Wedding season is upon us, and while it may be too late for this summer’s brides and grooms to trim their wedding budgets too severely, there is still time for next year’s couples to start thinking about ways to spend less while still having a storybook ceremony.

Over at SmartMoney.com, they spoke to wedding expert Anja Winnika from The Knot to put together a list of 10 ways to save money on your wedding. The full video is below, but here are some highlights:

1. TRIM THE GUEST LIST:
C’mon, you don’t really want to invite all those people from work anyway. Cutting out a table of 10 guests means 10 fewer invites, 10 fewer dinners and at least (but probably many, many more) 10 cocktails.

2. BE FLEXIBLE ABOUT THE DAY/TIME:
You can get deals, and possibly freebies, from venues and caterers when you book your reception on an off-peak day or time.

3. CUT THE CAKE, OR AT LEAST THE AMOUNT YOU BUY:
That beautiful (and expensive!) cake you cut at the reception? There’s no reason that has to feed the entire reception. Use a small cake for that and order a bunch of sheet cakes for guests to chow down on. It’s cheaper and allows you to have a variety of cake types for picky eaters.

4. BOOK A PRE-PRETTIFIED VENUE:
Instead of spending money and time decorating your reception hall, see if you can find a place that requires minimal gussying up to make it look nice.

5. PUT ALL YOUR WEDDING INFO ONLINE INSTEAD OF WITH THE INVITE:
There’s no need to spend extra money on postage and printing for all those ancillary sheets of information — directions, hotel info, dinner options — that usually go out with the invite. Put all that information on one website — It’s cheaper and more convenient.

Experts Explain: 10 Ways to Save on a Wedding [SmartMoney.com]

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