Published Apr 25, 2010

Having invited your guests and secured your venue, you’ve now… got an empty place that will soon be filled with people expecting to be entertained by a demonstration of your love. Between the DJ and the photographer and the flowers and the cake, this can be a very, very expensive part of your wedding. Now, you can’t cut back everywhere, so you need to focus on the things that you want the most, and really cut the rest down to the bone.

Whatever your future in-laws say to you, this day is really about you. What matters to you in the memories that you’ll have? Some people want the best cake, others the most beautiful photographs, so spend your money on those.

A great example is the flowers at our wedding: we spent under $20 total for a red rose for the bride and the maid of honor, and for rose petals to scatter about the table:

It didn’t just turn out lovely: it turned out good enough. What are your low-priority items? How can you cut them back and make them just good enough?