Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Lifestyle Wedding, Fashion & Beauty
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Hi All,

Just wanted some ideas on how to cut costs and save money so I can afford to have a wedding. Long story short, I’m marrying someone my family does not approve of, so if I want to marry him, we have to pay for the wedding ourselves, completely.

Most of our money at the moment is tied up in where we are going to live, so we have a tiny budget, but I still want to do a small mehndi and a small wedding/reception if possible, mainly because I don’t want to just to go the mosque and do a nikah by myself.

Basically I want to know where I can get a cheap wedding dress from (I don’t mind ordering from the GS designers or even second hand) and also any other ideas to save money. I’ve had a look at quotes and stuff for dresses, but to be honest, I don’t think I will be able to afford a standard one unless it’s very cheap.

So far these are what I have decided to go with:

  • Free cake (my best friend will make me one) and cupcakes (my sister)
  • Cheap marquee for the mehndi at home in my garden (I have spoken to someone and in process of booking)
  • Trying to get a friend to do my mehndi
  • Ordering cheap favour boxes from ebay, still looking into this because the costs are not working out great
  • Using jewellery/shoes I already have, unless I see soemthing cheap, but to be honest I haven’t so far.
  • Wedding venue we are looking at restaurants so that food will be included into the cost. If this is too expensive I will look at doing something at home and perhaps order/make food.
  • Flowers from garden, or not at all

That’s about it really. I’m really worried about whether we will be able to afford all of this, hubby-to-be doesn’t have a lot of family here (we’re in the UK) to help him out of costs, so we are trying to keep things minimal but classy.

So, any ideas of cheap/DIY wedding things to take into account?

Thanks for all your help.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Why do you feel you need to have favour boxes? If it's a token of appreciation for people sharing your happy day with you and these are people who are happy for you with no expectations, even a card with a thank you and maybe a dua would go a long way. You can add chocolates if you want.

As for clothes, if you want to go the previously worn route, but still want to change things up - if you get a bargain price for the outfit, maybe get a new kameez or bottom with a pre-existing dupatta, since a heavy dupatta is usually the largest cost.

Keep a simple menu, restaurants are great since it will save you renting tables and chairs and decor. Limit your guest list to 50 to no more than 100 people. If you really focus on who is important to invite, a lot of people can be removed from a lengthy guest list.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Lol, to be honest, I was just listing what was in my head and what I've been thinking of before, I don't have to have favour boxes, but we've done them before for pennies at my sister's mehndi so I wouldn't mind having them if they only cost about £20-30. If not, will just distribute nuts or cheap chocolate at the nikah time, that's all. It's not a must and I'm happy to cut it out if need be.

The guest list will be small, immediate family only and a few friends, so it probably wont reach 100 people.

I was thinking of getting a heavier kameez made or getting a second hand one and getting a plain jamawar lengha to go with it. I'm not sure where to look for a dupatta, but good call. Last resort is borrowing someone elses but that gets messy and I want to wear red, so I don't want mis-matching shades of red.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Sehrysh made the same point I was going to - no need for favours. If you really want to give your guests something, buy cheap organza bags from ebay to fill with some chocolates and sweets.

I don’t know what your budget is, but I think there are a few GS designers that could probably make you a nice lengha for between £300-£400. Less (say £200) if you decide you go for a heavy formal style outfit instead… so a long, heavy shirt paired with a churidaar or plain lengha bottom and a duputta without wide border kaam.

How cheap is the marquee? Personally, I’d keep the mehndi fairly modest and do it in the house. There are so many ideas you find online for making you own decorations… i.e you can make these and hang from ceiling: Old Fashioned Lemonade: DIY Pom Poms - Justin & Mary - Photography

If the restaurant is working out expensive, what will you do for the reception? Hire a hall and get catering or get family to help make food?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

^That's what I meant with the favour boxes, I'l go for cheap pouches from ebay, otherwise am happy to cut it out. Otherwise, I know a shop nearby that does them for 30 pence a box?

I'm still working out a budget for a lengha, was thinking about £500 max for a lengha, would really prefer a lengha over a heavy formal outfit.
Any recommendations on vendors/sellers who can do an outfit at this price?

I'm not really worried about too much decor for a marquee because I've decorated one before (although it was a simple look!) and I still have all the fabric left from previous weddings, plus all our thaals and candles etc, so will keep it fairly simple and get brothers to help me put stuff up. Thank you for the link though, the DIY hangings look fab and would actually look great for a marquee, so have bookmarked this, will try it out. Was also thinking of going to poundland for buffet-style pots and pans for the mehndi food, plus a small candy bar, because I've done this before for about £20.

