Real Life Budget Wedding – Annalisa and Glen
Annalisa and Glen were married last May in a gorgeous real life budget wedding for just £1,200.
As a keen member of her local church choir, Annalisa managed to get the Church, Church Hall for a vintage afternoon tea after the wedding, and the Organist free of charge which really helped her stick to her budget. The couple got their Prosecco for the wedding from Lidl and had a mixture of home-made and shop bought wedding cakes. All of the vintage napkins and paper plates were sourced from Ebay.
The couple were really lucky with their wedding transport owing to friends with beautiful cars! They travelled in style in a luxury BMW, a Vintage Jaguar and an Audi TT.
Annalisa was delighted with the Grooms outfit which came in at £9.99! And again by shopping on Ebay, the couple managed to dress their bridesmaids for just £32. Annalisa had an absolute find with her wedding dress – paying just £183 for an Ian Stuart Baroque wedding dress which included dry-cleaning and seamstress fitting. Annalisa even managed to sell the dress after the wedding to help with costs!
Annalisa knew that saving on budget would mean having to take on a lot of wedding DIY herself and rising to the challenge, she took on the making of the bouquets, decoration of the afternoon tea hall and the evening reception hall, doing the Bridesmaids hair and make-up as well as her own.
Annalisa loved her naked vintage wedding cake! Having seen them in a magazine, her daughter tried out the recipe once and was then able to bake and decorate the official one the day before the wedding. The guests loved the Victorian sandwich cake which was absolutely beautiful.
Annalisa kept the reception buffet on budget by cooking all of the food herself along with some help from her family. This kept the evening food budget down to just £6 per head for her guests. There were traditional sandwiches and cold meats, lasagnes and vegetable pies, salmon and even a four tier cheese cake decorated with grapes. Normally this would be around £200 but Annalisa found a local cheesemonger who did it for £90!
The couple managed to secure the evening venue in a beautiful Tudor Hall for just £60, and provided entertainment with Glen’s band. The hall had been decorated the night before and Annalisa adorned the tables with lace runners, tea lights in glass bowls filled with red and white crystals, and heart shaped tiny soaps and bath bombs with rose petals that made the room smell gorgeous and the guests could take away as favours. The candelabras and crystals were all sourced from local interior shops during sales.
There was a crazy rush on the last day before the wedding with decorating the halls and then in the morning sorting out all of the hair and make-up, but it was all worth it in the end! Annalisa says that she was super lucky with the help and talents of their family and friends. She said that the trick is to shop around and don't hesitate to ask for assistance, people are always willing to help.
Thanks so much for sharing your real life budget wedding with us Annalisa – congratulations to you and Glen 😀
Laura x
