WEDDINGS may be one of the happiest day of our lives but there is no doubt they are also one of the most expensive.
With the average ceremony and reception costing just over £20,000, couples are finding ever more ingenious ways of saving money and wedding photographer Alicia Garside is no exception.
Faced with more and more bride and grooms to be telling the Charfield-based snapper, who runs Red Maple Photographer, they could not afford a wedding photographer, Alicia decided to combine her favourite pastimes – taking pictures and searching for ‘treasures’ in charity shops.
“People spend so much money on their wedding venue and one day I was walking down Wotton-under-Edge High Street and thought charity shops are perfect for finding wedding accessories, going away outfits, china and even bridal gowns,” she said.
“People have no idea what is donated but you can plan an amazing wedding if you put the time in to finding the items.”
Canadian-born Alicia set about staging her own vintage wedding shoot at Grittleton House near Chippenham with all outfits, table décor and accessories bought in St Peter’s Hospice shops in Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Wotton and the charity’s dedicated wedding shop in Westbury-on-Trym.
“I picked up games for children to play for pennies,” she said. “The eight wedding dresses we used are stunning and I found vintage watches, an Yves St Laurent suit for £25 and beautiful dinner service sets.
“I found everything I was looking for and when people see the pictures they will think it is crazy that everything came from charity shops.”
She added: “It is great fun too. We didn’t have much money when I was growing up and my mother always used to take me to charity shops hunting for treasure.
“This is my way of helping a really great charity too. People just need to be inspired and they can have the wedding of their dreams.”
St Peter’s Hospice area manager Victoria Canavan said: “It’s amazing the treasures you can find when you go bargain hunting for your wedding day and with 47 shops across Bristol and two specialist boutique bridal rooms within our Westbury-on-Trym and Portishead stores, St Peter’s Hospice charity shops are the perfect hunting ground.
“You can find everything from your dream designer dress and bridal party outfits to decorations for your venue and vintage accessories within our stores and the best bit is that the prices are all a fraction of the cost of ordinary wedding items.
“Often suppliers hear the word ‘wedding’ and double the prices, but at St Peter’s Hospice we are all about providing a cost-effective way to make your big day perfect.”
She added: “For thrifty brides-to-be it obviously makes sense financially but it also means so much more to us. Funds raised through our shops mean we can continue caring for those with life-limiting illnesses and their families in the area.
“All of our services are provided free of charge but this care costs around £19,000 a day. For around £14,000 of that, we rely on donations and revenue from the hospice shops.”
The photographs will feature in a forthcoming edition of Vow magazine.Read more at:formal dresses online australia
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