[colliewobbles]

Madness - we got married 10 years ago and did as much as we could ourselves plus a hog-roast for dinner, all held at a local 18th century inn down on the broads.  Our biggest cost was our luxury honeymoon in the Maldives    In total we spent £5K and most of that was on the honeymoon!!

My daughter gets married next year - am hoping by then that we have enough land for a marquee!!!

Donna

[Rosemary]

Ach, everyone has their own ideas about what's good use of their money - just as well really 

As long as the happy couple get a day that's special for them, that's what matters. And it's a great excuse to get friends and family together.

When I was made redundant, we used some of the dundy money to take our families (21 of us from age 65 to a few months) to Centre Parcs. It was worth every penny and everyone had a great time. What we spent would have paid of a bit more of the mortgage, but you're a long time deid 

[JMB]

Lovely stories and great pictures xxx
We got married 4 years ago, kick off at 6pm at the golf club, straight into a ceilidh band ( our cousin) and then a disco with all my favourite music from iTunes on my friends laptop.
Cheap and cheerful and very happy xxxx

[honeyend]

My daughter makes and alters wedding dresses, her business is booming. People want to be individual so will pay for one offs or they buy cheap off e-bay and she ends up altering them.
She does say though that brides are getting bigger, I think they choose the dress so far in advance that by the time they come to wear it the've grown.
 I got married in 1979 and I had the works, but I know my Mum and Dad had saved for it. The last wedding I went to the family had rented the venue, home bar and family made the food but the venue alone was £2000 and now a days that is cheap.
I an trying to persuade my daughters to have a nice beach holiday if they marry and we will give them some money towards a house deposit.

[Dans]

Getting married in not too long (29th June eeep) and making a weekend of it as we see our family and friends so rarely. We're trying to be as cost aware as possible, self catering (other than main hog roast meal), self made invites, homebrew for drinks, poundshop scouring for some decorations. Getting friends and family to do brewing, cooking and decorations as presents. All still much more expensive than I would have imagined. Glad we have savings but also thinking of how that could have gone towards a smallholding. But once in a lifetime (hopefully) right?

Dans

[Rosemary]

I love weddings - but they always make me cry (with happiness).

Dan and I were in Chester a few years back, on holiday, and a beautiful bride was coming out of the church in the main thoroughfare in Chester, with her new husband and all the attendants. It was so lovely. I think it's all the "white lace and promises" And there was me, in tears. Dan, needless to say, made himself scarce 

[Brijjy]

We got married in '96. The church was the most expensive bit at £250. My dads friend drove me to church with his pair of horses, that was a wedding present. Our young farmer friend drove us from church in his Landy. The reception was held in a village hall and didn't cost much.
  I think the catering was done by another mate of my dads! My bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquet and buttonholes were made by another young farmer friends mum. Me and mum, my matron of honour and my sister did the church flowers out of plants growing in the garden and fields.
 My dress was made for me by my mums friend. The material cost £60 and she made the dress for free providing that me and mum milked her goats (20 of them, by hand) for a weekend so that she go away and visit her daughter. So I don't think the actual wedding cost more than about £1200. With the church being the most costly bit, I was annoyed when they played the wrong hymns and the vicar was a right miserable git!