[Wedding] Budgeting

I was a little shocked and horrified to read that the average UK wedding costs over £20,000. That is crazy. You could put a deposit on a decent house around here for that money. £20,000. How are people spending that kind of money? And how are people affording it?

We got engaged over 3 years ago so in theory we've had a while to save but in all honesty we didn't start saving until May last year. I would put any spare money I had each month into my savings account. As I began to work more hours at work I then worked out how much money I would need every month and then save as much as I could. Each month I would save between £100- £400. When we found out I was pregnant we knew that we would have some big purchases to make so instead of stop saving for our wedding we had a huge clear out, which we needed to do for the nursery. Anything we didn't need anymore and we could sell we did, everything else went to charity or the tip!  

To us the most important aspect of the day is making the commitment to each other in front of our friends and family. That is the biggest thing, becoming husband and wife. Don't get me wrong I want things to look nice but I would sacrifice all of that and get married in my PJ's if that was the only way! 

We always knew that we wanted to do as much as we could ourselves, especially me, I am a control freak and having order over things was the only way it was going to happen. The beautiful venue we've hired is just a shell with tables and chairs and we are free to do whatever we like to it. This kept costs down a lot and meant we could personalise things and have them exactly how we want. The venue is our biggest expense but we are having everything there and have three days hire of it allowing us time to set up on the Friday and clear out on the Sunday. We've also had to pay slightly more to have the registrar come out to us but as the venue was reasonably priced it didn't make to much difference. 

At the time of writing this I don't have my dress. It's pretty much impossible trying to find one whilst being pregnant so as soon as baby's here I need to get shopping. I have tried some on before and know they are not cheap. I have a budget in mind and I'm going to stick to it. 

The best thing about booking a long time in advance means we've had time to collect things we need and pick things up cheaply. Our paper plates, doilies and a few other bits come from pound shops and we've collected enough jam jars between our families. Invites and all stationary for the day is easy enough to print ourselves and saves a fortune! We've asked a lot of our friends to help us out and utilise their talents, it really is about who you know. I would imagine that we've put a lot more effort into sourcing things than others that spend more as we try to keep costs down but this also allows us to question if we really need things or if there's another way of doing it.

Overall I would estimate that the total cost of our wedding will be around a quarter of the average (don't quote me on that!) as who knows what will happen. But all of the expense of the day will be paid for with our money. No taking out loans to pay for things, if we can't afford it then we won't be having it. 

I can't wait until the big day and I can't wait to share all of our DIY's and ideas with you. I'd love to hear how you kept to your wedding budget or any money saving ideas.

This post has been scheduled in advance as I am currently taking two months maternity leave from blogging to be with my baby. All comments will be answered in time, thank you in advance for being patient.