- Aisle or Chair Decor. Honestly, your guests are going to be in the ceremony area for 30 minutes to an hour tops. Save the money for reception decorations!
- Place Cards and Escort Cards. Save the hassle of trying to figure out who's dating who or who can't stand who and let your guests choose where they want to sit. Not only will this save cash (because you don't have to buy the cards), it will also prevent needless headaches and arguing.
- Wedding Favors. I promise you, most of your guests will either forget to bring the favor home or will simply toss it in a give away pile. You're giving them free food, a party and alcohol! Enough.
- Programs. They'll begin on the seats and end on the seats. At best they'll be used for fans. Three people will take them home as keepsakes. Save the paper and cash. Make a board instead with the program and put it at the ceremony entrance.
- Wedding Menus. First off, a buffet is generally cheaper than a passed meal. Second, a buffet allows you to put labels in front of each dish. Save paper, time (from putting a menu on every place setting) and money.
- Champagne for the Toast. A painful tradition for the wallet. Let guests grab whatever drink is closest to them. If you wish, the bride and groom can be the only ones with champagne.
- Chair Covers and Sashes. Usually you pay $1-$5 dollars per cover and/or sash. If you have 100 guests, that's pretty pricey! Pro tip: Try to rent chairs that you can stand to look at without decoration. Besides, chair covers are becoming pretty outdated, don't you think?
- Uplighting. Use candles, dim the lights, hang some string lights or paper lanterns instead.
- Flower Girls and Ring Bearers. Most of the time they scream and cry their way down the aisle, if they even make it there. Unless you have an adorable, well behaved little one to do the job, prevent the spectacle.
- Wedding DJ or Band. If you have a guest list of under 100, use a hand-picked playlist and borrow or rent sound equipment. This will save you several hundred bucks.
- Save the Dates. Tell people in person, on the phone, over the internet... everyone knows the wedding date from Facebook and Twitter anyway.
- Formal Rehearsal Dinner. Go Dutch, meet up for drinks if you like. But honestly, no one will remember what was rehearsed the day of the wedding.
- Adina