I’m the ultimate budget bride…I nabbed bargain bridesmaid dresses from eBay, a headband for £5 & my DIY shoes were £15
Emma Payne
Updated on March 23, 2026
FOR those who have ever had to plan a wedding before, you will know that getting married can often work out to be extremely expensive.
But one bride has shared how she managed to cut costs on her big day.
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Isla Rose Potkins explained that she bought cheap items from eBay, Shein and AliExpress for her wedding, including the bridesmaid dresses and her wedding shoes.
Posting online, the bargain bridge shared how she kept the costs of her wedding down, as she shared a video captioned ‘Love a good bargain.’
She explained: “So I like to think that I managed to get some pretty good bargains for our wedding, so I thought I would share some of them with you.
“My bridesmaid dresses were just £25 and they were from eBay.
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“My headband that I wore in the evening was just £5 and that was from Shein.
“We got our groomsmen personalised cufflinks and these were under £10 a pair and we got these from AliExpress.
“The shoes that I wore during the day were £15 and they were from Missguided and I DIYed the bows on the front and back.
“The robe and pjs that I wore for getting ready were both from Shein and they were under £20.”
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Not only this, but Isla also shared that she got married on a Friday, saving her a whopping £4,000 on her wedding day.
In another video, Isla confirmed: “To cut it short, we saved £4,000 by having our wedding on a Friday.
“If people didn’t want to take the day off work to come, then I don’t want to pay for your space.”
As well as this, Isla managed to save on her wedding by making all the stationary herself.
Wedding stationary usually includes ceremony programmes, seating plans, menus, invitations and place cards.
Isla says she even hand stamped confetti to cut back on cost.
The savvy bridge also saved money by buying her ceremony and reception decorations second-hand.
Isla and her husband then sold everything they thrifted to try and make some money back.
Isla’s TikTok clip, which was shared under the username @islarosepotkins, has clearly left many stunned, as it has quickly amassed 137,100 views.
Social media users were left stunned at Isla’s bargain buys and many were eager to express this in the comments.
One person said: “These are amazing bargains!! Stunning wedding style.”
Another added: “Aw wow, love these tips, thank you!!”
A third commented: “eBay is the best for wedding stuff!”
Whilst another posted: “Headband and robe ordered, thank you so much.”
At the same time, someone else asked: “Did you hire a day coordinator/planner? Or just do it all yourself?”
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To this, Isla confirmed: “Did it myself.”
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