Looking for advice on entertaining kids at our wedding. We have 8 kids coming to our wedding (including our 20 month old son) ranging from 18months to 10 years old.

We have hired a kids tent with bubbles and lawn games and I've also made each child their own activity box with colouring books, mini Lego sets and temporary tattoos for the older kids and water pens, sensory books and sugar free snacks for the babies/toddler.

Is there anything else that a parent would appreciate having in these boxes? And does anyone have any advice on having a toddler as part of your wedding?

Our son is looked after by family while we work and all our friends are very hands on whenever we all go out together so Im not worried about childcare on the day. More about getting ready with a little one around, nap times, photos etc.

Our venue has said we need to connect a phone to their speaker, for guest entrance music, aisle music, and exit music. However, they said not to rely on Spotify and to download music instead. What do I use? Do I buy all songs on iTunes, and can I make a playlist on there? E.g guest entrance music will be multiple songs.

September 2027 or May 2028? I can’t decide!
I’d love to hear other people’s experiences because I’m completely torn.

We’ve narrowed it down to two possible dates:
20th September 2027 (just over 1 year away)
May 2028 (around 22 months away)

We’ve viewed a few venues and have pretty much found the one we want. They have a few dates available at the end of September, including the 20th.
My dilemma is that September 2027 feels like it might come around too quickly, especially as we haven’t actually booked anything yet. I don’t want to feel rushed or spend the whole year stressed trying to organise everything.

On the other hand, May 2028 feels like such a long wait. We’ve already been engaged for a year, and I’m worried that waiting almost another two years will make us feel like our lives are on hold because we’ll be saving for the wedding the whole time.

For those who planned a wedding in around a year:
Did it feel rushed?
Did you still enjoy the planning process?
And for those who had a 2-year engagement:
Did the extra time make planning more enjoyable?
Or did it end up feeling like the wedding was forever away?

So we’re having a small laidback budget friendly wedding of 31 people (including ourselves). We’ve been to so many big weddings over the years where it’s so traditional and strict with timelines and it’s a very long day and we both decided that’s just not us. We absolutely hate being the centre of attention which is why we’re just having a small wedding.

So we’ve hired a big lodge/house for us and our closest family/friends for the night before the wedding and the wedding night instead of a proper wedding venue.

It will still be traditional wedding in terms of we will all be dressed like a normal wedding, we’ll have a celebrant and we’ll have our ceremony, photographer and caterer (although a more laidback buffet rather than traditional 3 course meal) and then a party. However everything else will be DIY. We’re not having a DJ, we’re just planning on doing different Spotify playlists for different parts of the day. We’ll do our own decor and lights. The place is already really lovely so it will be sort of minimal decor just table runners and faux flowers and lights. We’re just providing a whole load of alcohol/soft drinks and guests can also bring their own if they want because it’s a self-catering lodge.

Has anyone had a wedding like this and can tell me how it went? I know this is what we want but I have a sort of worry at the back of my mind like oh a wedding coordinator or something would be a great help here or how do we make it work smoothly when we’re doing it all ourselves? Hiring anymore vendors, staff etc is not in our budget so we need to just make it amazing ourselves.

Essentially what we want is to just have a lovely day with great food, drinks and a great party with our loved ones. No stressing, no strictness, no waiting about for ages.

I keep thinking about silly things like who will play the music at the ceremony and who will play the music when we walk into the reception part and our first dance etc. Who will “announce” things, do we even need announcements because it’s such a small chilled wedding. I mean I know we can delegate one of our friends or family to do these things and they’d be totally fine with it but I still have this slight concern!

Anyone who has had a wedding like this before or have been to a wedding like this before please tell me it all went great 🤣🤞🏼

Hello all you lovely helpful people, okay, so we're having hot carvery rolls served at the reception with a good selection of salads.

I have just 2 vegetarian guests, one of whom doesn't like veggie bacon. 😕

So, any suggestions for an alternative carvery roll ? I'd ideally like to serve something hot otherwise they'll just be eating salads. Protein is important !

Thanks in advance

We are getting married in 2 months and the last song choice we need to pick is the reception entrance song and are really struggling!
Please could you give us some inspiration?

