When you prioritize, plan, and adopt some of the money-saving steps that follow, it will be the beauty and joy of your wedding day you hold onto forever, not the bills.

Food and Drinks
1. Serve a signature drink, such as a punch or favorite cocktail, instead of providing a full bar.

2. Limit alcoholic beverages to wine and beer, choices that will satisfy most of your guests.

3. Breakfasts, brunches, and afternoon teas are usually more affordable than evening receptions: They're shorter, the fare is lighter, and guests tend to consume less liquor early in the day.

4. Buy your own wine wholesale. You'll pay your caterer a corkage fee to pour it, but wine purchased through him can cost twice as much.

5. Most merchants offer a 10-percent discount for buying wine by the case, and they'll often increase that if you purchase several cases at once.

6. Check into wine that's available in magnums (bottles double the size of regular ones); several quality wines are. Wine sold in a magnum costs less per ounce, and because the corkage fee goes twice as far, you'll save on two counts.

7. Sign up for newsletters or join mailing lists at wine shops. Then, when wines you want for your wedding go on sale, buy in bulk.

8. If your caterer's contract will permit it, hire an outside baker to provide the wedding cake. Even though you'll have to pay a cake-cutting charge, you will likely pay less overall if you shop around.

9. Have your caterer use local fruits and vegetables that are in season. Not only will these items be more economical, they'll taste fresher.

10. Use expensive ingredients, such as lobster, in hors d'oeuvres rather than in a main course.

11. How dinner is served affects the price. French service, in which guests are served by waiters from a platter at the table, and regular plate service are the most expensive. More economical is family style, where diners help themselves from serving dishes brought to the table.

12. Dispense with a separate dessert course, and just present the wedding cake as dessert with coffee and tea to end the meal.

13. A punch-and-cake reception held in the late morning or afternoon is the least expensive type of party. To make it special, serve several cakes of different designs and flavors, or make punch in colors that match your palette.

14. Order two cakes for the reception: a large sheet cake and a small fancy one to be used for display and the cake-cutting ceremony. The sheet cake, which can be less elaborately decorated than the other, gets sliced and dished up in the kitchen.

15. Order a moderately priced, plainly decorated cake, and make the focal point the cake topper. Vintage bride-and-groom figurines, wedding bells, horseshoes, a basket filled with fruit, or a pair of doves (from an antiques shop or handmade) are classic symbols that can make a cake memorable.

16. Even if you want a tall cake, have your baker make only the amount required to serve each guest one slice. Any additional tiers can be made of Styrofoam and iced to match the others.

17. Instead of pouring Champagne all night long, serve just a single glass to each guest at the appropriate time to toast the bride and groom.

Flowers and Decorations
18. While most popular bridal flowers are available year-round, some traditional ones -- peonies and lily-of-the-valley, for example -- can be difficult to find and expensive out of season. Seek your florist's advice before deciding on your flowers.

19. Mix berries, pinecones (for winter), and other economical nonfloral embellishments among costlier blooms to fill out bouquets and displays.

20. Make floral arrangements do double duty: If there's an adequate number of ceremony flowers and they're an appropriate size, they can serve as centerpieces at the reception; otherwise they can decorate guest-book, seating-card, and favor tables. Place bridesmaids' bouquets on the cake table.

21. Instead of decorating tables with large arrangements, float a few flowers in shallow bowls or glass cylinders filled halfway with water.

22. Bowls or compotes filled with seasonal fruits from a farmer's market can take the place of expensive floral presentations.

23. A single pillar candle in a hurricane lantern is a wonderful centerpiece, as is a casual display of votive candles in the middle of a table.

24. As an alternative to traditional flower centerpieces, group favors together on the table. Even if you spend a bit more on the favors themselves, you'll probably save overall.

25. Don't overlook such floral standbys as daisies and carnations. They're available year-round, are quite affordable, and when arranged en masse will make delightful centerpieces and bouquets.

26. Flowering bulbs -- amaryllis, narcissus, and hyacinth among them -- often cost less than regular flowers and are dramatic rising from a layer of stones set in clear containers.

27. Use favors as seating or place cards to save a bit on stationery costs. For seating cards, write guests' names and table numbers on strips of paper, affix them to the favors, and set in order on a table near the entrance. For place cards, put favors with names attached at guests' places.

28. Your florist won't have to supply vases for your centerpieces if you have a collection of containers, such as jelly jars or milk jugs. Filled with flowers, such vessels make pretty displays.

29. Have a calligrapher letter only the cover of the ceremony program; print the interior pages using favorite fonts on your own computer. Consider making up menus, seating cards, and place cards with your computer as well.

30. Handmade favors and decorations are appealing and usually cost less than store-bought.

General Budgeting Tips
31. Vendors will be more likely to reduce fees if you choose a winter date rather than scheduling for summer, when rates are at their highest. This doesn't apply, however, during holidays.

32. For a destination wedding, book a date that is not as popular for travel in the region.

33. Fridays and Sundays are generally less expensive than Saturdays for renting a venue.

34. Try to keep the number of attendants as small as possible: The larger the bridal party, the more you'll spend for gifts and flowers.

35. To minimize the guest list, refrain from inviting children and coworkers. Include your friends' significant others but not casual dates.

36. Before signing a contract with your caterer, photographer, or florist, try to negotiate a lower, yet still reasonable price.

37. Borrow accessories from family and friends instead of buying them; this can also provide your "something borrowed."

38. Ask talented friends or relatives to help with your wedding. An artistic friend, for instance, might design your stationery, or a baking enthusiast could make cupcakes or cookie favors.

39. For your reception, remember that a deejay can be less costly than a live band.

40. To avoid hiring two bands and paying two separate fees, ask if just a few pieces of the band can play during the ceremony and cocktail hour as well as at the reception.

41. The nicest wedding sites -- parks, museums, public gardens -- may be the most affordable.

42. Eliminate reply cards and have guests handwrite a note instead. You'll save on stationery and postage, and the responses will be great keepsakes.

43. Prioritize aspects of the wedding that are most important to you. By compromising in some areas, you can afford to splurge on others.

44. Use a personal car rather than a limousine to get to and from the reception.

45. Look for a dress at sample sales, trunk shows, and outlets; you can sign up for some designers' sample-sale listings online.

46. Consider wearing your mother's gown. The costs of cleaning and alterations will likely be far less than the cost of buying a new wedding dress.

47. Pay wedding costs with a credit card to earn frequent-flyer miles toward your honeymoon. Just make sure to avoid incurring interest charges by paying the balance in full each month.

48. Check cruise lines' websites for discounts or offers of free airfare during slow travel times.

49. Hire a videographer to work just from the ceremony through the first dance rather than for the entire wedding.

50. After the event, donate your flowers to a hospital or nursing home; it's a thoughtful thing to do and also a tax deduction.