The top five ways to save money on your wedding:

Ask for a discount.  Ask every single vendor.  You won’t always get a price cut, but sometimes you will – and it was as easy as saying “How can I get a discount?” (Remember to ask open-ended questions so as not to make it easy for the vendor to just say “No” and close the discussion.)

Get married on an off-peak day of the week.  Saturdays are the most expensive, period.  Getting married on Fridays or Sundays can reduce your cost significantly.  Getting married Monday through Thursday should save you an absolute fortune.  Remember that wedding vendors’ main business is on Saturdays so the chances are very good that they will look at an off-day event as extra, unexpected business and therefore be much more willing to offer steep price cuts.

DIY (Do it yourself).  If there are things that are reasonable to do yourself, that can be done ahead of time, and that do not require you to over-extend yourself, save the labor costs of having a professional do the work.  For instance, you could design and print your own programs or make your own favors instead of buying prefabricated ones. 

Limit your guest list.  The per-person cost adds up fast.   This becomes apparent when you take into account that for each guest you will provide invitations, postage, linens, seating, food, drinks, favors, programs, event staff to take care of everyone, and more.  The average number of guests invited to a wedding in the US is 178.  With a per person cost of $100 that is already $17,800!

And the number one way to save money on your wedding:

Hire a wedding planner/bridal consultant/event coordinator.  A good planner can save you a lot of money and a truly great planner should be able to save more than they charge, in essence paying for themselves.  Beyond making financial sense, the stress relief and time saved makes a good coordinator the most valuable investment of your wedding dollar.