where is the best to go to get a loan for a wedding

People want a good feed in a decent place with a good band,
Click to expand...

I'll second this - it's about the only thing people really remember. I've seen so many people "waste" (IMO) money on favours, excessive flowers, cars. We were very fortunate that we got alot of services from people as gifts.

You are in a fortunate position where you own your house as it was passed onto you, yet even without the monthly cost of a mortgage, you are still in debt to the tune of €10k & you want to add an extra €20k to this, entirely your decision but here are my few tips to keep cost down & still have a great day
- DO spend money on a great meal.....nothing worse than a "carvery" type meal at a wedding
- DO spend money on a great band - make sure you get one that will really get the party going
- Consider a midweek day, generally costs less (we had to as we booked late in the day!)
- We didn't have a photographer as I generally hate posing for photos & I always think wedding phots look so staged. We got a load of disposable cameras & gave them out to everyone - we had snaps of everyone. These days everyone has a digital camera/phone, get them to e-mail you their snaps
- Ask someone who has a nice car to drive you
- don't go crazy with flowers - after a while, nobody notices them
- favours - waste of money IMO (my friend spend €1k on have a wee box of choccies, I'd rather get a new couch!!)
- Shop around for wedding dress.....some great bargains to be had or buy on-line. You only get the one day out of it.
- buy a nice suit for hubbie to be, it will cost a little more than renting but you'll alwats have it
- open bar??? I've been to wedding with & without - never thought any less of a wedding with out one. If I really want to be at there wedding, I've no problem buying a few drinks. If you do have one, limit it to a drink for the toast (thats all we did)
- Flower girl/Page boy - pick up a simple dress in Monsoon or slacks & snazzy shirt in M&S....should cost more than about €50

Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy it. Too many people get so stressed about the little things, they have little recollection of the day - the less you plan, the less can go wrong !! Once you & he are there- thats all that really matters.
 
I know people have done weddings on a much smaller bugdet, I would love to do this.I think my problem is i dont know where to start.
If you could give me some tips i would definitly take them on broad.
I am starting to come around to ye're way of thinking
Thanks for all the advice
 
Thank you Sam,

Your right on everything you said, an open bar to me is a joke and something i would never do.I will def be buying my dress online, iv been look and there much nicer and less then half the price. But is it really ok to not have wedding favours, and would it be ok to ask the bridemaids to buy there own shoes and pay for there own hair and make-up, or even do there own if the dont want to pay for it?
The band i think is very important and form what iv heard is going to cost about 2500, you also get the dj for that.
What about presnts for the bridal party and parents how much should i be spending on these.
What else can i save on?
 
Where do you start? Write a list of all the things you feel are essential for your day & then try to work out what you can do to get that item at the cheapest possible price.....ask about for tips from friends who have got married.

Favours - tbh, I really thin they are a waste, my friend who spent €1k on the little box of chocolates agrees in hind sight - half of them were left behind. If you feel it is important, make them. Get some nice netting & a pretty ribbon & make up a little bag of chocolates.

Band - It's a LONG time since I got married, but even factoring in inflation, there is no way we spent that much. Again, ask about & go along to some gigs. I loved our band (but I'm not sure the aunts were as impressed). People were on the dance floor for the night.

Make up & hair - loads of specials going with the likes of Deal Pages, keep an eye out.

Just work through each part of the day & have a good think about whether it will really add to the whole experience & what is the cheapest way that you can do it for.
 
I am working and earning on average 400 a week, my partner is earning a little over that.
We have one child and do plan to have more.

thank you sam,

Its good to get some advice from some one whos been through this all before.
none of my family or friends are married aside from our parents which was over 20 years ago.
 
A little scarey, but here's a list from a planning spreadsheet I've seen...

Invitations
Pre-marriage course
Priest, altar services, sacristan
Church music
Candles, church decoration
Car

Flowers
Dress
Shoes
Accessories , jewellery, etc
Hair
Make-up

Bridesmaids dresses
Groomsmen suits

Rings
Photographer

Arrival reception
Meal (per person)
Room hire
Wine
Corkage
Sparkling wine
cake
Evening food

Music for drinks reception
Band
DJ

Favours
Table centrepieces
Bride & groom accommodation
Presents for mothers
Presents for bridesmaids/,groomsmen

Going away outfit
Honeymoon

You could use the list to help get you started by deciding what would be important for you
 
Have a look at these hotel websites for some ideas on costings, you can get a feel for what's included and not included

Cartonhouse.com
Johnstownhouse.com
Knightbrook.com
 
No need for band and DJ. (in fact, no need for band at all if you don't want one - we didn't bother with one.)
No need for centrepieces, favours, presents, going away outfits.
No need for any more than 1 bridesmaid and 1 groomsman - who may well be happy to perform their functions in civvies if asked nicely :)
No need for sparkling wine
No need for flower girls or page boys.
No need to spend any money worth talking about at the arrival reception.
Definitely no need to be buying rounds of drink for anyone.

Allocate strict budgets to all other items of expenditure - and stick to them.

Consider going to a restaurant instead and avoid the dreaded rubber beef or salmon dinner.
 
xlaurenx said:
I am working and earning on average 400 a week, my partner is earning a little over that.
Click to expand...


400 x 2 x 52 = €41600 income.

Mortgage free. Your only debt is €10k.

