Meet the mum who threw her dream wedding for just £500

A BARGAIN-MAD mum has revealed how she threw the wedding of her dreams for less than £500.

Kayleigh Hughes, 28, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, slashed the price of her big day from £4,500 to just £480 thanks to her savvy money saving ways.

In a bid to keep costs down, Kayleigh hit the sales, made decorations and called in favours from friends and family.

Thrifty Kayleigh, who has two sons, Joshua, three, and one-year-old Jaxon, didn’t want to “break the bank” while getting hitched to childhood sweetheart, Dave last July.

She told The Sun: “I had a clear idea of what I wanted for my wedding, but when I totted up the figures it would have set me back around £5,000.

“I’m a full-time mum with two young sons so splashing out on a big wedding just wasn’t realistic. I wanted to see how I could achieve the wedding of my dreams without breaking the bank.

“It’s amazing how much you can save on an event like a wedding as soon as you start putting some feelers out for help. It’s like that old adage, don’t ask, don’t get.”

Kayleigh’s biggest saving was on her gorgeous flowers.

“I wanted big floral bouquets and decorations. Some quotes I received were around £3,000,” she said.

“However my husband is a manager of a flower wholesaler and his boss kindly gave us all the flowers as our wedding gift. It saved us a fortune and they looked beautiful.”

She shunned a flash stately home in favour of throwing the reception at her local village hall.

“It only cost £80 to hire,” she said. “We were able to decorate it exactly how we wanted and it was all we needed.”

The church and organist, which should have set her back £500, was paid for by Kayleigh’s grandparents as a wedding present, and family helped sort out the food and cake.

“My family were brilliant with chipping in to help. My aunt made my wedding cake and my mum decorated it. I paid just £5 for it in total,” she said.

“For the food, each of my 100 guests brought their own dish and we had an amazing buffet.”

Kayleigh’s aunt also lent the couple her posh Land Rover so they could arrive in style.

The most important decision for any bride is choosing the perfect dress but frugal Kayleigh managed to bag hers in the sale.

“I’d had my eye on a gorgeous one, which was £900, but I waited until it was on sale and managed to snaffle it for just £300,” she said.

“My tiara and shoes were also in the sale - I paid just £30 for the two. The shoes were £90 originally before being marked down. My veil was my ‘something borrowed’ from my aunt.

“Other savings include hair and make-up where I was quoted £230 for six people, but found a non-professional who was just as good and charged me £60.”