If you had one who paid for your wedding ?

Our wedding was fairly hastily arranged as DH - a soldier, we both were - was given a posting and we wanted to get married before he left. We paid for the wedding ourselves - a small number of family guests at Marylebone registry office and DH’s best friend and his wife gave us a buffet wedding breakfast and a cake at their house as their wedding present. As walking down an aisle in a long dress would have been anathema for me, and family members were coming from Wales and Yorkshire, it seemed sensible to have the wedding on neutral ground! We had our wedding night in a nice hotel, and then, six weeks later, he was off to Brunei and I wasn’t to see him again for another year. Apart from the fact that I had a new name, I didn’t feel married at all. When I eventually flew out to join him on his next posting, we had a lot of making up for lost time to do!

We were married in 1969. We were very young and my widowed mum made the decisions. She said we could only invite 30 people each and it was really hard to whittle it down.
Various aunties and family friends meant my own friends were restricted to coming on their own unless married!
We had our reception in a lovely neighbour's house which was bigger than ours.
I made sandwiches and DMiL made the cake. DFiL provided champagne and at least one of DH aunts and uncles weren't invited and were insulted for years to come.

Our own DS paid for their own weddings which sounded extortionate by my standards.

We helped with the cost of DD's wedding by paying for the "wedding breakfast" but her in-laws contributed too. I have no idea of the cost but hiring a castle, a ceilidh band, supper etc must have been expensive.

It was certainly lovely and DD did her own flowers, wore a second hand dress and enjoyed all the planning.

I should have added that my sister made the bridesmaid dress and I hired my wedding dress. A friend of mine helped make the buttonholes and she did the table decorations. My bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquet was done by a friend of a friend. Members of the gardening club I belonged to at the time kindly arranged the flowers in Church, I paid for the flowers. My husband to be, paid for the honeymoon which was in the Dartmoor area. It rained the whole week.

Married in 1969. DH and I paid for the wedding, as I knew it would put a lot of pressure on my parents. I suggested that, instead, they could buy us an item of furniture, as they could pay it monthly to the store, interest free. This suited them and they bought us a three piece suite.

I got engaged, and within weeks my sister had done so too. My parents like her fiance, but not so keen on mine.
They spent £1000 on her dress, which she sold, they paid for the whole thing, but were not willing for me to marry my fiance at all.
My lovely MIL funded a reception, his Aunt, a professional baker made me a beautiful cake, and I paid for my own dress and he paid for the rings.

My mother paid for my dress. Otherwise, we paid for our whole wedding ourselves. My parents paid for their own wedding. Quite reasonable, I think.

I was sorting out some drawers recently and came across the book I'd recorded all our wedding expenses in. It was so interesting to see what things had cost in 1986! We paid for everything apart from the small gathering at my parents house straight after the ceremony and the evening do was paid for by my in-laws. We were very lucky to be able to have our honeymoon at my parents place in Spain so that was free. Total cost for our wedding was just under £500! We recently celebrated 40 years together in Lake Garda. The accommodation alone was double that amount! ☺️

We had been together for several years and had bought a house when I found I was pregnant so we decided to get married. I had a lovely silk outfit made for me, we had a civil ceremony and then came back home to a reception in the garden of our house. The weather was lovely, the garden looked beautiful and we had excellent caterers. My FIL provided the champagne but we paid for everything else. It was a magical day and that evening we went to the Cotswolds. We walked up to Broadway Tower and OH had made a special picnic to share as the sun set. We had a longer honeymoon in France a few days later. I have such happy memories of the day and shared it with all the people who were important to us, my three closest friends were there and sadly they are no longer with us but I've got photos of them sharing my special day and remember their reaction when I shared my "other" news!

I have been married four times (divorced, spouse died, spouse died, spouse still living) and each time I paid myself for everything (last wedding) or myself and my husband paid between us.
At no point have my parents or any other person, paid for anything related to my weddings.

My parents paid for my wedding and that of my two sisters.
My DH had a relative who owned an events venue. He gave my Dad a really good deal for our reception, it was marvellous. We had an evening reception there too.
DH and I paid for our honeymoon.

I was an orphaned 20 year old, DH was a poorly paid. BBC studio manager so we had to budget carefully; one cousin, who got married (full fig do) three months before us gave us £30 towards the cost because he said his father would have wanted to do so, a kindness I still cherish. Hired wedding dress (no problem of what to do with it afterwards), a modest reception at the BBC Club just opposite Broadcasting House and a few days in Wales before heading to Yorkshire to take up entirely new lives. It was a good start to a happy and treasured almost sixty years.

