Muthablogga

As a bride you have probably started realising the same thing I did about 8 months ago, getting married is expensive. I started questioning, why this is the case. Weddings appear  have become an entire multimillion rand industry, generally aimed at tourists. Perhaps its cheap for a foreigners budget, but for us poor South Africans, it leaves the newly engaged couple with a sense of dread and the possibility of not being able to afford a honeymoon. Mutha to the rescue. As I love researching things and DIY-ing everything, I’ve already lowered my costs significantly. Below are list of some of my favourite service providers that’ll give you the sense of relief you have been looking for:

The first step in planning any wedding is of course looking at your budget and the number guests you are planning to have, personally I am keeping the guest list to a modest 60 to 70 people. Extended family and acquaintances can suck it up if they don’t like it, the cost is a little more than significant and being my practical self, I won’t not enjoy a wonderful honeymoon for their sakes. The venue fees and lunch or dinner might at first appear ‘cheap’. Don’t be fooled, while it looks like a total of around R 300 to R 400 per head, when you get around to considering all the other expenses involved it generally works out to more like +-R 1000 per head. If you are really clever and with a bit of hard work, you can possibly get this down to around R 600 to R 800 ( I certainly have!) including your dress and sparkles.

So this is the first and most important step, you will need a guest list and its a good idea to first discuss family with your partner and parents. If your parents want certain people that are not on your list, invited, and you are covering the wedding costs, its common courtesy for them to cover the bill for these insignificant randoms who will be hanging around on the big day.

Next, you’ll need a budget planner. Download your free budget planner and guest list manager  from www.perdekoop.co.za. You can tailor it to your needs. It certainly served me well, to arrive prepared, when looking at venues. If I had not had that little piece of paper everywhere we went, I would not have found, on further investigation, that most places, had a gazillion little hidden costs they would only normally tell you about after you have signed the papers. Caught a number of them out hiding more than 50% of costs originally given to me.

Now here’s where the real fun starts, based in Maitland and stocked with all sorts of things you may require at your wedding, www.merrypak.co.za. They have a much wider range in store than what is on their website. So do yourself a favour, before  having your budget ripped to shreds by your venues provided ‘party planner‘ ( they all insist you have one that they provide, for which you pay), take a trip to Merrypak, you will be surprised what you find, from paper, to cake décor and confetti!

Love roses? Don’t have a fortune to spend on them? Contact www.amazingflowers.co.za, in Paarl, currently R 40 will get you 20 heads. Now that is value for money!

A while ago, while my fiance and I were viewing one those heavily over priced wine estates as venue, I did manage to come away with the contact details of the place I will be hiring a lot of our decor from, Bunches for Africa. These guys have got ‘well priced’ down to a bunch of real, tangible good prices. They also supply flowers and are truly the best value for money I have found so far in Cape Town. Check out there website here: www.bunchesforafrica.com.

Got any other links DIY brides in Cape town will love and find useful? Let me know!