Main feature: How much (and little) a wedding can cost
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With this in mind, Jemma Walton pinched some pennies to put together the city's cheapest.

Dress, £65:
Oxfam has a bridal shop in Leicester for second-hand wedding gems, but if you want to celebrate your special day in a special dress of your own, you'd do worse than to head for Bhs.

The Queensgate store has a complete range of wedding gear, with its cheapest dress being £65. Simple and stylish, it's a dead ringer for something four times the price.

Add cream shoes (which can be dyed) at £22 and a fluffy white cape at £30 and you'll be one beautiful bride.

Bhs is available on 0845 8410 248.

Hall to have wedding reception in, £150:
A lot of village halls have been, or are being, revamped and so ignore them as a cheap venue for a wedding knees-up at your peril.

Newborough Village Hall, for example, was done up a year ago, and offers an air conditioned hall that can hold 150 people standing, 80 sitting down. The rental rate for a Saturday night is just £15 an hour – so if you can make the seven-or-so mile trip to the village your pockets will be heaving a sigh of relief.

For bookings call Sue Minghella on 01733 810674.


Flowers, £65:
Unlike wedding photos, which will last you a lifetime, you'll be lucky if your wedding flowers last until the morning after.

But what bride would want to give up on having a bouquet of beautiful blooms to clutch while she's walking down the aisle, or to chuck over her shoulder as she's leaving her reception?

Nicola Brooks, of Daisy Chain Florists, in London Road, said that the most anyone had ever spent on flowers with her had been £2,500, but the average amount spent is between £300 and £400.

"The cheapest I could do would be £65 for a rose bouquet for the bride and a buttonhole for the groom," she said.

"People usually buy those and bouquets for the bridesmaids, buttonholes for the grooms and ushers, corsages for the mums, things like that, which takes the price up."

Daisy Chain is on 01733 344642.


Pictures, £360:
Celebrities might be able to bag themselves a million pounds for flogging their wedding snaps to a glossy magazine, but the rest of us have to cough up for piccies of our big day.

The bill for a wedding photographer can spiral into the thousands, but Alan Mason, of AJS Photography, based in Pennine Way, Peterborough, said he can do you 36 photos for £360.

For more information call 01733 574588.

Honeymoon, £400:
You might not get your own private sandbank in Malaga, but you are almost certain to have a fine old time.

First Choice, in Long Causeway Chambers, Peterborough, can have two people flying to the Spanish city for seven nights, bed and breakfast or self catering, for £200 each.

For more information, call 01733 890 048.


Cake, £70:
The stress of making 50 chocolate Rice Krispie cakes in your kitchen might just bring on a bad case of pre-wedding nerves, and so as far as wedding cake goes it's probably best to draft in the professionals.

A Piece of Cake, in Central Avenue, will make you a two-tier sponge wedding cake for 50 people for £70. If you wanted a fruit cake, make that £120. And yes, that does include the little bride and groom on top of the cake.

Owner Diane Windsor said: "The most expensive cake I've made was about £250, but that was a three-tier fruitcake with all the frills."

For more information, call 01733 554222.


Food for 50 people at the wedding reception, £180:
Crisp roast duck with a confit of sour cherries, roasted pork belly with fennel seeds – if you want a cheap wedding you better forget about having dishes like these for your wedding meal.

Instead, why not order 50 portions of fish and chips? Delicious, warm and satisfying, it could just be the perfect meal to kick off a marriage.

Ta Chau, of Gunthorpe Fish Bar, will do you 50 portions of fish and chips for £180, and will deliver. He said: "I have catered for one wedding before about two years ago. They had 20 meals – and I think it was a very good idea!"

For more information, call 01733 571094.


Car, £0:
Your dad's Ford Focus or your mum's Mini should get you to the church on time without you having to raid your piggy bank.

Disco at the reception, £170:
Whether you want to sway to the strains of Angels, Unchained Melody or The Crazy Frog, you'll need a DJ to make your wedding reception an evening to remember.

And Wesley Clark, of Nightlights Disco, said he can do just that for £170, but every hour past midnight will cost an extra £10.

"For that you'll get music from the '60s through to today, and we'll give you a request form before the reception so you can pick the music, if you want," he said.

"If the venue you have allows smoke machines, we'll bring one along, and we've got a full set of lights as well."

For more information, call 07851 498673.


The wedding, £103.50:
Peterborough Register Office, on Thorpe Road, has room for 30 guests, and the £103.50 will cover the costs of all legal paperwork, the ceremony and one Wedding certificate.

For more information call 01733 566323.

Wedding rings, £109.98:
H Samuel, in Queensgate, offers a nine carat gold woman's wedding ring for £29.99, and a man's nine carat gold wedding band for £79.99.

For more information, call 01733 313 477.

TOTAL = £1,673.48

What do you think? Did your wedding cost the more or less than you planned?
Comment below, email us: features@peterboroughtoday.co.uk or telephone the newsdesk 01733 555111.