How to save on your big day in London by top wedding expert

Ms Perry, recently voted the best wedding planner in the East of England, said: “More couples are paying for their own wedding by themselves. Gone are the days when the father would pay for everything. Most couples need to save every penny. This means fewer trips out for dinner — maybe once a month rather than once a week. Mini breaks usually fall by the wayside.”

Of venue choice, she said: “In London you have more scope. There are so many spaces: warehouses, rail arches, all blank canvases that you can really create in. ‘Dry hire’ — where you book just the venue [without staff] — is more cost-effective.”

Ms Perry, pictured, added: “Things like making the celebration later in the day, so you only give guests bowl food. That can still be elegant but it is more like a party. Another tip — use canapés as starters and wedding cake as dessert.” She also suggested getting married on a weekday, sending online invitations, weighing up quality of photographer against cost and using foliage rather than flowers.

She described how social media can often cause problems in the planning process, saying: “People see something on Pinterest or Instagram and they say, ‘I want that’, and I then have to tell them it will cost a fortune. A lot of the time I am managing people’s expectations as well as their budgets.”

Nine ways to cut costs

1. Opt for a venue that will just do “dry hire”

2. Serve bowl food rather than sit-down dinner

3. Replace starters with canapés and desserts with wedding cake

4. Use foliage and branches over flowers

5. Look for less conventional venues such as warehouses

6. Send online invitations

7. Don’t let social media images tempt you to overspend

8. If you can’t tell the difference between photographers’ work, go for the cheaper option

9. Try to save every penny in the run-up to the wedding by socialising and holidaying less

Ms Perry, who is based in Essex but plans weddings across London, is speaking at the National Wedding Show, at Kensington Olympia from February 16 to 18.