1. Get a videographer
Yes, they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I always knew I would have loved to have a videographer, but I just couldn't justify the cost for both a photographer and videographer. However, we still have wedding budget leftover, and that is money that could have paid for it. By no means is that money going to waste; it's going towards our trip to Florida next year for our anniversary. But I know that we would have managed to scrape together money for Florida anyway, and with hindsight, I don't think there's a price you can put on having a video of your day.
If you can't find the budget for a videographer (which I completely understand, they are a big chunk of a budget!), then I recommend that you ask a friend or relative to film parts of your day for you. Something to consider is the fact that there may be restrictions on what can and can't be captured by family - our church had asked that no one took any photos or filmed during the ceremony, but I'm sure something could possibly be arranged with a priest in advance. But to summarise, as special as photos are, there is nothing like seeing actual footage of certain moments - seeing videos of our first dance is so special!
2. Overestimate costs when budgeting
As I mentioned above, we have a very decent amount of our wedding budget leftover, which makes honeymoon planning so much easier. The way I see it, money that was assigned for the wedding is money that we can use for luxuries rather than practicalities. The reason that we have so much leftover is because we overestimated the cost of every item in our wedding. We definitely could have spent what we budgeted for each item, but we're so good at finding cheaper alternatives and it seemed a shame to spend more than we needed to!
When we initially started our budget, I had no idea where to begin. I didn't know how much a venue, or a dress, or rings, or anything would be! So I hit Google (I seem to spend most my life doing this nowadays!) and it gave me some ballpark figures as to how much certain items would be. I looked at about 4 different articles, averaged them out and then used that as a baseline for the budget. I knew there were certain things that I wasn't too bothered by (photobooth, chair covers etc.) so I just got rid of them. For the things that were left, I added roughly another 10% and that made our budget! It was a VERY intimidating number that I was left with! But we made it work, and ended up with almost everything coming in under budget (the only exceptions being the dress and the rings).
3. Allow plenty of time for the morning bridal prep
We did allow PLENTY of time to get ready in the morning. Mel set out the timings (she was also our hair and make up artist) but I hadn't anticipated how I would feel that morning. By the time it was my turn to get ready, I felt really sick with nerves. I didn't want any prosecco (which I had wanted in all my plans up to the day), I was struggling to eat anything, I just wasn't enjoying the morning as much as I thought I would. Mel then worked her magic on my hair and face and by the time she finished, I felt incredible. She did such an amazing job and really put me at ease, by which time I was ready to eat and have a nice drink with the group. But we were short on time by that point, so it was a case of throw on dresses and go! I actually don't mind that it worked out that way, because the memory of the carnage is really funny, and Amy kept telling me that I should have expected this because it was almost exactly what happened at her wedding! But in an alternate universe, I think I would have allowed around 20 minutes for all us ladies to chill with a drink, grab some nice photos and leave leisurely.
4. If the venue can't provide certain things that you want, but it seems like the perfect venue, don't let those small things change your opinion
We obviously had a mishap with our venues, where it changed a few months after booking (there is a blog post about it if you haven't read it). In the venue move, some of the things that we wanted which were included in the previous venue were not available within the venue booking we made at Milton Hill. I really wanted Chiavari chairs (I know that sounds so petty but after seeing them as part of our day, I don't even care, they looked incredible). We also wanted navy tablecloths. Neither of these were things that Milton Hill could provide, which other venues could. But, the venue was so perfect that we decided to source our own chairs and tablecloths, and it was such a good decision.
5. Overorder food for the evening
As part of our being bargain-babes, we decided to cater for 80% of evening guests. It's something that most venues say you can do and something that all "wedding tips" websites recommend, so it seemed a no brainer to us! Everyone tells you how much food they had leftover at their wedding and I hate food waste. However, what we didn't take into account was that our food was pizza (who doesn't love pizza?!) and it was served at 9.30 when people had drink-munchies, rather than 7.30pm when people have only had the wedding breakfast 2 hours prior. So by the time I got to the buffet (about 30 minutes after it was served), all that was left was one goats cheese pizza (I don't like goats cheese) and one slice of veggie pizza. I love veggie pizza so was happy to eat that but would have liked to try all the others!
6. Give your photographer an extensive list of photographs that you want, even if they seem obvious
As I mentioned earlier, the morning of the wedding I was a bag of nerves and excitement and basically not able to function as a rational person. Luckily, the control freak that I am, both me and Anthony had already made a very significantly sized list of photos that we wanted. During our 15 minutes of carnage before leaving, Carol (one of our photographers) was really good at grabbing me and being like "you said you wanted this photo - do you want me to get it quickly?". She was amazing at capturing spontaneous moments, but she also remembered the list of staged photos that I'd said that I wanted, and she made sure that they happened. This also continued through the day, and having that "ridiculously" (as it seemed at the time) sized list really paid off
7. Leave an extensive list for your evening set-up with your venue coordinator
Fiona was so incredible, I have absolutely no issues with anything that she organised for the day! But I forgot to leave her a really clear list of what needed to go where for the evening. As a result, the disposable cameras that we bought never went out, the jenga blocks didn't have the sharpies that we wanted so that people could write messages on them, the card box that we spent ages trying to order, all the really tiny details. Quite frankly, it really didn't matter. We still had the most incredible day, and my only regret in this is the money we spent on the disposable cameras - but I'm sure we can find a time to use them!
8. Make a clear schedule for the day
Not for your venue coordinator, but for you. Anthony did this for us and I thought it was so unnecessary, but you can't pre-empt how scattered your mind will be in the run up to your wedding. Having the very clear list of what happens where, and what you need, is so useful. It can also be shared with your family, your vendors, anyone who will be involved in your day!
9. Don't spend a fortune on your order of service
Personally, every wedding I have been to, I've kept a copy of their order of service. So when it came to designing ours, I wanted it to be special. However, having now had all the leftover ones returned to us, there are SO many! We made ours ourselves, and Anthony's parents kindly got them printed for us. We barely spent anything (saving the budget!), and they weren't anything special but they had what we needed in them. And with hindsight, I have no regrets! I highly recommend you put the budget elsewhere.
10. Book Visually Sound Events as your DJ
That's all I've got! Our wedding was the best day of our life and I am happy with every aspect of our day, but if we were to change anything, the above would be it. But overall, I married my best friend and I will never stop feeling grateful for that.
See you soon!
x
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