Hi...I had no idea how expensive this whole deal was before I started but I agree there are definitely ways to save. I found my dress in a boutique, determined who the designer was and came home and ordered it on line saving $600 from the cost in the boutique. I also ordered my invitations from Ann's Bridal Bargains saving me almost $300 from costs to have the same done locally. If you haven't used ebay yet, try ebay. I saved a small fortune by ordering most of my stuff through ebay...even with the shipping fees. My FH is is school so we have just the one income to pay all of our household bills, loans AND somehow pay for the wedding. So it can be done....get friends to jump in there and help with DIY tasks like decorating, making pew markers and things of that nature...and the tip to use artificial flowers...great idea. I am definitely doing that with pew markers and making my own urns with flowers for the church with artificial flowers that I will just get taken over to the reception site. It will look beautiful no matter how much you spend and no one will be the wiser. My MOH made her own artificial flower urns....she put a large coffee can in the base of a flower urn, filled the can with rice, and then assembled her flowers by sticking them into the rice and built them up around that....it was years later that she told me the flowers were artificial and NO ONE knew. Good luck with your planning and don't let the financial end stress you too much.