As far as I know (which isn’t very far), there are no hard and fast rules or traditions to be followed when naming your tables. Excellent.

Cue creativity.

So, what options are there? Should the table names hold some kind of meaning, should they fit within a theme?

I’ve heard of couples naming their tables after places they have visited together. Unfortunately for C and I, this isn’t likely. When I met him, he didn’t even have a passport. Shocker eh?! He can list the places visited on one hand.

That said, I suppose there are several places of meaning to us – place that we met, our first flat, first holiday or even places we plan on visiting. So perhaps places would be a good idea.

Or cocktails. Oh I like cocktails. But, C doesn’t. He likes whisky.

Favourite bands. Erm, we both have very different tastes when it comes to that – sure we like some of the same stuff – but C is a bit of a snob when it comes to music (although personally I think the fact that he spends most Saturday nights watching X-factor brings him down a notch or two).

Retro sweeties from our childhood – I mean, we are both children of the 80′s and there were some pretty darn good sweets. Sherbit dips, chelsea whoppers, dib dabs, space invaders. But does this seem to be getting done a bit much? It would be good to add in some sweeties on the table (oh I want sweeties now!)

Famous couples, ok so perhaps not entirely meaningful – but we all talk about celebs at some point don’t we?

Wow this is actually quite difficult.

Any unusual ideas or inspiration for our table names greatly appreciated!

I’ve read a couple of posts recently talking about who should pay for what when it comes to a couples wedding. With the ever increasing costs associated with a wedding, I’m sure most couples would agree, that all help is greatly received, but I think it’s up to all concerned whether they would like to contribute.

I’ve heard of couples paying for the whole thing themselves whilst others follow the more traditional route where the bride’s father foots the entire bill. When you consider that the average wedding costs in excess of £15K, it’s a hefty bill for one person to be left with!

I must admit, we are extremely lucky and very thankful that my parents have offered to pay for a large portion of our wedding. With a house and a baby and a recently redundant groom to be, saving has taken a back seat for us at the moment, so my parent’s contribution will be massively helpful.

I would never expect them to pay for it all, it was our choice to get married and it was our choice to pick the beautiful St Andrews in the Square as our venue (and after seeing it, I’m sure you would agree!) – sure we could arrange to do things much cheaper – but we both only plan on doing it the once, and agree that we would rather get the day we wanted and have as many of our friends and close family that we can afford there.

When it came down to finalising a budget, we sat down together, excel and checklist at the ready and worked out what was most important to us. Weddings can be a money crazy time. With all the fabulous wedding decorations, fancy stationery and vintage wedding cars that are available, I can totally understand how couples spend obscene amounts on their wedding to make sure that each and every whim is catered for.

For us though, we do have a budget. And a pretty darn strict one at that. There are areas extremely important to us, and other details not so much. There are certain elements of the wedding that we will do ourself to save some cash and other decorations that we want to be involved in, simply beacause we can. There are some that would be lovely to do, but simply not high enough up the list to warrant spending cold hard cash on them.

And my point (I’m sure there was one when I started writing!), is that there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to these things. Simple eh.