A national survey commissioned by ME found many young Australian couples may be choosing a doorbell over wedding bells this wedding season.

In a survey of 2,036 Australians, ME asked if any had sacrificed goals to buy their first home. With the cost of a wedding averaging $36,0001, nearly 23% of Australian Millennials revealed they’ve delayed or downsized their nuptials in favour of buying a home.

Furthermore, 21% delayed or downsized their honeymoon, and 24% have decided to delay or have fewer children to commit to a mortgage. The prospect of buying a home is so daunting that some brides and grooms now ask guests for a monetary contribution towards their house deposit instead of traditional gifts.

But buying a home outside of marriage is not out of the norm either. Around 37% of Australian couples were not married when they purchased their first home, a figure that coincides with the general rise of defacto couples living together.

With house prices more than doubling in the past 15 years, it’s not surprising couples are questioning the value of an extravagant wedding. What we’ve seen, however, is that with a little lateral thinking and some sensible saving and budgeting, couples are finding increasingly savvy ways to save for their house deposit and eat their wedding cake too.

Top tips whether you’re being carried over the threshold or simply want to buy one…

- Something old: and so the old adage goes: a little goes a long way. Set a fixed amount to be automatically deposited into a high-interest online savings account so you’re less inclined to touch it. It won’t be long before you start to see that pot of savings grow.

- Something new: deploy a new home buying strategy: buy with friends or family, consider alterative locations, or start out with an investment property to get your foot in the door.

- Something borrowed: in the current climate, we’re seeing more than ever, families getting together to help out with big financial decisions such as buying a home and saving for a deposit.

- Something blue: avoid a ‘financial blue’ by talking about your finances. According to a ME survey, the more you talk about money, the less tension and conflict it causes.