preparing for a wedding

[Kevinshouse]

I love looking at the old wedding photographs that are posted on rootschat  I don't think that anyone will realize  (unless they have been involved it arranging their son or daughters wedding) what preparations have gone into this (everyone there in their lovely clothes, the flowers, the brides mother in her outfit etc. etc. My daughter is to married in December, and I cannot believe the preparations involved from the bride being told her dress should have been ordered last year to ensure delivery, to finding a burgundy bridesmaid dress for an adult bridesmaid!  do you know how many shades of burgundy there are. The price of the photographer (my husband almost fainted at this). Like I said though when you see these beautiful photographs people think that it came together by magic.
I am sure that even marriages many years ago involved a lot of preparation.

Kind regards Susan
Kind regards Susan

[MarieC]

I think that the wedding "industry" has grown hugely commercial in recent years.  Many years ago people tended to make their own clothes and this would often have been the case for wedding outfits.  The cake would have been home-made, the flowers home-grown, the reception home-catered or catered for by a friend.  Studio photographs seemed to come in some time ago, for those who could afford them.  Yes - masses of preparation, but perhaps not the same level of expense?

MarieC

[kiwihalfpint]

Yes, preparation for a wedding is a big expense ...... when our daughter got married, we along with the bridal couple and grooms parents all put money in ..... so we didn't really notice the final cost.    The only thing I wish I had done, was put disposable cameras on every table, so at the end of the day they were collected and developed ..... sometimes doing it this way, you get the best shots, taken unawares, no posing etc.


Cheers
KHP

[kooky]

My younger daughter is getting married in 3 weeks.
She and her fiance have organised everything themselves.
I am making the cake. All parents have put in some money.
What amazes me is the rehearsals!
Hairdo, with extensions, makeup, fake tan, nails, etc. etc.
Then there are the trying on dates for the bridesmaids, and the flower girls, not to mention the bride!
There has been a visit to the venue with the florist and the photographer.
There will be 3 hen nights, one with sisters and close friends, one for the 'mothers', and one for lots of friends.
Phew!
Kooky

[Kevinshouse]

I do agree with everyones comments its the preparations that are unbelievable, not so much the cost.  The cost can be as much or as little as you want it to be.  My daughter is not having a wedding present list, they have a beautiful home already, and she thinks it seems unfair to ask guests for gifts.  I know that it can be very expensive just being a guest at a wedding so I think she has been very thoughtful about this.
Kind regards Susan

[kooky]

It's me again!
My daughter and her fiance have no present list. They have been together for some time and do not need anything. They have said that presents are not necessary, but if anyone wants to give them something, they could send some money to the travel firm where they have booked their honeymoon/holiday of a lifetime.
Oh, and there are going to be disposable cameras!
Kooky

[genjen]

My daughter got married this summer. The whole thing was arranged in three months, including having the dress made and sent from Spain! It was the only expensive thing and even then, compared with what some people spend, it was nothing!!

Invitiations were hand made so were really representative of the two of them.
They managed to find and hire a lovely hall for the reception and the caterers were superb. The flowers were sent from Herefordshire and were all grown within a five mile radius of the company, including some picked from local hedgerows. They were stunning!

No present list, but for people who couldn't cope with that, a request for either National Garden Centre vouchers, so that they can spend a load of money on their very tiny but messy garden, or John Lewis vouchers for people who thought the garden thing just too odd for words.

The cake was made from six tiers of cheese, starting with a huge Caerphilly and working up to tiny a French cheese, whose name I can't remember. It was decorated with fresh fruit, herbs and some of the aforementioned flowers. It provided a talking point for weeks.

Family and friends decorated the hall, made the canapes ( well, that was me actually! ) and provided the live music to accompany the champagne reception part of the day.

The wedding car was a vintage Austin 7, driven by a friend and came free. Mercifully the wedding dress wasn't of the huge meringue variety, or she wouldn't have got in.

We even managed to book the sunshine, which considering the summer we have had was little short of a miracle.

All in all, it was wonderful and probably cost about a third of the current average wedding budget. I am still toting the photographs around with me to brag about my lovely daughter, to anyone who will be prepared to look!!

Jen

[Kevinshouse]

Many thanks for all your replies, love the story about the wedding cake! what a talking point. Our daughters wedding cake is to be made by a lady who worships at the same church, she is a member of the WI and has won many competitions.  I believe the top tier is chocolate cake, the middle one jam sponge and the bottom one the traditional fruit cake.  I think that the old tradition of saving the top tier of the wedding cake for the first child's christening cake seems not to happen nowadays.
Kind regards Susan

[Gaille]

I love looking at the old wedding photographs that are posted on rootschat  I don't think that anyone will realize  (unless they have been involved it arranging their son or daughters wedding) what preparations have gone into this (everyone there in their lovely clothes, the flowers, the brides mother in her outfit etc. etc. My daughter is to married in December, and I cannot believe the preparations involved from the bride being told her dress should have been ordered last year to ensure delivery, to finding a burgundy bridesmaid dress for an adult bridesmaid!  do you know how many shades of burgundy there are. The price of the photographer (my husband almost fainted at this). Like I said though when you see these beautiful photographs people think that it came together by magic.
I am sure that even marriages many years ago involved a lot of preparation.

Kind regards Susan

I am on the 'other side' of the arranging  - I am a wedding Co-ordinator
I agree people dont realise how much time & effort is put into organising a wedding, some seem to think it just 'happens' by itself, they dont realise the bride (and some grooms!) have sometimes spent years planning it down to the last little detail.

I am told I am a rarity in the business lol, I started my business because I hated seeing people get ripped off, I keep my prices low, and I cant believe the prices that some charge, I use all local small businesses I know & trust, that have the same ethics as myself - personal service, and reasonable prices.

A Wedding doesnt have to cost a fortune to be a good wedding - a LOT of brides forget that tho, and seem to think 'throwing money at it' will make it the best wedding it can be, sometimes its the small inexpensive ones that mean the most - I did one once on a £150 budget for all the decor and the bride & bridesmaids Tiaras and Flowers -and it looked Fantastic!

I have to say I love my job - I get to go & transform a venue into a bride & grooms dream, and it is a wonderful feeling to see it all come to life - I NEVER get bored of it.

In a way I started this by accident - My brother got married and being a crafty person I offered to make the wedding favours for them............ never having made one before in my life!
As we started planning the wedding the cost of a lot of items were ridiculous, and I ended up doing the Favours, the table decorations, all the place cards, the table plan, all the balloons, designing a very unique balloon arch (it was a LOW ceiling lol) ............... Mum baked the cake, and my sister-in-law, Brother & myself decorated it.

At the wedding people kept commenting on the decor, and little brother (bless him!) kept telling people we had done it all ourselves ..................and when we left the next morning I had requests to do three more weddings for guests .............and as the saying goes "it all went from there"

10 years later I have a business I love and my brother & sister-in-laws marriage is still going strong - we joke that our business was born on their wedding day!

Gaille