The High-Street Bride’s Guide: How to Plan Your Perfect Wedding On A Budget

The High-Street Bride’s Guide: How to Plan Your Perfect Wedding On A Budget
Samantha Birch

Samantha Birch has written for GLAMOUR, Brides, You & Your Wedding and Cosmopolitan Bride. She knows a thing or two about planning a wedding on a budget, how much you can expect to pay for everything and where to go to get it for less. And she's put it all down here.You can say your vows in a catwalk gown so beautiful it reduces your mum to tears (and not because she paid for it).You can style a reception so stunning your guests won’t believe you didn’t hire an A-list planner.And you can sprinkle the day with personal touches that make everyone feel like you gave them special attention before they even got there. Without spending a house deposit on it. Honest.“This book has truly changed my wedding, full of simple and affordable ideas to spice up any wedding on any budget – the writer clearly knows what they are talking about.”

The High Street Bride’s Guide

Samantha Birch

A division of HarperCollinsPublishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Contents

Samantha Birch (#u19032fbf-cab3-5481-b337-015493fcb571)

Dedication (#u8a6f2948-6af0-53b6-a8b3-df9163188a92)

Chapter 1: The Basics The best ways I know to save big (#u6b1fa559-7a61-5abb-85df-b29ebb2f992b)

Chapter 2: The Venue Eat, drink and be merry for less (#u89a3a607-4a8f-5b93-b2fe-0ef0e2395061)

Chapter 3: The Dress Designer, high-street or affordable W-day brand – you can afford your dream gown (#ua92a48fe-c5f3-54b2-94e6-5c3f155f0336)

Chapter 4: The Groom Truss up your man without emptying his wallet (#uebb6ff11-f671-593b-8b42-e1afae8cc0ec)

Chapter 5: Bridesmaids & Best Men Your grown-up entourage gets gorgeous – on budget (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6: Pageboys & Flower Girls Turn them into little angels for heavenly prices (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7: Shoes & Accessories Put your best foot forward, but don’t pay top dollar (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8: Hair & Beauty Putting your face on needn’t cost an arm and a leg (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9: The Rings Just because it’s preciousss doesn’t mean you should be out of pocket (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: The Cake Luscious layers that won’t pile on the pounds (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: The Flowers Blooming good deals on everything from bouquets to buttonholes (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: The Entertainment All that jazz. . . but not for all those pennies (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: The Photography Happy snaps at prices to smile about (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: The Stationery Paper prettiness that doesn’t cost folding money (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: Style Details Little bits and pieces with teeny-tiny price tags (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: Inspiration Now you know the numbers, go forth and get your ideas on (#litres_trial_promo)

About HarperImpulse (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Samantha Birch (#ue6b9f003-1ade-5319-af0e-478647d2bbcd)

So far I’m the author of one book. This one. I’ve written about dresses, bridesmaids and cake toppers for magazines such as Brides and You & Your Wedding, and regularly contribute to the likes of GLAMOUR and Love Baking – often while eating cake in my pyjamas.

I live with my husband in a chaotically untidy flat in Letchworth, which I pretend is an artfully unkempt writer’s loft in St. Albans.

For wedding advice, handy tips or general chat about all things bridal follow me @SamBirchWriter (http://twitter.com/SamBirchWriter) or @HighStreetBride (http://twitter.com/HighStreetBride)!

To Darren, for our life together.

Chapter 1

The Basics (#ue6b9f003-1ade-5319-af0e-478647d2bbcd)

The best ways I know to save big

I love giving people good news. That’s probably why this is my favourite bit. Because this is where I tell you that an amazing wedding – yes, designer dress included – isn’t just for actresses and heiresses.

You can say your vows in a catwalk gown so beautiful it reduces your mum to tears (and not because she paid for it). You can style a reception so stunning your guests won’t believe you didn’t hire an A-list planner. And you can sprinkle the day with personal touches that make everyone feel like you gave them special attention before they even got there. Without spending a house deposit on it. Honest.

All you need is to be a little more savvy, a little more organised and a little more open-minded than your average pop princess. And that’s not too much to ask for a beautiful day you’ll show pictures of to your granddaughters, right?

The Golden Rules

There are four top secrets to saving money on your wedding – and I’m not suggesting you go for all of them. Some of them won’t be for you, and some of them don’t go together, but if you can even manage one or two, in all honesty, these are the biggest, simplest ways to save the maximum amount of money before you even start planning.

1. ’Tis the Season

Summer weddings are the most expensive. Fact. Everybody wants one because you’ve got more chance of sunshine – but you’ll pay hundreds of pounds more to get hitched in the warmer months, and since we live in good old Blighty, chances are the heavens could open on you anyway.

So consider the overlooked options: pretty spring with its freshly sprung flowers and vintage-y golden lighting; autumn with its colourful rush of auburns, oranges, yellows, reds and golds; or winter – my personal favourite for the excuse to cover everything in glass and glitter, bright reds and sparkling silvers, and wrap up in cuddly faux fur. Because who cares if, baby, it’s cold outside and the rain is pouring down when you’re posing under a super-cute brolly or huddled round a crackling fire with a toasty mug of rum and hot chocolate?

2. Monday’s Child is Full of Grace

I’ll give you one guess which day of the week is most popular for weddings. Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Saturdays, what a shocker. No-one needs to take any time off work, everyone can sleep off their aching heads on Sunday, and all your little cousins and second cousins can be there because they don’t need to skip Maths, English and Double Geography.

So you can imagine the amount you’ll save by being prepared enough to let everyone know months in advance – I’d suggest 12 months, to be exact – that they’ll need to book some time out instead.

The midweek big day is a cunning budget-stretcher and politics-sidestepper in more ways than one. Think about it: all Mum and Dad’s random friends from work won’t be able to get the time off, for starters. That’s a few scoops off the catering bill, plates and cups off the hire price, favours off the list and chairs that don’t need covering – carry on at this rate and you’ll be able to book a smaller venue…

3. Three Hundred’s a Crowd

You can do this. I believe in you. Don’t let fear hold you back and other supportive clichés. Because cutting the guest list is a task so stressful that many a smart, savvy bride has buckled under the pressure, but just look back at tip number two if you’ve ever even thought it’s not worth keeping your numbers under control. And that’s just the start of the savings: there are the invites and orders of service, wine during the photos and wedding breakfast, champers for the toasts and then some. But here comes the good news again: there are ways of keeping your total as svelte as a runway poser without putting everybody’s noses out of joint.