Self Sufficientish Weddings

[ajs88]

i gave in. i was going to make my dress but after looking at the cost of fabric, the amount of work and risk, and tried on a dress in the sale at the local wedding shop that made me feel like an absolute goddess, i gave in and bought one. it was reduced to £320 which is a lot of money, over a weeks wages just for a dress. but i don't think that i'd have saved much money by making one to the same standard and i love it

i felt bad at first, but then i remembered being a little girl standing outside the window of that very shop every time we passed it dreaming of which one i'd have and i justified it by its a local shop that employs five local women

im still making the bridesmaids though, that will save a lot of money, i saw one that i loved in the shop and it was £200

[Annpan]

I think a dress that you love is more important than you making it. You have to love it and feel lovely wearing it, and be proud to show your grandkids the photos of you wearing it.

I couldn't find one I loved in a shop, so I made it... but each to their own and don't feel guilty about it.

[hamster]

i gave in. i was going to make my dress but after looking at the cost of fabric, the amount of work and risk, and tried on a dress in the sale at the local wedding shop that made me feel like an absolute goddess, i gave in and bought one. it was reduced to £320 which is a lot of money, over a weeks wages just for a dress. but i don't think that i'd have saved much money by making one to the same standard and i love it

i felt bad at first, but then i remembered being a little girl standing outside the window of that very shop every time we passed it dreaming of which one i'd have and i justified it by its a local shop that employs five local women

im still making the bridesmaids though, that will save a lot of money, i saw one that i loved in the shop and it was £200

I think I'm going to go the same way. I had this idea I was going to make my own dress, but then I kept thinking about the time I'd have to spend making it, the new skills I'd have to learn, how frustrated I get when something doesn't work, how careful I'd have to be with the delicate fabric and how much pressure I'd put myself under to make it perfect because I wouldn't want it to look shoddy in all the photographs, I've decided against it! (Also, various reasons to do with my infuriating parents that I won't share because it makes me sound like a spoilt brat!!!)

[ajs88]

yeah, ive seen a lot of pics of dresses that where brides have made their dresses themselves (or even had made!) that have a really good idea behind them but just don't look quite right, the cut and fit are wrong or the fabrics not working with the pattern, and you can see that the bride doesn't feel quite right in it.

[Didde]

We made the cake, invitations, winelabels, banners, DVDs for pictures, wedding favours, etc. Here are some pics:


The small paper-wedding cake contained 5 sugar-coated almonds, a piece of chocolate, a small sewing kit and flower seeds (including a Danish poem, saying the can grow the seeds and remember the day by looking at the flowers)



The wine label contained the original info + our "logo" and a picture of our church.

[*stuffed*]

I bought the dresses on sale....mine from a bridal shop, the bridesmaids from the high street.
Hubby bought a new suit, tie and shirt. The suit became his work suit after that so got plenty of use.
I bought a cheap pack of invites (35p) They were basic but did the job
I did the flowers (using silk flowers so I could do them months in advance, plus it meant I could have blue)
My mum made and iced the cake and I added some silk flowers to match my bouquet.
My brother-in-law drove me to the hotel and did the video
Hubby's brother paid for a photographer
My Parents paid for the drinks at the reception (not the evening...people had to buy their own lol)
Hubby's parents paid (and drove us) for our honeymoon (a couple of days in Bournemouth)
We only had 30 people at the ceremony and meal so we had the tables set out in a square so we could all talk to each other.

It was very relaxed.....and we spent less than £1000

[QB comes back]

Hi ho folks,

I'm actually getting married four weeks today (gosh that sounds close, better do some stuff towards organising it!) and here's a few of the things we've found:

- This is the link to the Oxfam wedding list site http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped Your guest buy pressies for people who really need it. I mean, after all do we really need yet another olive oil drizzler!

- Transport: try hiring a horse and trap instead of a car. Or go on your bycycle. This is a link to Off Beat Bride, it's got a section on bycycles and there's other ideas: http://offbeatbride.com/

- Get a dress you can re-use. Mine's a plain, straight green one so I'll be able to use it for other functions. Mr. QB is only hiring a jacket, the rest of his clothes are part of one of his regular suits. If he didn't have that he'd hire the whole lot. Hiring's always better 'cos the clothes get re-used and you get to splash out on something bigger then what you could afford if you're buying.

- Ditch the brides maids - may be easier for some then others, ours is a Quaker wedding so we don't have them anyway.

- Honeymoon in the country where you live.

- Ask your feast provider if you can supply the veggies.

- If you're in the UK use British wine, there's lots of it and it's really quite good. I'd recomend Denby's.

- There are companies which do confetti made out of flowere petals rather then paper.

- Consider walking distances, especially if the wedding and reception are in differnet places.

- If you're having a reception hire a band who doesn't need amplifiers and electricity rather then a DJ. We're having a bunch of grumpy, scotch drinking old men who play the most amazing jazz. One day I hope to be as cool as they are, but I doubt I will be

- Give everyone a marrow, do you want a marrow? I'm fed up of eating marrow. The allotment just keeps producing them...

- Think creatively. We've found that there's an awful lot of stuff surrounding weddings that the wedding industry tells you is 'traditional' or 'fashionable' or necessary but which isn't really. After all, the Big Day is a marriage first and a wedding second, i.e. it's each other that's important and should be the focus rather then the stuff.

[suziq]

we got married last month
made table decs out of motorbike bits and flowers from the garden
my dress off ebay 4.99

[red]

motor bike bits ? that sounds like fun

[suziq]

we are both petrol heads, how we met
he dug out bits from the garage and i added oasis and whatever was growing in the garden at the time
some bits died and the lovely hotel peeps stuck extra bits in :)

[red]

sounds really nice.

[suziq]

:)

[MuddyWitch]

What a brilliant idea! And the dress looks georgeous. Congrats to you both, here's to a long & happy union!

MW

[Thomzo]

The flowers are fab!

Zoe