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Couple Don Skinny Jeans And Personalised T-Shirts For Wedding To Help Save £13k

Couple Don Skinny Jeans And Personalised T-Shirts For Wedding To Help Save £13k

Rebecca and Glen said their big day cost them just over £1,000 in total

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A couple managed to save £13,000 on their wedding day, having cut costs by keeping things 'simple' and 'chilled out' - even swapping the lavish white gown and expensive tailor-made suit for personalised t-shirts and jeans.

Rebecca and Glen Maxwell got married in a £250 registry office ceremony at the town hall in Darlington, before taking their guests to Center Parcs for a carvery dinner costing just £400.

In fact, they only spend just over £1,000 in total for their big day - inspired after Glen, 30, told his bride-to-be Rebecca, 26: "We could get married in jeans and t-shirts and I'd still love you."

That's exactly what they did, donning personalised 'bride' and 'groom' t-shirts, skinny jeans and trainers.

Rebecca and Glen.
Kennedy News and Media

The wedding party wore similar personalised tops, and the couple also asked their guests to wear jeans and t-shirts to the occasion as well.

Instead of a pricey wedding cake, they spent just £35 on cupcakes from Morrisons, which they paired up with a sheet cake featuring a photo of the happy couple with their nine-month-old daughter Eleanor.

Initially, they'd felt pressured to go fancy - planning a Christmas wedding at a farm that would have cost them £14,00 and put them in debt.

But Glen and Rebecca then realised it was more important to focus on the things important to them, and scaled things back, tying the knot in April in front of 40 of their closest friends and family members.

Rebecca, Glen and their daughter.
Kennedy News and Media

GCSE and A-Level tutor Rebecca, of Blyth in Northumberland, said: "When we were planning our wedding, we started doing everything to please other people.

"Our guest list was getting out of hand.

"I had even bought a wedding dress but after having Eleanor I went to try it on again and I ended up crying. It just was not what I wanted at all.

"I felt like I had lost sight of why I was getting married. It was like I was trying to get married like Pinterest had told me to get married."

The got married at the town hall in Darlington.
Kennedy News and Media

She continued: "Me and my husband are still married just like all those people who are in £20,000 debt.

"I do really believe that so many people lose sight of the real reasons to get married.

"It becomes like a big expensive show, a production for everyone else and the real reasons are lost in all that.

"It should be about how in love you are. I don't know anyone who gets married just because they think their partner is alright."

Kennedy News and Media

Rebecca explained that she and Glen - who works in security - just 'love each other's company', and that all that mattered was marrying the person you love 'surrounded by the people you love'.

She added: "I want to show other brides that if they don't have a big budget, it doesn't matter. They don't have to spend a fortune or put all that pressure on themselves.

"As long as you marry the person you love, surrounded by people you love, your day will be special."

The cakes.
Kennedy News and Media

After the registry office ceremony - which was one of the few places they found to accommodate Rebecca's father, who is a wheelchair user - Rebecca and Glen took their guests to Center Parcs Whinfell Forest in the Lake District, where they sat down to a carvery dinner costing £400.

Along with that, the couple spent £150 on the t-shirts and jeans for the wedding party, £200 on flowers and £70 for Rebecca's hair and makeup - meaning their day cost just £1,105 in total.

The wedding party also wore t-shirts.
Kennedy News and Media
Kennedy News and Media

They even had some leftover cash to treat their wedding party to a weekend at Center Parcs.

Rebecca said: "When we realised how much our big Christmas wedding was going to cost we just sat together and said, 'This is crazy.'

"We couldn't justify spending that kind of money on just one day.

"Suddenly we were thinking, 'How are we going to afford all of this?' instead of being excited about it.

"We love Center Parcs so we looked into the prices. We realised we could get married at the registry office with our closest friends and family and take everyone there for half the price.

"I wasn't bothered about seeing Glen in a suit and he wasn't bothered about seeing me in a dress. We just wanted to claw it back and make it a happy family event.

Kennedy News and Media

"We decided to get together the 40 most important people in our lives and have a fun and relaxed weekend.

"I just wanted the people we love there to watch us commit to spending the rest of our lives together. It was lovely.

"I'm so close to my dad and having him walk me down the aisle was so important to me. The wide aisle at the registry office made that possible. It meant the world to both of us."

While Rebecca said the day was 'perfect' for her and Glen, and that she would recommend it to anyone, she admits she's had mixed reaction to some aspects of the wedding - including her attire.

"All day and all weekend, everyone was so chilled out. It was perfect for us. I would recommend it to anybody."

She said: "Being in jeans and t-shirts, it took a lot of the stress away.

"After having Eleanor, I didn't want to be the centre of attention. I wanted to be comfortable and to be able to breastfeed.

"I wasn't walking around thinking, 'I wonder what people think I look like,' because they see me in jeans and a t-shirt all the time.

Kennedy News and Media

"I was so comfortable all day. I didn't have aching feet from high heels and I could breastfeed Eleanor without making a fool of myself.

"I did get mixed reactions. Some people asked me, 'Don't you want to feel like a princess for the day?' But I didn't want that.

"I am a wife and a mum and that was fine by me. I didn't need to feel like a princess.

"A lot of people who've seen our photos have said how amazing it is and how they wish they'd had the balls to do that.

"Some people haven't been so positive but I'm past the haters now.

"We got to have a fantastic day and a whole weekend with our friends and family. Who are the real winners?"

Congrats, guys!

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media

Topics: UK News, News