A
male
age
51-59,
anonymous
writes:HiWe would like to get married but we are trying to pay off priorty debts first. Does any body know what a reasonable budget is for a not too fanciful basic wedding that we can do ourselves. We are thinking of £1,000. Is this a reasonable amount.
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reader, anonymous, writes (12 May 2011): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThanks for the answers. I agree I think £1000 is doable... We would like to get married in the Methodist Church and use where we live for the Reception which is fee because we live here.
Does anybody know how many hymns roughly you can have for the cremony?
A
female
reader, Abella  +, writes (11 May 2011):
 I do not like 'over the top' extravagant showy weddings if one knows the couple have not yet established strong financial foundations. I have attended such weddings and been sad to find out later that the couple has later broken up before they have paid off the loan for the wedding.
And I am all for focusing on the fundamentals first. Like have the couple discussed all manner of values/attitudes/and how they will deal with certain situations.
First prune the guest list.
Invitations? Hand written in good writing on plain good quality hand made paper can look good. Visit a Craft fair to find the paper you need.
What to wear? Something each can wear again, regularly. So that cuts out the expensive 'meringue' dress.
Flowers? I see nothing wrong in cutting from pretty flowers from the garden and binding the stems with a long trailing bow.
Car/s the nicest car you can borrow with ribbons attached at the front.
Alternatively walk to the Church.
Venue for the wedding?
choose to be married with friends on the beach, or in a pretty garden park.
Celebration after the wedding?
I thought it great that at the recent wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine that their grandmother served finger food (albeit for 600!) at her home (albeit a castle!) after the wedding. If it is good enough for a Queen to offer platters of finger food after a wedding, then bring it on I say.
Photos of the wedding?
Approach a club of photography buffs. Ask if they could take and supply photos for the cost of a mutually agreed written agreement where they donate their time and you donate a set amount to their club at the point where they hand over the photos. They could even hold a public exhibition of your photos after the wedding with a competition afterwards of your wedding photos. For the public to vote the best one and why. Of the photo voted best it would then be 'The best reason why? That would win
The prize could be a portrait photo taken by the winning photographer.
Music at the wedding? Ask a local school band or a local amateur group if they would help
Though if you still want the full catastrophe then one tip a friend advanced was to do all the bookings as if it was a 'family reunion' instead of a 'wedding' as she said the quotes for anything with 'wedding' were much higher than the 'family reunion'
Your proposed budget will still require considerable hard decisions to contain spending within that budget. So every cost saving method will count.
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A
male
reader, Hugh.J +, writes (11 May 2011):
 Honestly, I wouldn't book Westminster Cathedral - it has been done and you wouldn't want to copy, would you?
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (11 May 2011): Nearly 23 years ago we got married in a registry office, had our family and friends back to a friends place and we even got a night in a hotel. Being married was and is more important than the wedding itself. I think you could do it for £1000, and have a lot of fun in the process.
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A
female
reader, AuntyEm +, writes (11 May 2011):
 You can get married for about 65 pounds. Thats for a standard registry office marriage and the licence. You could allow your fiance maybe a couple hundred pounds to buy a nice dress and shoes and then the rest could be spent on an intimate dinner with close family or maybe a picnic in the park for wider family and friends. Instead of asking for gifts, ask people to donate food or drink, or even the wedding cake.
I always think smaller creative weddings are much more individual and special than the huge money eating juggernaughts by wedding planners and arrangers.
Most people have a really decent digital camera these days so you could ask an artistic friend to act as photographer and then crop and print your own pics. That way you can take as many as you want and have them all (unlike professional photographers who only allow you to have the pics you pay for). If you have the wedding reception somewhere like a park or by the lake, the backdrop of pictures will be lovely.
If you have a friend with a big garden, you can put up a couple of gazebos and get everyone to bring fairy lights and balloons to decorate...
Failing that, get on a plane and wed on a beach abroad with just a couple of witnesses.
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