Bride enters 100s of comps to bag

BARGAIN-HUNTING bride Hannah Alexander won her entire £10,000 wedding by entering hundreds of competitions.

In just 18 months she bagged a luxury reception at a country house hotel, a honeymoon, stag and hen dos, photography, a cake, decorations, bridal make-up – and even rings for herself and fiancé James.

And she just couldn’t stop winning – so she sold prizes she didn’t need to go towards the cost of her £750 dress. Hannah, 28, said: “Entering so many competitions was a job in itself. I must have entered hundreds – but it was all worth it. We had a fantastic day we could never have afforded.

“Everything was absolutely perfect – the traditional white wedding we both dreamed of.”

James, 26, said: “I am stunned she managed to win so much. Hannah was incredibly focused.”

The couple met in sixth form at school.

But after James proposed two years ago the store workers – Hannah at Sainsbury’s and James at Aldi – were stunned to find out how much their big day was going to cost.

Hannah said: “We were already saving all we could for a house deposit.

“When we totalled up what the wedding would cost it was a huge disappointment. So I resigned myself to a long engagement while we saved enough for a basic wedding.”

But when Hannah was browsing Facebook she saw a contest to win a wedding reception at Moxhull Hall, a country hotel and restaurant near where they live in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. “I had to write why I would like to win a wedding there. I wrote about how James and I met and how we longed to marry in 2018 to celebrate 10 years together.

“I said it was exactly the sort of place where I dreamed of marrying.”

Her success in the competition was the first of many as she realised winning her wedding was worth a shot.

She began trawling Facebook and Instagram for giveaways.

Hannah said: “I said to James ‘Now we can get married’. From then on there was no stopping me.”

“I’d come home from work and sit at the computer for at least an hour a day. Much of that time was researching for the right prizes.”

Over months, Hannah gradually ticked off items on her wedding list.

Friends and family chipped in to add the final flourishes to the big day.

The groomsmen paid for a VW camper van to take everyone to the reception.

After tying the knot in October, the couple honeymooned in a Yorkshire cottage.

But Hannah is still entering contests.

“I can’t stop,” she said. “Now I’m trying to win everyone a Christmas present.”