If you’re getting hitched in haste, you’re not alone. Many UK couples end up having extremely short engagements for a number of reasons. If you need to get on with the essentials, such as booking a church and wedding photographer in Hampshire, take a look at our quick wedding checklist to make sure you have it all covered.

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The Official Bit

Whether you want to get married in a church or registry office, this is the first thing that you need to sort. Both churches and registry offices take bookings up to two years in advance and are on a first-come, first-served basis. Depending on how flexible you are with the time of day and especially the day of the week, you should easily be able to get booked in with just a month’s notice. Once this is booked, send a “save the date”, even if it’s via email or text, to all of your guests to be sure they can attend.

Budget and Basics

The best way to plan for a short-notice wedding is to not be too particular and go for a theme that is purposefully shabby chic or vintage. Work out your total budget and then put most of it towards the basics: venue, food, dress, and photographer. A simple venue such as a pub function room is a great choice for a short-notice wedding. For a weekday wedding, it’s always easy to find a local pub venue. Choose one meal for all your guests and stick whatever you have left of your budget behind the bar.

Good photographers such as newforeststudio.com get booked up early, but if you are getting married on a weekday, there’s a much higher chance you’ll be able to use the one you want.

Second-hand dresses are the secret to a short-notice wedding because they are a lot cheaper and don’t need to be tailored from scratch. Oxfam have a huge range of second-hand and vintage dresses priced around £100-£300. Keep the wedding party small and ask bridesmaids to buy their own dresses by just advising on a colour scheme.

Just be sure to have the essentials covered such as a good photographer, the ceremony and the venue. Anything that remains can go toward food, drink and a dress. Just remember to invite guests as soon as you have a date!

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