Don't start married life in debt. Organise your dream wedding without breaking the bank using these tips for savvy brides-to-be
1. The Budget
Agree a wedding budget that won't bankrupt you as a couple, and stick to it. Decide priorities like a honeymoon or rings and bargain hard for everything else. Remember you can actually get married for as little as £200-300 although the average wedding last year cost £17,250. At the end of each month do a quick tally and cut back if you are heading into the red.
2. The Venue
Your choice of venue is crucially linked to the final cost of your wedding. Venues range from castles (around £10,000 per day) to your favourite restaurant (probably just the food and drinks bill). Remember that many venues tie you to their own caterers, florists and bar charges. If your budget is tight, try to retain maximum control of who supplies what. Consider using a friend's or relative's house, an art gallery or park. For ideas on dressing a Village Hall (cost around £250) visit www.weddingdiaries.co.uk
3. Team Power
Forget Wedding Organisers and recruit friends and family to form a team or people who genuinely care about your wedding. Consider skills like design and floristry as well as extra drivers, first-aiders and a 'fixer' with a mobile phone and address book. Encourage talented musicians and speakers to play a part. Issue everyone with a Time Plan of the wedding day; outlining who will do what and when.
4. Decorations
Shop smart in post-Christmas and end of summer sales. First, create a scrapbook of ideas cut out of bridal magazines and brochures. Then head for the bargain shops to save on tea lights, silk flowers, costume jewellery and floaty fabric to swag the tables. Remember that items like candles are often exactly the same, whether from an expensive wedding supplier or your local pound shop.
5. Home Crafts
Create your own gorgeous stationery using a PC and digital camera. That way, one hundred invitations, menus and Orders of Service could cost as little as £25. Don't forget to print off clear venue directions and a timetable for the day. Other home crafts to sample include drying your own rose petals for confetti (in the microwave) and hand painting your own place cards.
6. The Dress
Accept that you will wear this only once and that most dresses get stained, torn and consigned to the attic. Hiring a dress, including alterations, costs around £200 compared to the average cost of a wedding dress at £1,000. Alternatively, check out e-bay or bridal websites for masses of worn once bridal and bridesmaids dresses. Going away outfits, first-night hotels and bride and groom gifts can all sensibly be crossed off your list to save a massive £500.
7. Flowers
Enlist a keen friend to arrange flowers or go minimalist with a single lily or rose. Alternatively, ask guests to each bring a single bloom to your ceremony then collect them into a ready-made bouquet. Hire or borrow bay trees, hanging baskets, pots and topiary. For tables, ignore expensive cut flowers in favour of small pots of sweet peas, herbs or silk flowers.
8. Photography
Some couples regret the quality of their photographs, as they are one of the few tangible memories of a whirlwind day. Do check out lots of portfolios and ensure value for money by detailing every shot and size of print you want. Look for a photographer who captures sharp, expressive portraits combined with the communication skills to organise large groups.
9. Food and drink
Wedding catering can be notoriously stingy so negotiate hard over quantity and quality. Be wary of hidden costs like corkage, staffing and table decorations. If at all possible, buy your own soft drinks and alcohol. Ordering from an online supermarket means cases can be delivered straight to your venue. For the wedding cake, home-made sponges often taste better than professional iced blocks and can double as desserts. Alternatively, most supermarkets now offer boxed wedding cakes at around £60 compared to the average confectioner's cake costing £275.
10. Honeymoon
The average couple spend £2828 on a honeymoon, but a little creativity can buy something unforgettable for as little as £500. Organise a house swap or borrow a friend's house abroad. Rent a romantic cottage far from the crowd. Consider low cost flights plus a discounted hotel in a romantic city of Europe. Don?t forget that many honeymoon competitions get low entries due to date restrictions ? so start posting entries early
Laura Bloom's journal The Wedding Diaries - How to Get Married in Style Without Breaking The Bank is available from good bookshops or from www.whiteladderpress.com (01803-813343) priced £9.99
Why not chat to other iVillagers about wedding preparations on the Wedding Planner message board. Take a look at some of the LIVE discussions taking place on the message board right now: