Bride is criticised for spending £70,000 on her wedding in London - and one expense is branded 'absolutely criminal'
Christina Theofanous, 29, revealed that she forked out more than £70,000 on her big day, with the marketer from Hertfordshire spending £8,800 on the dress alone.
Her partner, James Dodd first began saving money in 2021 to go travelling but Christina said this slowly turned into a wedding fund.
When the 30-year-old popped the question to Christina on holiday in Dubai in September 2023, the pair spent the next 18 months 'making sacrifices' to afford their big day.
The couple splashed out £33,000 on their wedding venue in Westminster, London, which included a £18,577 wedding breakfast for 130 of their closest friends and family.
They spent nearly £2,000 to ensure the bridal party's hair and make-up looked picture perfect, including four make-up trials that Christina quipped were 'just extra'.
Despite forking out the average price of a flat in Blackpool on their celebration, Christina insists the couple have not racked up any debt and don't have any regrets on their decision to go big for their wedding in April.
She shared a TikTok post with a breakdown of her wedding expenses and while some said it was a 'shocking' amount to spend, she claimed it was 'worth every penny'.
Christina, from Hitchin in Hertfordshire, said: 'There wasn't a budget. We decided to have our wedding in London and had an idea it was going to be expensive.
'I knew exactly what I wanted so when I started researching I found that these were the costs.
'We had a savings pot before we got engaged that we wanted to use for travelling but this turned into the wedding pot and we naturally started saving from this point.
'If we wanted to spend this amount, we needed to make sacrifices and save hard to make it happen and this is what we did.
'The cost for the venue was just over £33,000. This included the venue hire, the canapes, drink reception, wedding breakfast and evening buffet and we also extended the venue to 1am which was an extra cost.
'The wedding breakfast was £18,000 which included a three-course meal for everyone, half a bottle of wine, one glass of prosecco for everyone for the toasting.
'It included teas, coffees, soft drinks and some truffles with the coffees. I think it was around £130 per person.
'Hair and makeup cost £1,640 and this included hair and makeup for me, my mum, my sister and my best friend and my flower girl's hair.
They spent nearly £2,000 to ensure the bridal party's hair and make-up looked picture perfect, including four make-up trials, which she jokingly explained on social media as being 'just extra'
The couple spent over £2,000 on a custom suit for the groom - which feels tiny compared to the £8,800 on Christina's wedding dress
'In this total I had paid £180 for a bridal hair and makeup trial but it was my decision to pay for an extra three trials.
'It was a lot of money for sure but it was worth it for me [to feel good on my wedding day].
'The flowers, which included three bouquets and decorating the whole venue, set us back £7,836.
'This was quite a shocking amount and we did make changes to bring the cost down to this.'
Christina said a family member gave them £5,000 to help towards their big day and her dress, heels and veil were also gifted by family.
However, she later changed into an £85 dress as one follower noted it was 'absolutely criminal' to spend nearly £9,000 on her white gown only to change into a much cheaper outfit later.
The bride said she understands why people were shocked they had splashed out so much money on their wedding but said they had worked hard for their savings.
Christina said: 'I completely agree and I'm not stupid and think it's not expensive.
WEDDING COSTS
Venue hire: £10,800
Wedding breakfast: £18,577
Supplier meals: £74.40
Kids meal: £25
Venue extension until 1am - £900
Evening buffet: £2,670
Bar tab: £1,500
Dress & alterations: £8,800 (dress gifted)
Second dress: £85
Heels and veil: £850 (gifted)
Hair and makeup: £1,640
James' custom suit: £2,150
Rings: £2,300
Perfume: £278
Wedding cake: £290
Photographer, videographer and content creator: £6,850
Flowers: £7,836
Music (Pianist and DJ): £3,495
Bar: £864
Registrar: £1,000
Honeymoon: £5,500
Two night hotel wedding stay: £590 (hotel stay gifted)
TOTAL =£77,074.40
(TOTAL minus gifted items and £5,000 from family =£63,224.40)
'We saved for 18 months and we had a plan. Some people said it's just one day and that is a waste of money and that's fine as it's not for everyone.
'But growing up I always wanted to get married and have this kind of wedding, and for us it's worth it and we were both on the same page.
'I lived up north for three years and when I was looking for houses I did see some for £60-£70,000 so I do get people's perspectives for sure.
'But, as bad as this sounds, this is our life and we work hard to do what we do.
'It was worth every penny and we have no regrets and we're not in debt from it. The wedding day was perfect.'
Christina's TikTok video racked up more than 190,000 views and while some users didn't see a problem with the couple's spending, others thought it was excessive.
One user commented: 'My house cost the same as your wedding,'
Another said: 'Waste of money mate. I wouldn't spend that much on a wedding even if I was [Jeff] Bezos.'
A third commented: 'Sorry but this is a shocking amount to spend on one day! Each to their own obviously but could buy a house with that. And, let's be honest, there's a 50/50 chance of divorce.'
Several others, however, defended Christina as they said she could spend her money the way she likes.
'It was your day. If you can afford it, enjoy it. Ignore the haters,' one comment read.
Another added: 'If you didn't go broke or into a lifetime of debt to pay for this - you win.
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