Hi,
As a lot of you know, I wanted (and needed) to clothe myself and all four kids on a budget for the recent Wedding we attended.
I planned to do this by buying as little as I could, making do with what we already had.
For myself, I wore a dress I have owned for quite some time. My Dead Thread Cherry Dice Print Dress. It’s not a traditional look for a wedding, but I don’t seem to suit traditional.
I love this dress, as I can wear it to parties, gigs, festivals and even a wedding, just by dressing it up in different ways.
Danny was also sorted, he had smart grey trousers from Next and a shirt and tie from Peacocks. He needed a new jacket or something to wear over his shirt, I found this Skull Knitted Jacket again from Peacocks, in the sale for £5. Again, not everyone would wear skulls to a wedding, but that’s the way we roll! 😉
Ignore the fruit shoot bottle! As I explained in the wedding post, we were in a rush to get ready and had less time for photos than we hoped.
Then there were the girls.
Isabelle wore a lovely dress from Tesco Baby Boutique that she was given for Christmas. It was in the sale and again a good price. Her shrug is also Tesco Boutique, and was passed onto her from her big sisters.
Her bib (which I should have taken off for the picture but I wanted her to keep clean for the wedding) was from Next.
Caitlyn was fortunate to recently be given a lot of “hand me downs” from her slightly older cousin, Cerys. Lots of lovely clothes from Next, Tesco, George at Asda, M&S to name a few. I immediately spotted two prom dresses and put them aside for the wedding. I wanted one for her to wear on the day and one for a spare (just in case and yes she did need to use it!).
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Caitlyn (front of photo) |
Here she is, in her first dress, a “Pre-loved” Next Blue Cat Print Prom Dress. I only had to buy her a new White Shrug from Next for £7. She has already had good use out of this shrug.
Then, when she needed a change, she wore another “Pre-loved” Next Blue Stripe Prom Dress.
Rebecca had grown out of all her party and smart dresses, so we did have to look for a new dress for her. We thought about these dresses…
But, eventually decided on this one:
Which, you can see, she loved!
Rebecca on the right |
It was only £16. A bargain! It will be worn at many a party…and passed onto Caitlyn then Isabelle.
She wore it with this Cream Shrug.
I ordered Rebecca’s outfit, along with Caitlyn’s Shrug and, as always, the parcel was delivered the next day by the friendly Next Courier (who I have got to know well over the years).
Living in a rural area, it can be hard to find the clothes you want, so I find Next Online really helpful. I always used to buy my Petite Worksuits from there, and Next sell the best quality school uniform that I have found so far.
My mum offered to buy the girls shoes for the wedding as an Easter present. I just gave her the description “White Sandals“, she chose very well. White Flower Sandals, again from Next. The younger sizes come with a velcro fastening and the larger shoe sizes came with a buckle fastening.
So, there is no need to splash out on brand new outfits for all the family for a wedding. The most important thing is being there to celebrate the special day with the bride and groom, not how much money you’ve spent on your family outfits.
I hope this post helps others who have got a wedding coming up soon.
love
Claire
xxx
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Hello, your outfits all look lovely, I'm quiet partial to jumbles and charity shops, have found some of our best clothes very cheaply, love it 🙂
Hi, yes definitely a good idea to hunt the charity shops first if you have time. So often, "nice dresses" get worn once then given away. We don't, all these dresses will get worn and worn lol xxx
I hate weddings but I loved the thrifty outfits, especially your dress, I decline every wedding I'm invited to….. eugh!
Hi,I know what you mean. We only go if we love the Bride or Groom or both and need a good excuse to see them anyway! 😉 I liked FosterMummy's post today about her Wedding, we're probably going to do something like that if we do eventually do the deed. The only thing I would quite like is good music…and a bouncy castle as when we got engaged the kids asked would there be a bouncy castle at our wedding lol. So, I'd like to get one for them, even if it's just in the garden. xxx
The girls all look really lovely, bet they really enjoyed getting all dressed up!