There is no worse way to enter a marriage than in debt!  Follow these smart and easy tips and shave thousands of dollars off of your wedding.

When you schedule your photo booth rental be sure to get information on all of the available packages.  There is no need to purchase a guest book when your photo booth can include an album in which your photo booth attendant will place photo strips inside that you can then use as your guest book!  Also, when you order your engagement-photo albums have additional pages added in so you can also use it for your wedding guest book.

Wedding favors are not a necessity but a portable wedding photo booth is!  Many couples forgo favors and opt for showing their guests a good time by incorporating that fee into other areas of the budget.  If you have the budget for favors it is a nice touch, but if it’s not within reach I assure you no one will miss the little goody bag at the end of the night.

No need to have a full bar when you can offer beer, wine, and a few signature cocktails.  Who doesn’t like a festive cocktail, and if they don’t they have beer or wine to fall back on.  You can’t go wrong!  If a champagne toast is not included in your wedding package don’t feel pressured to include it in your budget.  Save yourselves a few hundred dollars and let everyone toast with their wine that is typically included in dinner service.

If you are wearing a long wedding dress, there is no need to splurge on your shoes.  No one is going to see them anyway!  Save your feet, and yourself some money by wearing comfortable and inexpensive shoes.  You will be glad you did!

You will shave hundreds, even thousands off of your budget by choosing your date wisely!  Pick an off peak date and you can save not only from the venue rental fee but many venues will offer a percentage off of catering and linens if included as well as a reduced service charge.  These savings really add up!  Not to mention certain vendors will apply an off-peak discount as well.

Decrease your wedding planning time.  The longer time you have the more money you will spend.  Same goes for if you are throwing a birthday party or any event.  The longer span of time you have to plan it the more you keep buying for it.  Without even realizing it you have spent well over budget.  By planning a last minute wedding you can save a fortune!  The shorter time will allow you to focus on the items that really matter and not get sucked into the idea of an elaborate wedding like many brides do.

A last minute wedding can help you score that beloved venue you have always dreamed of for a fraction of the cost as well.  If the venue has an open date they want to fill it, and if it is only a few months out to the date you are shooting for that is definitely at your advantage.  It leaves a lot of negotiating room at your fingertips.

Wedding cakes can be very costly and with good reason.  A lot of labor is involved in making a cake of that magnitude.  Add to that sugar-paste flowers, and ruffles and you can have a very labor intensive piece of dessert.  Instead of having such elaborate details included in the cake design, do it yourself.  Use real lace or ribbon and pin it into the fondant, or use real flowers and scatter them around the cake.  This will cost you next to nothing as opposed to a baker molding and creating these delicate embellishments by hand.

There are so many ways to cut costs of a wedding.  Be creative and most of all do not feel pressured to have a certain style of wedding.  Have the day you want at a price you can afford.