I was on a limited budget too. My hubby and I sat down and discussed what was important to us for our day and worked out what to spend the money on and where we could cut back. For example, we got married in the church that was at the end of my parents road and I walked to the church with my parents and bridesmaids. Then my uncle who has a nice car took my and hubby to the reception.

I made all the stationary and saved a fortune. I think it cost about £70 altogether instead of the quotes for about £300 that we were getting. My mum has a friend who owns a cake shop and she kindly made our cake for us as a wedding present otherwise we were going to use the ones from M&S.

We asked friends to video our day for us and then one of them who is a bit of a dab had with it all, edited it for us and put it on a dvd.

There is lots you can do to save money such as not having a dvd and making your own invites. Ask friends and family to help with things like the invites. Places like Monsoon, Debenhams and BHS all do lovely wedding and bridesmaid dresses and they are a lot cheaper than some in the bridal shops so that is definataly worth a look.

Perhaps think about having your wedding later in the afternoon and then just having a buffet for everyone. This cuts down on the time you hire the venue for and is cheaper than a sit down meal followed by a buffet for the evening.

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Teresa and Paul - 2nd October 2004