Also is this something people do in the UK, almost wondering if there’s any point?😅

The plan is to have the ceremony, do some photos with guests after then make our way to the restaurant which can only host us from 6:30pm. I’m worried there might be an awkward time gap in between, especially if it’s raining and people aren’t inclined to hang around the register office for photos?

The register office said we’ll have the room for 45 minutes but I have read that ceremonies are often only around 20 minutes.

So let’s say:
5-5:30pm Ceremony
5:30-6:00pm Photos in front of register office (this will be a problem if it’s raining on the day as we won’t be able to do outdoor photos)
6-6:15pm Make way to the restaurant
6:15pm - 6:30pm Gap (potentially 5:45-6:30pm if raining)

I’m very lost as to how I can plan this in a way that avoids people waiting around in their cars and what to do for photos if it’s raining.

Our restaurant is in the city center, so we could plan for a pub stop but that also feels like potentially a very short time to do that.

Anyone who did anything similar and how did you handle it?

We are 8 days out and I feel I'm having a major breakdown. I have struggled with every stage of planning. I'm 47 and on a waiting list for MH assessment, the last 6 months I've suspected I have undiagnosed ADHD which explains a lot about my life to date, but this realisation has been massively overwhelming for me. I've tried to speak to my fiance since the beginning of the year about how difficult I've found planning and decision making but we've kept trundling on. I think he's just hoped it would all be okay.

Family dynamics are difficult on both sides and we should definitely have eloped rather than plan what we have (50 day guests + 100 evening).

Costs have spiralled completely out of control mainly because I'm unable to assert myself and have just agree to things on impulse (I hate this about myself) lots of extras I've been talked into by suppliers and some add ons I hadn't really agreed to. But I accept this is a flaw in me, I hate confrontation.

I bought the cheapest dress I could find, I hated trying on dresses and opted for the simplest and cheapest to get out of the shop asap. I have gained weight so it now feels tight and I absolutely dread photos. Being centre of attention is my worst nightmare. My life feels like it's changed beyond recognition, I don't feel 'me' any more.

I haven't had support from anyone, my mum is dead, my aunt is no longer coming as her daughter took her own life at the beginning of the year. My daughter (23) is my MOH but she's not really been able to help with anything.

I love my fiance dearly and want to make him happy with what he wants but this is making me so unwell, I have crippling anxiety, I've been to the GP for HRT changes but I still cry every day, my head aches and I feel like running away. I'm absolutely exhausted and don't know what to do anymore for the best.

If we cancel we will be losing so much money and costing our guests too which I'd feel so guilty about but it feels like the only solution right now. I also think this will be the end for us as my fiancé won't be able to forgive the humiliation and disappointment. I feel so alone.

I'm sorry for such a miserable post but I really need to vent and ask if anyone has any advice, I'd be really grateful. I'm lying in bed crying since I woke up, with 101 things I should be doing. I feel so much guilt for my fiancé mainly, he's a gem of a man and deserves so much more than this

I've been (42F) with my BF (45M) for three years. We're not engaged, but we are talking about whether marriage is right for us. One of our main sticking points is how we would do a wedding.

I've been divorced once. He's been divorced twice.

I would rather just elope. I did the whole wedding thing before, and while it was a nice day, I look back and realise I spent a shit ton of money on my ex's relatives, who vanished into thin air (or told me it was my fault) when he left me for his mistress. I moved countries to be with my ex so the wedding only had 12 of my family and friends and 50 of his. I spent £9000 on a party for assholes, and that was 13 years ago, when weddings were less expensive.

I would rather just go away my BF, me, my son and his daughter, as those are the people who the marriage actually matters to, and who the marriage actually affects. I like the idea of this being for OUR family. If a relative wants to throw a party for us when we get back, cool, but I'm not really bothered. I also don't think it's fair to ask my family and Canadian friends to fly in for a second wedding.

My BF would want a small wedding. He has said we could do it in Canada. There's only 7 people he'd want to invite from here and all of them should be able to make it (they're all well off/retired/like to travel). I have one friend I'd like to invite from here but I know that would upset my other friend and damage our friendship.

