Spare the Wad

Weddings can be a magnificent display of colors, flowers, food and elegance, but they can also be an enormous expense for ladies and gentlemen who don't have a wad of cash to spend.

When planning your nuptials, consider allowing your bridesmaids to choose their own dresses. You can give them specifics on what to wear like: a dress that is a solid color of pink and short with gold jewelry and gold shoes with it. You can give your grooms a break by allowing them to wear their own suits or tuxedos. Of course, some of your wedding party might still have to purchase an outfit, but they would also have the option to borrow one or buy from a less expensive store.

Bouquets and boutonnieres can help to add uniformity to your pictures. Allowing your wedding party the option of choosing their own clothes also ensures that they are likely to wear their garments again. If you'd like more uniformity for the men and women, give the women jewelry to wear or ask that they wear their hair up or down. Give the guys a tie, or have them buy one from a place with an online store.

A wedding should be exactly as you want it to be and this kind of flexibility of choices isn't for every bride, but I've seen it done well in the pages of Martha Stewart's brilliant magazine and in a quaint summer wedding, too.

What other ways can you spare your wedding party?