Chloe and Grant planned a fully themed gothic wedding, but their original idea looked very different. Like many couples, they started by mapping out a larger celebration and quickly watched the numbers climb.

“Our original plans were going to cost almost £16k”, Chloe told us. “We found it all very stressful so ended up cancelling everything. We went online and booked a registry office ceremony for £150 and didn’t look back! We have zero regrets. I did my own make-up, made my bouquet, put together the decorations – everything! We didn’t even have a photographer for the wedding itself, all the photos were taken on my Instax or by friends. The most important thing to us was to be married.”

They also kept the ceremony simple with just a few guests and no self-written vows. “We didn’t have any public declarations of love”, Chloe laughed. “We’re not a normal couple and didn’t want to do any of that stuff – we just found it cringy.”

The reception expanded the guest list slightly, with around sixty people joining later in the day. October made the decorations easy to source as shops were already full of pumpkins and Halloween details. “Luckily, Grant was happy for me to lead the aesthetic! I love everything Halloween gothic and my husband was happy for me to take charge. We spend the night before the wedding pumpkin carving with our two children and it make everything extra special.”

Chloe wore a black dress from Violent Delights and did her own goth themed hair and make-up. It’s how she usually styles herself so didn’t want her wedding day to be any different. “I had so many people trying to talk me out of wearing a black dress but I did it anyway. I knew it’s what would make me happy so I went with it.”

However, they did want some great photos to remember their wedding, so they booked Amy Davies to do a post-wedding shoot in a local cemetery, which felt very them and very on theme. “I had never had a photo shoot before in my life and I didn’t have a clue what to do in front of a camera”, Chloe explained. “Amy made us both super comfortable and showed us what to do. She was also great at stopping the many people who kept trying to talk to us in the middle of it! She’s mega professional and we had nothing but an amazing day with her.”

The entire wedding, including the reception, photography session and food, came in far below their original budget. “With the plan changes, we did the entire wedding and reception, photos and food for £1,500! The most expensive thing of the day was the graze table for food which was £300 absolutely everything else was under that price and super budget. We don’t regret a single thing, doing it this was saved us so much money. It’s okay to not do something big. Weddings don’t have to be huge, expensive and full of people.”