Saw this in the newspaper and thought some brides on here may be interested. Weddings don't need big budgets!
'My £21,000 dream wedding only cost me £2,000': Thrifty bride reveals how she used coupons and discounts to pay for her big day
Katie Slaney, 32, an analyst from Bromley, Kent, married 31-year-old Phil Mother-of-two was determined not to get into debt to pay off one day Wedding dress purchased online from China for £100 and shoes for £20 Bought all of the booze for just £100 by using discount codes and coupons Served 100 guests a beautiful afternoon tea for just £10 per head All of the decorations were handmade or recycled
A budget-busting bride has bagged herself a £21,000 wedding of her dreams - but only had to spend £2,000 for it.
Savvy saver Katie Slaney, 32, from Bromley, Kent, was determined to have a lavish wedding but without the extortionate price tag so set about saving, making and borrowing for her dream day.
Beautiful bride Katie shunned a traditional horse and carriage - which can cost upwards of £1000 - for a £10 taxi to the church, and the entire wedding party then WALKED from the church to the reception.
Katie was determined not to let the big day leave her in debt
Mother-of-two Katie, an analyst, is always keen to save money - especially after having her two young daughters, Ella, three, and Lotta, 15 months - and regularly uses discount codes and coupons for her weekly shop.
Katie was delighted when long-term partner 31-year-old Phil proposed - but she was adamant that she wouldn’t be spending the £21,427 average price tag to achieve her dream wedding.
Katie said: 'Phil and I have been together for ten years and have two young children and we hadn’t previously managed to find the time or money to get married.
'For us the marriage was the important part not spending thousands on a wedding, and we didn’t want to be in debt for four or five years trying to pay off one day.'
All the decor was handmade by Katie, who used recycled jam jars for the table dressing; The flowers came from a Covent Garden market stall and cost £150 Katie handmade the confetti using dried wild flowers and did her own hair and makeup
Katie managed to organise her whole wedding for a fraction of the cost the average bride would pay by calling in favours, shopping around, and using saving vouchers and coupons.
Katie spent hours in the run up to her wedding making handmade confetti from dried rose petals and wild flowers, which she picked with her children as well as making her own wedding cake - the NIGHT BEFORE the big day.
Katie’s beautiful cream lace dress was made to measure and cost Katie a cool £100, from an online retailer in China, where she also bought her £20 shoes.
She also cut costs by doing all of her hair and makeup herself.
She said: 'I know what I like and I didn’t want to splash out for someone else to do it.'
Instead of heading for a Champagne reception guests walked to three different local pubs
Guests walked to the local pubs for pork scratchings and a pint and then to the village hall for the wedding reception
'Money saving sites like Voucher Codes Pro became my saviour for finding all the best money off deals,' she said.
'I would browse the site each night to see what new offers were on - I managed to get all of our booze for just £100 by using discount codes and coupons.'
Katie managed to feed her 100 guests a beautiful afternoon tea for just £10 a head, after finding vintage catering company Greenwich Tea Party online.
Instead of the traditional champagne and canapes after the ceremony, Katie and Phil took their guests for a pint and a packet of pork scratchings on a pub crawl, with the 100-strong wedding party walking five minutes down the road to three local pubs before heading to the village hall.
The couple asked a friend to DJ at the wedding reception and Katie created a homemade photobooth - with wigs and accessories bought from the pound shop.
'I used Pinterest a lot for inspiration, as I still wanted it to be a classy event. All of the decorations were handmade, or recycled, including empty jam jars for the flowers on the tables.
'I went for a rustic vintage theme, which I just loved.'
After the wedding Katie and Phil enjoyed a relaxing honeymoon to the Isle of Wight for four days, paid for by donations from family and friends.
Katie said: 'I had imagined my wedding for a while but I can’t believe we actually managed to pull it off without breaking the bank.'
'The wedding was wonderful and absolutely the best day of my life and it was so much sweeter knowing we hadn’t spent money we didn’t have.'
KATIE AND PHIL'S BUDGET WEDDING: £2,020
Venue: £300
Church fees with organist: £350
Catering: £1,000 (negotiated service and crockery to be thrown in for free)
Photography: FREE from a friend
Flowers: £150 - from a market stall in Covent Garden
Cake: FREE - made by Katie, using ingredients she already had
Entertainment: FREE - friend DJ’d as a favour and made their own photobooth
Dress: £100 from online company from China
Shoes £20 from online company from China
Stationary: FREE- hand made by Katie
Hair for bridal party: FREE- Katie and guests did their own
Make up for bridal party: FREE Katie and guests did their own
Transport: FREE- walked from Church to reception and arrived
Open bar for evening reception: £100 - bought using discount codes
Honeymoon for family of four for four days: FREE- paid for 4 days in the Isle of Wight, paid for by donations by family and friends
Decorations: FREE- handmade by Katie
Confetti: FREE- rose petals picked and dried by Katie
TOTAL: £2020
KATIE’S SAVINGS £19,407
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorWhovianbride
Not really a £21k wedding for 2 , more maybe a £10k for 2 which id's still a big achievement. But the title makes it seem more than it is. Allot of us are doing this, diying , choosing the cheaper option, I'm also going by taxi . etc
Met June 2009 on my Birthday,Met again July 2009 and got
together, May 2010 Moved in,Jan 2011 got pregnant,
August 2011 Got our own place, 2011 Had our Baby Girl,
Dec 2011 Got engaged, July 2015 Getting married! Yay!
CommentAuthorInDreamland
The paper said it was £21k. It was in a couple of different papers.
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorAmyK
Ok, so invitations were handmade but where would you get free card & paper etc? Maybe cheaper, but not free! (Unless her employer wants to check their supply cupboards!)
CommentAuthorJR2015
Im a bit confused as to how a wedding that cost £2k can be a £21k wedding?? Clearly it isnt, as you've have to pay £21k for a £21k wedding???
She may think she got a £21k wedding for £2k but sorry I dont agree, personally I dont think you would come anywhere close with such a small budget. If you were having a £21k wedding you wouldnt spend £100 on a dress from China for a start.
Also how did they come up with the 21k for things that she had ?...... what they have done is use 21k as that is the national average for a wedding, shows they didnt ask any of the super brides on here about the fab weddings they are having for no where near 21k ..
oh thinks to self " wonder what the uk brides average cost is " runs to make a poll
None of the 'free' things were actually free! (apart from dj and photographer) everything she made would cost money in materials. She may have had ingredients for the cake in her cupboard, but she still bought them in the first place!
CommentAuthorInDreamland
This is what the £21k was based on according to the newspaper article.
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorVelcro
its not really a 21k wedding, it is a 2k wedding..... seems like it was a bit of a non-article. she did what people on a budget do. Shop around/haggle and ask for help.
interested to know where they got the venue and reception prices from if she only paid £300 and they are coming up as over £2,000 and £4,000 seperately
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorVelcro
How does gift list factor into anything? :s
I don't understand the dress saving either, if she has gotten a dress from china then really she hasnt saved anything, as she hasnt bought a dress for £100 that was originally £1300. I saved just under a grand on mine as it was a sample dress which should have been £1400 and I got for £500 that is an actual saving.
It is good to show that you can have a wedding on a budget, but to say she has saved almost £20,000 is abit misleading
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!