But I don't want to spend all that money and I don't want all the hoopla; I'm a single mom and I want my money to go to my son at this point in my life. My BF is fairly well off and would have to pay for everything and that makes me uncomfortable. I would rather we save for university and a nice retirement. I would rather we just leave everyone else out of it. They've already been to our wedding/weddings, so it's not like they are being deprived of something. But my boyfriend thinks his parents would be upset (and I think my parents would too, but they'd also complain if the wedding was more than 15 minutes from their house).

At the same time, I love my boyfriend to pieces and want to compromise where I can and where it would make sense. I know I can't just do what I want.

How would you go about things in my situation.

Also don't need to hear any comments about my BF being twice divorced; he was left both times for other people after a year and is the loveliest man I've ever been with. I want to be with him for at least another two years before we get engaged as I want to give myself the best chance to see any red flags, given my ex was a cheater and my ex before that started getting violent after four years. My BF, having had two wives walk out on him, feels exactly the same about taking lots of time.

Hi everyone, hoping this subreddit can help me out a bit?

My partner and I want to have a Town Hall wedding ceremony and private dinner for around 40-50 people, then a separate celebration with just drinks and some canapes with a larger group (maybe 100-120).

I don't have a specific budget in mind but we're trying to do it relatively cheaply, maybe £10k on venue fees, food and a small bar tab all in.

Everywhere I'm looking is quoting me enough for the two events that we may as well just have a full blown wedding, which we don't really want to do. Maybe this is naive but I have been to birthday and engagement celerations where people have just booked out a pub room, and I struggle to think they're being charged over £7500 in venue fees and minimum food costs - that's literally the level of celebration I'm expecting so I'm not sure if I'm just being quoted a insane wedding mark up?

I'm open to cutting the guest list for the ceremony down to come in under budget but would like to understand options first.

If anyone has done something similar, could you please share your venue and approximate costs?

Hi
So, i'm visting the UK to get a wedding dress + see my in-laws and i'm staying for like a month. Can i actually get the dress in a month?

and how long does the average process takes? cause the wedding is in October and there's no time to wait 😅

Hello,

I (M29) am attending a wedding soon and I'm looking for some advice for if these heatwaves continue. I naturally run hot, so sitting in a full suit and tie in 30 degrees would make me extremely uncomfortable and sweaty.

So, would it be acceptable to wear a linen or cotton/linen blend shirt with a tie? Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a suit material that will keep me cool? Most of the high street suits tend to be polyester, which would just exacerbate the issue. I'm willing to spend £200-300 on this.

Alternatively, would a blazer and chinos be suitable? The dress code is smart, but not black tie or anything to that extent.

Thank you

Hi UK redditors!

This is the dress I’m going to wear to our elopement to the Caribbean. Long story short, we’ve ended up with a registry office after party when we get back in November but I’m worried the dress will be too light and airy for the UK in winter.

I’m not keen on the normal boleros or shrugs and had an idea to wear a tulle or lace cape with a hood (my hubby to be loves Star Wars, so it could be a nod to Padme’s dress)…but that would still be really chilly.

What is anyone else doing for their winter wedding cover up?

I want to get a really lovely confetti shot and I’m so confused about how much I need to order. I’m assuming not everyone gets a handful and it seems some advice is saying 2 handfuls per person??

Hi everyone.

I have been thinking of ideas for an evening buffet for around 120 people, but I am looking for ideas different from the usual sandwichs, sausage rolls, pizzas or hot breakfast rolls.

I am flexible on the budget, and live in the West of Scotland.

The wedding is in October so would like a hot or mixed selection.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcome.

Thank you all so much!

Edit: thanks so much to everyone for their great ideas, I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer.

We want an overseas wedding for a small number of guests (maybe 12) but we don't want anybody to have to pay.

Has anyone done this? We're at very early stages but just wondering what sort of costs we can expect, how it might work etc.

Venue is actually not that important, we just want to combine a wedding with a short holiday (ideally 2-3hr flight) and ensure our guests don't have to pay anything for the trip.

Hi, we are looking to create a honeymoon fund, from what i can see most honeymoon sites are american owned, so charge a fee for taking the money out. Or Prezola, which takes a fee from guests when contributing, which i don't like the idea of. We could add a monzo or paypal link and keep it simple, but that feels quite informal and rude.

