Personal experience: how to play and lavish wedding without going broke
Holidays / / December 19, 2019
introduction
I married October 18, 2018. Actually, we wanted a quiet wedding in the family circle. But I'm married to an Italian, and in this culture not invite someone from relatives to the wedding - is like declaring war. With my family, we recruited 80 people. At first I was horrified by this number and scope of the celebration. But then I began to like everything. In the process it became clear on what you can save without losing quality, and who to ask for help. As a result, we have organized a magical wedding. Tips, which I share, work, and for Russia: to collect information for the article helped me to another bride who got married in Moscow in the summer of 2019.
The choice of location and date
Briefly: the farther away from the big cities, the lower the price grounds. Look cottages and gardens of friends - Catering can be arranged anywhere. If you organize a celebration on weekdays from October to April, you can get a discount.
Now you can organize a wedding in a thousand places. Restaurants, hostels, villas, gardens, hotels, banquet halls - only site selection could take months. We decided, let's see all the interesting online, but it will go only to selected five places not to go all over the neighborhood. This simple limitation saved us much time and nerves.
The first criterion - location and price. It works about the same in all countries: the farther away from the big city, or the capital, the cheaper. The difference between the metropolis and towns in the area may be such that you will be cheaper to pay for transport for guests without a car. When we choose the site, I checked locations in Instagram, to assess real pictures. I found brides profiles, written off with them and recognize their experience of organizing a wedding.
Ideal - to find a free site. For example, your friends have a big villa or a beautiful garden - you can put out there and organize catering tables. Weddings in rustic among the rural landscape is also popular.
Another factor - the season. Any site cost more from May to August, and above all the prices on weekends. We fell in love with the third in a restaurant in a small mountain village 60 kilometers from Milan. It was magical: the lake, the mountains, the lawn for the ceremony. Prices are a little higher than we expected, but due to the fact that we got married on Thursday in the middle of October, we were able to reduce the cost of the banquet with the person. The recalculation for 80 guests difference was poured into a decent amount.
Design and decoration
Briefly: to save on the designer, create a theme and make themselves on the internet for design elements. Hold a symbolic ceremony is one of the closest friends. Gifts for guests book in advance from the producer himself or make his own hands. If possible, do not buy anything special wedding stores - with the word "wedding" prices increased by three times.
We have come up with your own wedding theme, so all design would do themselves. In addition, it is possible not to spend money on a decorator. The main thing is that we realized: the beautiful nature around, the less necessary ornaments.
The theme was the picture of the modern artist Mark Samsonovich Water the Flowers, which like both of us since the beginning of the relationship. It reflects our understanding love - to help each other grow.
For registration locations we have printed graffiti on the basis of this painting on canvas and put "at the altar." (And after the wedding, hung on the wall in the bedroom.) In the passage to the arch we found a vase of flowers, decorated like in the picture. We did not want to release doves into the sky or sand mix different colors in the vessel, how often do at weddings. We came up with a ritual - watering flower beds. I - the one that was the part of her husband, and he - my. Leechki booked online.
We are officially married that morning, and the restaurant was a symbolic ceremony with vows. The script for it, we wrote themselves in two languages, and spent it with our good friend prodigious charismaWho speaks in Russian and Italian.
We wanted to do everything possible "their". But it is also saved us money on ceremonies - a man who leads a symbolic ceremony, in fact, "marries" you. It's great when it makes someone close.
We could not be stopped, so guests we also gave small polivalochki. We order them from the manufacturer all the ceramic pieces and got a discount for the wholesale. Succulents bought from local growers for mere pennies and then themselves transplanted into leechki. The canvas bags in the photo - sugar pills, which also give guests an Italian tradition. The bridal shop for them to ask the legacy of Al Capone and the Internet we found them for a pittance. True, they were a few months from China, so it is necessary to pre-book. You can make your own gifts fully, for example, cook jam and pour into a nice jar - economically and with love.
Who will be the story of my Feil. In Europe and America there is a tradition, which is gradually coming to Russia, - throwing rice at newlyweds. The bridal shop I was convinced that the ordinary rice leaves white marks on clothes, a suit the groom will stainedIt will remain on all photos, generally a nightmare. Therefore, we need a special wedding rice that leaves no residue. The turbidity reason I bought it for crazy money. Together with beautiful paper cones, wherein bloody Fig issued guests. Only later, when panic released, I realized that it was... ordinary washed rice. In general, wash the rice, twist cones of paper and do not repeat my mistakes.
Yet we were able to save on the preparation of floral arrangements. I knew exactly what I want roses "O'Hara" and eucalyptus in a wedding bouquet. And it had a view of the overall design - hours spent on your Pinterest, were not in vain. Therefore, we do not need was a floral design, the performance needed. This leaves a lot cheaper than the design project "turnkey" from the florist.
