The little things…

 

Things everyone needs to think about, confetti…

 

And Wedding cake toppers!

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The wedding dress

Seeing as me and my Dad are pretty good at sewing I have decided I will make my wedding dress with his help. By doing this I know that it will be exactly how I want it and could even end up saving us a bit of money which will be a bonus!

 

I have some ideas of what I want, not sleeveless, but not long sleeves. Quite a bit of beaded work. Long, floor length. – That’s how far I’ve got with my ideas so far.

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Perfect Wedding Reception Location!

I think I have found the perfect wedding reception location, I actually love it!

 

 

It’s The Manor Barn in Harlton – I really think it’s perfect for us… I hope Scott thinks the same.

 

Plus it’s a really reasonable price, and really gives us what we kept saying we wanted.

 

Take a look: http://www.themanorbarn.com/

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The wedding rings we want

I found these rings and we both like them – they aren’t fussy but they are really nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2036371/Trail/searchtext%3EWEDDING+RINGS.htm

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Cake Ideas

I found this cake while I was looking at wedding cakes on the internet.

 

I love the design of it as it’s simple but really symbolic.

 

I found it on this website, take a look:

http://www.jennifercakes.com/Wedding-cakes(1260921).htm

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Updated Budget

Venue costs	Budget
Venue hire - ceremony	£300
Venue hire - reception	£5000
Catering - food and drink	£5000
Wedding cake	£500
Total venue costs	£10,800
Outfits
Wedding dress - including fitting and alterations	£1000
Bridal accessories - veil, tiara, shoes, jewellery etc	£500
Bridal lingerie	£50
Bridesmaids outfits (including accessories)	£600
Groom's outfit (including shoes)	£500
Outfits for the groomsmen	£600
Hairdressing	£125
Make-up	£125
Total outfits cost	£3500
Wedding stationery
Stationery	£150
Postage	£20
Thank you cards	£100
Table plan and place cards	£100
Total wedding stationery	£370
Wedding suppliers
Photographer	£600
Videographer	-
Wedding Transport	£1000
Flowers	£600
Toastmaster	-
Fireworks	-
Entertainers	-
Total wedding suppliers	£2200
Music
Evening DJ	£300
Evening Band	-
Musicians/Band - daytime	-
CD's for ceremony music/background music	-
Total music cost	£300
Honeymoon
Honeymoon	£3500
Travel insurance	£140
Transport to/from airport	-
Currency	£200
First night accommodation	£200
Total honeymoon cost	£3940
Other
Wedding insurance	£100
Gifts to say thank you	£200
Notice of marriage/Banns	-
Marriage fees & licence	£100
Cake boxes (if you want to send cake on)	-
Favours	£200
Table decorations	£500
Guest book	£25
Wedding Rings	£500
Stag & Hen do	£300
Total other costs	£1925
Total Wedding Budget	£23,035

 

So after looking through our initial budget thoughts I have amended them slightly. As the total comes to £23,035 we should really aim to save £25,000 in stead of our original £21,000.

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location and the rings

Obviously one of the most important decisions to make when planning a wedding is where to have it and why. we both like the idea of having it in SJ's village church because that would make it really romantic and tradition and then we need to just think about where to have the reception. but we do have other ideas about locations to talk about as well.

SJ found three sets of rings to choose from so we will do that soon when she gets her internet back and can show me them and all in all were both really excited already about our big day and we know it will be perfect and that we will remember it forever it will be one of the best days of our lives.

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List of venues in Cambridge

http://www.forbetterforworse.co.uk/towns/Cambridge/cambridgeshire.htm

A whole list of different venues to look into at a later date within the Cambridge area.

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Wedding in Scotland

I love this hotel inthe south of Scotland, it would make a lovely location for a wedding although if we were to have it there it would mean it would be a lot of travelling for the guests. We would also have to shange the date we plan to have the wedding to be earlier or later as you can only book it during the winter season.

http://www.winter-wedding-venues.co.uk/index.html

The cost is really high although it does cover nearly all of the expenses for the reception.

Something to think about...

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Questions for When Looking for Wedding Venues for Both Ceremony and Reception

•Do they own enough chairs for the ceremony, or will they need to be rented?

