Mine in 2003.
Church - £350
Reception venue - free
DJ - £100
Buffet dinner (Hot carved meats, hot boiled potatoes, seasonal veg, whole dressed salmon, KFC style chicken, pizza, fries, salad) - £700 for 80 people.
28 bottles of wine (one red, one white on each table) - £130
Cars to/from church - free (wedding present from parents).
Cake - free (wedding present from aunt)
Decorations for reception - £50
Dress - free (made by relative - wedding present)
Suits - £80 each (half price offer from Moss Bros)
Photographer - free (uncle, wedding present)
Flowers - £80
Invites - did them ourselves, maybe £30 in stationery.
Edit:- Forgot about the rings - plain gold bands - mine £140, hers £80.
All in, £1870
And I thank the Lord everyday that I have a wife with inexpensive tastes. Having said that, it was an awesome do that I'll never forget it. Everyone I spoke to the following week said it was one of the best weddings they've been too
The other key is that when you book the reception venue and the food, don't tell them it's for a wedding
My opinion - as long as your friends and family are with you and you have a good place to get plastered that night (and cheaply) then it's a success. Who cares what fancy food, decorations, favours (does anybody eat sugared almonds?) you have?
Although if you want to spend £30k that's also fine - it's your day so do what you want. Plus your keeping people in a job