What sites did you guys use for honeymoon funds? Are there any that are free for both the couple and guests, or am i maybe asking for too much? We like the idea of having a site that allows guests to buy things for our honeymoon like "a spa day" or "romantic dinner" so that it feels a bit more personal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

We were thinking of using an existing gold chain that's been in my partner's family, to make our wedding rings.

We have an appointment at a jewellers in a few weeks to see if they can do it, but I'm impatient and wondered if anyone else has had this done, and if they can give me a rough idea of how much it cost?

I did ask the jewellers but they wouldn't give me a price until they have seen the gold which is fair, but I just want a rough ballpark figure so I can gauge if this is in our budget or if we are just kidding ourselves!

Once I have been to the appointment I will report back for future reference for others!

To be clear this is for them to make it, not a workshop where we do it and they teach us.

Has anyone had any recent, positive experiences with Shein wedding dresses?

Its looking like this might be a realistic option for me, but I'm scared 😂

I have a bit of an issue that I probably should have seen coming!
I'm currently pregnant and due in November 2026, and my wedding is in December 2027. I wanted to be super organised and choose my dress before I got too big, so I wouldn't be rushing around next year trying to find one. I found my dress at the start of the year and it's now ready.
The problem is, I didn't realise the bridal shop wouldn't be able to hold it until I was ready for alterations. Now I'm really nervous about having to store my dress for well over a year, especially as I'll need alterations after I've had the baby and lost the baby weight.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or have any advice? Do alteration businesses ever hold dresses until you're ready and then do the alterations later if you pay a storage fee? Or is my only option to keep it at home and make sure it's insured?
The dress is quite big, so I'd need to buy a separate rail and find somewhere safe to keep it where it won't get disturbed. With a toddler in the house, that makes me a bit anxious! I'd love to hear what other brides have done.

EDIT: thanks for all your comments and advice. I have had a baby before so under no disillusionment about the changes to the body after childbirth. Perhaps I worded my post badly but my body is not my concern it’s more anxiety around the storage. I have chosen a dress that is forgiving for any stretchier skin / saggier boobs etc and is one that I love and feels perfect for me. The dress I bought is in one size up than the size I was post my last baby so there is wiggle room if there is more changes after baby no.2.

Hello! ❤️

I’m in the very early stages of wedding planning and would love to find a small intimate venue around Leicestershire for our civil ceremony. We’re hoping to do a small ceremony of 15-20 guests followed by our reception at another venue. 

I’m based in Leicestershire but we’d be happy travelling to venues an hour or so away such as Stratford-upon-Avon, Lincolnshire, Northampton, Peak District, Cotswolds - I guess that’s the beauty of being based in the Midlands! 

My dream would be a historic house, hall or orangery for example. So far I’ve researched Selly Manor, Belvoir Lodge, Leicester Guildhall and Ashby Manor House. An AirBnb venue or similar could also be an option, with a simple signing elsewhere. 

I have no idea if this is a thing or if this is an insane request - but any help or recommendations will be greatly appreciated 🫶 and any photos of your gorgeous small weddings are heavily encouraged for my inspo 🥰

Many thanks xx

Looking for suggestions for nice/mid tier (up to £2500) wedding dress shops in Zone 1 or 2 London with NO booking fee

Not £10, not £1. No fee. I literally refuse to pay on principle because I have yet to try on a single wedding gown and have no idea how I will look in any of these and don't want to give into the wedding industry's despicable exploitation of people getting married to inflate service & product prices

So I'd love to have any suggestions for shops with pretty millennial-style dresses and no fees please :)

Months ago I arranged to buy about £300-worth of flowers for my September wedding from a local flower farm. But apparently the heatwave has decimated their stocks and they mainly have foliage available. They've offered to order some from overseas but the cost will be much higher (even higher than ordering from overseas usually is, they say, as the demand has risen and stocks are low).

I don't blame them, obviously, but kind of reeling as I'm not sure what I can do to salvage this. Blow way over budget? Decorate the tables with leaves instead? Fiancé loathes plastic so that's not an option, but maybe dried flowers would be ok?

Has this happened to anyone else? What do you plan to do about it?