I was a bride who drove a hard bargain & saved thousands on my wedding – from Amazon finds to flowers costing £810 less
WITH the average wedding costing over £20,000, it’s no surprise that brides across the country are doing what they can to cut costs.
That includes Caitlin Hewitt, who saved herself thousands of pounds on her summer wedding last year by getting DIY savvy and buying nuptial accessories on Amazon and eBay.
The mum-of-two, who says she “drives a hard bargain”, shared on TikTok exactly how she cut costs for her big day.
Caitlin’s biggest saving was on the wedding location - a Glasgow country house.
She booked the venue using a midweek package to get married on a Monday for £2,023.
“It would have cost us an extra £6,000 to get married the day before,” she said.
read more on weddings
She picked up a wedding dress in the January sales for £700 cheaper and her wedding shoes were from ASOS’ Be Mine Bridal collection for just £24.
“I struggled to find a Cathedral length pearl veil for under £200, so I ordered one from Amazon for £25,” Caitlin added.
The savvy bride ordered her wedding cake on a special offer from a local baker for £200 cheaper and even made her own bouquets.
Putting her amateur floristry skills to work meant she saved a whopping £820.
“I made my own artificial flowers, including bridesmaids bouquets and buttonholes,” Caitlin penned on TikTok.
“I was originally quoted £900 from a florist and only bought £80 worth of materials to make these.”
Among her other DIY projects was making personalised hangers for her bridal party and making an order-of-the-day using a template she found online.
As Caitlin and her husband are Scottish, they picked up a fly plaid for £50 on eBay after being quoted £300 by a kiltmaker.
They also sourced their wedding rings in Black Friday sales for a whopping £400 cheaper than retail price.
“It couldn’t have been a better day and it was great to be able to save money where we could in the process,” Caitlin said.
The average wedding cost couples £20,700 in 2023, according to Hitched - and that figure is only set to get higher in 2024.
Last year, nearly-weds dealt with the rising costs of living in a few different ways.
Almost a third of couples increased their budget at least once whilst planning, whilst a quarter incorporated more DIY than they originally planned to.