If you also know what you want you can go to the flower base, order flowers, draw a diagram and find the person who will be able to realize your idea. Bridal bouquet, boutonniere and the arch should be engaged or florist, or just a neat person with impeccable taste. We managed to find a florist friend, who agreed to take up the execution.
On the morning of the wedding day someone has to pass the bouquet and boutonniere bride and groom, and the rest take to the location and place. Even if it's someone from acquaintances to offer better pay for the work - so people a strong sense of their a responsibility. And it's not just colors.
invitations
Briefly: It can be done by invitation in any editor and then to print on thick paper. It's prettier than the finished cards, and cheaper than hiring a graphic designer. You can make free online page, where guests will confirm its presence.
Invitations for guests, we also do without a designer. Made layout Apple KeynoteAnd then printed in a printing house. On the cover quote, which is attributed to the Buddha, the Seneca: "When you like a flower, you tear off his. When you love a flower, you have to water it every day. Who understands this, understands the life. " Invitations went out nice and we paid only for printing.
Guests are asked to cut half of the cards with the image, which indicates information about the time and place of the wedding. The other half are filled and gave us. There they celebrated, whether alone or with children and dogs, and even inscribe a favorite song. We made the line: "I promise to dance, if you start to play ..." This visit helped us to create a playlist.
Many people make their online referral page - then you can save and print. collect site can be their own.
Contractors
Briefly: It is necessary to think well what contractors are really necessary to you personally. And ruthlessly abandon that do everything but not so important to you. You can advance to remove love story, but on the wedding day to hire a photographer for a few hours.
You will probably want to invite the operator with the drone, the famous photographer and artists, make-up in the coolest make-up artist in the city, ordered a salute. I can advise is good to think that this is really important to you and what you want, because "everyone is doing it."
For example, we were not at the wedding videographer. On the eve of the summer we rented a little free love story to an operator who assembled the portfolio. We had enough of this, moreover, we realized that hardly will review a long movie, and highlights all the same will be removed on the phone. It suited us. Salute us, too, it was not. Although it is the spectacular conclusion of the evening, we could not accept the fact that it is literally money down the drain.
But the photographer we had a top-notch. We had previously discussed all the details, because I most did not want this day turned into an endless photo shoot. Everything went according to plan, and the quality of the work is that of our wedding photos, you can do the billboards. We rarely review them, but it's nice from time to time to post to Instagram great pictures from the wedding.
If you do not want to follow you all day walking with a camera, you can not hire a photographer for the whole wedding, and on the solemn part or specifically highlight a few hours to shoot. It will be cheaper.
Stylist of a steep beauty is not a guarantee of success. Look at the work of man, not the brand. Be sure to make a trial makeup and hairstyle. Greatly save on this, and painted independently of lessons on YouTube, I do not advise. Meiko and hairstyle must endure the tears, hugging, kissing, dancing throughout the day, and this can be achieved only by professionals - they know the different subtleties. For example, I wanted natural shaggy hair. My stylist said that for this purpose I have to leave the house with a perfect styling, while the afternoon it will become natural. If you make a careless curls in the morning, by the middle of the day they can be straightened.
Wedding coordinator
Briefly: Saving money on a wedding coordinator, only if you have free time, friends or relatives to help. Often, the coordinator helps you find a cheap but trusted contractors.
We did not apply to the coordinator, because it was the time and desire to do everything yourself. And yet our great help friends and relatives. Together to take out the preparations for the big celebration is unreal - still decide not to marry. According to the stories of other brides I know that spending on the coordinator is often justified.
light Maksakova
He married in the summer of 2019.
Coordinators usually take 10% of your wedding budget. But they can help cut costs. For example, our wedding planner suggested a profitable platform to a large number of guests at the 40 km from Moscow. She also helped found the photographer and videographer from its base. We found ourselves videographer for 70 thousand, and the organizer - 45. This specialist in the price included the aerial survey, which is unusual, because often it is paid in addition.
Also wedding planner is the focal point at the wedding, following the timing, communicate with contractors, it gives them money at the end of the day and help guests. When you put on a wedding dress and you are at this moment calling to five people with an apology for the fact that they are late, the fairy tale disappears. The most important thing - to find someone close to you in spirit person and be able to insist on his own, if necessary.
the bride and groom dress suit
Briefly: not to spend big money on a dress, pay attention to the studio away from the capital - some sew remotely. Do not buy a dress much in advance, so as not to risk, if your size is changed. A suit for the groom can be sought in last year's collections.