Restaurant-wise, if it works out too costly, I will try to find a cheap hall. There is a hall nearby which can be hired for about £200.00 for an evening so that's an option, plus another community centre which charges about £20 an hour, but it's quite small and looks like a boardroom so not keen on that one.

I've got a restaurant in mind so will be calling them tomorrow for figures to see if they are a realistic option. If not, then will ask around for cheapest food options, as I don't think my mum and aunts can really provide food for a wedding function, even a small one.

Any ideas on make-up? I'm not very good at doing heavy bridal style make-up on myself (i wear very minimal make-up) and the MUAs charge quite a bit. A couple of friends have done make-up on me before, but I've not been keen on what they've done. Shall I just ask around and see whose make-up I like best?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Go to a MAC counter and get your make up done there

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

£500 is about Rs.75,000... defo think you can get a regular wedding lengha in this price. Try Catwalk or Prototype. You will have to be flexible though. No point showing a photo and being like "I want this in less than 75K". The way to approach it is to set out your budget and then show a few pics of a few outfits you like and work together to come up with something that can made within the budget. Still, you can save money by going for a jamawar lengha skirt and long but heavy shirt. Also, I would still keep the duputta a less heavy to save money and also so the whole outfit is wearable again. I think you can probably get such an outfit made for Rs.50,000 (£330).

If you pm me your location, maybe I can suggest some reasonable makeup artists. Otherwise, going to a counter is an option but there will be a cost (redeemable against products)... and you might need to pay twice, especially if you want to trial out the MUA first. Depending on where you live there is also the option of desi salons... the makeup these salons offer is usually a lot cheaper than freelance MUAs and you don't have to worry about the hair either.

You can get 100 organza bags for £4 on ebay as opposed to the boxes which will be £30 for 100. It's all these smaller things that you need to reduce as much as possible to keep the cost down.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

  • I agree with getting your makeup done at a MAC counter. I think they charge about £35 if I'm not wrong
  • You could easily do your own hair, look up tutorials on YouTube
  • You could ask a friend with a nice camera to be your photographer
  • You can use rose petals to decorate your stage/tables/etc etc
  • Homeware stores have strings of lights and whatnot if you want to decorate further

Thats all I can come up with

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

If you are on a low budget, why have favor boxes and cake. Justgo with a decent dinner and one desert. Also, I will never put my friend at misery for baking my wedding cakes and cupcakes.I would prefer omitting these items and make sure my friendand sister are relaxed and enjoying the event.

Oh and please dont startcooking yourself on your wedding day. Getthe food catered... maybe 1 maincourse, 1 salad, and dessert.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

instead of a restaurant, do it at home. and have your friends and family assigned to one dish each. It will save a ton on costs. Depending on how much space you have at home, you can nicely set up a living room area or family room to make it look like a nice stage without the costs.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

To be honest, cake wasn't really going to be included, but my sister has a cupcake company so she offered to make some cupcakes, and my friend also does profession-ish wedding cakes and she offered ages ago. If they don't want to do it, that's really up to them, I'm really not fussed.

Didn't really think it was a great idea to do self-catering either, it's messy and won't work out. Worst scenario is going to the local restaurants and getting food by bulk, they tend to give discount if I buy a lot.

I don't mind going to a counter like MAC for make-up, but I'm worried about hair/dupatta settings, because I don't think they will know how to do it.

My living room area isn't big so won't be able to fit a lot of people. Plus this probably won't be the best option if my parents aren't happy about the marriage, my dad certainly won't allow a wedding like this in his home, so would rather not do that.

Stoppit, I've looked at MUAs but even the so-called cheap ones are not so cheap. I will PM you my location. I just don;t want to pay less on my make-up and then look crap on the day because I didn't go with someone good (this happened to my friend, she paid £80 for a make-up artist on her wedding day and she looked very, very chalky and unflattering in the end).

Mehndi-wise, I will do my own makeup, I'm just wondering whether it's worth buying a mehndi outfit? Don't mind getting a cheap one if I know where from. I'll email a few GS designers for quotes and stuff, but otherwise I'll wear something simple that I already have .

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

How good are you with doing your own make up? Can you get away with doing your own make up on your wedding day?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Do you have friends OR aunties who know how to pin the dupatta or can at least figure it out? That way you can get your hair done from a reasonable hair salon...but have the girls/aunties you know pin the dupatta afterwards.

