1 AVOID PEAK SEASON: Morgan Wilder of Soirees advises that rental fees for venues on Saturday are higher during peak wedding season of June to August.

“Many brides are looking at Friday nights or Sundays as an alternative, because there is a bit of a discount on venue rental, especially in the off season. Also, more brides are booking in the fall because it’s not peak season, but it’s still warm and comfortable weather for their guests.”

2 SAVE ON ENGRAVING: Ms. Wilder said more brides are making their own invitations so they can personalize the look. If making your own invite is a little too DIY for you, try thermography. Thermography is a less-expensive printing process that produces a similar look to engraving.

3 LIGHTEN UP: The bulkier the wedding invitation envelope, the higher the postage. Do you really need those liners? Instead of a map to the reception enclosed with the reply card, wouldn’t printing an e-mail link on the card work as well? According to SmartMoney.com you can save $68 on postage simply by leaving out reception cards, and you save roughly 17 cents for every 2 ounces eliminated from an envelope.

4 BUY GOWNS IN BULK: Emily Goodwin, owner of Boutique Couture, says that she and many other bridal shops offer discounts if the bride purchases her gown and all the bridesmaids’ dresses at one shop. “I offer a 10 percent discount if the bride and bridesmaids all get their gowns here, and I offer tuxedo discounts such as rent six, get the seventh free,” she said.

Ms. Goodwin also suggests setting up payment plans; for example, put half the total expense down in a deposit when ordering and pay the balance in monthly installments.

5 Go Green: By opting for more greenery decorating the altar instead of fresh flowers, you’ll save a noticeable amount.

Gil Cartwright, co-owner of Flowers by Gil & Curt, said brides often are willing to put more money into their bouquets and cut back on church decorations.

Amanda Williams of Divine Designs said fresh flowers for reception centerpieces have been replaced by a more organic look of river rock in glass vases, willows, greenery and flowering branches.

“It’s not so much a cost thing as a trend,” Ms. Williams said of this natural look. “It makes a very dramatic statement.”

6 Favor creativity: “Instead of individual favors at place settings, a new trend is to put out six or eight containers of the couple’s favorite candy, cookies or a mixture of several candies. Guests are provided a cup or bag so they can come by and scoop out candy to take home with them,” said Amanda Williams.

A popular idea in larger cities just starting to come to Chattanooga is installing a photo booth at the reception venue, said Morgan Wilder.

“Guests sit in the booth and have a strip of pictures made. They can either keep the strip of photos, or tear the strip in half so the guest keeps one half and the other half goes in the bride’s book. It’s a creative way to document who’s there instead of the traditional guest book.”

7 Don’t buy “wedding” items: Anything that has the word “wedding” (wedding favors, wedding shoes, wedding disposable cameras) attached to it instantly ramps the price up 25 percent, according to the Motley Fool.

8 DOUBLE bang for the buck: Flowers carried by the bridal party make beautiful table decorations at the reception.

“A new trend is for mothers to carry nosegays instead of wearing a corsage. Use those nosegays to decorate the guest book table at the reception,” said Amanda Williams.

Gil Cartwright advises brides-to-be that if they are hosting a buffet for 200 guests at their reception, they don’t actually need table seating for 200. Not all guests will sit to eat at the same time. Instead, go with a smaller number of tables and use the bridesmaids’ bouquets for table arrangements.

He also suggests coordinating the centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner with those of the wedding reception so they can be used for both.

“If he’s got to have 10 tables for the rehearsal dinner and she has 15 at the reception, we can use the same arrangements and either add or take from them so they may be used over,” Mr. Cartwright explains. “They’ve both got to have arrangements, so use the same for both.”

9 Cut the (groom’s) cake: Groom’s cakes are on their way out, according to wedding planners.

“If brides are doing favors at the reception, they usually drop the groom’s cake because it’s an added cost,” said Tonya Hickey, owner of Cake Gallery.

Or the groom’s cake is replaced with another food station. Ms. Hickey said she prepared a croquembouche (a tower of stacked puff pastries) to replace the groom’s cake.

Amanda Williams said other options to the groom’s cake are cupcakes, cookie platters or an assortment of cheesecakes with different toppings from which guests may choose.

Fred Jacob, president of Premiere Bridal Shows, said another growing trend is serving the groom’s cake at the rehearsal dinner.

“When you have a bride’s and groom’s cakes at the reception, it’s too much to eat both. Sometimes the groom’s cake can almost be in competition with the wedding cake. The rehearsal dinner is traditionally taken care of by groom’s parents, so it’s a good place to serve his cake,” he said.

10 Fake the cake: The more tiers a cake has, the more work and the more expense, says Ms. Hickey.

So brides are opting for a smaller (two or three tiers) elegant cake as the focus of the bridal table, while cutting guests’ slices from a sheet cake behind it. The tiered cake is used for the cake-cutting photos and display.

“More people are doing this because you can serve 96 people from a sheet cake. It cuts down on costs,” Ms. Hickey explained.

For brides whose hearts are set on a tower of tiers blossoming in sugar-paste flowers, Amanda Williams suggests “the fake cake.”

‘Brides who want a six-tier cake but don’t need six tiers to feed guests are doing a couple of iced false, or dummy, layers,” she said. Guests are served from the real layers of the tiered cake or from a sheet cake.

But here’s the ultimate fake cake: the display cake.

A New York entrepreneur has created Rent the Cake of Your Dreams, ordered online at www.rentthecakeofyourdreams.com. Brides choose one of 22 beautiful icing-decorated foam cake designs, each containing a section of real cake, which the couple cuts for photos.

After photos, the caterer can whisk the fake cake away to the kitchen for “cutting,” although guests will be served slices of sheet cake purchased from a local bakery.

Rent a Cakes start at $60, which includes delivery and setup.

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