It is a safe bet to assume that as little girls (or boys) we all dream of having the perfect wedding; however when you finally get that ring on your finger and start the planning process your big plans become lost amidst family arguments and budget issues.

However, it is no surprise that we encounter great difficulty when planning our ideal wedding given the fact that the average UK wedding costs around £11,000, not mentioning the extra 15% you should accommodate for, similarly weddings across the pond average in at a whopping $30,000.

The main fact is that weddings cost, they cost big bucks, and if you want your Sylvia Weinstock cake and your Vera Wang dress then you better expect to pay for it. If, however, you are willing to make several sacrifices and a few compromises then I guarantee you will have an equally as good a wedding as you had always dreamed of for a more affordable price.

The biggest expenditures of a wedding has to be the reception; food, location and music. The biggest suggestions that I could make regarding these factors has to be, firstly consider making your own wedding cake. You don’t necessarily have to bake the sponge and ice it yourself, you could buy the sponge from a local baker, ice it using store bought icing and then decorate with flowers; get inspiration from the many wedding cake designers online, these cakes look very impressive but with a little intuition you too can create a masterpiece. If you are confident enough to ice the cake and its decorations yourself then check out the many YouTube videos that give detailed instructions on how you can create iced roses and the like.

Food for your wedding is in an important part of the entire day, and I would not suggest scrimping on it. Instead I would cut the number of people coming to the full ceremony and meal part of it, and invite everyone else afterwards. Save all the speech making and cake cutting until everyone else arrives so no one misses out on terrible best man speeches. No one said weddings had to be in a particular order so feel free to juggle around with the day’s proceedings.

For your reception, if you are looking for a band try and source a local unheard of band that will still play all your favourite songs. If you want a traditional band it is also worth looking into your local University to see if they have any pipe bands that may offer their services for cheaper. The biggest risk with this, however, is that they will not be good enough so ensure you hear them perform live before booking anything. As the reception wears on you may want a DJ, save money by using an MP3 player and renting the disco equipment instead. The key to this is to ensure you have your IPod fully stocked with all your favourite songs, compile a huge playlist that will last the entire reception and give someone, preferably a light drinker, the responsibility of keeping an eye on it.

Decorations are another great expense and again, I would suggest going to a professional for the supply of flowers. For centre pieces just go a little lighter than you would prefer, and add your own personal touches such as candles or sequins, be creative scour the internet for inspiration.

Admittedly doing all these things can take time, and if time is money to you then you may prefer to still go ahead with the bought wedding cake or designer flowers, but for those of you happy couple experiencing the tough side of the credit crunch and looking to save a few pennies then I would suggest at least looking into the recommendations I have made above, small sacrifices can save a lot of money.