You have been planning your wedding in your mind since you were five years old.  You have the perfect vision of how it is going to be.  But when it comes down to it all, you realize that you don’t have enough funds to pay for that 500 guest wedding in the beach in the Bahamas that you always wanted.  What gives?

Planning a wedding means staying within your budget, but that alone can cause most brides to break.  Before you break the bank, here are some things to take into consideration:

• Size of your wedding (how many people are attending)
• The location and time of year
• Photos
• Music

When it comes to the actual size of your wedding, that will be the primary determinant in the cost of your wedding.  Why?  Because if you are having a reception, you will be paying for their food and drink.  This can run to any where from $30 to $200 per person, depending on what options you choose, so make a concentrated effort to choose your wedding guests wisely.  Don’t make yourself feel obligated to invited Doris, the 56 year old curmudgeon in your office who doesn’t say “boo” to you even on her best of days; focus on inviting friends and family only.  Gone are the days when work associates expect to be invited to your wedding simply because they are associated with you.

Who to Cut:

• Co-workers you never speak to
• Friends you haven’t spoken to in 5 years (and who have little significance on your life)
• Third cousins
• Some second cousins
• Anyone you don’t like and think you are obligated to invite

Food and drink can also be a good area to cut corners, though only within reason.  The fair bride and groom want to treat their family, friends and other guests to a good meal and some alcoholic beverages before cutting them off.  If you are looking to save a bit of cash on food and drinks, you can try to have a BBQ caterer come in or offer food in a buffet-style setting.  Drinks, such as beer and wine, can be free before 11pm and then be cash bar with the reset of the hard alcohol after 11:01PM.

Invitations and decorations are another area where you can try to cut some corners.  As for invitations, there are several sites online where you can actually send an email invitation out to your guests.  Not only are these email invitations cheap and easy for you to do, but they often advertise a wedding website which you will be continually updating wedding information upon so your guests will be kept in the know.  This will significantly cut down on any costs that are associated with having invitations printed.

As for decorations, if you have a wedding in a church there is a good chance you do not have to purchase additional wedding decorations as the church should already have appropriate flowers and planters set up.