Hi everyone!

Jumping the gun a bit here since I am yet to get engaged (hoping it's not gunna be years!), but wanted to know the realistic cost of a wedding as follows-

Ceremony preferably in a hotel with nice surroundings. At the actual wedding I estimate around 30 guests ish.

I would like to wear a nice dress that won't break the bank, have the traditional white with my 2 daughters as bridesmaids. OH would obviously be in a nice suit.

I would like to arrive in a nice car but would be happy to use cars we have (as in the family) all done up instead if costs too much.

Nicely decorated.

Reception would then be in the same place or not far, and maybe have more people- at a guess 50-60?? I would like a nice buffet type meal and drinks, with those little things you have with the pretty confetti, cameras for people to use, bits and bobs. Again nicely decorated, and with a DJ.

Then I would ideally have just 1 room booked at the/a hotel for me and the groom.

Any ideas? Oh- obviously a wedding photographger too!

Of course you may think I am mad but I would like to know the costs involved as I think I may get engaged sometimes in the next year or 2 and as we will be paying ourselves then I need to know :-)

Also, any recommendations for anywhere in Sheffield or nearby? For a smallish wedding and possibly the reception/room too?

Hi Miss S 83!

I got married last year so here's my thought's on costs:

Service costs, think it's about £300-£400 for a Church service. With ours we got the service, the choir and orders of service's printed with our names etc on. But if like you say you are looking to get married in and have the reception in the same venue then if your looking at a hotel or something similar for 30 guests in the day, I'd say about £2500-£4000? Depending on what meal, drinks package etc you choose. That price would also get you the DJ and evening buffett. That's what I reckon anyway.

I got my dress from La Bella Brides, prices start at £99 and don't go over £1000 so there is something for every budget. They also hire mens suits, complete with shoe hire. As for Bridesmaids try Debenhams or BHS or even Asda, they all do some nice dresses that won't cost to much.

Shop around for Cars, mine were quite expensive - about £500 but I'm sure there are cheaper options around.

As for decorations, if it was in a hotel, they would provide the table linen and in my package they also provided table flowers, then I just bought some gold foil confetti to sprinkle on the tables and I also hired pretty chairs to cover my chairs and provide gold mesh table runners, think this was round about £300 for 75 quests.

You usually get a room free if you have the wedding at a hotel.

Photograpger - mine was quite expensive as I had a 40 page album and used every photo he took! Think it was about £1300. But shop around as you can get cheaper options.

I had my wedding reception at The Sheffield Park Hotel and would def reccommend them, you get a wedding planner to sort everything out at the hotel and everything was so professional and ran like clock work. The food was also really nice. I have also been to a wedding at Mosborough Hall which was really nice too.

Hope this helps a bit :)

OH would obviously be in a tux (yes I have 'told' him all this- hahaaaa!).

Ehhh a tux at a wedding, get him to wear a nice a morning suit.

Ehhh a tux at a wedding, get him to wear a nice a morning suit.

Haha I know, I'd have no chance of him in a tux at all!! :D

Hi,

There is nothing wrong with planning in advance especially if you will be paying for the wedding yourselves. More and more people are paying for their own weddings these days but don't let the fear of the cost postpone your engagement - the day is about you as a couple/family and money shouldn't get in the way of that.

You can pretty much organise a wedding to any budget these days but realistically if you are strict with your budget I think you could organise a day you are really pleased with for between £6,000 and £8,000.

Don't forget to save some pennies for a truly special honeymoon.

Have you considered going abroad? You can go somewhere really nice 5 star and get married for £3,500-4k all in except clothes, you could even take a couple of guests at extra cost? Guaranteed sunshine!

Hello,

There's nothing to stop you googling/emailing hotels you like for their wedding brochure or even visiting them in advance to get an idea. All you have to say is "I'm considering this venue for my wedding, date TBC". I wish I had started looking earlier, waited until about 2 years after engagement when we thought oooh yes lets do it now, and then we had a frantic rush and sacrificed the date/season we wanted for the venue.

Hope this helps,

Rachel