If you’re planning a wedding and the thought of the average cost of £20,822 in 2025 makes you pause, you’re not alone. Many couples are looking for ways to create a beautiful and meaningful day without breaking the bank, and Bridebook couple Amy and Richard embody the fact that you don’t need to spend tens of thousands for your perfect day.
Married on 12th October 2024, at Adel Parish Church in Leeds, their wedding is a testament to the fact that you don’t need to spend a fortune to celebrate your love. Through creative decisions and embracing the support of their community, this couple balanced budget with beauty to create a romantic and intimate moment with their loved ones.
Amy and Richard’s story is filled with practical advice and creative solutions. Read on to discover their secrets to a budget-friendly wedding and learn how you can create your own perfect day without the financial stress.
Meet the couple
Amy reveals, “I’m 35 (34 when we got married), and Richard is 30 (turning 31 in September). We both work at Jet2 (that’s how we met!). I work as a legal admin and Richard works in hotel contract auditing, and we’re both based in Leeds.”
The couple’s final spend was just over £4,000 in total, with their biggest costs being the food (£900 to hire a burger in lieu of a traditional sit-down meal).
Why go low-budget?
Different couples have different means and priorities, and with the money saved by a low-cost wedding, you could use the rest for an extravagant honeymoon, future family plans or, in Amy and Richard’s case, a deposit for a house!
Amy explains, “We’re not super big earners, and were wanting to buy a house together in the next year and put as much money as possible towards a deposit! We also only wanted a small, intimate wedding, and really wanted to emphasise that it was just a big party to celebrate with friends and family.”
Intimacy – as Amy emphasises – can be key in a wedding. While a smaller guest list and an intimate venue certainly can help with the budget, the real benefit is the chance to share your day with only the people who mean the most to you.
If you’re similarly considering a smaller guest list, check out our list of small intimate wedding venues that are perfect for a cosy celebration. While you’re at it, why not consider further reasons to prioritise a smaller celebration!
Another pro of a smaller wedding is that it adds extra room for personalisation. With the smaller number of guests, it becomes easier to keep every member in mind in the planning stages. This can be the perfect chance to explore personalised wedding features and even handmade invitations — which takes us to Amy and Richard’s other unique wedding feature!
DIY details
There’s been a rise in DIY accents for weddings, as not only are such details cost-efficient, but they also allow for a further sense of personalisation – making your wedding truly yours from outside the venue doors to the decor itself.
As Amy explains for her wedding, “We did a lot of the decor as DIY, such as the bouquets and centrepieces, and also DIY’d the invites using Vistaprint and many more things, too. I’d say the most fun challenge was creating the bouquets; it was nice to have that creative control and really shape how I wanted them to be!”
Our founder, Hamish Shepherd, a qualified wedding planner in his own right, shares his expert advice on this topic:
“You can DIY a surprising number of things at a wedding as well, including using mason jars and dried flowers for centrepieces; making your own snack and dessert baskets to feed guests; and even creating your own invitations, place cards and thank you notes with a printable template.”
This way, DIY is more than just a budget-saving tool, but also something that gives you a greater degree of creative control over your day, allowing the wedding journey to be a fun and personalised process.
See our article on the top 70 DIY wedding decoration ideas for more DIY inspiration to help you craft your perfect day.
Alternative catering
Although weddings are usually steeped in tradition, from the garments to the speeches, there are many opportunities to subvert and personalise them, adding a unique (and fun) touch to your day — and food is one of them!
Rather than prioritising the traditional wedding breakfast and a more formal menu, consider offering guests fun, alternative, budget-friendly options like food and drink trucks. This can serve as a further expression of creativity, while also pulling in your community, as shown by Amy and Richard’s example.
Amy details, “Because we ended up having our reception at the village hall next to the church, I feel like our biggest concerns were food and drink. So we ended up hiring a burger van and a cocktail van for both, and they were a massive hit!”
Revealing how embracing alternative catering styles is a great way to cut costs – as they “spent £900 to hire a burger van to come to the venue rather than doing a traditional sit-down meal” – Amy and Richard show how tradition is not always necessary, and can really help keep costs down.
Other fun, budget-friendly catering options to consider include:
- Having a wedding brunch: Consider outsourcing a range of sweet and savoury breakfast pastries in place of a formal three-course wedding breakfast. You could also make it fun by serving a fry-up alongside the ready-made options.
- Buffet style: Rather than meticulously planning individual courses according to each guest’s likes and dislikes, go family-style. Another pro of this is that everyone can control their own portions, leading to less waste.
Read our article on how to save money on wedding catering for more tips and tricks to help your wedding budget go further.
It takes a village! Bringing in the community
Amy and Richard’s wedding was very much a team effort, with the couple leaning on not just affordable suppliers, but also their own family and friends: “We used The Otley Burger Company for the catering (@theotleyburgercompany) and The Reserve Cocktail Bar for the drinks (@thereservecocktailbar). I also had family and friends helping, [and would like to give] a massive shoutout to my sister, Laura, who made our wedding cake for us as a wedding present!”
Beyond the obvious financial benefits, involving your nearest and dearest can add a great amount of emotional value to your wedding. When loved ones pitch in with their time and talents, they become part of the very fabric of your day, and that involvement is priceless. It turns planning into a shared journey and a beautiful show of support from your personal community.
Final top tips from Amy and Richard
Creating a perfect wedding day on a budget is all about smart, unconventional choices. Our newlyweds show that you can have a day filled with style and personal touches without a huge price tag.
When it comes to the wedding dress, Amy proves you don’t need to spend thousands on a fancy designer gown to keep the magic alive – style and sentiment can shine on any budget: “I would definitely say to look on the high street/online for a wedding dress! I ordered a few different dresses online to try on with friends, so I still had that ‘say yes to the dress’ moment but on a fraction of the budget. I ended up going with a dress from ASOS for £180, and most people were shocked when I told them the price; they thought it was a lot more expensive.”
Beyond retail, look for opportunities to find great deals on pre-loved items. As Hamish points out, the second-hand market is a goldmine for decor as well as garments: “Facebook Marketplace and charity shops are great places to find decor, dresses, signage or centrepieces used once and sold at a discount.”
However, as a final piece of advice, Amy emphasises, “My best advice would be to do as much as you can DIY, and keep an Excel spreadsheet to track your budget so things don’t spiral out of control [or use Bridebook’s smart Budget tool!].”
Plan your dream wedding with Bridebook
Amy and Richard’s £4,000 wedding shows that a beautiful day doesn’t need a big price tag. With a little creativity, DIY touches, well-chosen suppliers, and support from your nearest and dearest, you can celebrate your love in a way that feels just as magical as any luxury extravaganza.
Whether you’re saving for a home, planning an epic honeymoon, or simply want to keep things intimate and meaningful, a budget-friendly wedding can give you everything you dreamed of – without the stress of overspending.
Feeling inspired? Start planning your dream wedding today by exploring our top intimate wedding venues, or check out our smart wedding Budget tool to help you break down your budget and learn how best to allocate your funds.
Photo credits
All featured photos by Nic Holloway.
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Happy Planning!
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