Welcome to 2020, a leap year in which the outdated tradition of women proposing to men on 29 February has already been swiftly monetised by Poundland.
Yes, the £1 retailer is selling engagement rings that encourage women to pop the question.
It’s a marketing gimmick, of course, but I think there’s more to it than that.
It raises questions about how extortionately pricey the wedding industry continues to be, and while we may be living in a whole new decade, many people would still recoil at a £1 engagement ring, followed by a cheap wedding. Why?
Inevitably, it’s made me think about my own wedding. When I got engaged, I had already been with my boyfriend Matt for nine years. For six of those I’d been eagerly awaiting a ring but I earned more than Matt and we both knew he would have to sell an arm to afford one.
In the end, while buying myself a £200 ring while abroad (which wasn’t intended to mark an engagement!) Matt quietly suggested I give it to him and that he’d return it when the time was right.
That time was two weeks later, just before we moved into the flat that had reduced our bank balance to zero.
Like Monica from friends, I had a wedding Plan A, B and C (I had to do something during my nine year wait).
We couldn’t afford A, which would have cost approximately £20,000.
B was possible if we saved for another three years, and there was no way I was waiting that long.
So C it was: the budget wedding, which we costed at £8,000.
To do it we needed to cut some corners, leaving out elements we felt were unnecessary. Not everyone approved. ‘But what about the photos of you in the wedding car?’ my Nan cried, aghast, after hearing the photographer wouldn’t be around for long. ‘You can’t get your dress made online!’ said my mother when I told her my plan to acquire a dress via Etsy.
But Matt and I didn’t need monogrammed stationary or three course meals served by opera-singing waiters. We wanted to get married and have a party. So instead of ‘save the date’ cards, we had a £3 video made on the website Fiverr and emailed it to guests.
We used a free website to share details of the day and collect RSVPS, and the invites were simple seed packets. We planted some of the seeds in tiny pots in time for them to grow into our table favours.
For months, eBay was my best friend. I hunted down bargain purchases including some beautiful picnic rugs, allowing myself a maximum budget of £3 for each.
Charity shops provided frames for photos and Ikea was an amazing source of 10p vases. Garden games, like quoits and bunting net badminton, were all handmade.
Food and drink can be a very pricey aspect of weddings (the average amount for couples for spend is around £4,000) with prices per head varying from £30 to well over £100. We couldn’t afford that. Instead we served picnics for £12 per person (including canapes).
Were we scared that it would look cheap and tacky? Yes, at first. Growing up, my wedding fantasy was to have a dress like Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Matt wanted a big traditional wedding – hundreds of guests, top hats and dancing.
But when everything was put together it looked anything but and we received countless compliments – including for my Etsy wedding dress, in which I felt beautiful. I loved the whole day, from start to finish.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a ‘cheap’ wedding to anyone. I enjoyed doing it so much I even started planning low-budget weddings for others and you’d be surprised how many people have since contacted me for help.
Technically, getting married can cost as little as £120 but if you do want some extravagance, I’ve budgeted days costing less than £1,000.
Research from Hitched reveals that the average wedding cost in 2019 was £31,974. That’s outrageous to me. What are people spending their money on?
I imagine many are consciously, or subconsciously, looking to match or beat other weddings they’ve attended. Perhaps that’s why venue hire now averages £5,406. Our village hall cost £350.
It’s human nature to compare; I defy any bride-to-be to go to a wedding without assessing which elements they’d like at their own nuptials.
Still, I would recommend that any couple take a step back and remember the reason they want to be married. Hopefully the answer is love, not money.
Think about who is attending. If the answer is your true friends and loved ones, then you should know that they’d never judge you on your wedding. The number of Swarovski crystals on a dress does not define how much fun guests will have.
Cheap doesn’t have to mean tacky either (in fact, tacky can be outrageously expensive – I’m looking at you, F-list celebrities).
Somewhere along the line those two words have become interchangeable but judging by the amount of Pinterest boards dedicated to ‘boutique’, ‘crafty’ or ‘homemade’ weddings, a cheap wedding can be something to aspire to.
Poundland’s cheap engagement ring won’t be for everyone, and I wouldn’t blame anyone who wanted to splash a bit more cash on something sentimental that they will (hopefully) own forever.
Perhaps what it will do is encourage people to rethink their wedding planning, from engagement right through to ‘I do’. If a couple starts the wedding process with a Poundland ring, they might just remember that the joy of getting married comes from shared love and excitement, not from the size and cost of the event.
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MORE: Newlyweds decorate Insta-worthy dream home for £300 with Poundland and B&M Bargains
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/08/poundlands-engagement-ring-money-not-weddings-12024883/
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