The average cost of a UK wedding may well surprise you: Bridebook’s 2025 research puts it at £20,822, while Hitched estimates it to be £23,250.
The good news is that if there’s no way you can or want to spend this amount, a beautiful and meaningful wedding does not need to cost anywhere near it. Weddings are so personal that they can fit into any budget. If you have a wedding budget of £100,000, there are suppliers and venues that will be perfect for what you are looking for, but there are also suppliers and venues that are perfect for a budget of £6,000 that will have just as much impact.
I’ve put together this guide to wedding budget ideas to share wedding budget tips for planning a gorgeous celebration without stretching your finances. Because let’s face it, starting out life as a married couple shouldn’t be overshadowed by the looming spectre of massive credit card bills.
Read on for ways to save money on your wedding, from big items such as the venue to smaller elements such as your invitations and cake.
The foundations for your wedding budget
Know your numbers
Let’s start with the basics. Before you do anything else, sit down with your partner and work out what you can afford to spend. It may be that family members have said they’ll contribute, so get a clear confirmation of how much they’ll be adding, or ask them if there’s something specific they’d like to cover, such as outfits, the cake or the meal.
Prioritise what matters most
Once you’ve got a clear idea of how much is in your wedding budget, you can then prioritise what elements you want to include.
Non-negotiables will vary from couple to couple. If you love testing out new restaurants, serving amazing food may well be top of your list. If your weekends are spent going to live music gigs, a band could be the element you’re not prepared to compromise on. You’ll also have to agree on this with your partner, and ensure that both of your priorities are taken into consideration. But I can guarantee that there will definitely be areas where you’re both prepared to save.
At this stage, also bear in mind those ceremony costs that can’t be negotiated, such as the registrar, church wedding fee or celebrant. If you’re getting legally married, you’ll have to pay around £90 to register your intent to marry, plus £10 for your wedding certificate. For a civil wedding, registrar fees vary from county to county in Scotland, but you’ll need to budget between £100-500 for the ceremony. Church wedding costs also vary, and can sometimes include extras such as paying for heating, so you’ll need to check with your church to see what their fee is. If you want to go down the celebrant or humanist route on your wedding day, costs range from £450 up to £700+.
Choosing the right venue and date
Think outside the box for your venue
The venue is usually the biggest cost in wedding planning. And while you may have always daydreamed of saying your vows in a Scottish castle or grand house, these may not be budget-friendly options if you’re trying to save money on your wedding.
Getting creative can yield some amazing venues. Research village halls, function rooms in pubs, restaurants or council-run spaces such as museums. Venues that don’t tend to do a lot of weddings are often much cheaper than those popular on the wedding circuit.
If you’re lucky enough to have a friend or family member with a big house or garden, this can also be a great budget venue option.
The great news is that compared with the rest of the UK, you can have a legal wedding ceremony anywhere in Scotland, as long as it’s conducted by an approved celebrant (registrar, religious leader or humanist) and you have permission from the landowner. This opens up a lot more choice than having to find a licensed venue, which is the situation in England and Wales. So the top of a mountain, a back garden, a field… there are lots of low-cost options open to you.
It’s also worth exploring package deals with wedding venues, as these can be cost-effective when you take into account what’s included – the ceremony, reception, meal, drinks, etc.
Be savvy with the day and date
Being canny with the day and date of your wedding can save you hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds, both on your venue and your suppliers.
Firstly, going outside the traditional ‘wedding season’ of April to October can be a lot cheaper for venue hire. Then choosing a less popular Monday to Thursday or Sunday wedding will cut costs even more, both with a venue and potentially with suppliers too. This wedding budget idea has the added bonus of giving you more choice on availability.
Getting married in Scotland has its advantages with an out-of-season wedding. The Highlands are known for their beauty, but they are also abundant in one other thing during the winter months – snow! Embrace the snowy aesthetic with a picturesque winter wedding, with the added bonus that it’s also considerably cheaper.
Prune down your guest list
The cost-per-head items of food and drink are what can also push up your wedding budget, so it’s an obvious saving to have fewer guests. Cutting out just ten guests may free up funds to hire the venue you really want, or use the florist who you admire.
While this can feel a bit ruthless, remember that in addition to saving you money, smaller weddings often feel more personal and memorable, and give you more time to spend with each of your guests.
Having a smaller guest list overall can also work in your favour. Are your parents asking that you include their friends, or do you have a large extended family that you’re not particularly close with? Citing budget reasons for keeping the guest list small can help with saying no to extra guests you don’t really want in the first place.
Style on a budget
Dress smart
Your outfit is one area where it’s easy to save money on your wedding. With secondhand platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Vinted and eBay, some savvy searching and time can lead to the dress or suit of your dreams, at a fraction of the cost.
Another budget-friendly option is renting your outfit: this is a service some wedding boutiques and designer shops offer, as well as sites such as Hurr and By Rotation. If you’re looking for full Bonnie Prince Charlie outfits, these are between £600-1000 new, whereas you can rent for a couple of days a lot cheaper. Or go retro: does a family member have a wedding outfit that you could wear, or have altered for you?
High street shops such as Monsoon, Coast and Debenhams also offer great off-the-peg wedding dresses that can be a tenth of the cost of one from a specific wedding designer. For suits, places such as Next or Slaters allow for cheaper suits to save on the overall budget.
If you want to go down the bespoke route, there are dressmakers all over Scotland who do phenomenal work and whose prices are cheaper than you might think for such a custom item – I know of one who can create a custom wedding dress for between £800 and £1500.
Affordable hair and make-up
While it can be lovely to have a professional doing your wedding hair or make-up, there are plenty of ways you can look your best on the day with a more DIY approach.
