A bride has shared how she planned her “dream wedding” on a budget of just £491, buying accessories on eBay, an ASOS dress and a Morrisons flower bouquet. Cloë Thornton, 29, and her partner, Josh, 32, a finance and commercial manager, got engaged when he popped the question while skiing in Morzine, the French Alps, in February 2020. The couple tied the knot in a legal ceremony without guests in July 2022 – and later celebrated with all their friends and families on July 23.
Cloë’s mantra was “our day, our way”. She wore a white feather short dress from ASOS that cost £110 and paired it with Nike Airforce sneakers she already owned and a pair of £3 heart-shaped sunglasses from eBay.
She made her own bouquet for £30 using three bunches of flowers – £10 each – from Morrisons.
The newlyweds then opened a bottle of Costco champagne in the street to celebrate their union.
Josh’s parents were on hand to witness the wedding at Wakefield Registry Office, West Yorkshire, and the couple then enjoyed a day out in Leeds where they played junkyard golf before going home with a takeaway at 8pm.
The laid-back bride later celebrated with her friends and family at a festival-themed reception, letting her six bridesmaids wear whatever they wanted.
Cloë, an operations and strategy analyst, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: “I didn’t want to do anything traditional, I wanted it to be us. I wanted a nice cool dress that represented my personality and I bought one from ASOS for £110 .
“My veil was on sale from ASOS for £15 and I was wearing a pair of Nike Airforce ones I already owned, paired with a pair of £3 eBay sunglasses. Josh wore a white shirt, jeans and a pair of brown boots.
“We didn’t want to spend a lot of money and wanted to have our day our way. This wasn’t just about signing a piece of paper, we wanted to make it an adventure.”
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The bride’s mother-in-law picked up three bouquets for £10 from Morrisons on the morning of the big day.
They then upgraded their usual prosecco for a bottle of Costco champagne which they opened on the stairs – while wearing a “Mrs. Thornton” denim jacket.
Cloë said: “After the ceremony we took a train to Leeds and went to the Flight Club bar and Belgrave Music Hall to eat burgers, pizza and dirty chips. Then we went bowling at Roxy and then Junkyard Golf to play mini golf .The staff were so nice they gave us a free round of golf and some visors – we had our first dance to This Charming Man by the Smiths at Junkyard Golf, Leeds We then went home and were in bed at 8pm with a take away.”
All in all, the couple spent £73 to get married in the registry office, £110 on the wedding dress, £15 on the veil, £10 on flowers, £3 on sunglasses, £180 on H. Samuels wedding rings and £100 on their activities – a total of £491.
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They continue their unique celebrations by hosting a party the following weekend with all their friends and family at Ponden Mill Weddings, West Yorkshire.
Cloë said: “It was a festival themed wedding and most of our guests camped out. I bought another dress from ASOS for £90. We had a shirt party on the Friday night before the wedding, everyone wore Hawaiian shirts and one of the sizes of Josh had a top with his face on it.”
Cloë’s color scheme was orange and pink and she let her six bridesmaids wear whatever they wanted – one even wore light-up sneakers. “I gave a speech and said, ‘I wasn’t going to have four men here talking to you,'” she said. “Both Josh and I advertised our speeches, we didn’t write them.”
The pair decorated the venue with 100 craft beer cans they collected and each table was named after a band they love. For food, guests enjoyed ‘build your own gyros’ with meat, couscous, pita breads and dips. “The ceremony was outdoors and we had space hoppers and beer pong,” she said. “There was a lot of prosecco, baby Guinness and good draft beer. Everything about the whole experience was just for us.”