After hours and hours of research, here are some of the best, and worst, money-saving tips that can help you save money on your wedding. Tips we think are the worst are marked with a (W) and are entirely subjective based on personal opinion.  (See disclaimer). Also note, you’ll find plenty of resources at the end of this article - links to other sites on the internet as well as books, to help you get more information and money-saving ideas. Our feeling is yes - getting married is a big business - and while a wedding doesn’t necessarily have to cost a fortune you want to make sure that the choices you make are right for you. If you go for the $175 dollar wedding (actual true story we read about on the internet - the gown cost $8.99 at Good Will) - well…that’s entirely up to you. What is important is that the choices you make about your wedding are decisions that you will be comfortable with in the long run. We feel there is a happy medium between taking out a mortgage on your first-born and the $8.99 wedding gown from Good Will.  Hopefully these tips will point you in that direction. 

One of the biggest money-saving tips that recurs on web sites and in books is the philosophy that you don’t need a professional - they’re all out to charge a lot of money when an amateur can do just as good a job for less money or for free. This is the tip that has me cringing. Yes, you may luck out with an extraordinarily talented amateur (most professionals start as amateurs) - or, like me, you may have no photos and live to whine about it. I actually hear the soundtrack from the shower scene of "Psycho" every time I see the words amateur and photographer paired together with wedding. You’re going to spend a lot of time planning your wedding, you will most likely be wearing the dressiest clothes you will ever wear and hopefully, will be getting married only once. Really - if you’re going to hire a professional photographer only once in your life - this is it! And whether its photography, or any other service for your wedding day, before you hire a friend, relative or amateur - take the questionairre in our article "Avoiding Wedding Day Disasters" and carefully research and weigh all your options with your family so that the decisions you make will be ones you are happy about for years to come!

Finally, some of the best money-saving tips and ideas come from your friends. Ask around and then decide what fits your taste, style and, of course, budget.

Wedding Gowns:

Wear your mother or grandmother’s gown (some of the dresses from the 20’s are really gorgeous). Free or cost of alterations and/or restorations.

Make your own gown - Plus - you can save quite a bit of money, downside, unless you’re extremely skilled this can be a difficult project and very time-consuming. Some of the summer wedding gown styles would be easier to make than those with lace and beads.

Purchase a used wedding gown - from a store, consignment shop or classified ad in the paper.

Buy a white prom gown or bridesmaid dress instead of a traditional wedding gown.

Rings:

Consider using an heirloom wedding or engagement ring that used to belong to your grandmother or great grandmother.

Melt down dental work or bridgework for a wedding ring. 
(W)….I wouldn’t want to wear a dead relative’s bridgework, would you? There is a difference between wearing your grandparents wedding rings and wearing grandpa’s gold crown.

Consider a non-traditional engagement ring. Instead of diamonds, there are less-expensive alternatives that may save you enough to pay for the honeymoon. (Obviously, you may not have a choice on this one)

Veils:

Borrow a veil from a friend or relative.

Choose a communion veil instead of a wedding veil.

Receptions:

Choose a cash-bar instead of open-bar.

Consider Friday, Sunday or off-season weddings. Some reception sites have discounts for non-Saturday weddings. We’ve also seen some reception sites that offer discounts for August weddings. A Sunday wedding on a long weekend when people have off on Monday may save you money and still be convenient for your guests.

Instead of a sit-down dinner consider a lighter menu such as a champagne & hors d’oeuvres reception or a champagne brunch/buffet. This can be really elegant if done right - ex. you could serve gourmet cheeses, chocolate covered strawberries, one chef at a carving station for hot roast beef sandwiches on a choice of gourmet breads, etc. Possible sites -outdoors under a white tent or in a non-traditional site such as an historical building.

Choose a caterer for a local fire-hall and use decorations and flowers to transform the hall.

Have your friends and family provide all the food for your wedding in your backyard and have them cater it for you on paper plates - 
(W)…Isn’t this a picnic? Backyard Tent-Weddings can be very elegant but not without a lot of planning and to make it look elegant some costs will be involved like chair rentals and covers - plastic lawn furniture just won’t cut it if you want elegance. Also, keep in mind that if your family is catering the event for you - will they really be able to enjoy it?

Transportation:

One of the main reasons people hire a limousine or other transportation service is to ensure that the bride, groom and bridal party all arrive together, and on time, to the ceremony and reception sites. If members of your bridal party drive themselves there is often a period of time where the bridal party is waiting for one member to arrive for the photos. This can ruin the timing of your wedding day if one member of the bridal party arrives late for photos and your reception site is serving food while you’re still outside having your photos taken.

