Hitched

Getting married is a rite of passage in life. It's symbolic. You and your husband become a family, a social unit, whether or not you have children. Sometimes facing up to parental challenge comes part and parcel with getting married, and this is the ideal time to put on your big girl pants, your married woman's mantle, or whatever you want to call it, and stand by what you and your future husband want to do. Parents may be disappointed, they may try to bribe you with funding or subject you to emotional blackmail. But guess what?! It's not their wedding, it's yours and your husband's! If family get tricky put them on an information diet. My line was.... I'm not going to answer that question because we want all of our guests to have some surprises on the day so we're not giving that info out to anybody yet. Or thank them for their suggestions but either say you've got that area of the wedding in hand or you'll consider it but are making all decisions jointly with your fiance and you have a pretty good idea he won't be keen. Or some other lines you agree in advance between you to close things down. For wedding planning I used Hitched for pretty much everything including learning how to do things more cheaply and more importantly how to ensure that I knew how to recognise value for money in comparison with a rip off. Just Google "hitched wedding flowers" or "hitched wedding shoes" or "hitched non-religious wedding readings" and useful articles come up! I got my wedding shoes, covered in diamante crystals and with extra insole padding for tired bridal feet from Paradox London for £45, from a Hitched article. And we hired silk flowers, which were wonderful - the florist took them back next day - much cheaper and easier than cut flowers.My bouquet was also silk but I got to keep it and it gives me joy every day in a vase in our living room. Again, an idea from Hitched. We got our cake ornaments from Etsy. Weddings really can be as simple or as complex as we make them. https://www.hitched.co.uk/

There are multiple websites/blogs which have been created aimed at wheelchair users on their wedding day (both sides of the fence) that might interest you, if you've not already found them. https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/bride-in-wheelchair-wedding https://equallywed.com/how-to-style-your-wheelchair-or-mobility-aid-at-your-wedding/ https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/5-beautiful-wheelchair-weddings https://www.iwheeltravel.com/en/wedding-wheelchair-disability/

I did most of my wedding planning using these two sites. All the advice was useful so they may help you too: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/bridalwear-articles/what-to-wear-to-a-wedding/ https://bridebook.com/uk/article/what-to-wear-to-a-wedding-as-a-guest-dos-donts-and-top-tips Mostly there's an expectation to make an effort. If garden parties are mentioned as a reference point, that is a cue that you could optionally wear fascinators. The dress code for ladies at my wedding last year was "frocks & fascinators" and even so, only half to 2/3rds of the female guests wore a fascinator, but I was thrilled by that as I love wearing a fascinator - I was hoping to see some fabulous fascinators and my guests didn't disappoint!!

This is where we went for costs on our wedding: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/the-average-wedding-cost-in-the-uk-revealed/ https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/budget/wedding-budget/ https://bridebook.com/uk/article/how-much-does-a-wedding-cost-the-uk-average Ultimately it's all about what's important to you and what isn't. We DIY'd some stuff, didn't bother with other stuff. Key thing is to learn what to expect for your money at different price points.

