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10 tips for a low-cost wedding

Don't start married life in debt. Organise your dream wedding without breaking the bank using these top tips

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 get married for as little as £200-300. At the end of each month do a quick tally and cut back if you are heading into the red.

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). Consider using a friend's or relative's house, an art gallery or park.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Alternatively, rent a romantic cottage far from the crowd.

Taken from Laura Bloom's The Wedding Diaries - How to Get Married in Style Without Breaking The Bank

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