You're in a better financial position than most of us.

Don't go completely nuts on your wedding, 20k is mental but it is your big day so don't feel guilty about going a little mad if that's what you want to do.

By all means take advice here but if people start saying ask your aunty to make the sandwiches then you are free to ignore them.

One piece of advice, if it's a toss up between spending €500 more on the wedding or the honeymoon, put it to the honeymoon.

Good luck.
 
I do feel people our a little judgemental of me because they are not in my position financial wise and therefore can not justify getting such a big lone for a wedding. While i do understand this and have started to realise that maybe i can do it for a little less there are just some things i am not willing to cut.

Band, i feel you have to have one and a good one at that.

bridemaids, i have 2 sisters how could i have 1 and not the other, my bestfriend who has asked me to be her maid of honor in 2 years how can i not ask her.

hotel, i want to party all night long, a restaurant would not be the place for this.

d.j as above a party is just not a party without 1


Flower girl, my daughter who will be 3 by the time of the wedding has to be part of my wedding, i think this is is the most important part
 
xlaurenx said:
I do feel people our a little judgemental of me because they are not in my position financial wise and therefore can not justify getting such a big lone for a wedding. While i do understand this and have started to realise that maybe i can do it for a little less there are just some things i am not willing to cut.

Band, i feel you have to have one and a good one at that.

bridemaids, i have 2 sisters how could i have 1 and not the other, my bestfriend who has asked me to be her maid of honor in 2 years how can i not ask her.

hotel, i want to party all night long, a restaurant would not be the place for this.

d.j as above a party is just not a party without 1


Flower girl, my daughter who will be 3 by the time of the wedding has to be part of my wedding, i think this is is the most important part
Click to expand...

Fair enough. My own suggestions were just ideas based on our own (happy) experience. :) Every cost saving involves some element of compromise. You pays your money and you makes your choices.
 
xlaurenx said:
I do feel people our a little judgemental of me because they are not in my position financial wise and therefore can not justify getting such a big lone for a wedding. While i do understand this and have started to realise that maybe i can do it for a little less there are just some things i am not willing to cut.

part
Click to expand...


I dont think people are being judgemental, but an awful lot of people would not ever consider borrowing for a wedding, similarly a lot of people would never borrow for a holiday or a car etc. You are considering a large loan and a lot of people are highlighting the risks in that because there are horror stories all over AAM about people losing jobs, relationships breaking up, getting ill and loans causing huge stress and problems.

You've identified the important things for you in your wedding, a fun party, a late night, a good band and dj, that's important as you can start budgeting from there and figuring out what other things to leave out or save money on and maybe bring down the overall budget
 
After hearing what people have to say i do feel i can cut cut cost and thats what i intend to.

thank you every one for ye're advice. The only thing left for me to do is start looking for some bargins
 
If you both earn approx 400 a week and are not paying rent or mortgage, what are you spending that on weekly?

Surely between the two of you, if you budget well, you could could save between 100-150 a week towards the wedding. In a year that gives between 5200-7800 saved, meaning that you have to borrow a lot less.
 
Lauren, check out www.dresselicious.ie - if you're on weddingsonline now (which a previous poster mentioned and which is the wedding website in Ireland, you'll get loads of advice over there about everything) you'll find threads on it. My sister got our bridesmaid dresses from there and they were only €40 each! Now the material wasn't amazing, but they look good in the photos :) Alternatively go shopping during the sales after Christmas, you'll get loads of bargains then.

I agree re the favours, we didnt' have them and nobody noticed at all.

You're right to want a place you can stay up till all hours for your wedding, the poster who mentioned mid week weddings was spot on you can get some great deals if you'll get married Monday-Wednesday...

We didn't have a band either, but more because I dont' like bands, we just downloaded all the music we loved onto an ipod and played that through the hotel's system.

You could also have a look on www.discountdesigner.ie which has second hand designer wedding dressses on it, has some lovely ones at good reduction of the original cost.

enjoy planning your wedding

M
 
thanks muffin,

I have been looking on line and do feel things are a lot cheaper i have found a american website that has over 5000 wedding dresses, most of them for under 200.

I don't think ill bother with favours, that's at least 500 saved there. a mid week opition is not a option. My partner is very close to a lot of people he works with so would have to be a day when there not working.

How much do you I should spend on presents for the bridal party, i was thinking about dressing gowns wit bridemaid on the back and wedged flipflops as they wil be in there shoes all day i think they would come in handy at the end of the night, do you think this is a good idea?

Fairplay to you for doing your own music it's just something i dont feel i could do, not because i think its cheap but because my mind would go blank and i would become very stressed.
 
We do save every week,We also pay bills esb, gas, rubbish, childcare, petrol motor tax it all adds up just because we dont have rent doesn't mean we dont have things that need to be paid
 
I was bridesmaid for a very good friend a couple of years ago, I paid for our make-up including the second bridesmaid who was a student at the time otherwise we would have split it, that was part of my present to her. The bride bought necklaces for us for us for the day (about €80 I think) and these were our present, she bought the dresses and we wore our own shoes in similar styles. With a good bit of practice we did each others hair, bride included. I thought the presents worked very well.

Would a marquee be an option for you? It could work well for a big party
 
Have you been to the CU yet to see if they will allow you to take out another loan for the wedding?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top