•Does the wedding venue have an entirely separate area for the ceremony? {It is not uncommon that while the guests are at the cocktail hour, the caterers will transform the ceremony room into the dining room and/or dance floor.)

•If not, how long does it typically take for the staff to change over the room?



Source: http://weddings.about.com/cs/weddinglocations/a/venuequestions.htm

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Questions for When Looking at Separate Wedding Reception Venues and Ceremony Locations

•How far is it from one location to the other?

•Do the two places have the same level of formality and a coordinating style?

•Do they both accommodate about the same number of guests?

•Does the wedding reception venue have any experience with weddings from your ceremony location?




Source: http://weddings.about.com/cs/weddinglocations/a/venuequestions.htm

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Questions to ask yourself when deciding on a wedding venue

•What's the decor like? Does it fit your style and wedding colors? Will you have to spend a lot of money on flowers and decorations to make it beautiful?

•Do they have an in-house caterer, and do you like that food? (While an in-house caterer can be easier and cheaper, sometimes the food is not as beautiful as the room. So make sure you taste it!) Do they have a limitation on which outside caterers you can use?

•Do they have adequate coat check and bathroom facilities?

•Is the wedding venue wheelchair accessible? If not, are there many stairs to climb? How close is the parking to the ceremony and reception rooms?
•What's the cancellation policy?

•Is there a payment schedule? What kind of deposits are required?

•Are there any hidden costs? (Before you sign the contract, read it carefully.)

•What are the overtime charges?

•Do they have a liquor license?

•Will they allow you to bring your own liquor? (This is usually cheaper, even with the customary corkage fee.)

•Is there room in the wedding venue for a band and/or dancing?

•Does the wedding venue already own a sound system with adequate speakers or will that need to be rented?

•Is there a space for the bride and groom to change and/or relax?

•Where will you take photographs? Is there a park nearby, or do the coordinators have recommended spots on the grounds?

•Who will be supervising and troubleshooting before the day of your wedding? Who will be supervising and troubleshooting on the day of your wedding? Can you meet them now?

•Where can your guests park? Are there extra fees for parking? Do they have valet parking?

•Is the wedding venue convenient to public transportation, especially in big cities? How long will it take your guests to get there?
•Especially in museums or private clubs, are there limitations on decorations? Do they limit food and drinks to only certain areas of the wedding venue?

•Are candles or other open flames allowed?


Source: http://weddings.about.com/cs/weddinglocations/a/venuequestions.htm

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Ways To Save Money

One way we maybe able to save money is I want to wear my Mum’s wedding dress as my Granny made it and obviously my Mum wore it on her wedding day. Depending on the condition of the dress and how well it fits it is quite likely I will wear it. So this will save us quite a considerable cost!

 

Something else I would like to do is make the invitations and place names ourselves because I think this will add more of a personal touch to the wedding.

 

We may need to look at reducing the number of people we invite the wedding as this will save us more money, especially with food and catering costs!

 

We could look at reducing the number of people in the wedding party such as the number of bridesmaids, ushers etc as this will reduce the cost of outfits and gifts.

 

We could think about having a cash bar for guests so that we don’t have to pay for everyone’s drinks.

 

Instead of hiring a videographer we could get family and friends to all video different aspects of the wedding and ask for copies of everything.

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First Dance Ideas Update

Scott and I discussed my idea of doing the the last dance from Dirty Dancing and we both want to do it as our first dance, but we also want to do a slow dance together. So we have decided that we would like to do the Dirty Dancing dance as our first dance and then have a slow dance together towards the end of the night with the backing track being one of our songs.

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More First Dance Ideas

I would love to do this as the first dance at our wedding! It would take a while to learn the routine but I think it would be funny to see all the guests reactions.

 

Plus I love the film Dirty Dancing and I’m sure the song (Time of my Life) will sum up the day!

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Raising Our Budget

We have decided to split the budget 50/50 which means Scott and I both need to raise £10,500 each over the next three years.

 

This then works out to needing to make £300 a month which is roughly £10 a day.

 

We have already implemented a donate button on this blog for anyone who is willing to donate to our wedding. I am trying to implement Adsense on this blog at the moment however this will take a few days to even know if we will be accepted or rejected.

