Small intimate wedding

It's really up to you and the kind of wedding you want (and the amount of money you are prepared to spend to get it!)

I would start off by working out how much money you want to spend and then list the various aspects of your wedding in order of importance. Remember that apart from the stuff that is needed for a legal ceremony, everything else is optional. So cut out anything you don't really want - just because other people have it doesn't mean that you have to.

Once you've pared the list of things down to the ones you actually want, start thinking about which ones are worth paying top price for and where you can save money. There is a 'wedding markup' on most stuff, but in most cases, it's not necessary - although sometimes, the extra cost is justified (for example, a cakemaker might be travelling to your venue to set up the cake, or the florist might be making a special trip to deliver your flowers instead of adding them to the general delivery round)

Think through all your options - you might be better off having the legal ceremony at the registry office and then following it up with a blessing/celebration after, since you will have a wider choice of reception venues if you don't have to pick one that is licenced for wedding ceremonies. We had a church wedding and booked a room in a lovely local country pub for our reception - they just charged us for the cost of the food and it was ££££ cheaper than the cheapest 'wedding package' at any of the other venues we considered. Plus we didn't have to pay out for a load of stuff we didn't want (looking at you, chair sashes...)