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A friend of mine is getting married and asked me for some advice on how to cut her wedding costs. The average wedding these days costs around $30,000, so even saving 10% can be a great amount of savings. It’ll definitely help with the honeymoon. So here are a few of the tips I shared with her:
1. Look for non-wedding vendors for wedding deals. For example, Costco.com offers Weddings at Costco where you can purchase flowers, invitations and even your honeymoon. 
2. Consider bundling or unbundling services. For example, some event facilities simply rent their facilities and give you the power to choose your own caterer and bring your own alcohol. Other locations require you to use their own or affiliated food and beverage services. Many times choosing your own caterer and purchasing your own alcohol to serve can save your money. Sometimes getting a bundled service might come out cheaper. This all depends on what is or is not included in the package such as linens, plates, glasses, cake service and more.
3. Don’t call it a wedding. When getting prices, first start over the phone and just say you are getting pricing and service information for an event. Many times vendors charge higher for a service related to a wedding than other kinds of events.
4. Don’t take prices and contracts at face value, negotiate. Ask the vendor if they can give you a discount or include other items and services without an additional charge.
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These are great tips. I threw my wedding for 5000 (this included a buffet meal for 75). That total also included my dress, tux rental, so on and so forth. This is in Atlanta too where costs can be astronomical. Your friend should consider a friday or a sunday wedding as the venues will usually charge much less. Also, remember to haggle on the dress. If more than one store carries it, play off each other until you get the price you want. I got my 950 dollar dress for 500 (after tax). Being creative can stretch you a long way as well. We paid a florist for wedding party flowers, cake topper, and arch decorations. We had the wedding in a garden and we made the table centerpieces ourselves.