Tips for having your dream Wedding on a budget

Please don't be misled by the title, if your dream is to get married in a castle and you have a £5000 budget then be prepared to compromise or to carry on saving! This post is more suitable for people like myself that had dreams of a big wedding, a pretty small budget and the ability to compromise!

Pinterest is your best friend

Be prepared to lose your evenings and weekends. On the run up to our wedding almost all of my free time was spent making things. I made my bouquet, I made the boutineers, I made signs for the reception and even though I was stressed out I still enjoyed the whole process.
If you're less creative then try enlisting friends to help you out with things like centrepieces and invitations, just promise that you will repay the favour and help them out with your own skills and expertise.

Buy an off the rack dress

Either in a specific off the rack wedding dress shop or depending on your personality it can be a vintage dress, high street dress or even a hand made dress from a seamstress.
My dress was a very reasonably priced off the rack dress, I then had alterations done professionally and when I picked the dress up it fitted my body perfectly!
If you are buying off the rack I definitely recommend having alterations done. For a small fee your dress will be adapted to your exact figure.
If you're like me and your body fluctuates a lot, have your alterations done about a month before so you don't have to worry about your dress being too tight/loose on the big day!

Do your own hair or makeup

I trust my makeup skills but not my hair styling skills, so I booked a hairdresser appointment for the morning of my wedding but saved money by doing my own makeup.
If you decide on doing either then make sure to have several practises, photograph yourself, wear it for the day and properly put it to the test.
If you're less skilled with makeup but still plan on doing your own on the big day then I recommend visiting makeup counters for a quick lesson and also to invest in great makeup products that will look amazing all day long. For both hair and makeup the obvious tip is to watch a lot of YouTube videos, there are vast amounts of videos of step by step bridal looks that are so informative and there is something for every style and personality.

Shop around for everything!

Don't just panic buy the first thing that you see. Make a habit of shopping around, checking online and asking friends for advice when it comes to making purchases.
Even if you end up saving a small amount per item, it all adds up in the end.

Invest in an event planner
This is something that not many people even consider but for me it made a huge difference. We planned our wedding in seven months, which absolutely flew by!
Venues were booked up, caterers weren't replying to me, I was in full panic mode.
Once we had our wedding planner on board everything fell in to place. Within our first meeting she had found us multiple venue options and we went from thinking we were never going to find a reception venue, to being completely spoiled for choice!
You are paying for their imagination, remember they do this for a living. They know every trick, every secret venue, they have relationships with all of the local caterers and photographers. Hiring an event planner will elevate so much stress and ultimately save you a lot of money on things that you and me could never even dream of.
You tell them your budget and they plan your wedding within that budget!
I was helped by Helen from Opulence Wedding and Event planning.

Go to wedding fayres

Not only is this really fun to do and great for helping you get ideas for your big day, but vendors will give you amazing deals.
If you book things on the day, or later on using a flyer that they provide then you can save massive amounts. Another bonus is meeting the vendors face to face, immediately checking availability and being able to build a relationship. 

Don't be extra

... but don't compromise on what is important to you. For example we wanted the wedding car and video but we didn't get a band or an expensive evening venue. You need to choose what is the most important thing for you and cut out things that don't mean as much.

Be true to yourself
This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with money and budgeting but I think it's the most important thing for me to say.
Remember that it is your wedding, a reflection of yours and your significant others personalities and relationship.
In the run up to my wedding my mental health was destroyed and I let people talk me in to things that didn't reflect my wants. It's your day, don't let people walk all over you, sway you and try to guilt trip you.
Your happiness always comes first!





Thank you for reading and good luck with your wedding planning fun. Being married to your significant other is the best feeling in the world!

10 Tips for saving money in your 20's

In this post I'm not necessarily referring to saving £5 a month, I'm going to show you some ways we've managed to free up hundreds of pounds a month extra that we are throwing towards our debt. Whether you're paying off debt, starting your retirement or saving for something big, these tips will help you on your way.

Use what you have
This can be tins of food that are stuck in the back of the kitchen cupboard, a dress that you've forgotten about that still has the tags on or a bottle of shampoo that you never finished. Before you go out and buy something I want you to really think about if it's necessary or if you can use something that you already own!

