Update for Paula

UPDATE

Deposits paid:
Paula Slater

Invoices received:
MJT catering
Out on a Wing

Quotes received:
Photographer (setting up first meeting)
Hawstead Barn (no invoice as yet - did Rupert mention the cost of hiring of the holiday cottage for the weekend?)

Quotations outstanding:
Hala @ Pretty Balloons
Florists

Ideas...

1pm Marriage, St Leonards Church

Decoration - home made flowers/twig posies, with big ribbons to tie on pew ends, then tie them around the barn or to the beams. (Not 'orange and red', as I'm not a fan of red)

2.30pm Wedding Reception, Hawstead Place

Drinks - Offer soft/punch drinks in mismatching large jars with ladles, serve in borrowed tumble type glasses. Cash bar available for those that want alcohol. (Do we need a licence for a cash bar? Could we get away without serving tea & coffee? It doesn't fit with theme.)

Food -
Home-made cake stall, feeding everyone at low cost. Paper plates with yellow napkins from Ikea. 4pm Falconry display. 6pm Hog roast in napkins, then put crisps etc out on tables.

Furniture - Use long trestle tables as you describe to display. Use seating on a few trestle tables with chairs, but allow for the straw bales to cater for some to sit. I agree with you that you should order say 40 wooden backed chairs. (Let's not use Rupert's Gilt chairs to save money, they are hideous covered or not.) Hire table cloths.

Decoration - PS to decorate barn with whatever we can find. Twinkle Christmas lights, nightlights, home made flower arrangements in jars, paper flower arrangements hanging, baskets of twigs etc.....

Music - Listen to the band your Mum suggests, and do of course get the piano from your friend. I would however look at getting someone to play for around £150 to take the pressure off if the band your mum suggests does not work out. (My friend Tim has offered to play the piano for free, and I won't know about borrowing a piano until closer to the day). Ipods can have a habit of not capturing the mood of the day but would be perfect for early evening background music.

Bridal flowers - I would suggest that only you have a posy made by your mother-in-law, and possibly if wanted bridesmaids, ushers and Matt could all have button holes. We can put your flowers in a vase to display after the photos.

This would mostly stay within your budget. Just will elongate the day a little and we will add the fun cheaper things we can source.


Previous ideas...
- There will be no need for skip hire, we can fill up refuse sacks and take them to the tip by car. (Assign someone with an empty car boot to this job.)

- As for furniture, we can save a lot of money by scrapping the sit down meal/table arrangement. Instead, have one long trestle table down the middle of the barn with 2/3 vases of flowers, paper plates & napkins, and a spread of crisps, breads, dips etc. No scones or canapes. Fill glasses on or just before arrival. We would only need a couple of picnic tables/blankets and around 40 wooden chairs & some hay bales inside and out.

- As for decoration, I want to keep things really simple. Tea lights, some material wrapped around they hay. Bunting. (Decoration to fill big space??)

- Michael has agreed to provide plates and napkins inclusive. My mum is happy to fill up a table of buffet snacks. Matt's mum will make the wedding cake and decorate it with flowers.

- Hire glasses for free from wine supplier and return clean vs hire glasses and return dirty. (Research) Cash bar.

- As for entertainment, my mum knows some musicians who would play music for an invite and they wouldn't need us to hire any equipment. (Follow up)

- I really do not care about flower decoration in the church. Other brides are marrying the same day and so the church may already be decorated. If not, I do not mind. Supermarkets have beautiful selections of carnations and roses for £2 per small bunch. My mum is happy to help decorate the tables, and I think my mother-in-law would help with the bouquets and button holes.

[Paula Slater]. Ok but there is not much happening on the big scent idea you originally had. Lovely flowers can be easy to source and I can help out here, I could buy from the wholesale and place in vases but the budget would need to increase for this.

- As for our transport, we can just take taxi's. Matt and I can leave the church and walk to the pub down the road to get picked up by a taxi, as I would rather have people taking photos of us walking than getting into a taxi (with an umbrella or not). I think it would be fun to decorate a friend's car and then leave in this to go to our hotel. We also need budget for airport transfer, so we will try to get a flight from Stanstead.

- Stationary should cost for materials and postage. We can do home printing, and send save-the-date and thank you notes by e-mail.

- I would be happy to go to a salon in town to get my hair done, then return home to put on my dress. I can do my own make-up and if someone wants to buy me beauty treatments before or on the day then I will let them.

- We will have a photographer who can put the images online for all to see and give us a disk to print whatever we like ourselves. Again, if someone would like to buy us a wedding photo album as a present we will let them.