Do's

• Decide what's important to you, chances are you can't have everything, so prioritize.
• Limit your guest list, the higher your guest count, the higher your overall food, drink, and location expenses.
• Pay attention to the small things; they add up, when selecting invitations, avoid oversized envelopes and pay regular postage. Borrow the toasting glasses. Give your guests just 1 entrée selection. Think about renting a wedding gown. A couple hundred dollars here and there, adds up to thousands in the end.
• Do things yourself, think about making your own favors, addressing your own envelopes, or having an organized friend be your coordinator. Use your family and friends' skills to help cut costs.
• Be flexible on the flowers, choose flowers that are in season and ideally, grown locally. Avoid roses and orchids, as they are always pricey.
• Consider an earlier wedding time, food and beverage costs at the reception are normally the biggest wedding expense. You will find location, alcohol and food expenses are usually more reasonable in the morning.

Don'ts

• Don't start your wedding planning without a budget. Make sure you decide up front how much your total wedding budget is going to be and who will be contributing and how much.
• Don't spend more than your budget or what you can afford. You don’t want to start your new life together by going into "serious" debt from your wedding expenses and being strapped with that debt for the next five years.
• Don't rely upon oral agreements with vendors. Get everything in writing!
• Don't insist on having it your way all the time. Compromise on the things that are less important.
• Don't skimp on your photography. Your wedding day goes by so fast and after it’s over, all you’ll have left is your memories and your pictures.
• Don't get crazy over every detail. It can really take the pleasure out of the wedding planning process.
• Don't forget to thank everyone. Thank everyone involved in your wedding and those that gave you gifts. Send out thank you cards promptly after you receive a gift.
• Don't overload yourself the day before your wedding. Try to do only one or two small tasks and leave the rest of the day to relax and pamper yourself.
• Don't expect perfection for your wedding day. Expect a "terrific" day and set reasonable expectations.