save the dates with lovely envelopes and stickers for literally a fraction of the cost and such good quality too, I was really surprised and it was quite fun making them. Thank you, I will keep an eye on their offers as no harm getting some things sooner rather than later if I'm saving money

dying or dead

When I first got engaged I was adament I wasn't even having family kids there But then I felt bad because they're literally my nephews and nieces and I do want them there, so I just asked my brother/sister, do you want the kids to come and they said yes, the kids were so excited (liars) lol but I felt awful and so changed my mind
---

I’m so glad it’s normal now to not have children there tbh! 🫣 the only children we’re having is my niece as flower girl and my partner’s niece. Then I’ve told my bridesmaid her baby who will be just over 1 can come in the evening for a couple of hours just because her parents will be babysitting him during the day and they’re invited to the evening so can bring him over for a bit

What’s everyone’s colour schemes? I feel like mine is going to look so boring as my flowers are white and green the same as the centrepieces and my bridesmaid dresses will be champagne 🫣 we have darker table runners then I’m hoping will break it up and want to have gold photo frames for table numbers. Photos below:

View attachment 2937906

View attachment 2937907

I do like the scheme but worried I’ll regret it but my partner really likes how “clean” it all looks and he didn’t really want a proper wedding to start so I want him to have a say in it all

I know me too, I just couldn't think of anything worse than heaps of kids running about being melters , my partner and I haven't got kids and the only kids we can marginally stand is my own nephews/niece. I just get the fear of people rocking up with their kids in tow and us having no plans in place for them to be there

I love your colour scheme! I think that will be stunning I haven't 100% committed to my colour scheme yet, I did have a look on JJ house at the different shades of blue for bridesmaid dresses so I do think it will blue but there are about 100 shades of blue and I don't want it to look cold? If that is the right word.

 

[Lioness1]

I’m just here for a moan/rant and please tell me if I’m being too petty. Heavily pregnant and hormonal! My husbands aunt is getting married soon, two weeks after my due date so I’ve said I won’t be going, which is a whole other story.

We have a 3 year old who’s part of the groomsmen, we’ve never been asked permission it’s just assumed that he’s doing it and that’s it. All of the groomsmen seem to be grandkids/family and I think the plan for them is to walk down the aisle with the bridesmaids. We’ve never been told of any plans, but I think my son is to be walking down the aisle with his gran who is a bridesmaid. Now we got married last year and one of the most special parts of the day was having my son walk me down the aisle because my dad is no longer with us. I just don’t want him walking down the aisle with anyone else, that was our special moment. Am I being petty? Am I allowed to say what happens at someone else’s wedding?

 

[bellinibobble]

Aw, sorry but I think you might be being a little bit petty here 🫣 understandable given the circumstances though.

What does your husband think? It is his family, might he have told your in laws it’s fine? Them having a full bridal party procession definitely won’t make your own wedding memories with your son any less special, promise! Best of luck with your pregnancy

 

[Ups27]

I’m just here for a moan/rant and please tell me if I’m being too petty. Heavily pregnant and hormonal! My husbands aunt is getting married soon, two weeks after my due date so I’ve said I won’t be going, which is a whole other story.

We have a 3 year old who’s part of the groomsmen, we’ve never been asked permission it’s just assumed that he’s doing it and that’s it. All of the groomsmen seem to be grandkids/family and I think the plan for them is to walk down the aisle with the bridesmaids. We’ve never been told of any plans, but I think my son is to be walking down the aisle with his gran who is a bridesmaid. Now we got married last year and one of the most special parts of the day was having my son walk me down the aisle because my dad is no longer with us. I just don’t want him walking down the aisle with anyone else, that was our special moment. Am I being petty? Am I allowed to say what happens at someone else’s wedding?

I dont think anyone would take the moment away from you and your son because it was your day? Especially as it sounds like they are involving lots of family with multiple groomsman and bridesmaids.

 

[mashedbananapancakes]

New to the thread here so apologies if it's already been discussed

My partner and I have told 3 people when and where we're getting married. We're basically eloping next month with 2 family members as witnesses and I am so relieved about it, it's been wonderful to organise so far..

I am thinking about small details for the day now and wondered If anyone got a special perfume/scent for the day or if you just stuck to a trusted favorite?