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How much (and little) a wedding can cost: A taste of luxury
You'll hopefully only have one, and so it's worth splashing out on your wedding day. But while some of us think nothing of spending £5 on a caviar vol-au-vent, others are happy to find a bridal bargain.
You'll hopefully only have one, and so it's worth splashing out on your wedding day. But while some of us think nothing of spending 5 on a caviar vol-au-vent, others are happy to find a bridal bargain.Main feature: How much (and little) a wedding can cost
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With this in mind, Hannah Gray went all-out to plan Peterborough's most expensive wedding:
"Money is no object" are not words that I get to use all that often, so trying to put together the most luxurious wedding on offer in the Peterborough area was the most fun I'd had for a while.
Once you've picked your venue everything else begins to fall into place – you need a bespoke handmade gown, a Rolls Royce and some classy evening entertainment for a wedding at a stately home.
Because this is a fantasy wedding it's probably not the full works – we haven't factored in bridesmaids and we've only budgeted for 50 guests – but this is a rough guide on how to get hitched in style. Where we were given rough prices, I have rounded up to give an idea of the highest cost.
The Venue: (assuming a Saturday or Sunday wedding), 9,482:
For the ultimate in luxury and elegance, Burghley House has to be the choice for the Peterborough area.
The house was built between 1555 and 1587 by Lord Burghley, High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I.
The exquisite Tudor architecture and breathtaking gardens have been used as film locations on many occasions. Most recently it appeared as Rosings in Pride and Prejudice and Castel Gandolfo in the Da Vinci Code.
For 5,000 plus VAT, (5,875 in total) couples get exclusive use of the house for their special day.
In the house, the Great Hall and the Orangery are licensed, and then a small summer house in the private gardens is also licensed, so there is flexibility about where to hold the ceremony and where to hold your reception.
The house's caterers do have menus they can work to, but couples are encouraged to take a bespoke approach and ask for exactly what they want. A guide price for food and drink is 65 per head, including VAT.
To allow couples total freedom, the venue does not make the marriage arrangements so a registrar would need to be booked from Peterborough
Registration Service. This would cost 300 for a weekday wedding, and 350 for a Saturday or Sunday. Couples usually opt for two copies of the certificate and this would cost 7.
For more information, call Burghley House on 01780 761992 or visit www.burghley.co.uk
Dress, 1,500:
Not for our luxury bride an off-the peg gown – we decided she should have a handmade bespoke dress.
Susannah Ross has been making wedding dresses for 14 years. No two of her dresses are the same and she sews every stitch herself.
She said that demand is still high for handmade gowns as women often find in shops that they like one element of a dress but not another – whereas with her service, they get to design the entire gown.
Susannah usually starts the process of designing and making the dress eight months in advance but some women book her services up to two years before the big day. She said that as each gown is different, it is very difficult to name a price but as a very rough guideline, the average ranges from 1,000 to 1,500.
Cake, 400:
The most expensive cake Janice Galbraith from Sugarcraft Sensations, in Stamford, has ever made was a six tier chocolate creation costing 600. For a slightly less elaborate although still luxurious three-tier fruit cake, iced and decorated with sugar flowers, the bill would be between 375 and 400. Janice takes orders up to a year in advance.
For more information, call 01780 766244 or visit www.sugarcraft-sensations.com
The Honeymoon (flying business class), 10,004:
A luxury wedding deserves a the kind of honeymoon dreams are made of – no weekend in Skegness here.
We asked Thomas Cook for its most
luxurious honeymoon package, and staff came up with 14 nights at one of the most beautiful hotels in the world, the five-star One&Only Maldives at Reethi Rah.
Set amid iridescent turquoise waters, this all-villa resort offers a level of style that is hard to beat, including a spa and fitness centre, tennis and watersports.
To stay at the One&Only Maldives at Reethi Rah on bed and breakfast basis, flying with Sri Lankan Airways between April 1 and June 30 this year would cost from 4,562 per person. An up-grade to business class would be 440 per person.
For more information, visit www.latitude-online.co.uk 0870 443 4483 or visit your nearest Thomas Cook or Going Places.
Car, 345:
You can't really arrive at Burghley house in a clapped out P-reg Ford Sierra – it would just look wrong.
So Trevor and Pat Baldwin's car hire
service could provide the answer, in the form of a very elegant 1949 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith.
This is proving to be their most popular car of the moment.
"It's very regal, it looks like a royal car. It's a limousine, it's got ivory leather upholstery," Trevor said.
The couple have already got 80 weddings booked this year.
Hiring a car from them would cost around 345. This is an all-inclusive service with no sneaky hidden charges for mileage.
The car will be driven by a uniformed chauffeur and will start the day by making as many trips between the bride's pick-up point and the venue as is practical.
For more information, call 01733 262 680 or visit www.peterboroughweddingcars.co.uk
Entertainment, 1,000:
A classy venue like Burghley House calls for something a bit more upmarket than the bridesmaids dancing round their handbags to Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex.
So we decided some jazz was called for. To book the Gershwin Gang, a trio of musicians who will perform popular jazz numbers, would cost around 1,000.
For more information, call 0800 430940.
Photographer, 1,500:
A high quality wedding deserves only the best photographer, so we put in a call to Karen Harvey. She is an Associate of the British Institute of Professional Photographers and has a first class honours degree in in photography.
Karen's prices start at 800, but for a full day experience, with Karen following the bride before the wedding and then saying at the reception until the early evening, it would cost 1,500.
"The way I look at weddings is different, it's not just about lining everybody up so you can see what they're wearing. It's a documentary of the whole day. It's something special they can look at," she said.
For more information, call Karen on 01945 860422 or 07971 849355.
Flowers, 263:
A quality wedding calls for some quality blooms. Lizz Feagans from Flowers by Lizz said orchids are most expensive flowers for bridal bouquets.
A trailing, teardrop-style bouquet would cost in the region of 170. To ensure the chaps aren't left out, an orchid button hole for the groom and best man would come to around 18. For more information, call Lizz on 07730 681070.
Wedding rings, 3,100:
No luxurious wedding is complete without some serious bling. Beaverbooks in Queensgate has a chunky 18 carat yellow gold band with two diamonds for 1,750 for the groom and a 18 carat white gold diamond set band for 1,350 for her.
TOTAL = 27,594
What do you think? Did your wedding cost the more or less than you planned?
Comment below, email us: features@peterboroughtoday.co.uk or telephone the newsdesk 01733 555111.
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