Here wins the bride...£11k wedding for free
WITH the cost of a wedding easily reaching five figures, Claire Morton decided she needed some help covering the cost of her nuptials.
So the savvy bride invested two hours a day taking part in online competitions and ended up not paying a single penny of her own money for the entire wedding.
Yesterday, the canny 33-year-old told how she bagged herself cash, make-up, transport, a DJ and even her hen do.
As a result, the mother of one brought in an amazing £12,000 to fund her wedding to husband James, 31, a milkman, in March.
And she was then able to use her savings to splash out on an £8,000 honeymoon to Orlando, Florida.
She has now documented her success on her blog “Penny Grower” and wants to make cash-strapped families aware of the possibilities.
She said: “James and I didn’t have a big budget for our day and I wanted to have the wedding of my dreams. Our wedding day looked like it had cost thousands, but actually, all it cost me was the time I spent entering competitions.
“I want to tell other brides they can save thousands just like me.”
Claire and James met in 2012 and have a two-year-old daughter. They got engaged in 2015 but did not make any wedding plans until a year later. Claire, from Belfast, yesterday told how she turned to competitions after fearing they would not be able to afford their big day.
In March 2016, a friend told her about an “app” which gives away cash prizes, so she and her family immediately signed up and within a month she had won £10,000.
She used the money to pay for her £900 wedding dress and £3,350 to hire a stunning hotel venue. The rest of the money was spent on the wedding rings, organising hotel rooms and a photographer, buying outfits, flowers and invitations and paying for the registrar.
But Claire did not stop there and she began entering any competition she could find.
While some brides-to-be spend their evenings browsing through wedding catalogues, Claire scoured Facebook for competitions, entering up to 10 a day. She then won a £420 hen party, a DJ worth £450, a VW camper van for transport worth £225 and a photo booth for guests worth £350.
Claire’s cousin topped it off by donating a £350 cake as a gift.
In the end, the couple did not spend any of their own money on their wedding and even managed to put more than £200 of leftover cash towards their honeymoon. Now the newlyweds admit they are “addicted” to entering competitions to save money and have since won sports tickets, alcohol and appliances for the house.
Claire has now launched her blog with tips for “blagging” freebies.
She added: “Our wedding day was totally amazing and we enjoyed every minute of it.
“It made us realise that we can be frugal in so many more ways.”