I'm a big fan of DIY on all the bits that are "easy" (with a little help that is from friends and relatives) and only leaving the absolute essentials to an expert (and then negotiating like crazy to get the best price!)

I got married 7 years ago and organized the whole thing in 3 months for less than $5000.

I kept costs down by only spending money on the reception venue – an intimate place with hired marquee for a big party for friends and IMMEDIATE family only. OK it was a second marriage for me and we were paying for it but there was no way I was going to invite cousins etc I hadn't seen in 20 years!

Flowers were free as donated by the lady/friend who does the church flowers. Catering costs were kept down by having simple tasty homely food including my favourite chocolate bread and butter pud! My dress was a display sample, invitations, favors, order of service etc were all hand made for just a few dollars and the only extravagance was our "mountain cake" (he proposed on top of Kilimanjaro!) – I had no time to make one and it was so cool!

We had the best day ever and all our friends wrote US thank you letters for such a great party.

So be as frugal as you want/need, you will have a great day no matter what!

Our wedding budget was based largely on a portfolio of stock that my grandfather had willed to me, which was poorly managed. Needless to say, my partner and I went from a $10,000 budget with 100 guests, to a $2,500 budget in less than two weeks (Sara, your wedding is inspirational!). I'm not complaining about this fact, but merely thinking how it will change a lot of things, especially since we're locked into the venue, which is half of our budget. It will be interesting to see how people while adjust, not only for couples planning a wedding for the future, but for those of us who are halfway through our planning!

In light of that, (and due to the fact that we're both students) a budget-wedding that my fiance and I are paying for 100% ourselves was a no-brainer. I'm lucky because my whole family is crafty, but it can still be frustrating to get on sites like the Knot (no-offense to high-budget Knotties!) and read about topics like "budget" honeymoon sites for $3,000 when I'm trying to figure out how to dry clean my prom shoes so I don't have to buy new ones. Sigh.

At any rate (and though I'm probably overstating what's already been said)sites like this have been a wonderful place for me to go and not feel like crap for 1. Not having any money 2. Not wanting to spend tons of money 3. Not wanting to have a cookie-cutter affair.

And that's my two cents.

The Big-Bad-Bank-Ugly hit just as I was about to mail the first of my non-refundable deposits for my wedding venue. I panicked and held onto that check for nearly two weeks.

Our no-credit-card-save-as-we-go budget wedding is Aug 23,2009 and I was panic stricken about people not being able to attend because it's anywhere from a 3-6 hour drive for 99% of the people invited and then there's the overnight accommodations on top of that. I'm not as worried about the cost of the wedding nearly as much as the idea of people becoming too cash-strapped to attend. My dress came from ebay, Honey's wearing a suit he already owns and the flowers will come from the garden. We're all set to use the iPod.

But…I still worry. Even on a very-reasonable <$9000/100 guest NY budget it seems so insanely extravagant.

We seriously considered scrapping the whole thing. But we polled the family (75% of the guest list) and everyone said "don't be silly. Do it!"

I mailed the check.

And I have anxiety dreams nightly.