Proof a wedding doesn’t have to bankrupt the family

As brides spend ever more, joyous news for their parents – it can be done for under £1,000!

TIME to dust off your hats and fascinators — it’s wedding season again. And this year, it seems, many brides will not be following the trends of recent years and splashing out a fortune on their big day.

Instead, the new badge of honour is to become a budget bride and avoid building up tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt just for the sake of one over-indulgent day.

Unsurprisingly, the High Street is taking full advantage of the new trend. Dorothy Perkins, Marks & Spencer, Lidl, Topshop and online giant ASOS have all recently unveiled bridal ranges, with stylish wedding gowns starting at a purse-friendly £85.

Experts say that the average cost of a wedding dress this year will be just £832, a 25 per cent drop from 2016.

‘This backlash has been brewing since the economic crash,’ says London-based wedding expert Becky Hoh-Hale. ‘In the climate of uncertainty, it’s crass to say you spent big bucks on your wedding. Guests are no longer impressed.’

And, as we have discovered, it is possible to buy everything you need to celebrate your big day in style — for a guest list of 50 — for under £1,000. Here’s how . . .

THE BRIDE WORE . . . A BARGAIN!

USUAL COST: £832. BARGAIN COST: £150, Dorothy Perkins. GONE are the days of having to spend thousands at a specialist boutique to get your dream dress. High Street and online retailers are now creating beautiful bridalwear that looks designer, but has a much more purse-friendly price tag.

Topshop, Monsoon, ASOS and Whistles all have bridal ranges with prices in the hundreds rather than thousands of pounds, while Dorothy Perkins’s brandnew capsule bridal collection costs a staggeringly low £85 to £175.

Aiming to offer ‘something for every bride’, the collection of ten styles in sizes 8-18 includes everything from sweetheart necklines to halternecks, and vintage-inspired lace to sheer fabrics. The Alessandra dress (see main picture) features a heavily embroidered, beaded bodice and a romantic fishtail, yet costs £150 — and it’s machine-washable!

SAY ‘I DO’ TO A BUDGET RING

USUAL COST: £809. BARGAIN COST: £34.99 (hers) and £54.99 (his), Argos. WE’RE losing our snobbishness about wedding jewellery. Argos’s gold (below), white gold or platinum men and women’s wedding rings — many indistinguishable from similar upmarket styles — are bestsellers. Sales are up by a fifth on last year, and expected to rise further. Most simple bands come in at under £150, and many are priced at under £50.

AND IF THE SHOE FITS . . .

USUAL COST: £161. BARGAIN COST: £39.50, M&S. IN THE past, a bride could easily spend several hundred pounds on shoes she’d wear once (and get grass-stained during the photos). Not any more. M&S, ASOS and Very.co.uk have dedicated bridal shoe ranges with stylish white, cream, metallic or embellished heels at around the £40 mark.

These mink shoes from M&S (right) have Insolia insteps, which reduce pressure and redistribute your weight away from the balls of your feet, ‘allowing you to wear your heels comfortably all day long’ — crucial for a bride.

A TIARA FOR A TENNER

USUAL COST: £176. BARGAIN COST: Princess tiara, £10, stud earrings, £6, and silver necklace, £12, accessorize.com. THE High Street is also taking on the wedding accessories market and winning. Whereas sparkly tiaras and headpieces usually cost upwards of £100 in bridal boutiques, Accessorize has a range of designer-look styles for just £10-15 (see main picture), and a range of sterling silver jewellery priced from £6 for a pair of elegant stud earrings.

Side-by-side, even fashion editors would struggle to tell the difference.

WELL-GROOMED IN GORGEOUS GREY

USUAL COST: £310. BARGAIN COST: £99, M&S. LIKE the bride’s dress, the groom’s morning suit is an outfit he’s likely to wear just once, so it’s easy to see why Marks & Spencer’s grey design (see main picture) is flying off the racks at only £99 (that’s a saving of over £200 compared to buying a morning jacket with dress trousers at old reliable Moss Bros, for around £310).

AWARD-WINNING BUBBLY FROM ALDI

USUAL COST: £350 for ten bottles. BARGAIN COST: £99.90 for ten bottles (£9.99 per bottle), Aldi. WHILE few couples are expected to lay on a limitless free bar for their guests these days, it’s still customary to at least provide a couple of glasses of bubbly to allow them to toast the happy couple. Just as supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl and Aldi are winning praise for their wines, their sparkling wines are worth a look, too. For example, Aldi’s bestselling Veuve

Monsigny Champagne Brut (pictured left) is a multi-award winner (including accolades from Which and wine buff’s magazine Decanter), yet costs just £9.99 per bottle. On a particularly tight budget? The supermarket chain’s cava comes in at just £4.99 per bottle.

CATERING — LET TESCO HANDLE IT

USUAL COST: £3,959 for catering. BARGAIN COST: £60 (for a selection of 192 canapes), Tesco. CATERING costs can eat up a huge chunk of a wedding budget, which is why savvy couples are now turning to supermarket services to provide the food for their big day. Several of the main chains offer food made-to-order — Tesco’s Easy Entertaining range of hand-prepared food includes everything from buffet dishes to canapes (around £8-12 for 24 pieces) and can be ordered just a week in advance and picked up in-store. Our chosen selection includes two trays of 24 mini burgers and hotdogs (£12 per tray); two trays of 48 smoked salmon appetisers (£8 per tray); and two trays of a selection of mixed canapes (£10 per tray).

BUNTING HUNTING? JUST LOOK ONLINE

USUAL COST: £200. BARGAIN COST: £5.95 for 8m of bunting, dotcomgiftshop.com. HUGELY popular at weddings because of its relaxed look, many brides are choosing to sew their own to match the wedding colour scheme; or shopping online, where they can buy pretty fabric flags for just under £6 per length, ready-made, from internet shops such as dotcomgiftshop.com, Ebay and Etsy.com.

IT’S OFF TO THE ROSE & CROWN

USUAL COST: £3,919 for the reception. BARGAIN COST: £50 or free for a minimum bar spend. NOT everyone has a garden or the space to entertain at home, and fees for historic houses or marquees can be astronomical. But hiring a venue can still be one of the smallest expenses on your big day.

If it’s a church ceremony, you can hire the hall, typically for between £50 and £100 — and even if you’re not, these spaces can still be hired for around £20-40 an hour. Community centres charge similar fees and should provide all the tables and chairs your guests will need.

Alternatively, set yourselves up in style at the upstairs function room of a pub, bar or restaurant. Many are free, or for a small minimum bar tab — so once your guests have guzzled the champagne, you won’t have to pay for anything else yourselves. TOTAL: £993.83