For richer, for poorer - which will your wedding leave you? JO HAYWOOD discovers how to organise a low cost big day.

WILL the answer be "yes" on February 29? No, not your boyfriend - your bank manager. The average cost of a wedding is now fast approaching £16,000, so if you take advantage of the leap year tradition and ask your boyfriend to marry you on Sunday, you had better make sure you have enough cash in the bank to finance your plan.

But what if you don't have £16,000 waiting to be spent? Can you have a perfect day when money is tight?

"You can have a good day for £2,000," said York wedding planner Rachel McWalter. "It's not going to be Posh and Becks, but it will be special."

Through her business, Simple Extravagance, she offers couples advice and practical help organising their wedding, no matter how small their budget.

She also runs wedding workshops with Family Matters York, helping couples plan weddings they can afford.

"Everyone tells you to budget for your wedding, but how do you budget for something you have never done?" she said. "If you have no experience, it's like asking how long is a piece of string."

Rachel is not a natural-born wedding planner. Armed with a biosciences degree, she worked for Proctor & Gamble testing Oil of Olay. She then moved to York to work with the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, offering general and spiritual advice to students.

When her contract ran out last year, she decided to take a business course and launch her own venture.

"I organised my own wedding and I've helped friends organise theirs in the past," she said. "I suppose I am naturally an organised person. It also helps that I can retain a lot of information in my head at the same time."

She has numerous horror stories about couples setting themselves a £10,000 budget and spending £24,000, or paying for everything on credit cards and still paying the bills eight years later.

"As the numbers get bigger, they seem to mean less," said Rachel. "People seem to think if they owe £10,000, they might as well owe £20,000."

Some would argue that a wedding planner is an unnecessary luxury. But Rachel believes this is one of the few instances when you need to spend money to save money.

"If you had a budget of £2,000, I would expect to be paid £200," she said. "That doesn't mean however that the wedding would now cost £2,200. I would make savings of at least £200 to cover my fee and would take away a lot of the pressure so the couple could enjoy their engagement."

So, can you really organise a wedding for £2,000, an eighth of the national average? On the right, we put Rachel and her tips to the test...

Wedding dress = £300

Debenhams, Monsoon and Andrea Banbridge in Goodramgate do a good range of relatively low cost wedding gowns that will set you back as little as £300. Various bridal boutiques also offer a hire service for about £100. But don't feel you have to restrict your search to wedding dresses. There are some beautiful long, flowing summer dresses about for the coming season that you can pick up for less than £300, about a tenth of the price of similar dresses featured in the summer wedding gown collections. Just ask yourself: do you really want to spend £3,000 on a dress that is going to be relegated to the loft once the confetti is swept up?

Groom and best man's suits = £80

Men's suits can be hired from as little as £40. Easy peasy.

Bridesmaids dresses = £100

Don't get bogged down with traditional bridesmaids' dresses - your friends will thank you when the photographs come out. Polka dot dresses with shorter, fifties-style skirts are very fashionable now and cheaper too at about £50 a pop.

Cake = £50

Cajole a friend who knows their way around a kitchen to bake you a cake. Or, simpler still, get it from M&S. It might not be unique, but it will look perfect and taste great.

Wine = £300

Buy your own. If you are having your reception at a hotel, pay their corkage charges - it will still work out cheaper than buying their wine.

Stationery = £20

Make your own. There are numerous computer programmes available for creating invitations, or you could give each invite that personal touch by writing them out by hand. Just buy yourself some good quality paper and be creative.

Flowers = £50

Seasonal blooms are cheaper than snazzy imports. Don't feel you have to have a formal bouquet. Why not give all your girlfriends a single flower which they give to you as you pass down the aisle? By the time you get to the front you will have a free-flowing bouquet and all your friends will feel as if they have been involved, whether they are bridesmaids or not. If you want your day to feel even more special, buy a couple of big flower tubs and put them at either side of the church door, or scatter lavender in the porch.

Venue = £500

You don't have to book the fanciest venue in town to have a good time. Think laterally. You could have a fantastic picnic in Museum Gardens or Rowntree Park, or go to your favourite pub with all your favourite people. It's about the people, not the wallpaper and vol-au-vents, so why not book your local community centre or church hall, decorate it to within an inch of its life and party like its 1999 (and not like you've just spent £19.99 on a plate of curly hotel sarnies). If you do want a fancier venue, think about getting married off-season. You can usually get a better deal in autumn and winter and there is no uncertainty about the weather - you know it's going to be cold.

Transport = £100

You can hire a Mercedes from a regular car hire company for £100 for the day. Your only problem then is finding a sober friend to drive it.

Entertainment = £100

As a rule, a soloist is cheaper than a band. You can track down musicians through local associations, but why not simply approach a good sounding band in your local pub? They might even do the gig for a few free pints.

Photographs = £400

This is one place where it's dangerous to skimp. Pay next to nothing and you could be left with next to nothing to show your grandchildren in years to come. Spend about £400, however, and you can get 40 lovely pictures in a presentation album. Remember to do a deal beforehand on reprint fees and consider asking a friend to take additional pictures of your guests as they arrive. You know you were at the wedding, but it's nice to see who else was.

Seating Plan = £0

This costs nothing but is vital. Elaborate table decorations don't add anything to the atmosphere of a wedding, but where you are sitting and who you are sitting next to do. Make sure feuding relatives are not within punching distance of each other and that party animals are caged alongside party animals. It's also worth thinking about splitting up older children and their parents, so each party can relax, let their hair down and enjoy themselves to the full.

For further information about Simple Extravagance, phone Rachel McWalter on 01904 337152, email Rachel@SimpleExtravagance.co.uk or check out the website at www.SimpleExtravagance.co.uk. Weddings workshops will be taking place at El Piano in Grape Lane on Thursday, and York Racecourse Wedding Fair on Sunday March 7. For further details, phone Robin Watson of Family Matters York at the Spurriergate Centre on 01904 639767.

Where are the brides of 1994?

FOR Christine Bardy, being named as one of ten finalists in the Evening Press's Bride Of The Year 1994 competition was the icing on her wedding cake.

On May 7 that year, Christine married Jeremy Banyard at the Acomb Methodist Church in York.

It was the second time around for both of them and they decided on a church wedding because their previous nuptials had been in a register office.

Ten years on, the couple are still enjoying wedded bliss - so much so, that they are planning to renew their marriage vows at the same church to mark their 10th anniversary.

The blessing is planned for Saturday May 8 and it is hoped many friends and family from the original event will be able to attend.

But there is a hitch.

The couple have lost touch with best man Tony Ireland and Heather Lambert, a friend of the family.

Jeremy says: "My best man has moved unbeknown to me and I have tried to track him down without success. Tony lived in the Clifton area of York and we'd obviously like him and his wife to be there.

"We would also like to trace a friend of my sister-in-law Kath, who was at the wedding and helped with some of the arrangements. Her name is Heather Lambert (or was Lambert when we married) and she lived in the Selby area."

Jeremy and Christine, of Bramham Grove, Acomb, York, are appealing to Evening Press readers to help. All information please to Maxine Gordon on 01904 653051 or contact the couple directly.

The couple were also wondering about the fortunes of the other nine couples in the Bride Of The Year 1994 competition.

If you are one of those couples, please contact the Evening Press. We'd love to do a follow-up article. Contact Maxine Gordon, 01904 653051 or email: maxine.gordon@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 09:19 Tuesday, February 24, 2004