1. “Have a home base. Choose a site where you can have all your events in the same place. You’ll save on transportation, and it will allow your guests to run back to their hotel rooms between events.”— Tania Krebs
2. “Order a dummy cake. You can save time and money by using a fake display cake. Have one real layer for the cake-cutting and sheet cakes in the back for guests. They’re the same recipe, so they’ll taste equally delicious!”— Amy Brooks
3. “Time it right. My one regret was having the wedding during spring break, when people were busy and things were at their most expensive. We would have had a better turnout if we’d had it later in the season.” — Ashley Wentz
4. “Keep it intimate. We wanted a shorter guest list limited to close family and friends. We were able to throw a more lavish party, as our budget covered a smaller group.” — Taylor Ontiveros
5. “Work with what’s included. We didn’t want to spend extra money on a signature cocktail, so we named common drinks, like margaritas and rum-and-Cokes, after special friends who helped us with the wedding.”— Elena Ramos
6. “Pick a space you love as is. Then you won’t have to buy additional decor. I chose a house that had so much personality I didn’t need to break the bank trying to cover it in flowers.” — Elizabeth West
7. “Just ask. I negotiated discounted room rates and got a 10 percent discount on American Airlines.”— Megan Leff
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