Have a friend or relative with a luxury car drive you.

Have a friend or relative with a minivan take all members of the bridal party from each site.

Flowers:

One way to save money on flowers is to avoid getting married on a holiday such as Valentine’s Day, Easter or Mother’s Day. Typically, roses and other flowers cost more on the weekend’s when flowers are typically given as gifts.

On the other hand, if you do choose to get married around Christmas & Easter - you can take advantage of the decorations that your church uses for these holidays - and save on flowers for the church.

Choose flowers that are in season.

Choose a single stem flower such as a rose or calla lily instead of a bouquet.

Take the flowers from the ceremony site for use at the reception on the buffet table or elsewhere.

Choose artificial or silk flowers. (okay, this makes me cringe too, but it can be a viable and affordable solution for the cash-strapped)

Pick flowers out of your garden, or your neighbors, and make your own bouquets. 
(W) Yeah, sure…then keep your fingers crossed that the flowers they have will be in bloom on that weekend and arrange them into bouquets attractively the night before. Isn’t that when you’ll be at your rehearsal dinner? Aunt Hilda can stay home alone and make the bouquets. Is there enough room in the refrigerator for the bouquets and how long do hydrangeas keep anyway?)

Make your own floral centerpieces. (Personally I think this is a bit far-fetched because it isn’t as easy as it looks. I did talk with one bride, however, who had an interesting idea - she picked wildflowers and put them in antique milk bottles and used this as a centerpiece for the tables for a backyard wedding).

Use an amateur (W) Even though all professional photographers and videographers start out as amateurs, I personally can’t be objective on this one. Hire a professional or don’t whine about it later like I do.)

Consider Half-Day Coverage vs. Full-Day - Most photographers don’t even offer this option but some do and it can be a viable alternative. Many couples marrying for a second time have expressed interest in this alternative because they don’t have a large bridal party and they don’t want a lot of the traditional shots like the "getting ready at home pictures." If you’re really strapped for cash I would recommend this option over using an amateur.

Invitations & Programs

Look for money-saving coupons and/or discontinued lines of invitations to save money

Make your invitations using your computer. Note, the printing won’t be engraved, (slightly raised from the paper). Stores such as Staples carry blank wedding invitations that you can use to make your own invitations on your laser printer. The quality is much lower than a professional invitation.  

Make your own wedding programs for the ceremony. This is perfect for a do-it-yourself project on the computer because it won’t be too time-consuming and you can see how it will look before you print it out on good paper (available at stores such as Staples.)

Music

Play pre-recorded music instead of hiring a band or DJ. (W) - Boring, of course if this is all you can afford go for it!)

Hire a disc jockey vs. a band (For the most part this can save you money but you may be surprised - often a good disc jockey can charge as much, or more, than a small band. Editor is a big fan of the live band at weddings.)

Other Resources - Links & Books

1. Affordable Wedding Receptions - www.creativehomemaking.com/articles/011300c.shtml

2. Ron & Debbie’s Penny Pinchin’ Wedding Page - http://home.att.net/~rsenecal/wedpage.html
   Note: Ron & Debbie’s page has some interesting money saving tips. However, this is also a couple that chose an amateur photographer.  To see their photos visit:  http://home.att.net/~rsenecal/wedpage.html  
   I feel the photos look amateur and are nowhere near the quality of a professional photographer.

3. http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-r.htm#weddings
   This page brings you to the subject index of the site The Dollar Stretcher. Scroll down to weddings and you will find a comprehensive list of articles and wedding stories from actual couples and how they saved money.

4. Wedding Dollars and Sense
   http://www.wednet.com/wedsense/wedsense.asp
   A wealth of articles to check out here with money saving tips and ideas such as "An Enjoyable Wedding Reception on a Budget of $5,500."

5. Wedding Ideas Under $100
   http://www.wednet.com/lib/under100.asp

6. Things to Make for Your Wedding
   http://www.wedcraft.com/

7. Terrific Tightwad Weddings: Two Approaches http://www.frugalfun.com/weddings.html

8. Cost Cutting Tips from USA Bride - this section of their site features cost cutting tips of their readers http://209.35.217.91/cutcost/index.cfm

9. Free Newsletter - Bridal Bargain News: http://www.bridalgown.com/bridalbargains/mail.html plus this site offers brides message boards - read about other couples and their ideas plus post your own.

10. Five Wedding Budget Busters http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990726k.cfm

Books
Money saving tip - before you buy any books, check your local library for the titles below. Or, order here from Amazon.com.