We definitely felt the pinch of the weak pound while we were away though (£7 for an orange juice anyone?) and no doubt budgets are not far from your thoughts at this time so we thought we’d share a review from one of our ethical brides of the recently published, ‘Wedding planning on a budget‘ by Tim and Lisa Spooner.

Over to our blogger bride Henriette…

Tim and Lisa begin by saying: “A beautiful, dream wedding comes not from lots of spending; but from thoughtful planning and the wise use of all your resources – resources you may not even realize you have at your disposal!” and I think that is such a beautiful sentiment.

I am by nature very careful with what I spend my money on but I still want a beautiful wedding.  It is also fun to realise just how much your family and friends want to get involved and everyone doing their bit just makes the day even more special.

There then follow about 30 pages telling you how best to use this wedding planner and giving you a list of resources. The style is very much that of a self-help book.  They are not going to give you a bunch of ideas but instead teach you some principles, which you can use to put together your dream wedding.

“Ready to start saving A LOT of money? Ready to plan the elegant wedding of your dreams? Then, you are ready to read on…” This part can be a little nauseating.  I did sit there thinking: when are we going to get to the good bit? There is rather too much leading up to the seven wonderful principles.  Having said that, when you finally get to them, the principles are very interesting.

Guiding principles

The first principle was “Setting a budget” and of course sticking to it.

The advice seems to be based on the assumption that if we could only afford it we would all love to blow £20,000 on a wedding.  This is not my personal opinion as our wedding will be on a budget, not because we can’t afford more but simply because we don’t want to spend more.  It is just a party after all.
Having said that, they have included some good budgeting tools, which are useful to play around with.

“Keep perspective of the big picture” is the next principle.

Kisses move I will admit that I agree with most of what they said here. It is true that your wedding is hopefully not the only important day in your life and that the honeymoon is not the only great holiday you will spend together.  They are just the start of the two of you being together.

They ask you to ask yourselves: “Why are we getting married?” and “Why are we having a wedding?”.  Two very good questions that every bride and groom should ask themselves before diving head first into the wedding planning industry.  I must admit that I have also seriously considered eloping because for me it is not about wanting a wedding, but wanting a marriage.

I want to be married to my partner because I want to show him and the rest of the world that I want to commit to him and I want to live with him and support him.  Also I want his support and his company.

Why have a wedding?

We are having a wedding mostly because our families would be very disappointed if they could not be a part of this happy occasion.  At the same time we would like to add some more meaning to our marriage by having a wedding ceremony and party with our loved ones.  For me weddings are less about the relationship between the couple and more about the relationship between the couple and their friends and family.

I especially liked the part about thinking about the purpose of your wedding.  As I mentioned above the main purpose of our wedding is to share a lovely day with our family and friends and for all of us to have fun.  But without spending money or resources just for the sake of it.

Striking Range movie We also want our wedding to be as ethical and green as we can without spending more money or compromising the help we can get from family and friends.  As an example we asked my sister to make our invitations.  This was probably not the greenest choice we could have made but it meant a lot to us to have her do it and the invitations are gorgeous.

Beware the word ‘wedding’!

One of the best pieces of practical advice in the book was that it is not necessary to buy things that are labelled “wedding”.  Anything labelled “wedding” will be much more expensive than the non-wedding equivalent.

Finally there was some good practical advice for the day such as remember to eat and drink and don’t lock your legs while standing.

There are other good pointers in the book but telling more would be spoiling it!

Cypress Edge film Thanks Henriette! Blogger bride, Denise The Way We Were video has also been busy reading ‘Wedding planning on a budget’ and we will have her review for you soon. But in the meantime, if you want to get hold of your own copy, just head over to the Wedding Planning on a Budget website.

Happy planning!

Mr. Deeds the movie

Katie

For more reviews of wedding planning books, check out our Ethical Weddings Reviews section.  And if you have your own review of a useful wedding planning book, send it in!

download Striking Range I’m intrigued to know if any of you fit the bill – cos I’ll then want to pick your brains to find out how you did it!

They’re looking for women aged between 20 to 50 who celebrated their big day in style despite being restricted by a tight budget of £500 or less.

If this sounds like you and you would like to share your story with a national newspaper or women’s magazine, please get in touch with Tanya The Nun (mentioning ‘Ethical Weddings Sky High trailer Hidden Agenda full movie Maximum Risk dvd

‘) with a few words on  how you managed your wedding on a budget, your telephone number and a recent photo.

If chosen for the feature, you will receive a fee for your time.

Contact:

Tanya Russell, Features writer
The Press Association
Email: tanya.russell@pa-entertainment.co.uk
Tel: 020 7963 7293

And while we’re on the subject, why not take a look at our article green weddings on a budget?

“The accepted view is to look at any amount of money spent on a wedding as a waste. But this view ignores facts. Weddings in certain communities in India have always been ostentatious affairs.

Now, with the economy growing at almost 9 per cent a year and people having more and more money to spare, it is natural that they are spending increasing amounts on weddings. It is an opportunity for them to show the world that they have arrived.”

Leaving aside the environmental impact of such a huge event, surely the problem is in the last sentence: ‘to show the world that they have arrived’  

Only a month or two ago in ‘Weddings…at any cost?’ we were discussing the plight of those so desperate to keep up appearances and give the impression that they have ’arrived’ even if they haven’t, that they are prepared to plunge themselves into devastating debt.

Effectively, weddings become a competition – what’s love got to do with it?

Nothing wrong with big weddings

, The Times of India