MAFS UK bride reveals she only spent £100 on her wedding dress - and 'pocketed' the rest of the money from Channel 4
A Married at First Sight bride has revealed she only spent a minimal amount of money Channel 4 gave her for her wedding dress - and claims she kept the rest.
Grace is one of the singles who has put her love life in the hands of dating experts and has agreed to marry a stranger on series 10 of MAFS UK. She’s been matched with Ashley.
The TV bride struggled to find a connection with her groom on their wedding day as she worried that their values didn’t align, but on their honeymoon they do seem to have found some common ground and the affection between them is growing. Time will tell, of course, if their marriage lasts.
But, one thing that Grace didn’t struggle with was choosing the most important dress of her life. Sharing a photo of her in her dress on her TV wedding day to her Instagram page, Grace revealed where the dress came from - but also the surprising amount that it cost.
Thank you to “the @debenhams sale for this £100 dress” Grace said. Fellow bride Anita commented: “You made £100 look a million dollars Grace!” Grace replied: “ High praise from my fashion icon Anita.”
The price wasn’t the only shocking aspect that Grace revealed, as she went on to say that such a low priced dress “enabled me to pocket the rest of the production company’s financial contribution”. Channel 4 have not commented on this claim.
We know, thanks to previous MAFS contestants spilling some behind-the-scenes tea, that every bride and groom who takes part in the show gets an allowance towards their wedding - but they have to pay for any costs encountered which go above the budget given to them.
MAFS 2023 bride Erica recently accused Channel 4 of being “tight” with the money they had provided. In a TikTok video, she revealed that she was given £1,200 which was meant cover her wedding dress, her shoes, her veil, her bridesmaid dresses and shoes and any accessories. “It doesn’t stretch,” she said. In the comments, one person asked about this further and she said: “Thanks to C4 for being tight”, adding that she had to spend around £400 of her own money.
The reality TV star further explained that brides and grooms have “no say” in many aspects of the wedding, including the location. She did say that they will be asked what flowers and favours they would like for example - but branded those questions “pointless”, claiming she got “absolutely f***ing nothing” that she asked for.
Erica also added that all of the guests she was able to invite had to make their own way to the wedding venue and had to cover all of their own costs.
She even called the show "stingy" as brides and grooms are only allowed to bring 12 guests to their MAFS wedding – something else which has also been spoken about by MAFS UK 2024 bride Emma Barnes, in a recent interview with NationalWorld in which she said that her dating life is ‘atrocious’.
Grace has not commented on any other aspects of her wedding as of yet, but she did write out her full vows in another Instagram post as they didn’t make it into the final edit of the show. In them, she said: “ Let’s make time together, time well spent. Let’s form a union that makes us proud, and give these experts something to talk about.”
* Married at First Sight UK 2025 continues tonight (Monday September 29) on E4 and then airs every Sunday to Thursday. You can watch Erica in MAFS UK 2023 or Emma in MAFS UK 2024 on Channel 4 On Demand any time.