Wedding Planning 101- and how to save some $$

Inspired by this thread, I realize many of us probably have great ideas for saving money on weddings.  So, let's share them.  What have you tried/heard of/seen that is a great wedding idea, particularly those that help cut the cost?

• Instead of huge sprays at the altar, I had Boston ferns and then the florist put mini yellow roses and baby's breath in them.  They were about $30 each instead of $200+ for sprays and looked beautiful.  Plus, my mom got to keep the ferns afterwards!
• A friend did our music.  We send her the CDs, the order we wanted the music, and she brought her equipment.  She actually DJ'd on the side and offered as her gift to us.
• We hired a grade school art teacher who did photography on the side.  We saw her portfolio and for $750 we had her for before the wedding, ceremony, and reception.  We also got to keep our own negatives so now, 2 years later, if I want a photo from my wedding, I just get it printed at Costo's!
• We wanted to offer a full bar but that proved too pricey.  Instead, we served wine, beer, and mead (which my sister-in-law brewed).  If you buy from Sam's Club, you can return unopened cases of beer and wine.  We spent around $400 and had a bar for approx. 150 guests of age with PLENTY to drink during the 4 hour reception.
• We ordered a small wedding cake and then 2 extra sheet cakes which none of the guests saw.  The sheet cakes were cut and served to the guests.  Much cheaper that way!
• Our centerpieces were part of our food budget- silver platters covered with cheeses, fruits, and chocolates.  Our caterer made them look very elegant.  People had a snack during coctail hour and we didn't spend extra money on hors d'ouvres.
• My friend's sis had tons of kids at her wedding.  They bought dozens of board games and set them up as her centerpieces on the tables.  The kids played games all night and the newlyweds and a freshly stocked board game closet!
  

When my Mother got married a family friend did the invitations. She knew calligraphy so did all of the invitations by hand.

For my wedding I think I'm going to make the invitations on my computer, and get them specially printed in bulk through overnightprints.com, which is pretty cheap!

I made my own bouquets and boutonnières. There's actually very easy to make, you can pick any arraignment of flowers you want, and it saves you TONS of money.

one way I saved was just placed an empty vase in centre of table.  One that could hold only 6-8 flowers.  Sent gueasts note that we wanted our guests to bring one flower each, something that symbolized love to them, and then our guests made the arrangements themselves for their own tables

I got my flowers from Costco... they can be ordered online and fed ex'd a couple days before the wedding. They were much cheaper than going to a florist, especially because I didn't want to be talked into lots of fancy arragements I didnt really care about. After the ceremony we also used the bridesmaid bouquets as decorations at the reception.

I found my photographer online and she was just starting out doing professional work so she didn't have an extensive portfolio, so I got a HUGE package (including engagement pics I love) for pretty cheap compared to other quotes I got.

A family friend who is currently going thru culinary school made my cake... it was her first wedding cake (outside of classes) so it was a gamble but it turned out perfect.

I got my bridesmaids jewelry from Claire's, I didn't want to buy something fancy just for it to sit in someones jewelry box cuz it wasn't their style.

We're getting married at the home of a friend of ours. it's huge, so with tents, we can easly fit 100+ people for our cocktail style reception after the backyard ceremony!  - she also happens to make wedding cakes!

*Get married in the off-season. My fiancee and I are getting hitched in February and have been offered a ton of discounts and incentives. The package is offered from Jan-April

*See if the mayor can be the officiant. My sis and a friend had mayors of the town they got married in do this. It's capped at $10. In a bigger town, though, they may have it but you have to go to the courthouse and get married there...they won't always travel for your wedding.

*Buy accessories and centerpiece items online

*Check out "Bridal Bargains" from the library. Very informative.

I saved a huge ton of money with my sewing skills and have since done the same for a few other people!  Couldn't afford my dream dress but I lucked out and found 2 clearance dresses they were trying to get rid of at any cost.  I pieced the bodice from the one and the skirt from the 2nd together and it was Beautiful.  The one dress was a perfect fit in the bodice but had this eerie mermaid skirt and was missing beading/sequins so it was dirt cheap.... the 2nd had a broken zipper and makeup stains on the bodice.  End result was a similar dress that didn't even break $100.