 

We are both part of Swag Bucks which means we can get rewarded for our regular internet searches! If you’re interested in joining their scheme then sign up using by clicking on the image on the left.

 

We also have a wedding themed Zazzle shop which we are adding products to all the time: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/becomingmrscollins

 

I have a jar to save all of my loose change and is in my families kitchen so that my whole family can put their lose change in it too!

 

I have a part time job, although this doesn’t generate very much spare money all the spare money will be added to the wedding savings. I am looking at getting some part time bar work a couple of evenings a weeks. I can only have part time work at the moment as I am still at college – once I leave in June after my exams I plan to get a full time job so that our savings will increase dramatically.

 

I am also looking at selling all my belongings that I no longer want/ need – this will probably be done through Ebay.

 

If you have anymore Ideas please get in contact with us.

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Churches I’d Like To Get Married In

If I was to get married in the way my Dad and I were talking about last night it would be in the church in my village which is Harston All Saints Church – It’s a lovely church and I go bell ringing there so I know for definite we would be able to have the bells rung for our service.

It’s an old church as it was built around 1445 and has recently had some restoration work on the bell tower.

It’s big inside so we would be able to have the ceremony we want!

As you can see from this angle the Church has a nice approach by foot.

 

 

As you can see the inside of the Church would make a good setting for the ceremony as it is romantic and has a good feel about it.

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More Ideas

After talking to my Dad about weddings today and really traditional weddings and how his and my Mum’s wedding was. He was telling me about how some traditional weddings the ceremony takes place in the Bride’s village church so for me that’s literally round the corner. This then had me thinking about if we were to do that where could we have the reception, I remembered my next door neighbours reception at Sheen Mill. It was really beautiful and romantic – it just made a perfect setting for a wedding reception.

http://www.sheenemill.co.uk/index.asp?id=1

I really like the idea of having a wedding like that but then it would be a long way for Scott’s family and friends to travel.

So many decisions…

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Songs Ideas for the First Dance

Taj Jackson – Think of You

This is one of our songs and would be good because it has a lot of meaning to us.

Ronan Keating feat. Bryan Adams – The Way You Make Me Feel

Scott dedicated this song to me on our first holiday together so it means a lot to me so for me this would be a great song for our first dance.

Jordin Sparks – Just for the Record

This song was one I showed Scott and he really liked it because it stopped him from worrying about loosing me. So this is another song that means a lot to us.

Westlife – When You Tell Me That You Love Me

This song always reminds me of Scott as it really says in the lyrics how much he means to me.

Leona Lewis – Whatever It Takes

This was our first ever song and it means a lot to use because it shows we really do get through everything together.

Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat – Lucky

This song would be great because Scott is my best friend and this song really explains what our relationship is like.

Michael Buble – Everything

This song we both like and says what we mean to each other.

Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron – Can I Have This Dance

Scott likes this song and would like to have it.

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Some Big Decisions

Type of Ceremony

We decided that we want a traditional ceremony with mainly close friends and family. We really want to have church bells at the church so they can be played at the beginning and end of the ceremony.

Wedding Budget

We have decided the maximum we want to spend and want to be able to raise is £21,000 as we think this is more than enough to achieve the wedding we want to achieve.

Wedding Style/Theme

We know that we definitely want to have a big, traditional wedding and this will be the main focus for us. Scott has said that he wants us to be the main focus and for it to be slightly unique in some way.

Guests and Who to Invite

We have already decided the maximum number of people we would want to have at the ceremony is 100 and then 150 at the reception. We have already worked out that my family would account for 32 of the guests and Scott’s family will account for 21 of the guests.

We also worked out the numbers involved in our wedding party – in total at the moment we think it will come to 10 but some of these will be family and we’re sure to have missed some people out…

Do We Want Children There?

We have decided that we do because some of our relatives are children and we want them to be there so we won’t ban children.

What Are Our Priorities?

Scott summed this up – to get married.

Where Do We Want To Get Married?

One of the two locations we discussed earlier.

Are We Going To Organise It Ourselves?

Yes, because this will help to keep the costs down.

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