20 ways to afford your dream wedding

- Don't give up on your dream wedding
- How to bridge the financial gender gap
- Don't let the credit crunch ruin your relationship
- Check your credit report
- 20 steps to an affordable wedding

Many couples have grand ideas about their special day. Money can't always buy you the big day of your dreams.

But, as a nation, we seem to think it can. The OK! effect means that the average cost of a wedding has risen £5,000 in the last five years to pass £20,000, according to You and Your Wedding magazine. As a result, think tank Civitas reports that seven out of ten young people are delaying walking up the aisle because they believe it is too expensive.

But taking your beloved's hand in marriage needn't cost an arm and a leg. Follow our 20 steps to an affordable wedding and there's no reason you shouldn't be able to have a big day to remember without committing yourself to a lifetime of debt.

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