A wedding doesn’t have to cost the earth. You can have a wonderful wedding day with very little expense if you’re really keen to keep things simple. And you can have a lot of fun planning a cheap wedding with the help of all your friends and family.
The essentials for a cheap wedding
- Church / registry office fees
- Food and drink
Expenses to skip for a cheap wedding
- Wedding venue (ask a friend with a big garden)
- Designer wedding dress (try Monsoon or Coast)
- Professional catering (buy your own food, have a barbecue — you may need to borrow neighbours’ ovens)
- Expensive wedding rings (find alternative, vintage or simple rings)
- Photography (only if you’re really cutting back — those memories are important)
- Invitations (what’s wrong with a creatively designed email? Even better, a handwritten invitation on paper was the traditional cheap wedding invitation)
- Sit down meal (save on table decorations, place cards and seating plan stress!)
Cheap wedding inspiration
Thrifty weddings are a big trend at the moment. You can cut back to basics and then make your cheap wedding a beautiful occasion by making your own decorations and accessories.
Check out Martha Stewart weddings for creative wedding craft ideas, or UK site Make Your Own Wedding.
Cheap wedding ideas
Make wedding bunting! As simple as a length of string with coloured fabric triangles — hunt charity shops for bright coloured fabrics and string colourful bunting all around the garden on your wedding day
Vintage wedding theme — find gorgeous second hand accessories in charity shops and vintage stores.
Get a wedding dress from Oxfam. You’ll find their range surprisingly wonderful! They also do cheap wedding invitations which are eco-friendly and great value.
















Hello! I’m Claire and this is my
February 4, 2012: Wedding inspiration board — winter berries
February 3, 2012: Wedding planning or work?
February 3, 2012: Wedding inspiration blog — winter berries
February 2, 2012: The Elite: Allister Freeman interview
& Jean-Luc’s Cambridge wedding"/>February 1, 2012: Picture perfect — Liza & Jean-Luc’s Cambridge wedding
January 31, 2012: We met at primary school… a Welsh wedding
January 30, 2012: Your First Dance – a 5 point checklist
January 28, 2012: New sponsor welcome… Helena Rose Weddings







