Newlyweds have defended spending over £40,000 on their 'special day'.
Kirsty and Sam Harvey, both 33, have insisted they would 'do it all again in a heartbeat' after trolls accused them of being 'insane' to spend that much on a wedding.
Take a look below for the full financial breakdown:
The couple, who met in high-school, have always dreamed of a big wedding day and they certainly made that happen in 2021.
Although the duo have been engaged since 2016, Sam fell ill during Covid and nearly lost his life.
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Afterwards, they were adamant on doing the best wedding possible by booking the De Vere Tortworth Court venue in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, alongside paying off their mortgage.
The mum-of-two, who works as a wedding stationery designer, revealed that their Pinterest-worthy occasion consisted of 60 guests, a four course meal, venue hire and two nights accommodation.
Kirsty, from Halesowen, West Midlands, says the pair spent £1,800 on flowers, £400 on a two-tiered cake and £2,350 on a photographer.
All in all, she believes that £40,000 is a standard 'luxury' wedding price tag.
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"We work really hard, we've got savings so we just thought 'we're going to save even harder and pay it off'. We didn't want anything hanging over our heads after the wedding," Kirsty said.
"We did have to sacrifice things, mostly our time because we were doing extra hours, which in turn meant we didn't go out as often.
"We didn't go on a family holiday like we normally do.
"We still had a mortgage to pay and childcare and normal, boring adult bills. We would never have booked anything we couldn't afford."
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Kirsty continued: "I'm not saying we work harder than everyone else on the planet.
"We are conscious of making sure we have savings, we don't blow money on stupid stuff.
"We stayed in, we didn't go out, we worked hard and did overtime doing extra hours.
"We work hard but I'm not taking it away from anyone else like nurses and doctors. They're totally different roles.
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"There's trolls everywhere but it was our day, our money, how we chose to spend it.
"We even had some of our family saying 'oh my God, are you spending so much money?' but no one else is paying for it, so it is what it is."
Deciding to share the cost of her wedding on social media, Kirsty added: "I wanted to put it on to show people how much things actually cost. These weddings that you see on Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram, they aren't cheap.
"It's totally unrealistic.
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"Another stir [thing that stirred the pot] was saying it's about the average cost of a wedding but for that type of wedding with that venue and those flowers, that is the average price.
"I know people spend double, triple, even quadruple what we spent. I've had brides that have spent so much more.
"There will be so many opinions along the way, if you spend £1,000 or £100,000.
"Don't get yourself into debt for it. If we couldn't afford what we wanted, we wouldn't have had it."
She added: "It did wind me up when someone said 'your priorities are showing off on social media rather than spending time with the love of your life on your honeymoon'.
"That was our first holiday together alone in eight years and a week is a long time to ask someone else to look after your children.
"We would have loved a month-long honeymoon and to spend more money on that but it's not realistic. We missed the boys by then too and they had missed us.
"People are quick to presume that we just want to show off, but that isn't the case at all. Our priorities are our children."
Financial breakdown - £40,562.50
- Venue - £15,470
- Honeymoon - £3,243
- Wedding rings - £3,440
- Photography - £2,350
- Entertainment - £2,250
- Other bits - £2,207
- Videography - £2,150
- Bridal party outfits - £1,849
- Flowers - £1,800
- Dress - £1,674
- Hair and makeup - £1,105
- Invitations - £843.50
- Styling - £610
- On the day items - £581
- Signage - £590
- Cake - £400
Topics: Weddings, Sex and Relationships, Money
Anish Vij