Your cost saving ideas
Most of these tips are from KT and Steven Allen who had a beautiful wedding for less than £5,000. If you have any more tips on how to save money at your wedding, please tell us and we’ll use the best ones on this page.
Reception: Churches usually have church halls which can often serve as a very nearby reception venue. Andrew and Fenella Pritchard, who married in Shepherd’s Bush, London, did just that. And rather than going to an expensive hotel, KT and Steve found a stylish pub that offered a free room if the buffet and DJ were bought from them.
Rings: KT recommends buying plain rings from a high-street jewellers and getting engraving done at the shoe repairers. "Ours were just as good and solid," she said.
Honeymoon: "You can get big discounts if you buy last minute on the Internet. We went for one week instead of two to cut the cost and had somewhere extra special," said KT.
Photography: KT found her photographer online, they asked for digital photos on a CD-ROM and printed only the photos they really wanted themselves, at a fraction of the cost of an album.
Dress: "I bought a stunning ex-display dress for half the price," said KT. "It was just as good as new and the shop dry cleaned it before selling."
Cake: KT hired a three tier stand, bought wedge-shape cake boxes from a craft shop and wrapped M&S fruitcake inside, then arranged them in circles for guests to help themselves at the reception. "It made sure everyone actually got a piece too!" said KT.
Clothing: Steve hired the wedding suits and shoes. The bridesmaid’s dresses were bought from a high street retailer and trimmings were sewn on to match with the wedding colour scheme. KT’s wedding underwear was from George at Asda. "They actually did a bridal selection at the time," she said.
Flowers: Ebay supplied the high quality artificial flowers that KT bought for her wedding and only the bride and bridesmaids flowers were needed.
Hairdressing: "We asked a home-visit hairdresser who didn’t have a salon, to come to the house on the morning of the wedding. It was much cheaper than salon prices," said KT.
Sit down meal: KT and Steve chose not to have this as they thought it was too expensive. Instead, they invited guests back to their house after the church service where they served wine and champagne. As guest mingled, KT had set up a computer slideshow in each room of pictures of Steve and herself growing up. They had a buffet later at the reception.
Wedding Planner: "There’s no need to buy a specially made Wedding Planner book," suggests KT. "Just buy a plain book and use it to list what you need.
Wedding transport: KT suggests scouring the Internet for the cheapest deals if you want a horse and carriage. Barter with local suppliers for a discount because they have less far to travel to the wedding. Similarly, barter with local wedding car and limousine companies. "They charge by the hour, so we hired two for just 30 minutes for transport to the reception," said KT.
Gifts: "We gave the best man a pocket watch and the bridesmaids a gold cross, each from a high street jewellers. They were threaded with ribbon to match the wedding colour scheme," said KT. For the wedding favours, they made some by placing sugared almonds in tiny nets, but some were also purchased off Ebay.
Little extras: "We released butterflies at our wedding for an extra special photo moment, but they were surprisingly inexpensive" said KT. The butterflies were ordered on the Internet and arrived via post in a specially cooled container which makes the insects sleep. Once warmed up, the butterflies awake and are ready to be released. The couple also had a piper at the wedding, who agreed to play for free because he was also doing their photography. KT’s bartering skills pay off again.
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Did You Know ?
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