A mum has revealed how she only spent £73 on her wedding, with her gown coming from a charity shop.
Michelle Foulia, 49, met her husband, Andreas Constantinou, 54, in Cyprus in 1999 and instantly fell in love.
Deciding to tie the knot two years later, the couple didn’t need anything fancy, rushing to the nearest registry office to say ‘I do’.
Spending a grand total of £3 on her dress for the occasion, the pair decided they needed nothing fancy – with no photographer, no suit and no flowers.
And an hour later, they were back at work.
“I got married in a £3 charity shop summer dress and went straight to work,” the writer, from North Wales, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
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“I chose a comfortable blue summer dress with little flowers on – my husband wore jeans.
“There was no photographer, no wedding gown or suit, no hen night, no bachelors outing, nothing.
“Our wedding bands cost 70 euros for both – we still have them and they’ve lasted just fine.”
Not one for tradition, Michelle and her husband made the decision one night, with no big proposal and certainly no kneeling.
She said: “There was no romantic proposal, no diamond ring or kneeling on one knee – that would have horrified me.
“We knew we wanted to be together and make a real commitment to one another.
“We were having dinner one evening when he just said “we should get married really, we’ve been living together, running a business together, we might as well get married”.
“I nonchalantly replied “Yes we should” and that was it.
“We didn’t tell our families, we just booked the registry office and asked my husband’s best friend and his wife to be witnesses.
“The registry office was decorated with flowers but they said that we didn’t ask or pay for it.
“We went in our own cars, got married, and an hour later, got in our cars and went to work.
“We met up in the evening for a nice meal at our favourite restaurant, just the two of us and it was absolutely perfect.”
Despite the minimal cost, the pair have never regretted their choice, not wanting a big white wedding.
She said: “It was never about the ‘stuff’ or the fairy tale or the Hollywood movie fantasy for us.
“The experience was not in the wedding day and absurd amounts of money people spend, but about the act of committing to one another.
“I never fantasised about looking like some princess in a fancy gown so it was a no-brainer for me.
“Thankfully, my husband felt the same.”
Married for 23 years and parents to Mihalis, 20, Vangelis, 15, and Areti, 12, they couldn’t be happier.
She said: “It was simple and deeply meaningful and it set us up to start the next part of our journey well.
“I’m pretty sure we must have had the cheapest wedding on record and I’m really happy about it.
“No regrets and lots of incredible lessons through the challenges but also amazing memories in the simplest moments.
“To us, that’s what it’s all about.”
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