Ever since I saw Amy do this post after her wonderful wedding a few months ago, I knew when the time came for me to start wedding post planning, this one would be high on the ‘to-write’ list!
It goes without saying that every wedding is completely individual, we all have different priorities and choices of interest, but here’s what we chose to spend, and save on for our wedding…
WHAT WE SAVED ON:
Transport: As I was staying at the venue the night before, and we live nearby, we didn’t have any transport costs. Dan did look at hiring a nice car for him to drive on the morning of, but it was too expensive to justify for less than an hours use.
Music: Neither me or Dan envisaged having a band at our wedding, it just wasn’t really something we were super interested in, so we had the venue’s DJ (we did have to pay for him though) who ended up being such a lovely man, and I don’t regret it one bit. Plus, we had a great time dancing all night anyway!
Favours/gifts: I know this might sound a bit controversial, but I have quite the strong dislike to favours. I’m sure in some instances they are lovely pieces for guests to take home, but I knew I wasn’t going to make anything by hand (my sister did that and she said she regretted it), and for 60 people it was going to add up for a couple of love-heart chocolates. In our eyes (hopefully) us choosing them to join us on our day was enough! I don’t think anyone noticed them missing.
WHAT WE SPENT ON:
Flowers: I LOVE flowers, and I knew from the start that I wanted them to be a main focus in our venue styling. I don’t think we spent a ridiculous amount, and I think they looked amazing so I would still make the same decision. We had some around the garden folly too, which I think made a difference in how nice the outside looked too.
Photography: As I’ve said previously, photography was a big cost for us but once I saw Emily’s portfolio, I knew there was no going back! A few family members offered to help out but I really had my mind set on the whimsical, fairy-tale style Emily specialises in. I think I would of really regretted it if I ended up choosing someone else where I didn’t love their work as much.
Venue: When we first got engaged, we originally wrote our venue off as too expensive, but after looking around it soon became apparent that 1) wedding venue pricing is ridiculous and 2) if it’s important to you, you just have to spend it, unfortunately. We did save a bit on this by getting married on a Sunday, but I think what we saved there was also the extra cost of getting married outside, which was something that was really important to me particular. We did get the food provided though which everyone said was delicious, and we had the whole of the outside venue for people to sit down in the sunshine after the ceremony was over too which worked out great.
I hope you enjoyed reading a bit more into our personal wedding decisions and maybe if you are planning you’re own wedding, you found it interesting.
If there’s any more wedding specific blog posts you would like please let me know 🙂