The High-Street Bride’s Guide: How to Plan Your Perfect Wedding On A Budget

Chapter 1

The best ways I know to save big

I love giving people good news. That’s probably why this is my favourite bit. Because this is where I tell you that an amazing wedding – yes, designer dress included – isn’t just for actresses and heiresses.

You can say your vows in a catwalk gown so beautiful it reduces your mum to tears (and not because she paid for it). You can style a reception so stunning your guests won’t believe you didn’t hire an A-list planner. And you can sprinkle the day with personal touches that make everyone feel like you gave them special attention before they even got there. Without spending a house deposit on it. Honest.

All you need is to be a little more savvy, a little more organised and a little more open-minded than your average pop princess. And that’s not too much to ask for a beautiful day you’ll show pictures of to your granddaughters, right?

There are four top secrets to saving money on your wedding – and I’m not suggesting you go for all of them. Some of them won’t be for you, and some of them don’t go together, but if you can even manage one or two, in all honesty, these are the biggest, simplest ways to save the maximum amount of money before you even start planning.

Summer weddings are the most expensive. Fact. Everybody wants one because you’ve got more chance of sunshine – but you’ll pay hundreds of pounds more to get hitched in the warmer months, and since we live in good old Blighty, chances are the heavens could open on you anyway.

So consider the overlooked options: pretty spring with its freshly sprung flowers and vintage-y golden lighting; autumn with its colourful rush of auburns, oranges, yellows, reds and golds; or winter – my personal favourite for the excuse to cover everything in glass and glitter, bright reds and sparkling silvers, and wrap up in cuddly faux fur. Because who cares if, baby, it’s cold outside and the rain is pouring down when you’re posing under a super-cute brolly or huddled round a crackling fire with a toasty mug of rum and hot chocolate?

I’ll give you one guess which day of the week is most popular for weddings. Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Saturdays, what a shocker. No-one needs to take any time off work, everyone can sleep off their aching heads on Sunday, and all your little cousins and second cousins can be there because they don’t need to skip Maths, English and Double Geography.

So you can imagine the amount you’ll save by being prepared enough to let everyone know months in advance – I’d suggest 12 months, to be exact – that they’ll need to book some time out instead.

The midweek big day is a cunning budget-stretcher and politics-sidestepper in more ways than one. Think about it: all Mum and Dad’s random friends from work won’t be able to get the time off, for starters. That’s a few scoops off the catering bill, plates and cups off the hire price, favours off the list and chairs that don’t need covering – carry on at this rate and you’ll be able to book a smaller venue…