Aloha! I've finally managed to get out of bed on a Sunday morning to write a SundayPost!

This week I've been off work so I've had plenty of time for fun! Here is what I've been up to this week!

1 - Wedding planning. We seem to have hit a bit of a brick wall with it. Quite possibly my fault as I've had no time for it recently due to work taking over my life! Hopefully I can start getting things organised more in the next few months. We still need to settle on a venue!

2 - Mikey bought me these flowers. I love the ombre effect! Sometimes there's nothing better than having fresh flowers in the house!

3 - We went to Dublin! Mikey's dad is Irish so he has lots of family there but I had never been! We decided to take a little trip so I could meet all the family as well as do a bit of sightseeing! We had a great time with lots of good food and beers! I won't share any more photos of our time in Dublin as I'm going to do a photo diary of our time!

4 - On Friday we had a few friends over for dinner. I cooked my favourite dish: Texas BBQ Brisket. I actually think I love that dish so much I'd have it as our wedding meal!

5 - It wouldn't be right if I didn't take a moment to reflect on the horrific events in Paris on Friday night. I won't say much as emotions tend to run high at times like these, and people say controversial things, but all I would like to say is that all those affected by what happened are in my thoughts. I just wish the world could be a peaceful place :( 

xxxxx

BudgetBride // 1

Did you know that the average UK wedding costs about £20,000!? I mean seriously, who even has that kind of money to spare! Call me selfish, but I'd rather spend a couple of thousand on a nice celebration, then bugger off to the Caribbean for a month! And that's pretty much exactly what I'm planning on doing!

I've decided to start this little feature on my blog to document my budget wedding planning and share some tips I'm learning along the way of how to save money. Expect mucho DIY decor posts!

But for now, I'm going to have a little rant about venue costs! 

Of course, not having a £20k budget means we're very limited when it comes to choosing a venue. There's hardly anywhere out there that is willing to let you have venue hire and feed your 100 guests for less than £6000. So it won't surprise you to know we still don't have a venue lined up, although we have viewed 2 and are in the process of negotiating the best price!

I've got an image in my head of what I want from a venue. Ideally, I'd love a relaxed, barn style venue which is a bit of a blank canvas so I can get creative and make it totally personal! Of course, barn venues are trendy now so they don't come cheap. We've viewed 2 different venues which are the same idea, but they are budget friendly. 

The first venue we viewed was a community hall with a difference. It was up in Perthshire, about 50 miles from our home. It wasn't your typical community hall though, it was like a cross between a barn and a giant shed, hence the name The Big Shed. As wedding venues go, the price is extremely cheap. The only issue we have with it is the capacity. It can only hold 60 in the main hall, so that's something we have to seriously consider. 

Our second venue viewing was actually a country house which a family member has recently purchased. It has an old coachhouse in the grounds which is currently being converted into a wedding reception venue. It looks to be a pretty amazing place once its ready, and we think it will be big enough! Now we need to see whether it is going to be within our price range. 

So a couple of tips if you are currently looking for a budget wedding venue: 

1. Have a look at places you wouldn't normally look at. For example village halls tend to have cheaper hire costs and with a bit of love and attention, they can be decorated to look like they cost a million pounds!

2. Don't be afraid to ask around if anyone in your family or group of friends knows someone with a potential venue. That's how we found out about one of our potential venues!

3. Keep an open mind. Some venues might have poor websites, or very little information available. Just email or give them a call for further info. You never know, you might love the place once you get there!

So that's the first of my BudgetBride posts! Hope you enjoyed it and do let me know if you have any tips for me in my search for an affordable venue!

xxx