Number of people invited
Since food will most likely be your largest expense, it makes sense that cutting down on your guest list will save money. Enough said.

Your priorities
When you look at your priority list, remember that you want to sepnd a larger part of your budget on the highest priorities. For example if the reception catering is a high priority, this could be as much as two-thirds of your total budget. Even more if you are really serious about food!

And that leads us to the next section: allotting money. First though, you need to come up with a total figure that you want to spend on your wedding. We don't recommend going into debt to finace the kind of wedding you want. In fact, there is no reason you should have to. There is also no magic formula for determining an overall amount. Look at what you can afford and determine the total from there.

Allotting money
It's as simple as taking your list of wedding elements and writing the your total budget figure at the top. Next, number each element in order of it's importance and begin to allot your money to correspond with your priorities. For example, if your total budget is $10,000 and your dress, the reception and the photography are your top priorities, you might plan to spend $6,500 on these three items together (or 65%). If this figure doesn't seem right to you, allot your money in a different way. If you want a bright, garden-like wedding, then maybe your priority should be flowers. It's all up to you!