How to Save Money on Your Wedding

1. Honeymoon

Honeymoon packages can run thousands of dollars at the very least. But international travel and first class room service is not always number one priority. These honeymoons can really leach energy from a honeymoon by nature of building expectations alone.

Look for ways to increase time, not the cost of it. Consider instead using a friend's time share, a relative's guest house, or budget hotels driving down the coast. If the time is of more value than the accommodations, you'll appreciate it in future. Even house sitting can remove the deep slash of red a honeymoon can place on any budget.

2. Invitations & Thank You notes

Without feeling like a sellout, you can ask a friend to give you a special rate as a gift on invitations and thank you gifts. Make sure you cover the cost of materials. This makes a great talking point at the reception. A professional recommendation can be worth its weight in gold.

Printed invitations can be costly and a mistake can ruin the entire effect. The handmade invites can be ordered later and redone in case of emergencies. If you have decided to cut the budget for a custom honeymoon, the contemporary novelty invitation can be a cost saver too.

3. Videographer & Prints

Get a friend or relative with skill to give your wedding the treatment for a gift. You can make a website showing off their work and your wedding. Black and white slideshows can save a ton of money on prints, postage, and film.

If a team of people are involved, the final video can be an amalgam of everybody's films. People doing the picture taking that know the family won't be inclined to miss an important relatives or have to be educated about family relationships as much. And raw video lets the honeymoon couple enjoy the wedding interaction they missed when they come back.

4. Venue

If you use a wedding calculator to check costs, the venue and tips can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Decorations for even a church can run into thousands as well. Paying labor to do it costs money too, plus tips. You may not be able to get over the sticker shock.