Learn to differentiate a want from a need
I want a coffee machine, but I certainly don't need one. No matter if it's a big expense or a small one, if you can't justify it then don't buy it. Be honest with yourself and only buy the things that you actually need. But make sure that you're getting the best deals on the things that you do need.

Don't be a slave to fast fashion
This will always be a struggle for me. If you're also obsessed with shopping and getting the latest 'it' dress, jeans or shoes I want you to think about some clothes that you bought a few months ago. I guarantee you that there will be clothes that you were in love with at the time but now you don't even think about wearing them.
This is fast fashion, we are told and shown what to wear but as soon as we've spent our money on the item there's suddenly something else that's newer and better!
I recommend stopping this completely and setting yourself either a modest monthly clothing budget or a seasonal budget. From now on, each season I'm going to buy a few key pieces and not allow myself to buy any clothes spontaneously!

Cut down on salon trips

I haven't paid for a haircut in over a year! I've had some really ugly stages since growing out my buzz cut, but I've also had some cute stages and most of the time I could style it to hide how unsymmetrical it was. I'm not suggesting that you never cut or dye your hair again, just be smart about it and choose a haircut that doesn't need regular expensive trips to the salon. Remember this is only temporary while you save, save, save! 

Get on a budget
If you're going to follow any of these tips make sure this is one of them! Making a budget, tracking every outgoing and seeing all of your money on paper is so beneficial. It's motivating and it will take the stress out of paying your bills.
I'm going to write a full post on how my husband and I do our budgeting but for now I'll link some that inspire us...
OurFreakingBudget.com
Dave Ramsey budget
Frugal Fanatic - these printables are amazing!

Write out shopping lists
As well as writing out your monthly budget, it's important to write out your weekly shopping list and modify it as you go. Each week we will write down our usual list of food and then we'll rummage through our fridge, freezer and cupboards to make sure we're not buying anything we already have. Before we were tracking our money we would go food shopping several nights a week without a clear plan. We've gone from spending £70 a week to £20 - £30, it's a huge difference!
We shop primarily at Aldi now and we'll go to Asda for the special buys on tins of beans and their frozen vegan stuff. Going once a week with a list that we stick to has made life so much easier and it's become a challenge to spend as little as possible! Any money we save on food we put towards paying off debt, that's enough motivation for me to put back the tub of vegan ice cream!

Stop smoking and cut down on drinking
These are pretty obvious. When I became gazelle intense with sorting out our finances I stopped smoking. It sucks and I crave it most days but knowing that we have around £50 extra a month makes it a lot easier!
Same goes for drinking, be smart and frugal. Either don't drink at all or choose cheaper options on the occasions that you do.

Charity shops
For any necessary spends that come up through the month, consider going to charity shops or shopping on Gumtree. For clothes try going to charity shops in wealthy areas, so much of the stuff will be brand new with the tags still on! For furniture and home stuff I'll either use Gumtree or charity shops in poorer areas and try upcycling to save money.
After moving in to our house and ripping out the ugly 70's gas fire, I was checking Gumtree once a week to try and find a bargain. We ended up finding our beautiful marble effect mantel for absolutely free!! That saved us around £300.

Think for a week before buying
This one is self explanatory, don't spontaneously buy things. Think about it either over night or for a week, whatever works best for you! This will just give you time to know that you need what you're buying rather than just buying something in the moment.

Get extra income
Sell things, get a side job, work overtime.
Do whatever it takes to make more than your usual pay check. Just work like crazy, remember what I said earlier, this is only temporary and it's worth it to achieve your goals!

Thank you for reading and let me know if you have any other tips!

Instagram @wolvesandflames

Tips for Charity shop success

I've been obsessed with Charity shops forever.
I love finding one off timeless pieces, but it's also great for finding current trends without spending a lot of money on something that you mightn't get much wear out of.
People are often asking me how I find such great stuff and honestly it's always a hit and miss, so I thought I'd share with you some of my tips and tricks!

