MsRobyn already said what I was going to say: Throw out all those bridal magazines! They only exist to make more money for the wedding industry.
I’ll echo what most of the others have already said, and this is the number one most important piece of advice: It is YOUR wedding, do it the way YOU want to do it.
I’ll give you a few of my own for-examples. UncleBill and I are getting married in just over two months, and we have successfully planned our own wedding without going to the sharks at all. We spoke to a couple of wedding planners, just to get an idea what they could do for us, and concluded we could do everything ourselves, for a fraction of the cost.
We decided there were some traditional wedding things we wanted and some we didn’t, and we felt perfectly comfortable throwing out the things we didn’t feel were necessary. The people we’re inviting to our wedding are family and friends, all people we care about, who won’t be judging how we’re doing it, they will be there because they want to share a very joyous occasion with us.
We’re getting the food for the reception from a grocery store. We looked at their deli, and they had some really nice platters, good stuff, for a very reasonable price. We’re getting the cake from a different grocery store. We could have gone to a fancy caterer, but for the prices they wanted, fuhgeddaboutit. $400 for a cake? I don’t think so.
We’re not having any attendants at all, but that was just how we wanted it–we decided the only three people with a job that day were going to be the two of us and the preacher. Of course, various family and friends will be asked to help with a couple of things, but those will be minor tasks.
“Save the date” cards? That just sounds silly. That’s what a friggin’ invitation is for, to let people know when to be there if they want to be at your wedding.
Our wedding site is a garden, so that eliminates the need for flowers and other decorations. I’m going to have a small bouquet, and he a boutonniere, but that’s about it for flowers.
Also, what we’re doing is having a very small wedding, then we’re going to throw a big post-wedding reception on a different day. That way, folks who are friends but maybe not close enough friends to invite to the wedding itself can come and celebrate with us. I’ve had other friends do this also, and it worked very well.