Heather's Budget Wedding For £500

Heather had a budget wedding in Leeds, Yorkshire in 2002. She had a great day by all means and achieved her cheap wedding by being very clever with her choices and using a 'letts' scheme.

A 'letts' scheme is a way of trading with others based on trust, good intention and good values. You need to 'buy' into it, but no money exchanges hands between the participants; instead you do favours in return.

So here's how Heather kept her budget wedding really low cost:

The outfits

My wedding dress was bought from a dress shop in the sale for £60. It was ex-rental, but in great condition. I bought my daughter's bridesmaid dress for £10 and my shoes £5 from the same shop. I picked up a cheap tiara for £11 and a beautiful string of pearls for £4 from a charity shop. I also got a corset for £15 and some frilly underwear stockings for £10. I got my hair done for £30 at a cheap local hairdressers and did my make-up myself.

My husband suit, shirt and cufflinks as well as my sons clothes were courtesy of the local cancer research shop. They were all immaculate and good quality brands. The lot came to £20, if that!

My dress was beautiful, but I didn't keep it as I knew it would just go yellow in storage, so I sold it and got my money back. I bought a silver necklace instead. The girl who bought it was really pleased as the one her mother had bought for her (for a few thousands quid) was too small - she only had a few weeks to find a dress that fitted perfectly, so that worked out well! I threw in the shoes as well!

The reception

We hired a pub room for £25 and we hired the services of a wonderful couple on the "letts" scheme - a non profit making alternative trading organisation which I believe still runs. Included was lovely fresh organic food, all home made and a wedding cake which was so well made it would make you cry. The total for the lot was £90, plus 100 nidds (the 'letts' scheme currency) and the food was fantastic.

Later on we walked back to the house and had a BBQ and bit more of a party. We picked up £20 of meat from Leeds market and had the leftovers from the wedding feast. We supplied a bit of beer, but not much so asked everyone to bring their own.

Transport, flowers and stationery

My sister-in-law gave me my bouquet and we wrote our own stationery using invites from the local stationers, so nothing fancy. We just used friends cars and decorated them with a bit of ribbon.

Photography and rings

For our photography, we asked friends and family to take lots of photos and videos on the day and then asked them for copies as gifts. A photographer was just too expensive. My wedding ring was already in the family, so we used that which saved us a bit.

Honeymoon

We spent a weekend in Bridlington in a bed and breakfast. It was lovely.

Who needs an extravagant do? Our budget wedding was the best day we ever had and it was better doing this way than having loads of horrible bills coming through the door. I suggest keeping your cash for a house deposit or something that you really need. I'd also recommend not using your credit card or you'll regret it!

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