My fave find of the week £1

Look through everything
I can spend hours going from one charity shop to another and I always make sure that I search the entire place. The Mens section is great for finding flamboyant shirts, cool alternative tee's, hoodies, flannels and often the pricing is even cheaper in this section.
Another favourite of mine is to look through the accessories, I love finding interesting hats, bags and cool sunglasses.
If you're in to interior design I reccomend rummaging through the home ware shelves as well. Most of the artwork on my walls are thrifted (can I use that word if I'm English?) and there are always cool nik naks and antiques to be found!
Just be sure to scan through the whole shop if you're eager to find amazing pieces!

Be creative
With the prices being so low, it's good to think outside of the box. Think about if you could alter a piece if it's too big or small, or if something could be cropped or altered to fit you better. Another idea is to buy a cheap denim or leather jacket and customise it with pins, patches or even paint it!
Recently I found a satin slip dress and it was waaay big, I ended up cutting it in to a vest and for £2 it was definitely cheaper than the high street alternatives.

Use the fitting rooms
I like to completely ignore the sizing when charity shopping and instead I'll just try on everything that I've picked up. It's tempting to just grab a load of clothes and buy them straight away since it's so cheap but make sure you use the fitting rooms.
I think it's best to set yourself aside a few hours to check in all of the charity shops and remember to wear something that's comfy and easy to take on and off so you stay motivated. Honestly I'm always motivated by the amazing pieces that I find! I'm constantly being laughed at by the people who work there for overloading of my arms with clothes.

The shorts were £2

Visit different locations
It's a lot easier now that we have a car, but I've always made the effort to travel to different high streets where I know that there are several charity shops.
By my house the charity shops are really cheap and the clothes aren't usually that great, but if I travel to higher income areas it will cost more but the variety of donated clothes will be awesome!
It's always exciting to find designer pieces and clothes that are currently trendy and expensive on the high street.
If you're interested in vintage clothing then definitely visit up and coming areas with a hipster vibe, the clothes will be cost more than your usual charity shop finds but when comparing it to normal vintage shop prices it's usually still a bargain!

Both jackets were £4

Buy for others
earn instant brownie points by picking stuff up that you know friend's or family members will love. I will often find amazing pieces that I love but I know I probably won't get much wear out of, so I like to pass them on to my mum or other family and friends to see the clothes go to a good home!

I think charity shops are great for pushing your style and really experimenting with what you wear, so have fun and think outside the box!
All of the stuff in the photo's is what I've found this week alone and as you can see I'm in three stripe heaven at the minute!

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any other tricks that you like to follow!

Instagram @wolvesandflames

Tips for growing out a buzzcut

As you can probably tell I am well on my way to growing out my buzzcut.
It's been five months since I last shaved my hair to a number two and I am lucky to have hair that grows thick and fast, but I've still been looking up tips and making an effort to encourage my hair to grow as fast as possible (Come through hair!).


Keep it healthy
We have the amazing opportunity to start all over again with our hair! So it only makes sense to make a huge effort to look after it and make sure it stays as healthy as possible. I've invested in a new conditioner, deep conditioner and Moroccan oil so that I can create a new routine and have my natural, soft hair for the first time since I discovered straighteners in high school!


Embrace your natural oils
Although I'm starting the conditioning routine, I also want to calm down on the amount of times I wash my hair. Our scalp produces oil for a reason, so let it do it's job and keep your hair happy. When I had the buzzcut I was washing my hair daily, so I'm trying to get out of the habit of sticking my head under the shower head! Maybe I should buy a shower cap.

Stock up on hair product and accessories
When my hair was first growing I was so relieved to have my Superdrug styling wax, it made calming my hair and keeping it in the right place so much easier. I tried a styling putty initially but with my thick hair wax or gel is the best bet. When your hair grows a little longer it's good to have a selection of clips, hairbands, bandana's and hats. There was a bad two week period of my hair growth that I had to constantly wear a wig or a hat because it was out of control!


