Australia Cheapest Wedding: Cancelled?!?
Well, I’ve been stood up at the altar guys. I always knew this would happen, but I expected it to be by some dashing foreigner who decides the green card just isn’t worth it, not by a TV show.
But all good things must come to an end, and apparently, this is it for Australia’s Cheapest Weddings. There I was, Monday night, bowl of ice cream, laptop out, ready for some frugal wedding fun and – nothing.
Has it been cancelled?
My frantic googling yielded no results – the internet was mum on the fate of my newest trash TV fix. Channel 7 hasn’t responded to my tweet, so it’s all still a bit up in the air.
Assuming the worst – that this delightful romp is over – I’ve done a roundup of everything I have learnt while watching Australia’s Cheapest Weddings.
UPDATE: It’s confirmed people – Australia’s Cheapest Weddings has been axed. Well, ok, not in so many words, but it was pulled, to return at a later, unspecified date, which, in TV land, means either it’s gone for good or will be returning at some god awful time slot when no one but insomniacs or shut-ins are around to watch it. So, assuming you and I are neither, it looks like this is the end of the road.
The budget: So, obviously, you can plan a wedding on a pretty tight budget. Kudos go to Zach and Emily from week 1, who I think came in the cheapest with only a $90 spend.
Honourable mention goes to my faves, Matt and Trish, who in week 2 proved that no measure is too desperate when it comes to saving for your dream wedding, and actually took cold showers to save money. That’s either insanity or true love – funny how hard it is to tell the difference sometimes.
The vibe: Casual and laidback wins the day. I think I saw the most tears – the stress kind, not the happy kind – at Barbs and Jon’s wedding, which, coincidentally, was the wedding where every table runner needed to be DEAD CENTRE OR THE MARRIAGE WOULD FAIL AND THE WORLD WOULD IMPLODE. PROBABLY.
Crystal and Dan also had some hairy moments, but can you blame them when nobody showed up?
All’s well that ends well, I guess, but if you can’t relax your budget, make up for it by relaxing your attitude. You’ll have more fun.
The dress: so, some brides splurged on a Disney princess wedding dress, others were stoked to find a cheap option online. I’m torn on this – on the one hand, Crystal snagged a pretty darn good wedding dress for an excellent price online. On the other, Des wound up with a set of weird nipple cups in hers and splurged on a second dress from a local boutique. Online shopping – it’s not for the faint of heart.
Personally, I’ve never seen the point in spending heaps on a dress you’ll wear once. But maybe I’m being cynical, because it seems to be a big deal for everyone involved. And that’s fine – it just means you have to make up for it in other areas of your budget, by say, replacing your hairdresser and waxer with the free labour of your husband to be (I think Trish and Matt have scarred me a little, actually.)
The venue: From backyard BBQ to the local town hall, everyone on the show managed to find a wedding venue to fit a tight budget. The gold medal, though, definitely goes to Shaun and Des, who’s venue had no electricity, running water and no plumbing. And was furnished from a scrapheap. And caught fire.
The food: The DIY spirit is alive and well in the culinary arena. From conning your neighbour into doing it all, to braving sharks infested waters to catch your own dinner, to essentially crowdsourcing the menu, these couples pulled out all the stops to feed their guests for a low price.
And we can not talk about the food without mentioning Chef Howard, who was a bloody ledge, and potentially the personification of true love itself. Howard, you champ.
The verdict: Is that you don’t need a massive budget to throw a great wedding. Love trumps money, and with a little bit of ingenuity and a DIY attitude, there’s no reason you can’t put a ring on it without sending yourself broke.
And, as it turns out, I like weddings almost as much as I do a good spreadsheet. I’m gonna miss this show.
- Week 1: It begins
- Week 2: Disney princesses go wild
- Week 3: And then there were two
