A Glasgow woman cancelled her £30k dream wedding after a "lightbulb moment".

Nurse and beauty pageant finalist Sasha McDonald, 24, and engineer Rory Allison, 25, booked a lavish traditional ceremony at a stately home in Dumfries for 2025.

The pair put their lives on hold and made many sacrifices to pay for the big day, but after experiencing some personal changes, they decided enough was enough.

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Sasha told the Scottish Sun: "We came across a venue that we both really liked and was what we wanted at that time. We booked that and were super happy with it.

"We booked the vendors from there and were pretty happy with a traditional wedding. A lot happened in that year between booking the wedding and deciding to cancel it.

"I got the news that a close family member was ill, my gran died, we lost our little dog and that felt like the closing of one chapter and the opening of the next.

"I was competing for Miss Scotland, and doing fundraising and charity work. We were just busy living life.

"So a lot happened in a short space of time and it made us question what we were doing. We just sort of looked at each other and said: 'Why is this wedding coming to £30,000?' And that's not what matters."

Sasha and Rory swapped the luxury affair with 100 guests for a more modest event at a Glasgow hotel with just 25 family and friends.

The new plans cost less than £10,000 - a third of the original price they were planning to pay. 

She added: "We were stretching ourselves thin financially for just one day to spend an extortionate amount of money and it just did not align with us anymore.

"We said to each other from the start that we'd marry each other tomorrow so why are we doing this? The rose-tinted glasses just came off.

"We just thought it's not worth it. I just thought, 'Why would we spend more on a wedding than a house deposit?'

"Financial strain was definitely something we were worried about. And we thought 'why would we start our marriage in debt?' I wasn't willing to sacrifice holidays and dinners for this one day.

"We just started thinking we didn't want to put our life on hold for another year. We hadn't been going on holidays or anything - we were just working and saving."

Sasha is now urging other engaged couples to consider their priorities and perhaps reconsider the ideal 'Pinterest' wedding if the cost is too much to bear. 

She said: "People are putting themselves into debt to have this picture-perfect day. I think a wedding should be about marriage and the person you're marrying. It shouldn't be a production or show.

"I would say if you've got an urge to cancel your big, traditional wedding, look into it. Your wedding is one day, your marriage is every day."