Fight the mullet
The hair at the nape of your neck is going to constantly look longer than the rest so I can't reccomend enough getting regular hair cuts. Trimming the back every two weeks is best for keeping the mullet in check. I couldn't be bothered taking regular trips to the hairdressers, so I just got my boyfriend Mike to cut it in to a straight line and that kept it looking neat and a bit more like an intentional haircut. I'm at the point now that I don't need to trim it anymore if I don't want to, so I'm excited to see how quickly I can grow it in to a bob.

Stay inspired
Through the entire hair growth journey I have been following people on Instagram who are also in the process of growing out their buzzcut. It's encouraging to see other peoples progress and it's definitely good to get inspiration from their look and how they are styling their hair during the process.


Have patience
It's obvious, but you really do need to be patient and just enjoy every step of the growth process. Have an idea of how you want to grow your hair, but don't be upset when it takes a few months to see the change. I've had my goal photo of Winona Ryder (this one) on my vision board since April and it defintely keeps me psyched and it just reminds me where I want to be!
My goal was to have a bob by October when I go on my trip to London with my Mum and I think I can do it!

Let me know if you have any tips for hair growth that I haven't listed!
Thanks for reading!

Satin vest - Charity shop
Crop leggings - Primark

Instagram @wolvesandflames

My Vegan story

It's my two year Vegan anniversary, so I thought I would reflect and tell the story of how and why I ditched meat, dairy and eggs! I'm not exaggerating when I say that going Vegan is the best thing I have ever done. It has overhauled my health and finally my beliefs and my actions are in line.

I don't know what it was that made me type "Vegan documentary" in to the YouTube search bar.
Honestly, I had completely ruined my attempt at a healthy eating New Years resolution and I was hoping to get some nutritional advice that would inspire me to get off the couch and to stop eating takeaways four times a week (yes I really was that bad)!
I expected to watch doctors talking about the benefits of fruits and veggies but instead I clicked on Earthlings and I came face to face with the truth and found out how humans actually treat animals.

After sobbing uncontrollably for the full duration of the film, I knew immediately that I would never eat meat again. I was heartbroken, angry and devastated that I had funded these industries for so long without ever making the connection. I looked over at my four month old German Shepherd Sabbath sleeping and I couldn't believe that whilst I was loving and caring for him, I was eating the corpses of animals just like him.

I was funding their torture and murder.

I spent the next few weeks Googling recipes and watching video's, making sure that I was completely educated on the subject. Luckily I found Freelee the banana girl and I went from living on low cal soups and hummus, to eating an abundance of fruit and feasting on as much rice and pasta as I could handle! I'm going to list some tips that I think will help people wanting to make the switch to Veganism...

Get educated

It can be difficult to learn the truth, but I do really reccomend that you watch as many documentaries and speeches about Veganism as you can. When people first hear that you're Vegan they are likely to have questions and it's important to know all of the answers! Seriously, I am at my most eloquent when discussing animal rights, I'm just so passionate about informing people and helping out our animal friends.

Expect the detox

I know people say it all of the time as a joke, but milk and cheese are addictive and so it is likely that your body will struggle when you give it up. I experienced headaches, lethargy, weakness and it was as if I had the flu. This lasted for about seven days and then I started to reap the benefits of the lifestyle and my energy bounced back.

Eat enough

Cutting meat, dairy and eggs from your diet can seriously reduce your calorie intake and so you have to be really aware of what you're replacing them with. It's important to properly keep track of your calorie intake and check that you're meeting your nutritional needs so I reccomend that you download an app that tracks your daily intake. I also reccomend eating as many potatoes as you want, they are the delicious staple of my diet!

Be easy on yourself

If you're starving and your only option is a packet of crisps that have that sneaky ingredient Milk powder inside, then please don't starve. In the beginning it can be tough remembering to bring snacks with you when none will be available, but don't sweat it, it gets easier and soon you won't leave the house without a banana in your bag. In the beginning I kept cheating and eating chocolate bars, but after a while the thought of any animal product became repulsive to me and once I had stocked up on Vegan chocolate bars there were no more slip up's!

Awesome documentaries to watch...

Earthlings
Forks over knives
Cowspiracy
Vegucated
Food matters
Gary Yourofsky - Best speech ever

Instagram @wolvesandflames