Feeling the flush of excitement as you relish on the memory of her saying, "Yes, I will marry you!"? But what do you need to do to pull off a wedding that is affordable yet looks grand? Surely, you will want her to feel that you are giving her what she deserves, and not simply what you can afford!

There are basically a few areas that you MUST  take note of for you to work out your budget.

1. Guest List (those you MUST, in order: family, boss, colleagues, close friends, friends)

2. Venue (church, garden or in your own garden). A nice venue will not need much sprucing up. When I had my wedding in the church, my friends from church helped me out so much! The church staff helped to decorate the stage, a friend played the piano pieces, my students helped with the powerpoint slides etc. The best part is I need not even pay a single cent for rental!

3. Wedding package (include cost of rental of gown, dress for bridesmaid, suit for groom and best man, bouquet of flowers)

4. Wedding Rings. This is one area you cannot save as you cannot afford to have her friends suggest that you are stingy. Such comments poison the relationship and sadly, such people do exist by the truckload.

5. Caterer (for your reception). Make sure they are reputable, afforable and reliable. Check out forum pages for feedback by their ex-patrons. Try out the food first. You have to first like it. You do not want to order some second rate stuff and have your guest puke everything they put in their mouths at the reception. Get the caterers to throw in free decoration for the dining area too.

6. Honeymoon destination. The nearest place that is both scenic and beautiful, but far enought that require you to have to take a plane. It only feels like a honeymoon if you get to bring your luggage up on a plane rather than to have to drive!

7. Logistic Team (camera man, video cam man, webmaster, RSVP person). Get a coordinator, or a project mananger, so to speak, to tie up the loose ends for you.

Final Tips:

Well, friends are very important in such circumstances. Some may know of a great caterer and because he knows that person, you may get a good deal at a great discount. The same goes for wedding gown. My sister's high school friend owns a wedding boutique. She sells pretty high end stuff but with some "intervention" from my sister, I was able to rent an exquisite gown for my wife at a VERY decent price.

Do you have a bossy friend who has been helping other friends at their wedding? Tap on his/her experience! Their experience usually mean getting the same job done in half the time.

Design your own wedding invitation card instead of getting the run-of-the-mill kind from shops. Other than cutting costs by as much as 90%, it is very personalised. Tip: For a more professional look, I order an ink stamp with the words: "James and Jasmine invites YOU to our wedding...." A few of these stamps with the standard wording saved us not only time but also printer cartridge ink, which can be quite expensive.

Thinking of a door gift for your guests? How about making one? Punch craft is not too difficult to learn and yet you can create delightful gifts that are both inexpensive and presentable.

Your geeky friends will be the ones you will need the most at this time! It will be wonderful to keep memories of your wedding on photographs and on film. A website is also cool, with photoalbum and downloadable video clips of comic scenes at the wedding reception. Get your friends whose hobbies are taking pictures, filming the neighbour takingout the trash and the one who just did his 100th website to turn your wedding day into a memorable event.

My teacher-college friend was a violinist for the Singapore Symphony Orchaestra before he joined teaching. He quoted me a "friendship price" to have a quartet play some nice chamber music during the wedding reception. Imagine a group of professional musicians performing while the guest eat. That will be a grand scene indeed!

Finally, DON'T go out with your friends for a bachelor's party just the night before the big day. All the preparations will go to waste then, if the booze gets to you and make you so drunk that you let the bride wait! For more free tips or budget templates, send me an email at wordriver_ebay, at yahoo. Best wishes!