Planning A Budget Wedding In The UK From Abroad

by Nyssa
(Sydney, Australia)

My fiancé and I are ex-pats living in Sydney, and as many of our friends can't afford to come to us, we decided to go to them and have our wedding back in the UK.

Our wedding concept is to gather our nearest and dearest and spend a week or so together, culminating in our wedding (we estimate there will be total of about 70 people at the wedding and about 20 for the whole thing).

For this reason we love the idea of hiring a country house and making the most of the facilities. Problem is, we are on a tight budget (about GBP 10,000 maximum) and flights (about GDP 3,000) have to come out of that. I'm really confused as to what to do, as it's a long way to come for just a few hours with everyone if can't do a reunion - but how do I pull off a resort/reunion/wedding on my budget?

All advice greatly appreciated, please help before I give up and elope!

Nyssa

Answer:

Just to make sure I've understood, it sounds like you're looking for somewhere where you can base yourselves for a week and your friends come and go at various times.

At the end of the week, you're planning on getting on married and you'll have 70 guests at your actual wedding, but about 20 or so guests on and off running up to the wedding.

If this is the case, then your concept really lends itself well to hiring a country house/cottage for the week and that's definitely achievable on your budget as long as you're intending to get stuck in!

Just this morning, I came across a fantastic little website that has loads of country houses that accommodate large numbers and that are self catering. Best of all, the houses on offer are stunning and should come within your budget.

There are also a couple of venues that allow you to have a marquee on the lawn, so you can easily accommodate your 70 guests, obviously this will push up your costs and you'll need to consider carefully how you can keep the week on budget. You can see their list of country houses for hire here. Some of the venues are licensed for civil ceremonies too, so you can arrange to get married there as well.

To keep your costs down, there are two main ways you can do this. First of all, ask your friends that stay with you to pay for their accommodation. Most guests at weddings don't expect their accommodation to be paid for, so you can spread that cost between whoever stays at the house. This will remove most of your wedding venue costs, leaving you more cash to play with.

Second, you can do your own catering for the wedding. You'll have all week to prepare, plenty of helpers and of course your own catering facilities. Just bear in mind, that you might need extra cold storage, so read these hints and tips on DIY wedding catering. Alternatively, you could get outside caterers in, but of course, this comes with a cost.

If you choose outside caterers, think about alternative ways you can feed your wedding guests – BBQ, hog roast, canapés and champagne only, buffet, afternoon tea or simple meals such as bangers and mash are all much cheaper than the traditional three course wedding breakfast.

If you find a great venue that is perfect for your wedding, but isn't quite big enough for all your 20 guests, don't worry. There are always plenty of holiday cottages and B&Bs around to cater for any additional guests. You can find cottages close by, using sites such as www.countrycottagesonline.com and www.cottages4you.co.uk.

With £7,000 to play with, you do have enough budget to do what you want, but you will need to make careful choices and shop around. Planning it from abroad maybe a bit tricky, but I did most of my wedding from the comfort of my living room using the internet and phone!

One thing though, you may want to investigate the legalities of getting married. You will need to give notice at the register office in the district where you want to get married and this needs to be done a little in advance of the ceremony. See below for details (source: Adviceguide.org.uk)

In England and Wales, both partners must be resident in England or Wales for seven days before notice is given (on the eighth day). A notice must state where the marriage is to take place. The marriage can then take place after 15 days have elapsed from the date on which notice of the marriage is entered in the marriage notice book…

It is normal to give eight weeks notice. However, you can give a minimum of 14 days notice, although this may mean that the wedding ceremony will have to be postponed. The registrar will issue a marriage schedule. You won't be able to get married without this. If you are having a religious ceremony, this must take place within 14 days of receiving the schedule. In addition to this, the schedule must be signed at the religious ceremony by the person performing the marriage.

The marriage must take place within 12 months from the date of entry of the notice (three months if one of you is housebound, detained or resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland). If the marriage does not take place within that time, the process must be repeated.

I hope that helps. If you have any other queries, then simply ask.