For make-up, create your own wedding look using YouTube or Tiktok videos. Another option is to pay for a lesson with a make-up artist and learn a wedding day look – this will be much more cost-effective than having them there on the day.
For hair, using a local salon can be cheaper than having a wedding-specific hair stylist. You may be lucky to have a friend who’s confident at doing hair and who you could ask to do yours as a gift. There are also lots of online tutorials if you’re confident with your own styling.
Doing plenty of research and trials before your wedding day is best if taking the DIY approach to hair and beauty, as you don’t want to end up stressed about your look with just a few hours to go!
Wedding budget ideas for food and drink
Feeding your guests
Food and drink is another high cost item, but there are plenty of wedding budget tips to get creative with how you spend in this area.
Rather than opting for a three-course meal, consider budget-friendly choices such as buffets or afternoon teas. A hog roast will cost £600-800 but will feed 100 people, and all you’ll need is some sides to go with it.
Many weddings have the meal at about 3pm and then have more food in the evening, but if you push yours back to 5pm or 6pm, you won’t need another round of catering.
You could also ask guests to each bring a dish instead of gifts. You get a delicious, homemade buffet, and your food costs are almost zero.
Another option is to have a small guest list of around 10 for your ceremony and post-ceremony meal, then invite more guests to an evening party with canapes or rolls. This can still have ana amazing celebratory atmosphere without huge meal costs.
Drinks and cake
You’ll really save if you can bring your own alcohol. Some venues do have a corkage fee, so research on whether BYOB is cost-effective. If it is, buying your alcohol in bulk will save money, as can getting it abroad if you can combine it with an existing holiday. (Or it may be worth tapping up an obliging friend or family member who’s heading somewhere like France.)
For your cake, there’s likely a confident baker on your guest list who’ll be happy to make one for you as their gift. Another wedding budget idea is to opt for a supermarket cake that you dress up with flowers, ribbons or toppers. Cupcakes are also popular again, which are cheap to buy ready made and can then be easily customised.
Ways to save money on wedding décor, flowers and finishing touches
DIY decorations
Decorations are one area where the DIY approach can be really fun! Use Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration, then get creative. It’s amazing how low-cost or free items such as candles, greenery, jam jars and fairy lights can create a beautiful wedding aesthetic.
Friends will likely love to get involved: host a crafting evening where they can help you make your decor and enjoy a pre-wedding catch up.
Platforms such as Vinted or Facebook Marketplace are also great to find wedding decor, as many couples end up selling theirs on afterwards for a fraction of its original cost.
Budget-friendly florals
To save money with your florist, opt for seasonal or local flowers, as these will be cheaper than flying in exotic blooms (and better for the environment too). Choosing more foliage than flowers is also cost-effective, or statement flowers that don’t need as many to make the impact you want. You’ll also save money if you can repurpose any ceremony arrangements for the reception.
If you or a friend feel confident, buy flowers at a wholesale market and arrange them yourselves into bouquets and arrangements. Check out if you have a community flower farm near you – they often sell flowers for great prices.
Capturing the day and entertaining your guests
Affordable photography
For most of my couples, great photography to capture the day is an absolute must, but again, it’s not something you have to blow the budget on.
A simple way to cut back is to have fewer hours of coverage – so skipping the prep stage, or having your photographer leave after the speeches. Or find a photographer who’s just starting out, as they often offer lower prices to build up their portfolio.
You could save hugely by not having a photographer at all, and instead set up a storage folder online where guests can share the photos they take. With so many amazing phone cameras and DSLRs available, your guests are bound to take some amazing shots! Have QR codes on the tables and around the venue, then have someone mention in their speech about clicking the code and sending the photos after the wedding. That way, you get truly authentic pictures from so many different sources, giving your photos a slice of reality that sometimes photographers don’t capture.
DIY entertainment
A hand-curated playlist on Spotify will get your guests on the dancefloor just as quickly as a live band will. Add an interactive touch by putting a space on the RSVP card where they can request their favourite song.
If you really want live music, make contact with a music school and see if any students are up to playing – they’ll be phenomenal, but will likely cost less. Or if you see a good busker while out and about, get their contact details and see if they’re up for a wedding gig.
The small details that add up
Stationery and invitations
While paper invitations are beautiful, emails work just as well. Keep them super simple, or use free apps such as Canva to create something more colourful.
Canva is also great for designing your own wedding stationery – there are lots of free templates on there to guide you, or you can design something from scratch.
Favours
Favours are definitely something you can skip, and it’s likely no-one will even notice. If you do have your heart set on them, opt for something low cost such as tablet or thank you notes.
After your wedding
When setting your wedding budget, don’t forget to include items for after the wedding such as the honeymoon, thank you cards, photo books and outfit cleaning.
Your memories are priceless
If your wedding budget is starting to stress you out, please always keep this in mind: people won’t remember your wedding because of how much you spent, but because it’s a heartfelt celebration of you as a couple. With that at the centre of your wedding planning, your day will be absolutely priceless, no matter what your budget.
Why hiring a planner could help you save money on your wedding
I hope this guide to wedding budget tips has helped you with your planning. Need more support to make your money go further? While it may sound counter-intuitive, working with a planner can sometimes actually save you money. I often have discounts with venues and suppliers that I can pass onto you, or my expertise can stop you from making a costly mistake.
I offer three tiers of wedding planning to fit your budget – full, partial and on-the-day – and am on hand to keep you on budget, take away any stress and overwhelm, and ensure you can soak up every minute of your amazing wedding. Get in touch if you’d like to talk about how we could work together.