Weddings should be a reflection on who the Bride and Groom is. For me, it was more about my family than anything. With such a spread out family, my wedding was the only chance we had in a century of getting together all at once. In fact, my father was wise enough to take the most complete family picture we have ever- or probably will ever have- at my reception. Both my parents and I were teachers at the time, so we didn’t have a large budget at all, but our guest list was enormous.

10 Ways to Save BIG on a Beautiful Wedding

Here are my favorite tips on how to get that beautiful wedding you have dreamed of, with very little money.

1. Buy the most important thing FIRST! For me, it’s the dress and I hope it is that for you as well. You will look at the pictures of yourself in that dress every single day of your life. Make sure it is a dress you absolutely love. If you go slightly over budget here, it’s alright because you can cut somewhere else. Don’t wait until the last minute for this item. I found my dress a year and a half before my wedding and had it altered 5 months before.
2. Get the family involved! Now, this one can be tricky, depending on what your family is like. If you want a big wedding, chances are it’s because you have a lot of family and friends. Here’s the trick to involving family and friends: Keep the lead on everything important to you. If you are involving someone you love in your wedding, make sure you set some ground rules. One great way of keeping the leadership role is to set up a time to meet with the friend of family member BEFORE you tell them what you need them to do. Come armed with pictures and information of exactly what you want so that they have no time to come up with their own plan. Also, let them off the hook with buying you a present- this is their gift to you!
3. Get the cake from the grocery store. You would be amazed at how beautiful the cakes are at major grocery stores. Shop around at a few and ask for the bakery manager. Pick someone who you feel good about. Select a cake that is simple and elegant. We bought our huge cake at Publix in vanilla with coconut icing. I had my friend add some yellow roses all over it (make sure there is wax paper in between). People talked about how wonderful that cake was for years!
4. Flowers: Here’s a great one for a family or friend to do. Keep the flowers simple, though. Look through Martha Stewart magazines and Pinterest to find some simple arrangements that anyone can handle. I had bouquets of garden roses in mason jars at my reception- so easy! Order the flowers (you can do this at the grocery store as well) you want, but don’t make them crazy hard to get. Have pictures in a book for your friend to copy and make sure she has plenty of help the day before the wedding getting that done. Have a special present for her or acknowledge her at the reception.
5. Food: Do you know any good cooks? Have each of them pick a few favorite recipes and arm them with some friends in their kitchen to help the day before with prep. You need to be pretty lenient on what you want as far as food goes because a good cook knows what she’s good at cooking. Make sure you give them money to spend at the grocery store for what they need. Another great option is to have a cooking tech school cater it.
6. The most important saving tool is a wedding planner! Did you know that wedding planners get huge discounts on everything? They pass that savings on to you! Also, they keep brides from becoming bridezillas. Do not- I repeat- do NOT be the one setting up the food in the reception hall or cutting the flowers for the boutonnieres the day of your wedding! This is your special day and everyone around you should be keeping the stress away.
7. Select really good bridesmaids! This is more important than most people realize. Give them all jobs to do and make sure they feel so appreciated. One way of making them feel special is selecting a color and having each of them select their own dress! This is something that bridesmaids love to do and it adds interest on the wedding day.
8. Hand make everything you can: Do you need table numbers? Make them. What about programs? You can absolutely make those on your computer. Go through Pinterest and select your favorite things that are easy to make and don’t cost much.
9. Honor your family in Heaven: We set out pictures of grandparents and other very special people on the gift table so we felt like they were there with us. It was such a touching reminder that they were all with us and it cost us nothing.
10. Consider only having champagne. Just putting one or two bottles of champagne on every table is a great way to cut down on not only the crazy high bar tab.

Embrace the crazy mistakes: I had some doozy mistakes at my wedding- including the minister calling my husband by my brother’s name the entire time! You know what makes you beautiful on your wedding day? Your joy! Laugh and try not to stress. Surround yourself with people who make you feel loved and joyful and make them feel the same way back!

Zoe Evergreen was a wedding planner and is now the head writer and creator of designsbyevergreen.com where she finds beautiful ideas for every home.  Here she talks about her big fat Irish wedding and how she pulled it off without going a penny in debt! Find out more inexpensive ways to bring beauty in to your life on her site.

For more wedding fun:

How to Be Frugal with a Fall Wedding

DIY Wedding Tips

What Your Wedding Planner Won’t Tell You