What to Cut and What to Keep in Your Wedding Budget.

Times have been hard, but there is no reason at all why you shouldn't have your dream wedding – all that it takes is a little savvy!

Let's look at three categories:

1.         table décor and gifts

2.         your dress and the bridesmaids

3.         entertainment

1. Table décor and gifts

•     People pay a fortune for flower arrangements and favours for all their guests. You can save a lot of money and make your wedding much more fun and talked-about by making use of the talents of friends and family to dress the room – instead of paying expensive hotel or wedding organiser prices. Try these simple but effective solutions, all of which you could ask your friends and family to help you with:-

•     Don't put expensive flower arrangements on every table, instead make a beautifully decorated table sign which can attach to the hotel's table number stand, and attach a single large feather.

•    Add a bowl full of bubbles to blow, streamers to throw, and little colouring book and crayons for the children.

•    Include a fun quiz about you and your new spouse to go on every table with the prize of chocs and champagne for the winning table- get people to complete it then the bride's father can draw the lucky winner (throw in a bit of relative-spotting for example “find aunty Jessie and get one piece of information about me that only she would know” this will encourage mingling)

2.    Really think hard about your dress... do you need to buy it? What use will it be later? What else could you do with the money? You could get a second hand dress very    cheaply, have it altered to fit and add a bit of customisation with lace or beads and you will have something unique which saves you a fortune!

3.    Never compromise on entertainment!  Live music is invaluable and does justice to all your guests. A good function band is therefore worth its weight in gold. Take the Dean Solomon Band for instance - not only do they come with a repertoire which will entertain all your guests, but they provide an additional disco facility free of charge and have a stage set which includes great lighting for that night club feel. Many hotels will try to extract more for the use of their disco so booking the Dean Solomon band will actually save you money in the long run, but will ensure that you have a great night which does justice to all those people who have travelled to your wedding and patiently waited for the party – they will have a relationship, talk to your guests, and really get the party started and keep it going all night, and they will constantly adapt to make sure everyone's favourites are included - unlike some faceless unresponsive recording. You may be tempted to book a band that your brother in law to be’s mate knows who he says are really good and they’ll do it for next to nothing. BEWARE--- they may be cheap but they will have little or no experience of entertaining at a wedding. They probably won’t even turn up! I have lost count of the number of desperate brides who phone 2 weeks before their big day to see if we’re available, because the cheap band they booked have just realised they would rather go on holiday that week and, as you weren’t paying them much anyway it means little to them. Of course, 2 weeks before the wedding is no time to expect to book a good professional wedding band north east as they will have been booked for many months ahead. Book a professional band – they won’t let you down.