There is nothing that glues us to our TV sets more than a good soap wedding.

Rarely do they run smoothly, and that soft focus ‘Scott and Charlene‘ style romance (Google it, youngsters) is often shattered by high action drama in today’s soap operas. This seems to be the perfect formula for engrossing a nation of enthusiastic viewers.

The surreal story lines are not the only thing of interest, however, and many of us will find ourselves analysing the choice of dress and wedding venue, their floral bouquets, hair, jewellery and bridesmaid outfits.

One intriguing question that you may find yourself asking is how much the happy (or often unhappy) couple have spent on their big day.

In order to find out, money saving website, LoveMyVouchers.co.uk, have put together the costs for some of the most memorable TV weddings from Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

Real suppliers in the relevant locations were contacted for quotes to calculate what soap couples such as Michelle and Steve McDonald would have spent on their wedding day if it was to take place in 2017.

With all of our soap wedding budgets coming in lower, and often much lower, than the national average of £20,000, we would all do well to take a leaf out of their scripts.

 

Kat and Alfie Moon, EastEnders – 25th December 2003: £6,189

Kat and Alfie saved on their wedding by having it in their own pub. Not all of us have this option, granted, but get in with the landlord at your local and you never know. Of course, they need to have a licence for weddings, and few locals will have this facility.

Bumping up their costs slightly will be the fact that they got married on Christmas day. Unless you have a piano player in the family, you are unlikely to secure someone to play your wedding march for less than £300.

The wedding cake will have been tricky also, as there is no chance of picking it up fresh from the supplier on Christmas day, so you may have to settle for one that has been hanging around a few days.

 

Carla and Peter Barlow, Coronation Street – 4th December 2013: £13,118

Barlow’s fifth attempt at marriage was with Carla Connor. It was a relatively lavish affair considering he had been up the aisle so many times previously.

The main expense would have been the country hotel venue, although most offer an all inclusive package that allow you to prevent smaller expenses from mounting up.

The main saving would have been on Carla’s dress, which was made by Hayley’s own fair hands.

 

Debbie and Pete Barton, Emmerdale – 4th August 2015: £12,221

Planning a surprise helicopter to whisk the happy couple away was maybe something that the groom would regret, as it crashes into the venue causing complete devastation.

That aside, however, booking the village hall is a great idea for keeping costs down. You can spend a bit more getting the professionals to decorate the venue with voile curtains, sparkling lights and dressed chairs when the wedding venue is so cheap.

Even hiring a vintage fun fair doesn’t have to be that costly, and is a fantastic idea for keeping the guests entertained. Pete got his for very little, however – sometimes it’s all about who you know.

 

Steve and Michelle McDonald, Coronation Street – 26th May 2015: £3,720

The dress was supposed to look like it was a second hand, vintage number, to go along with their vintage themed wedding. Vintage themed often means minimal budget, and in this case, meant a wedding for less than a fifth of the national average.
It did mean that the evening venue was decorated with empty beer bottles, but each to their own.

 

Mick and Linda Carter, Eastenders – January 1st 2016: £19,644

Although there were no bikinis and long red boots (Wonder Woman reference), the groom did get married in a pink dressing gown and flamingo slippers, so fancy outfits were the order of the day. It’s a long story!

In spite of this, the Carters spent the most out of our couples on their extravagant wedding day, hiring a stately home style wedding venue on the outskirts of London on New Year’s Day!

 

Carla and Nick Tilsley, Coronation Street – Sunday 22nd May 2016: £9,520

After her failure of a wedding to Peter Barlow, Carla seems to have decided to spend a little less on her next wedding, which turns out to be a good job, as it goes belly up at the ‘I do’s’. The main expense was most likely from hiring professional decorators to transform the restaurant into a perfectly styled wedding venue.

 

Tony & Cindy and Doug & Ste, Hollyoaks – 12th November 2012: £7,355 Per Couple

Double up on your wedding day to split the costs. A wedding that would have otherwise cost well over £14,000 was halved by this nifty tactic in this case. That said, who wants to share their wedding day with another couple?

 

See the full results of the study at https://www.lovemyvouchers.co.uk/lifestyle/soap-weddings-how-much-did-they-spend/!

What’s your all-time favourite soap wedding? Let us know below…