My parents.

1988.
My parents paid for the reception- 3 course meal, wine, toast and drink on arrival for 60 guests. No evening event.
I definitely paid for my own dress, no bridesmaids.
I can’t remember who paid for the flowers or wedding car. I made my own cake but had it iced professionally. We did our own table flowers for the reception.
A friend who owned a printing business did the invitations - very simple a5 cards. No order of service, just hymn books.

Weddings really have become such fancy expensive events. It’s out of hand. The best weddings I've attended are always the simple homespun events with everyone contributing their time and skillls. The fancy corporate hotel events are not for me thank you.
Local church, homegrown flowers and a meal in the church hall with a ceilidh is my idea of a perfect wedding day.

We had 6 people in a registry office in 1968 and the whole thing cost 14/9d. Someone bought a bottle of champagne and I made a small cake. I wore a cotton dress I had made. My grandmother had saved £500 for my wedding and I put it towards a deposit on a house.

We were married in 1974 .I paid for my dress £30 ,cake was £30 and my and bridesmaid flowers.My Dad paid for the Reception and the cars came to £1.000..

This discussion made me quite sad thinking back to the "hole in a corner affair" that I had in 1971 marrying my husband in a registry office. Boycotted by my parents because of the visceral hostility they felt towards my poor husband, and the fact i was pregnant and would not bend to their will which was to have the baby aborted.
So we paid for everything; not even a wedding present from my mother and father.
But 55 years later we are still together so that gives me some satisfaction. Does this resonate with any other grans?

Newatthis

I think that if C & W's wedding cost a total of £500,000.00, then, considering the number of guests and other costs, then the taxpayer must have paid the rest. I expect the dress alson cost more than that.

I think the Queen must have put her hand in her pocket, the wedding must have cost millions.We the taxpayers stumped up for the eye watering security costs of policing it.

Me and ex DH paid for most of it, my parents paid for the cake and the photographs and the flowers.They didn’t have much so it was generous of them.It was a fairly small wedding with a reception in a nearby hotel for around 40 people.

My other half and I paid for our wedding. Quick Register Office do with family and friends, then drinks at the local pub. It was FABULOUS! Also, no worries about paying our first month's the rent on the flat My mom had asked me if i wanted a 'proper' wedding. Distinct relief on her face when I said we'd rather save money.

I gto married in 1982. I was lucky that my wonderful and creative Grandmother made my dress and 3 bridesmaids. I paid for the fabrics, she and I designed the dresses between us.
We got married in church, had one bridal car. The reception was a buffet that my family, including me all sorted the morning of the wedding.
The grand total of the wedding was under £500. My husband and I paid for the wedding. My parents paid for the food and the DJ. I will never understand that it is down to the brides parents to pay for everything.
My youngest son married last year and I gave them £2000 towards their day, their new house or their honeymoon, depending on what they wanted. I will do the same when my other two get married.

I got married in 1983 and my lovely parents paid most of it! DH and I were both still at university and hadnt a bean between us🫣 FIL paid for the cars and flowers, my parents the hotel, wedding breakfast for 60 the cake and champagne. I didnt have bridesmaids and we got married in the rather beautiful town hall, a lovely tower, octagonal ceremony room, with stain glass windows. The celebrant we paid for, and my MIL paid for DH suit and that of the best man; whilst I paid for my wedding dress.
Only one of my three children has got married and she and her husband mainly paid for the wedding themselves. I paid for the photographer and flowers, SIL parents paid for the cars and my mother bought the wedding dress.

We had an overseas wedding. I told my DH that I was as poor as a church mouse and did not have two pennies to rub together.

My DH paid for almost everything- the wedding, the rings and my £3k dowry (late 1980s) according to my culture but I returned my dowry to him. I paid for the invitation cards.

I wanted a small traditional wedding, but my eldest sister said to me that since I was going to marry a Caucasian man outside our race, I must have a full traditional wedding, otherwise people would think I had a shotgun marriage.

I think I might have paid for both my weddings.

My mother took out a small insurance policy when I was a baby, (she was a war widow), to mature when I was 21 to pay for my wedding. She did however marry again to my much loved stepfather who paid for everything concerning my wedding in 1964. The Insurance policy duly matured and was given to us as a wedding present. 62 years later and still married to my lovely 'young ' man, a bit stouter and greyer these days, it was a 'Good result' all round!

DH & I paid. It was a small but happy occasion.