SOME couples start married life in a mountain of debt because they wanted the fanciest of celebrations which they couldn't actually afford. But that wasn't the case for Rachel and Tom Jolley who slashed the cost of their nuptials in half, using clever shortcuts and DIY hacks. They bought table decorations from car boot sales, wrangled free flowers from Aldi and refused to splash £1,500 on a professional cake, roping in family to bake it instead.
And Rachel, 33, had to even get her wedding dress washed before she wore it because it was straight off the hanger. Rachel, a journalism lecturer, says: "When we first got engaged, I think we fell into that trap of thinking, 'Oh, let's have this really extravagant wedding, once in a lifetime.' "We very much wanted a wedding with just the people that we loved, rather than sort of conforming to having to invite people for the sake of it.
"Once we started looking at venues and how much they cost, we were shocked to find out how much it cost to get married and there are so many little things like flowers which can cost thousands." Rachel and freelance photographer Tom, 38, who live in Northamptonshire, spent many nights in the pub brainstorming ways to cut their spending. According to Hitched , the average UK couple forks out approximately £20,700 on their wedding.
The couple had been together for six years before they tied the knot in August. "We still realised we [had] to spend a little bit of money, but people spend like £20,000 to £30,000, which is a lot of money," Rachel explains. "So we knew we definitely didn't want to spend any more than £10,000, essentially.
" Rachel says they would've spent "double the amount" on their wedding if it wasn't for their thriftiness. "It was all just coming in at thousands of pounds, even things like getting a professional cake done," she recalls. It was when the couple priced up the cost for flowers and the wedding cake they decided their money was better spent elsewhere.
"We did look at florists and realised they were quite expensive so we decided that we were going to do our own flowers and we actually really enjoyed the process of doing that," Rachel explains. "It sounds like we're cheapskates, but looking at the price of buying confetti on the internet, it was a couple of pounds per bag [so] I thought, 'Surely I can make this on my own.' PLANNING a wedding on a budget doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your dream day.
Here are some tips to keep costs down while still creating a memorable celebration: Set a Budget and Stick to It Limit the Guest List Choose an Affordable Venue DIY Decorations Opt for a Weekday or Off-Season Wedding Simplify the Menu Borrow or Rent Attire Digital Invitations Hire a DJ or Create a Playlist Simplify the Cake By being mindful of these tips, you can create a beautiful and memorable wedding without breaking the bank. Remember, the focus should be on celebrating your love and commitment, not on how much you spend. "In the run up to the wedding, I just collected all the dead flowers that I'd got from birthdays and from friends, I kept all the petals.
"I think I'm already quite a crafty person, it made it all the more enjoyable and also way more environmentally friendly as well, which is another plus." Rather than forking out £1,000 on flowers which is the UK average , Rachel had other plans. “Aldi is our favourite supermarket and I regularly buy bouquets there which last for well over a week, so I thought why not get our wedding flowers from Aldi too?" she says.
The pair put their creative skills to the test, using Aldi’s Beautiful Blooms Large Mixed Bouquets priced at just £5.99 to make eight wedding bouquets for the bridesmaids. They also included £2.
39 Carnations and £2.79 Chrysanthemums in Rachel's bouquet. Even their tables were decorated with blooms from the same shop, who agreed to gift them to the couple ahead of the big day.
The couple married at The Falcon Hotel in Uppingham, Rutland, in front of 45 guests at the ceremony and invited an additional 20 to the reception. As for the finishing touches, the couple picked up bargains from local car boot sales. "I knew I wouldn't have to decorate a million tables [so] we really, really have enjoyed that whole process of searching for candlestick holders and little vintage bottles at car boot sales," Rachel says.
"That's something we would do anyway, if we were bored on a Sunday, we'd go out to a car boot. "We got some really good bargains, [including] really beautiful silver plated candlestick holders for a couple of quid which were selling on eBay for about £20." Rachel also cut corners on the cake, and asked relations to help instead.
We had three cakes on the day that had been handmade the day before and they were just as good as any other wedding cake. "We asked my mum, Tom's mum, and my brother's girlfriend to make us a cake," she says. "It was quite nice because they used family recipes - my mum made my late granny's cake and that was like a really nice way to remember her on the day.
"They were made the day before and were just as good as any other wedding cake." And since the couple saved money on those details it meant Rachel was able to splurge a little more on her wedding dress, which still only cost her less than £1,000. According to Hitched , UK brides usually spend £1,500 on a dress, and had to be washed first because it was straight off the shop hanger.
Meanwhile, Tom decided to go a little more DIY with his look for the day, making buttonholes for himself and all the groomsmen. I'd say we actually really enjoyed the process by doing a lot of it ourselves because we were more involved." "He just bought dried flowers off Amazon and literally made them," Rachel says.
"I'd say we actually really enjoyed the process by doing a lot of it ourselves because we were more involved. "I think sometimes when you get other people to do it for you, you can't really do all those little things that you would do if you did it yourself. "I think it brought us closer together, which was really nice, [Tom] was a huge part of coming up with the ideas.
" I've got no regrets at all for doing what we did, we still had an amazing wedding. The bride says that her wedding still felt like her dream day. "I've got no regrets at all for doing what we did, we still had an amazing wedding," she recalls.
"We absolutely loved doing our bouquets. The day before the wedding it really got us into the spirit of, 'Oh, my God, we're getting married. "The kitchen table was covered in flowers but it was just really good fun.
" Rachel also says other couples should follow their lead and focus on what makes them happy, not anyone else. "Don't be afraid to have fun with your wedding, we didn't take it too seriously," she adds. "We also didn't feel like we had to follow trends, everyone would ask us, 'What's your colour scheme?' and we'd be like, 'We haven't got a colour scheme.
' "That's because we just wanted colour at our wedding, bright colours, the flowers were all different colours, my bridesmaids wore all different colours." It was when Rachel contacted Aldi to say thank you for the budget bouquets that they offered to gift them to her for free. The couple also incorporated their personalities into the celebrations and instead of a dessert at the reception, they gave guests ice creams alongside their homemade wedding cake.
"The ice cream van was good fun," Rachel says. "Tom is a big Star Wars fan so we had Star Wars helmets [for photo opportunities]." "I think just let your wedding reflect you and who you are as a couple and don't feel like you have to conform to whatever's on trend at the time.
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