A thrifty couple saved thousands at their DIY wedding – from buying clothes on eBay to growing their own bouquets in the garden.
The bridal couple Alex and Dan Lilley created their dream wedding with 130 guests for only 4,000 pounds – thanks to ingenious tricks and hacks.
The couple from Harby, Nottinghamshire used second hand websites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace to help make their dream wedding come true while keeping costs down.
Thrifty Alex, 33, even grew her own bouquet of flowers to walk down the aisle in front of her 130 guests.
After their engagement in 2019, Alex, a store manager, and 38-year-old Dan, a factory maintenance manager, wanted to get married on a budget while saving up for a home renovation.
But Samuel’s parents, four, estimate they saved around £ 15,000 thanks to their clever hacks – and it was the perfect day.
Alex said, “People can pay thousands and thousands for their dream wedding, but we couldn’t justify it.
“Doing everything yourself was ten times as stressful, but the end result was incredible.
“We were nervous, but the end result was better than we could ever have imagined.
“We managed to keep the budget low and still have the perfect day – I would not have changed anything.”
Alex and Dan had their wedding preparations on hold for two years because of the pandemic – before deciding to take the plunge and set a date in March.
In order to juggle an expensive home renovation of their detached three-bed bungalow in addition to their wedding, they decided to act sparingly wherever possible.
When the date was set for August 21st, it was all possible for the couple, along with their friends and family, to bring it all together in the ultimate DIY mission.
But despite the odds stacked against them with a 130-strong guest list, the couple’s expenses came in at just over £ 4,000 – miles below what many couples spend on their big day.
Alex said, “We just couldn’t justify using the money on the wedding when we knew it was going to be needed for our house.
“I searched online and saw a lot of people saying their weddings were over £ 20,000 and we didn’t want to spend that.
“But at the same time we really wanted to get married, so we wanted to do both.”
The couple had their service at a local church – £ 536 total – before they all took a five-minute walk back to their home, where they held the garden reception.
They cut the cost of music by bringing their own sound system and using a seven-day free trial on YouTube to stream it – and evaded paying for a break when their friend at church offered to join for free.
The couple, their son, and their bridesmaids’ outfits were second-hand from websites – Alex got her own dress, a Kenneth Winston originally valued at over £ 1,500, for just £ 220 on the Facebook marketplace.
Alex added, “I had to pay an extra £ 60 to have the dress changed by a seamstress – but it was still a lot.”
The huge tents erected in their back garden were borrowed from friends for free, with £ 160 being spent on fairy lights to create a cozy atmosphere.
Her giant three-tier cake was baked for free as a wedding gift by a dedicated family member – while Alex used the green finger to grow her bouquet in her own back garden with packets of seeds totaling just a handful of pounds.
Her self-grown bouquet consisted of an arrangement of cosmos, lavender, eucalyptus, gypsophila and achillea.
The meal was a buffet for the 130 hungry guests – prepared by their loyal bridesmaids the day before – and offered Mediterranean dishes such as baked salmon, antipasti kebab and a bean salad.
When they went shopping at Aldi, they got the whole thing for £ 400 – about £ 3 a head – along with bottles of Pimms and Prosecco of their own brand worth a total of £ 130.
By buying most of their decorations from stores like The Range and Dunelm, they stocked the entire store with candles, chalkboards, bunting, and bales of hay for under £ 200.
Entertainment included hiring a local musician for £ 150, a photo booth for £ 275, and a children’s bouncy castle for £ 50.
The total cost of the wedding came to around £ 4,030, thanks to their frugal approach – instead of the tens of thousands that many spend on their perfect day.
Alex said, “It was ten times more stressful doing it yourself than paying someone else, but the end result was better than we imagined.
“We’re happy to have such supportive friends and family.”
The couple got the best of both worlds by celebrating their wedding while they were still renovating their home – and Alex announced that the thousands of pounds they saved have already been put to good use.
She explained, “At the beginning of the year we tore down a wall in our house and built a new dining room.
“We also installed a new terrace and had the lawn re-greened.
“Just six weeks before the wedding, we also had a new driveway built.”
The newlyweds went on a week-long honeymoon in Cornwall with four-year-old Samuel before returning to married life to continue their renovations.
Alex said of her trip: “At times I was stubborn and refused to pay for something we could do ourselves – but it paid off!
“It feels fabulous to have this level of creativity.
“We would not have changed anything!”