Cherish Wedding planning service

Off to Canada tomorrow!

Q9 – Is it better to book a package deal from a venue, or have a DIY wedding in a hall, or marquee at home?

Many hotels and wedding venues now offer a ‘package deal’. This means for a fixed price couples can have the main components booked and organised   under one roof.

It is worth remembering that many venues will offer these deals for weekday weddings, and will perhaps have more than one wedding a day.

If you have the time and want to be completely ‘hands on’ planning your wedding then hiring a hall could be a great way of choosing every detail, and knowing exactly how your savings have be spent. However, it can be very stressful at times and will definitely eat away at your free time.

Q8 – Does planning a wedding on a budget take longer to plan?

Time certainly helps with a budget wedding.

Sourcing items at the best price is crucial if you are going to stick to your budget. So you will need to spend time trying to get discounts and negotiating deals.

You may decide that you can make some things yourself such as favours, invitations, table centres and even your dress. This is a great way of saving money, but does take time.

The more time you have, the less you will be forced to make hasty decisions, that are not always the best value for money. If you can give yourself at least a year, you might even be able to save up more money.

Q7 – Is it cheaper to have a small ceremony and then a separate party at another time?

If you choose to celebrate your wedding twice, then beware some of the costs will be repeated and others will be halved. Although it does mean that you get to celebrate twice, and that can’t be bad!

The idea is to invite only the closest relations to the ceremony (usually the local registry office) followed by a small reception. You will be tempted to ‘push the boat out’ because there are not many guests, and this could be costly for just a meal and drinks.

However when you do book your separate party, you will have the same inevitable entertainment and evening food cost. You will also probably invite the same guests again and many more. Will you wear your wedding dress or incur more costs by treating yourselves to new outfits? You will also not have the photographer attending, and you may need to get another cake.

Q6 – How do you decide what your budget is?

The only way to decide on your true budget is to work out how much money you think you can afford to spend on your wedding.

If you have been saving up, then you should have a fixed lump sum.If you have no savings, perhaps you will need to put the wedding back a little until you can save a bit of cash at least for deposits.

If possible get any family who are contributing financially to either tell you which items they are prepared to pay for or to give you a fixed amount which you can allocate yourself.

You then need to get quotes for all the main suppliers. This will give you a more realistic idea of how much each purchase might cost. You can estimate the extras in the beginning but as soon as you get time, you need to get realistic figures for everything on the list.

Wow, Capri. The most stylish place ever for a wedding! Shame to go home.