Hi there! Wedding budgets are a how long is a piece of string question. Two things I learnt on the main (mostly US brides) wedding planning subs where wedding costs are different in the UK from US weddings are: 1. Here the couple pays for the wedding party's outfits, ie dresses and suits, if we want them to be colour coordinated. We don't have a wedding coordinator culture here and instead the wedding party have an active role in running the day, so paying for their outfits is a thank you. Suits for groomsmen are often hired to reduce costs. I bought the dresses and paid for the HMUA for my bridal party. They provided their own shoes, handbags and jewellery. However, my husband wasn't bothered about his guys all wearing the same thing - we went for a navy blue wedding party and his guys all had suits in that colour so wore those. We bought them all matching shirts and ties. 2. We don't normally do an open bar for the evening party in the UK, unless the couple has money to burn. Alcohol is very expensive and there is still a big drinking culture (less so in the under 25s) so you can expect Brits to over indulge on free booze. Hence, venues don't offer a fixed rate per head alcohol package so you have no way to plan your costs. We gave everyone drinks vouchers instead of wedding favours, which anyway have gone out of fashion here. But most Brits won't be surprised to pay for their evening party drinks. However, most venues offer half a bottle of wine per head with the meal. My best advice to you is to use two excellent websites for wedding planning advice - I used Bridebook to find venues and vendors and Hitched for research on pretty much every aspect of wedding planning - if you Google hitched followed by the name of your wedding topic they nearly always have a useful article on it. They publish annual reports on UK wedding costs so I hope you find these useful: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/the-average-wedding-cost-in-the-uk-revealed/ https://bridebook.com/uk/article/the-ultimate-wedding-budget-breakdown https://bridebook.com/uk/article/wedding-prices-venue EDIT: 3rd thing that's cheaper in the UK is that wedding vendors will charge a professional fee and not expect to be tipped on top. We only tipped the venue catering staff with a wad of cash in an envelope at the end of the night to be divided.

Er... Debretts, the only etiquette guide worth reading states that the best man's speech is expected to be the highlight. And Emily Post literally says the best man has to give the first toast to the couple, which includes at least a short speech. [https://emilypost.substack.com/p/etiquette-today-the-best-man?utm_source=chatgpt.com](https://emilypost.substack.com/p/etiquette-today-the-best-man?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Here's a list of Best man duties. [https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/best-man-duties/#h_7664070532861767956233408](https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/best-man-duties/#h_7664070532861767956233408) Hope that helps.

Hi OP congratulations to you and your spouse to be I’ve found this to be a helpful guide for roles https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/wedding-roles/ My bridal party is smaller then yours but I also haven’t asked my soon to be SIL to be a part of it. For me this is because I don’t really know her (massive age gap between her and my partner) so it would be weird. She will be attending as the sister of the groom but on the day have no role. I don’t think a SIL has a traditional role as such so don’t worry if they don’t have one is my advice. If you can afford to pay for you MIL and SIL to be make up and hair then you could offer. But my understanding is that it isn’t a necessity. They could choose to book and get it done but it isn’t a must for the couple to pay. It could be a nice gesture if financially possible for you. Have you and your partner had the conversation and their family and how they want their family included on the day? My advice is don’t stresss over tradition but focus on what works for you the couple.

You coukd try Bridebook or Hitched websites. They let you search for vendors geographically. Also, be clear what kind of photographer you want - traditional, editorial or candid documentary. Make sure to look at online portfolios to get a feel for whether they have the right vibe for you as a couple. https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/photography/how-to-choose-a-wedding-photographer/ Good luck and congrats!

Search for square neck wedding dress and you'll find at least similar options. You can add more details, e.g. sheath or A-line or sleeveless etc. https://www.oliviabottega.com/products/bettany-minimalist-crepe-fabric-wedding-70223 https://www.brides.com/savannah-miller-wedding-dresses-4842332#toc-savannah-miller-spring-2025 https://bethylade.com/products/evelyn https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/bridalwear-articles/square-neck-wedding-dresses/

I think this will depend on where you are in the country, month, day of the week, plus there's the "how long is a piece of string" issue - the end price depends on which package you go for from the venue (ours had 3 levels of cost per head). You could do some initial research into local wedding venues for this size of guest list on Bridebook or Hitched. They're super useful with filtering and search options. That's how we built our long list, then we requested pricelists or found them on the venues own website to build a short list of venues we wanted to see. Searching this way also enables you to exclude venues that aren't available on your preferred date/so, so you don't get disappointed. https://bridebook.com/uk https://www.hitched.co.uk We spent £179 per head on the venue because it had inhouse catering including table linens etc. Plus a £2k room hire fee. The £179 included prosecco & canapes, 3 course dinner with half a bottle of wine and half a bottle of mineral water per head, coffee and petit fours.