Saving Money on Your Wedding Day

While it is certainly true that planning and preparing a wedding can be a most stressful event - and worse if your budget is small - there are many tips that can help you stay on track and within your budget when planning for your big day. Here's a look at thirteen simple things you can do to keep your costs under control:

Guest List, Location, Reception Menu and Invitations

1. Keep the guest list as small as possible. Unless Granny's best friend from third grade makes you cookies all the time, she doesn't really need to be there.

2. Location, location, location. A cathedral and a grand ballroom might a storybook event make, but a small banquet hall that can serve as ceremony and reception location is much less expensive.

3. The reception menu does not have to be Surf and Turf. A well laid spread with a poultry entree - or even a vegetarian menu - can be just as appealing while costing much less.

4. Your invitation doesn't need to impress Queen Elizabeth. Get an invitation kit from a wedding supply or local craft store, gather some friends and make a party of invitation creation!

5. When decorating the venue, fabrics, such as tulles and ribbons, and candles present a much more romantic - and far less expensive - alternative to fancy flower arrangements.

Wedding Entertainment, Video DVD's and Limousine Costs

6. A live band is nice, but expensive. Hiring a DJ to spin some tunes will get people up to dance just as well.

7. The same with a 'professional' Emcee. Let your hilarious Uncle Fred or the groom's best friend do those duties.

8. Ask yourself if it's really worth it to hire a professional to film the wedding and reception. Will you watch it often enough to justify the cost?

9. Instead of a huge multi-tiered cake, try a smaller one - or an arrangement of individual mini-cakes.

10. Serve champagne for the wedding toast only. After that, offer less expensive drinks to your guests.

11. Friends and family can do just as good - if not better - at arranging things as any wedding planner.

12. Leaving the reception in a limousine may be a grand thing (both in appearance and cost), but if a friend or family member owns a snazzy or classic car, your departure will be more memorable and less pricey.

13. When dealing with vendors, always remember that they expect to haggle about the prices. Don't disappoint them.