A bride saved $21k on her wedding - by wearing a Shein dress and buying Costco flowers.

Heather Hopkins, 29, and her husband, Christian Spillis, 28, tied the knot surrounded by 20 family and friends on August 22, 2025.

Initially, Heather gave herself a $1k budget for her wedding dress, but felt that bridal shops were "snobbish" and would show her the "bottom of the barrel dresses."

Heather decided she would rather "roll the dice" and get something online, so she ordered a dress from Shein, costing $140, which she described as "perfect"."

Her husband, Christian, bought a linen suit from Italy for $100, they bought Costco flowers for $220, and family and friends helped out with photography, videography, and catering for the big day.

Heather did her own makeup and hair, and her father-in-law officiated the wedding.

In total, the couple spent $13,645, which included an Airbnb for 20 guests, a wedding dress, a suit, and flowers. They saved $21,355 on the average $35k US wedding.

Heather, a founder and CEO, from Miami, Florida, said: "Initially, my budget for a dress was $1000."

"I went into bridal shops, and would say how I didn't want to spend more than that - and they would not give me the friendliest of looks."

"They would take me to the bottom of the barrel dresses, they made me feel cheap."

"I went and tried a few dresses on, and I wasn't thrilled about any of them."

"At this point, I was ready to roll the dice and get something online."

A few weeks before the wedding, Heather found her white floor-length dress with a train on Shein.

The dress arrived five days before the wedding, and Heather said it was "perfect."

Her husband, Christian, also bought on a budget and found himself a white linen suit from an independent shop Italy for $100.

Heather said: "My dress showed up five days before the wedding, and it was perfect."

"My husband spent $100 on his suit. His dad happened to be in Italy, and they found a shop selling linen suits that was shutting down."

"He got this beautiful suit for 100 bucks."

As well as getting her wedding dress for a bargain, Heather and Christian pinched the pennies for other aspects of their wedding, too.

They spent $7.8k on an Airbnb for their 20 guests, spent $220 flowers, and got help from family and friends for photography, videography, and food.

Heather said: "I always wanted to do a micro wedding, I believe as long as you are with people you love and the room is filled with love, fanciness does not matter."

"We have huge financial goals we wanted to hit, and I didn't want to blast all that on a wedding"



"The place was filled with so much love, everyone was in tears."

"We were all crying with happiness, and by the end of the night, we were all crying in laughter."

"Everyone at the wedding was so important to our lives - it was pure love all around."

Cost breakdown:

Amazon table decor: $450
Dress + veil : $140 and $25
Costco flowers for the whole weekend: $268
Airbnb: $7,800
Chef and food for wedding: $2,800
Alcohol: $500
Photographer for two days: $800
Ceremony set up (trellis + stage): $75
Extra food for breakfast, lunch, etc: $500
Gift bags for guests and goodies inside: $200
Cake: $87
Total: $13,645