The average cost of a wedding in the United States stands at $30,000. That’s a lot by anyone’s standards.

It goes without saying that most couples struggle to stay within budget when planning the wedding of their dreams.

Here are 4 ways that brides found to cut down costs for their ‘special day’:

1: Invitations & Save-The-Dates

One easy way is to either make your own invitations or address the envelopes yourself. If you want to save more, then avoid paper companies or stationery stores. You can utilize a service such as Wedding Paper Divas. As for save-the-dates option, use an electronic option such as Paperless Post.

2: Decorations & Centerpieces

While flowers are necessary for any wedding, they can turn out to be very costly. If you have a choice between tall and low arrangements for centerpieces, then pick the latter as it will be a fraction of the cost. If you don’t want flowers at all, think about it creatively or even use Pinterest for your centerpiece.

3: Place Cards

If you didn’t know this already, these are the cards that will allot where you guests are sitting. They don’t have to be fancy at all since they’re just glorified name tags. You can have them handwritten and this will make it more personal too.

4: Guests

One of the easiest ways to control costs is by limiting the number of guests. You don’t have to invite everyone (especially people you aren’t close to!) just because you are excited about getting married. No matter what, with a smaller headcount, you’ll definitely costs substantially.