BTW, I didn't have the dupatta on my head for my wedding. So depending on how tight your budget is.....you may want to do some soul searching and decide just how badly you want it on your head and whether or not its really worth paying that extra $$$.

On a side note, are you and your fiance able to delay the wedding for a few more months so you can save up a little more?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Practice your makeup and do it yourself. You can do the dupatta setting too - it's not that hard. You need U shaped hair pins and a nice firm bun helps. I did my own makeup/dupatta setting for my mehendi and my dupatta stayed up perfectly well

If your dad is not allowing you to have an event at home, where will you have the mehendi? For the mehendi, you can even ask your friends to help chip in - make it a themed potluck or something. Or if your relatives are willing to participate, you can ask for their help?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Not good enough for bridal make-up. I'm not great with eyeshadow or bronzers etc, I usually go for a simple look. I don't mind asking friends/family but I have done before and wasn't too impressed with how I looked.

I can try and pin my own dupatta, didn't think of that! I'll watch a few YT tutorials and see if I can try it. I want the dupatta pinned up tbh, cos I normally wear hijab so would feel strange without it.

Delaying the wedding, I guess it's an option. The thing is, I don't really want to spend thousands on a wedding which I can spend on my home/furniture etc.

I've found a small hall which is quite cheap, and there's another one which someone has told me about which is very cheap too. Otherwise my sister will let me do it in her living room as the last resort. I would rather have a hall because I don't want her house to get trashed. Otherwise I can push for the cheap marquee at my garden, and just ignore my dad's dirty looks, I spose.

Did you use hair extensions or a fake bun for your hair? Did you have to add volume or puff it up at all?

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

Practice pinning the dupatta at home....maybe even with help from a friend and see how that goes.

I'm not suggesting that you increase your budget by thousands of dollars/pounds. But if you can at least increase it by 500-800....it would certainly make it a lot less stressful and not force to you cut back on every-single-little thing. I'd hate for you to look back years from now and regret something like not getting a nice lehenga OR even getting your hair/MU done the way you imagined it. Just something worth considering. :)

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

If you found a cheap hall/restaurant, that would probably be the best option :) Hassle free aswell... If you have it at a restaurant, you will also save the cost of decor.

I've done it a few times, here are some of the different ways i've done it:
1) Mehendi - i had my hair up in a bun (got it done by someone) so that I had extra support/firmness. I grew my hair out for the wedding, so I didn't need extensions or a fake bun. My hair was around elbow-length.
2) Engagement - I used a bump it to create volume and made a bun myself. I also did backcombing (as did the hair stylist on my mehendi day) to create extra pouf.

I wear Hijab also so the pouf helps create the dupatta up and also not to give you a bald look...

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

have a beach wedding!

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

If you don’t like the way other people make you look then do consider practicing and doing it yourself. I did my own wedding makeup and I know another guppan (PunjabiRose) who also did her own with a little encouragement (both Shaadi and Walima looks). At the end of the day, you know better than anyone what suits you best and what you are comfortable with. My wedding makeup was too simple by many people’s standards but it’s what I wanted… I still put a lot of effort into achieving a flawless base that would last all night and withstanding the lighting. However, you will probably end up spending the same amount as hiring a decent MUA on makeup.

For the hair, unless you have very thick and heavy hair, you will need something to make a bun around so you can secure the duputta to (and also to create height). Often the downfall of duputta pinning is hair that can’t take the weight and/or doesn’t support enough so your own hair is tugged. I’m sure you can find videos on youtube and see if one of your friends is up for practicing and doing it for you. The duputta pinning is easy and secondary.. it’s all about the hair.

All this depends on how much time you have and are willing to invest though.

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Re: Cheap Wedding ideas and tips for a tiny wedding on a tiny budget

It's definitely worth a try, I'll see what I can do. I'm not great with eyeshadow so will need help for that, may ask my sister or friends for help too.

Hair wise, my hair is long but not thick enough by itself, I can check out the pakistani/indian shops nearby for fake buns and stuff I think. I've seen a friend pin her own dupatta for her engagement but it still looked awkward, I don't want to feel uncomfortable. I guess I will just go for a light dupatta or just get someone to help me, plus I found a heavy dupatta at home I can practice with now!

Another question, I have a gold set at the moment (necklace, earrings some bangles), I want a tikka or jhoomar, but dont want to buy it in gold. Is there any places I can get a decent pearl jhoomar and tikka from online or from shops in London? I was thinking of also getting a pearl necklace to combine this with?