Five ways to get hitched on a budget

We actually got married on Valentine's Day, but by getting married at our local church and making sure we were both on the parish register some time in advance of making the arrangements, we got the church, the organist, the church choir and the heating (which was an extra charge) for just under £600. We bought brocaded silk fabric at a large, but cheap, fabric shop for £23 a metre and then, having done some sewing before, I made my wife's dress myself and thus we got the dress for the price of the fabric alone. We got her veil, shoes and various other bits and pieces at a charity shop. We sat down with the bridesmaids and once we had sorted out a colour which each of them already owned a dress in, they wore their own dresses. I produced the wedding programmes myself using the printer, photocopier and stapler at work (in exchange for me contributing a box of paper to the stores cupboard). Our wedding cake was a present from my wife's sister and the champaigne was a gift from my brother. We checked the prices of photographers and then approached a friend of the family who has his own part time photography business. As we were friends he charged us half his normal price. As we were working on a tight budget, we decided against a reception in a hall and instead went for a buffet reception at our house. The bridesmaids and best man had given us a gift of £25 apiece and by doing our shopping at Macro we managed to get most of the food and drink we needed using the £125 from our bridesmaids and best man. In addition to this, a number of guests brought trays of food with them, in leiu of wedding presents. Like Browncoatemsy, we opted for a black cab (in this case a white one) rather than a fancy car for £70 for an hour and a quarter (allowing my wife, her father and the bridesmaids to be delivered to the church and us to be taken home afterwards. Rather than go on an expensive overseas honeymoon, instead we got a last minute type deal and had a very pleasant long weekend in a very nice hotel in Leicestershire, followed by a relaxing week at home. All up, including suit hire, gifts for the best man and bridesmaids and everything already mentioned, we managed to get married for a total cost of around £1500, somewhat less than 10% of what we we told was the average price of a wedding at that time.

I actually found e-bay invaluable - brand new dress from a wedding shop that was closing for £80, shoes £25 (£55 in shops), tiara £10, various decorative bits & bobs. Also very cheap vases from Ikea - 50p each. Card/paper from craftcreations.com for making invites/menus/table plan Friend of a friend who was doing a photography course for half the price of a professional. He did a great job and is now a professional. Ivy from the garden for decorating. Instead of a fancy car, we hired a metallic red 'black cab' done up as wedding car for £60 - less than 1/2 the price of the next cheapest.