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I know. Why doesn't my ring look like that?

Josephine's Top Ten Budget Tips

1. It’s a classic, but using the wedding cake (or in our case, cupcakes) in place of dessert will save menu-planning time and money.

2. Don’t dismiss buying a second-hand or ex-sample dress. It might not work for everyone but there are some real gems out there at great prices and you can still enjoy shopping at the full price stores to get ideas and that special bridal treatment.

3. Similarly, our bridesmaids’ dresses were shop-bought from M&S rather than going through expensive bridal retailers.

4. We asked friends who are skilled photographers to handle the photography of different parts of the day so that we didn’t have to spend masses on a professional, but still had lovely photos and people we trusted to take them.

5. Making your own decorations is easy if you have the time. We made metres and metres of bunting and also made table runners of blue gingham to brighten up our plain white table cloths.

6. Asking guests to bring flowers to decorate the church helped us to save money on decorating both the church and reception venue – although this might not work if you have a very specific colour theme.

7. We were lucky enough to have friends who could provide all of our musical entertainment throughout the day. If you know people then start pulling in the favours – when it’s your big day they’ll almost certainly want to help out and be a part of it.

8. Having a buffet instead of a sit down meal is an obvious way to save money. We also bought all our drinks on a sale-or-return basis through separate companies so that we could be refunded if there was anything left over.

9. We designed our own invitations and had them printed through a web-based printing company, then bought our own envelopes separately, avoiding the usual hefty price tag of anything with the word ‘wedding’ attached to it.

10. Finally, we added a “Sponsor the Wedding” feature to our gift list (via our wedding website) that enabled guests to donate towards parts of the day, such as the dress, the drinks, or the honeymoon.

Josephine's Wedding

Could you tell me the basics, when/where the ceremony was, the reception venue, general numbers of guests.

My wedding was held on Monday 1st August 2011 – 3.30pm til late! It was at Morningside Baptist Church in Edinburgh, followed by a reception at Edinburgh Central Hall. We had just over 200 guests. Our Budget was £8000.

What would you describe your theme as being?

We didn’t really have a theme as such but the most important things for us were that everyone felt welcome and included in all parts of the day and that the day was very personal and reflected us as a couple, as well as being a lot of fun! In particular, there was no colour theme at all as I really wanted to avoid a “matchy-matchy” style wedding so we could have an eclectic mix of bright colours in everything and not be limited in our choices. For instance, the flowers were a bouquet of bright blues, ivorys, lilacs, oranges and reds.

The only theme that accidentally developed was a recurring motif of bunting – used on the invitations and in the church and venue decorations – this mostly came about because I am a little bit obsessed with bunting and ended up making around 50m worth of the stuff for our decorations!

What was your dress like, what inspired your choice?

I wore a Sassi Holford ‘Hayley’ dress in ivory. It was strapless with a lace and bead embroidered bodice, a wide silk-chiffon waistband with a thin silk ribbon tied on the waistline, and a full A-line silk-chiffon skirt with a fairly big train. I knew relatively early on in my search that I wanted a dress with a sash on the waistline as I wanted to accentuate my small waist and I’m really drawn to vintage styles from the 1940s and 50s. However, I also quickly discovered that I have expensive tastes and didn’t have a budget to match, so it was fairly depressing for a while there! Luckily, I found my beautiful dress at Bliss, a specialist second-hand studio in Edinburgh, and was able to buy it for a third of its original price as it was an ex-sample dress. I actually nearly didn’t pick it off the rail as it looked odd on the hanger, but thanks to June, the lovely owner of Bliss, I did try it on and immediately fell in love with its 1950’s inspired shape, the delicate fabric (I’m not a fan of shiny satins), the amazing detail on the bodice, and that all-important waist detail.

It’s so hard to choose! I loved walking down the aisle and seeing all our friends grinning like mad at me and Dave waiting at the front of the church. I loved that Dave’s dad conducted the ceremony and how full of laughter and joy it was. And I loved our first dance, which was totally unrehearsed (Dave had accidentally got locked in a toilet when we had planned to practise it!) but it was so perfect and was a brilliant moment of realisation that we’d just got married!


Shoes? Who? from where? Why?

In all honesty, I was only really bothered about having comfortable shoes that weren’t strappy, peep-toed or pointy! So after much searching, I found that Bliss (again!) stocked Meadows Bridal shoes and they had a style called Pearl that was round-toed, available in ivory, and enough in keeping with the 50s look of my dress, but also a comfortable 2¾“ heel and reasonably priced. Hardly anyone sees your shoes anyway under a dress as big as mine!

What little things do you think made your day special for you and your guests?

