Woman who spent less than £1,800 on wedding says ‘it’s not about the day, it’s about the life you’re building together’

A dental practice manager whose wedding cost less than £1,800, including a £40 dress and £300 venue, said she is “thankful” for Covid lockdowns for changing her perspective and wishes to share the message that “it’s not about the day, it’s about the life you’re building together”.

Leanne Stewart, 28, who lives in Devon, married Ben, 27, a second officer, on July 17 2021 at All Saints Church in Axminster after their original wedding plans for November 28 2020 were cancelled due to the pandemic.

The original costs for the first wedding date were about £8,000, but after realising “it is just one day” and “you’re getting married to marry each other, rather than for the event”, the couple scaled everything back and spent £1,723.75.

This included a £40 wedding dress from Chi Chi London, a £12 veil from Amazon, £300 for the church, £1,050 for a five-course meal for 30 people at a local vineyard and cafe, £60 for hair and makeup, £110 for a photographer and £151.75 for Ben’s suit and tie.

Leanne said the couple did not have any budget constraints but, given the current cost-of-living crisis, she hopes to encourage couples with tight budgets to pursue their dreams of getting married.

“I don’t think the crisis that we’re currently in should make a difference at all. Clearly you don’t need (as much money as people think)”, she said.

“I’ve been to weddings that cost 20 or 30 grand and they’ve had a lovely time. But at the end of the day, it is just one day.

“You’re brought up watching things on TV about these big, extravagant princess weddings and, from a young child, most girls are like, ‘I’m going to have a big beautiful ballgown dress, and I’m going to get married, it’s going to be X, Y, Z and what not’.

“But actually, when you had to scale that back because of Covid – I’m so thankful that we had Covid – we then had to look at each other and go, actually, we want to get married for each other. It’s not about the day, it’s about the life that you’re building together.”

Leanne said she met her husband while the pair were working on cruise ships in May 2014.

Due to their six-month contracts, Leanne said they thought: “We’ll see how this goes while we’re both on the ship together.”

They “never planned for it to go any further”, she said.

But seven months later, on New Year’s Eve, Ben asked Leanne to be his girlfriend and their romance blossomed.

Ben proposed with Leanne’s grandmother’s engagement ring on the beach in November 2019 – although Leanne accidentally discovered it the month before.

“It was my grandma’s engagement ring. My mum had it before me as well and he asked for that back in July in 2019 – and it then took him until November to propose,” she said.

“We went on holiday. (My parents) were determined that it would happen then – totally cliche – but no, I then found the ring and I didn’t say anything for a good month.

“We went out for dinner to celebrate a new job and I mentioned something then. That was the Wednesday night.

“Then it was the Thursday he proposed to me. We were at the beach walking the dog. I was wearing gym leggings and he had a dog poo bag in his hand.”

Following the slightly comical yet romantic proposal on Seaton Beach in Devon with their clumber spaniel, Basil, the couple planned their wedding date for exactly one year later on November 28 2020.

They wanted to have a church wedding followed by a reception with an afterparty, a DJ and a night’s stay at a nearby hotel.

Before everything was booked, Leanne said they had spent £6,000 to £8,000, but due to Covid-19 and the various lockdowns, they had to cancel the wedding and find another date.

While Leanne initially had the “crazy” idea for the wedding to be on the same date as the proposal, she then decided to let their dog Basil decide.

“We literally put loads of random Saturdays that we had free down on the floor and let the dog pick a Saturday,” Leanne said.

“There was no attachment to any other date and we just thought if he picks it and people can’t come, then we can’t get blamed for it – it’s the dog that picked it.

“So I put these little bits of paper down with these dates with little treats on all of them and the first one he went to was the date it was – July 17 2021.”

Since the pair had to wait longer than they had hoped to get married, the focus was no longer on the event itself and they scaled everything back to reduce costs.

This allowed them to save thousands for their honeymoon – a safari in Africa, followed by a week in the Seychelles – which they are planning to go on in September 2023.

The majority of the money for the wedding was spent on the five-course meal at Heron Farm after the ceremony, and Leanne said the food was “stunning”.

Given there were still coronavirus restrictions in place, the number of guests at the church was limited to 30 people and they could not have a DJ or dance together, but Leanne said it was lovely to have such an “intimate” and “non-pompous” wedding with their closest friends and family.

Leanne did not have any supplementary decorations at the church as she created some bows using materials she already owned, and her mum’s neighbour made a wedding bouquet.

The couple did not have to hire a wedding vehicle either, as they used Leanne’s dad’s classic Triumph Herald car, while Leanne’s friend baked a cake for them.

Leanne said she originally wanted to buy two dresses, but after realising she will only wear the wedding dress once in her lifetime, she ended up buying one from Chi Chi London for £40.

She said she is “so grateful” she did not spend thousands on her wedding dress, as it has been sat in the wardrobe since and will probably never be worn again.

Leanne said that if she and Ben had to redo the wedding all over again, they would “do it literally exactly the same”.

She added: “I think as soon as you realise that you’re getting married to marry each other, rather than for the event, (nothing else matters).”