How to have an expensive wedding

What You Need to Know

The cost of the average wedding has risen to in excess of £20,000.
With the various costs involved detailed budgeting is necessary. Hiring a wedding planner maybe one way to help achieve this.
It is not uncommon for women to spend thousands on their wedding dress, but you can find incredible second hand dresses online at a fraction of the price.
The easiest way of cutting costs is generally to reduce the number of guests you invite.
Recruiting the help of family and friends can make thinks less expensive and give your loved ones a great chance to feel more involved in the proceedings.

The average wedding can now cost in excess of £20,000, with the dress, cars, food and reception all adding up to a huge bill at the end of the day.

If you want to have a costly wedding, with no expense spared, then a wedding planner can help you have the day you’ve always dreamed of.

Cutting costs

However, much of the money that many couples spend on their wedding day could be used for a honeymoon they’ll never forget, or even go towards a deposit on a home of their own.

Having your wedding on a budget doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the things you’ve always wanted – like a beautiful gown, a sit-down meal or a live band. With some careful planning you’ll be able to have a wedding day to remember, without starting married life in debt.

The average cost of a wedding now includes around £1,200 for the rings, £1,400 for wedding outfits and essential pampering in the run-up to the big day and £3,500 for the reception according to wedding experts Confetti.

Set a budget

Decide on two different budgets – your ideal budget and the maximum that you would be willing to pay – but be realistic about what you're going to get for your money.

Be strict with yourself and make sure that you don’t go over your budget – much of which is just a case of prioritising. For example, do you want to have a sit down, three-course meal or would a buffet for your guests suffice? Do you want to provide a free bar at the reception, or would it be acceptable for your guests to pay for their own drinks?

Make it personal

There has been a growing trend – fuelled by celebrity’s super-weddings – to spend as much as you can on your special day. However, Nicola Ray, founder of Cheap-Wedding-Success.co.uk says that putting your own individual twist on the occasion by doing something yourself can make your wedding day unique and save you money at the same time.

Ray set up her website – which gets around 1,000 visitors a day – after organising her own wedding for less than £5,000.

Get involved

Making your own favours, table decorations and even bouquets can save you hundreds of pounds – and getting family and friends to muck in helps to make them feel more involved in your special day.

The dress

For many women, who have dreamed of their wedding day since childhood, the dress has to be perfect, and it’s easy to spend as much as £4,000 on the right dress.

However, many women sell their wedding dress after wearing it just once, so you can get dresses worth thousands of pounds for half the price by spending a bit of time looking around.

Many dresses from catwalk shows and weddings also end up in charity shops, such as Oxfam, where they can be bought for as little as £300. Ebay is another good place to look for a dress or accessories.

This is also a great way of getting second-hand bridesmaids dresses – and don’t worry so much about whether or not they match, as its now fashionable for women to wear individual bridesmaid’s dresses.

The reception

The reception – including the venue, food and drink, and entertainment is often the most expensive part of any wedding.

Cutting the number of guests you have is the quickest way of cutting costs, but if you don’t want an intimate wedding of family and just a few friends, then having a buffet, providing your own champagne and wine, or even adding the DJ hire to your wedding list could all save you money.

When choosing the venue, think about how you're going to fill it. If you’ve hired a huge ballroom with high ceilings, it’s going to be a lot more expensive to fill with balloons, flowers and guests than a smaller, more personal setting.

Planning your wedding

All it takes to ensure you have the perfect wedding without breaking the bank is some careful planning. Get tips from other brides-to-be online, shop around to get the best prices on the things you want and plan ahead.