How to ... have a perfect wedding at a fraction of the usual cost

How to ... have a perfect wedding at a fraction of the usual cost

People generally expect to splash out a bit when they get married. But most couples - or their parents, depending on who's paying for the big day - will blanch at the £15,925 that the average UK wedding now costs (£18,780 if you include the honeymoon), according to the latest figures from You & Your Wedding magazine.

Such jaw-dropping figures didn't daunt Nicola Ray, from south-west London, when it came to planning her own wedding for 100 guests - with a sit-down meal and free drinks throughout the reception - on a strict budget of £5,000. Nicola, who has since turned her thrifty approach into a thriving online business telling people how to cut costs on the big day without compromising on style, says: "You can easily get married for under £1,000 by having a very low-key do with just a handful of guests. But there were certain things that I wanted for my wedding - a pretty dress, a lovely reception, the champagne to flow all afternoon and delicious food. So I was happy to forego a few things and needed to think creatively to keep my wedding under £5,000."

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The biggest wedding expenses are generally the venue, food and booze. Rather than hire an expensive venue for the reception, Nicola and her fiancé Stuart plumped for a party in his parents' large garden, which they kitted out with a marquee and furniture for just over £1,000.

Their main saving was made by doing the catering themselves, preparing and freezing in advance simple buffet foods such as quiches and salmon - and serving strawberries and cream for pudding. The food cost an amazing £395 in total, plus £140 paid to local teenagers to serve it.

"For drinks, we went on a booze cruise to France where the prices were incredible and we saved a fortune. We settled on 'champagne' - well, a cava at half-price in the hypermarket - and wine and beer which cost us £590," says Nicola, who wore a £225 dress from a high-street store rather than forking out for a designer gown. Her (adult) bridesmaids wore their own choice of outfits.

Major savings were also made by tapping into the talents of friends and family who between them provided the photography, cake, wedding transport, hairdressing and make-up, music and flower arranging as presents.

The result was Nicola's "perfect" day costing £4,999.50, a sum which also covered the engagement and wedding rings and a weekend honeymoon. The full budget breakdown can be found on her website, cheap-wedding-success.co.uk, which receives 1,200 visitors a day - and is now generating enough Google ad income for Nicola to have left her job in advertising and work on it full-time from home ...

Nicola Ray's top tips for a cheaper wedding

Set up a budget and stick to it

Ideally you should use a spreadsheet to keep track of your spending.

Do it yourself

Make your own invitations, decorations, table centrepieces, cake etc and shave hundreds of pounds off your costs.

Get help from friends and family

Ask them to donate their talents - from making the cake to taking the photographs - in place of wedding gifts.

Be creative with your venue

Try village halls, local authority buildings, National Trust spaces and pretty country pubs for a cost-effective venue. If that's not your thing, save up to a third off the cost of hotel or country house venues by getting married midweek or out of season.

Explore cheap options for the wedding dress

Hire, borrow, buy second-hand or at cut-price. Raid designer warehouse sales, internet dress agencies, high-street chains and charity shops. Oxfam, for example, has 10 shops with bridal departments. For a full list go to oxfam.org.uk/shops/content/bridal

Do your own catering

And buy your own alcohol - ideally on a booze cruise or using special offers at local supermarkets and wine warehouses.

Buy your wedding cake from a supermarket

Asda and Tesco, for example, both do three-tier, rich fruit celebration cakes for under £35.

Get three quotes

When you find a service or product you like, don't take the first quote: get at least two more. You will probably find the same thing cheaper elsewhere.

Avoid "wedding" products

Wedding cake, wedding shoes, wedding photography etc are all charged at a premium. Get suppliers to cater to your needs, not to your occasion - in other words. don't tell them it's for a wedding.

Shop online

Ebay is great for cheap decorations, accessories, invites, wedding veils and even made-to-measure wedding dresses.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008