Here, too, works typically seasonality: the closer the summer, the higher the price. But buying bride for the year is reasonable under two conditions. First, a primary school near you in the drawer of the table are sketches and magazine clippings with the dress of your dreams, it is only that. Second, your weight and the size of clothing for many years do not change. In all other cases there is a risk that you will have to upset a beautiful model, which will be released for the new season, or simply does not fit the dress on the figure.
I could not find in Milan a dress that I liked and would not be worth a million euros. So I decided to sew to order, but it turned out that in Italy, studio sew dresses for two million euros. So I found another way: you can order a dress from the designer from Voronezh, whose work I really like.
To do this, not necessarily to go to another city - has a studio that specializes in remote sewing. You send instructions from the many, many yardsticks, you remove them from the family members. If any measurement would be disproportionate, it will be asked to re-shoot. If you are not sure, the designer will call you by video during the measurement. When the dress is ready, it will be sent to you. Some small things can be corrected in any studio. If the designer does not live in Moscow, the price will be more profitable.
I ordered a dress for two months. This is sufficient for complex models without pointing a hundred skirts. If the dress is long requires manual work, it is best to book in six months. In the end it took me just take in a bit of lace on the back.
My husband chose the suit himself, went to the boutiques elegant clothes with friends. They have coped in one campaign - already bought everything you need in a second store. Costumes - pretty constant thing, so here we can safely look closely to last year's collections with discounts.
Wedding rings
Briefly: It can be great savings if you make a ring to order, remelting old gold jewelry. In some cases it may be appropriate to invite close friends to participate in the organization of the wedding as a gift.
With rings, we are incredibly lucky. We have a friend, a jeweler, who wanted to produce for us a ring as wedding present. Our other friends also joined the costs, so that it was a gift from a group of close friends.
With our master, we have discussed in advance the size of metal engraving possible. Of course, the ring, we have presented a few weeks before the wedding, but not at the festival. I understand that the jeweler friend is not at all. But, maybe useful to you the idea: close friends can participate in the preparation for the wedding, and it will be their gift.
There are other solutions, if prices deter in stores.
light Maksakova
Now, there are shops where you can make a ring with his hands. It's very romantic, but quite expensive - prices in a good jewelry boutique. But everything changes when you bring back their gold and melt it. To do this, you need only know the metal sample. Inside, we see two rings of gold for a good 40 thousand rubles. And we made in the studio for 21 000, adding the old unwanted gold jewelry. Lock and ring takes 3-4 hours.
Car rental for guests
Briefly: help guests without a car coordinate with those who will be on the car, so as not to pay for the bus. Borrow a nice car for the newlyweds with friends.
We acquaintances engaged in transportation, we rented a car with a driver and a small bus for Russian relatives. Friends dispersed machines other guests. Save on a car for the newlyweds can, if you know there's a nice car that they do not mind to lend you for the day. Then we will find the only driver that will significantly cheaper. You can again turn to friends of friends, then the wheel will be a man, you know. Do not forget to add a driver in the staff-list in the restaurant to be too fed.
Not to order a large bus, pre see who your guests will go to the wedding venue by car. Help people to cohere. Perhaps all have enough space or there will be only a few people who have enough karsheringovogo car.
Food
Briefly: exclude dishes that you do not like, and ask for a bit to reduce the price. Compare rates restaurants catering prices. Wedding cupcakes or buffet with delicious little things in the end will save on cakes and desserts.
Usually restaurants banquet fixed price per person. But if you think that eating too much, you can try to remove some of the positions and reduce the price. We have refused several dishes: for example, bresaola horse meat once gone from the menu. Sorry for the horses! More, we asked to remove individual snacks - they had a lot in common during the aperitif. our price is not reduced, but offered no additional cost to include in the menu of ice cream with glazed chestnuts.
It happens that you find a good location, but there is no kitchen. Then exit - catering. Try to compare the cost of catering and rent without a kitchen area with prices for dinner in the restaurants of your city. The cake can be ordered from a private baker, if a restaurant or pastry will be too expensive, or even make a wedding cupcakes.
Not to include in the banquet menu dessertYou can make a sweet buffet - put a vase with jelly beans, nuts, chocolate and marmalade.
Music
Briefly: If you do not want to allocate budget for the DJ, make a playlist for yourself and find the person who will run the tracks. The necessary equipment can be rented.
Compositions for symbolic ceremony we choose, and your favorite dance tracks asking the guests through invitations. Music included a DJ, he's collecting people on contests and dances, invited to the table, a video - performing and leading features. If your host is only concerned with the program, you can put someone from acquaintances include tracks not to spend more on a DJ.
In the evening came the favorite group of my husband, and the marriage ended in a real concert of Irish music. It was my surprise to him to the wedding and the day of birth, who was also in October. It turns out, we do not save on the music. But those emotions were worth. All dancing, having fun and singing songs together with the musicians.
see also👰🤵
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