Both Dave and I really loved that many of our friends and family were involved in the day. As a way of decorating the church we asked guests to bring along a bunch of “cheap and cheerful” flowers to the ceremony and these were placed in jam jars of water all around the church, and later, the reception venue. It felt wonderful that people were so willing to join in with this unorthodox idea and it was lovely to walk into the church and see it full of the flowers everyone had brought. We also asked our musically talented friends to perform during the ceremony and reception, which made the day so much more personal and special to us. I walked down the aisle to a song written by a very old friend of mine, and we actually had our first dance music played live by our friends’ band Chasing Owls, who performed their song “Wedding Song” – a perfect fit for the occasion!

I can’t emphasise enough how awesome it was to be able to share the whole of the day with every one of our guests. It did mean that we had to make compromises in terms of venues and in particular food, but it felt so good that nobody was left out at any point, especially when many people had travelled a long way up from England to be with us.
And on a selfish note, I just loved wearing my beautiful dress and seeing Dave’s reaction as I walked down the aisle to him! I still can’t believe that I didn’t cry (and he did)!


How would you describe your makeup that day, what inspired your choice?

A lot of my friends know how much I love a classic red lipstick, so once I had this amazing 50s style dress it just made sense to go old school Hollywood and wear my so-called “signature look”. Rather than hiring a make-up artist, I chose to do my own make-up on the day but treat myself to really good quality new make-up. For the statement red lipstick I splurged and bought Chanel’s Audace Rouge Allure Lipstick and the equivalent lip pencil, which made all the difference to the lipstick’s staying power. As the lipstick colour was so bold I kept the rest of my make-up very natural – just basic foundation, concealer, and powder (all from Clinique), a bit of blusher and eyebrow pencil (for my very fair eyebrows!) and the really great High Impact Curling Mascara from Clinique for big, curly lashes. I love this mascara because it really does curl your lashes and it’s impressively waterproof, surviving any tears I shed on the day!

If you could change one thing......?

I wish I hadn’t forgotten how to tie the bow on my dress and given up so that it hung in a loose knot all day. But maybe it looked better that way... And it would have been nice if I’d got to the church on time!


Is there anything you still wear from the day?

I’m still enjoying the lovely make-up that I bought for the day but I haven’t dared attempt to put my dress on again, much as I would love to!

Cheese Wedding Cakes.

What a wonderful Idea! I wish I'd thought of it!

Twilight Wedding Dress.

Pleasantly non-gothic. Yes, a little 19th Century, but ultimately very serene. Beautiful lacework around the wrists.

Wedding Music

An essential buy for all Brides to Be.

Whether you are choosing your 'first dance' song, addressing invitations, or driving in the car to your dress fitting, this album is calling you.

Phillipa's Wedding

The Basics:
"My Wedding was held on the 21st August 2011, at St Saviours Church 2.30pm in Bath, Somerset. The Reception was at Monkton Combe School, guests at the reception numbered about 145 people".

What would you describe your theme as being?
"Me and Pete's favourite colour was green so that why green was the theme!"

What was your dress like, what inspired your choice?
"The dress was white with one side strap made from lacework. My friend said someone from her family had got their wedding dress from Ebay, so I thought I would have a look see how much they were and if there were any nice ones. The dresses were great, it had many dresses you see in magazines etc all with beautiful women wearing them. I chose a dress that I thought looked really cool, it was only 99 pounds and i sent them my details and they made it to fit. I thought I might as well give it a go... So yeah basically it came just before Christmas and I tried it on and it was great! Totally worth the risk."

What was the most memorable part of the day for you?
"I had so much fun with my friends and family and seeing everyone, some people I hadnt seen in a while some I see all the time. The reception was great and our band were fabulous, I think my favourite part was running around and chatting to everyone - either that or being in the car after the service drinking champagne and eating strawberries."

What little things do you think made your day special for you and your guests?
"It was a beautiful day, I think that helped there was a reception outside and that made a great space to chill at the start of the reception and during the end. I suppose we tried to keep things simple and not over complicate stuff. Everyone seemed to get on well and enjoy where they had been seated. That was a very important factor for me"

How would you describe your makeup that day, what inspired your choice?
"Simple with a dash of green - the theme!"

If you could change one thing......?
"If there was anything I could change it would be that the day was longer! I have worked at weddings for years and always thought that they go on for so long, why would people not be bored by all of it? But I never was! It was great and the time went so fast - too fast."

Is there anything you still wear from the day?
"Underwear and shoes."

Phillipa is happily married and currently lives with her husband Pete, in Bath.

The Perfect Tea Light

Finding the perfect tea lights for your wedding is just as important as finding the dress..... O-K maybe not, but it can still create a wonderful effect for the reception venue. Make sure you check with your venue that they either do/do not provide tea lights/candle holders. You do not want to be carting around 80 tea lights and 80 holders three days before your wedding. Trust me. It's stressful.

And for flameless....

'Annabelle' and 'Madmoiselle'

The new Castigliano 'Oscar' collection is enviously stylish...

http://www.carolinecastigliano.co.uk/

The Latest Vera Wang

As always, it commands our attention