TSB are currently trying to highlight some of the top obstacles facing newlyweds so soon after the large expense of their big day. Working with TSB I have been asked to share with you how we worked hard to pay for our Wedding Day . . .
Before Hubby and I married, I remember people used to say to us how they were waiting to set a date until they had saved enough money to get married or buy their first home together but I admit it, we didn’t want to wait that long. With Hubby already having Curly, we didn’t want to wait too long to start a family because of the age gap between the children. We bit the bullet and booked the date so that we had something to work hard towards.
We started out small by having regular clearouts of our belongings, it’s amazing how rubbish you can accumulate as you move from house to house. We all seem to have these cupboards and drawers that can probably go for a weeks, months, years with things in them which never see the light of day. Each weekend we would get up stupidly early, wrap ourselves in layer upon layer of clothes and head off to sell our unwanted clothing and treasures at car boot sales. It failed to amaze us what people would buy, the things you think will sell like hot-cakes, carry back and forth with you for weeks on end and things you consider throwing in the rubbish bin get people almost fighting over them. Hubby even mentioned our car boot sales in his Wedding Speech as he wanted to thank all the car booters who were willing to buy up my fashion faux-pas purchases circa 1990 to 2000, cheeky monkey!
Now I would love to tell you that we were able to fund our wedding just from car boot sales but we didn’t make that much money. Hubby and I used to work together before I became a stay at home Mum. We worked in the Motor Trade for a group of 6 dealerships. One day whilst talking to the Managing Director he commented on the price he had been quoted to have one of the dealerships redecorated and thought it was extortionate so I walked away, mind buzzing with an idea. I spoke to Hubby (then Fiancee) later at home and we put forward an offer to do the decorating at weekends for half the price of the quote (which was still very good in our eyes). Over the next year we decorated three of the dealerships throughout the showrooms and backstage in all of the offices, stairwells and storerooms, all the while forging ahead with our wedding plans.
We received help from our parents too, my Mum paid for my wedding dress and flowers and gave us a cheque too and Hubby’s parents gave us a cheque towards expenses too but the actual wedding reception, the biggest expense we paid for ourselves and this made us both love our day even more. Our honeymoon in Venice and Sorrento was paid for by our wedding guests.
Hubby and I went about things slightly different to many couples since we had both owned homes separately prior to being a couple. We bought our first ‘family’ home before we were married so when we returned home from honeymoon to find out we were pregnant our finances were already in order. For many newlyweds it can be quite daunting to make that first step onto the mortgage ladder but TSB are on hand with their first time buyers page to make their dreams into a reality and provide valuable advice and support.