Overwhelmed with the costs of planning a wedding? You would certainly not be the first! Check out some tips that real-life brides and grooms shared with FreeShipping.org:

• Cheap Photography: look for photography students who have some good experience and are working on building their portfolio. If they have great shots under their belt, you can schedule time for more photos with them and be all set. – Alexis, Denver, CO
• Postcard Invitations: use a picture on a postcard that you design yourself. The cost of professionally printed postcards will be a fraction of the cost of normal invitations. Also, as a bonus tip, postcard stamps are cheaper. Another great way to save? To RSVP, have people go to a web address and email their responses. – James, Phoenix, AZ
• Save on Music: use recorded music instead of live musicians at your ceremony to save a whole lot. Just burn a CD of your ceremony music onto a disc – all this will cost you is the price of blank CDs (or you could even use an iPod and speaker system). – Mindy, Seymour, IN
• Make the 99-Cent Store Your Best Friend:
  

  My best friend who got married bought these really cool curved glass frames and put pictures they printed at home in each one as a part of the centerpiece. Each table had different pictures. They were a beautiful (and cheap!) addition to their tables’ centerpieces. It only cost them about $25 for the frames and the pictures.

  – Erik, Visalia, CA

• Playlist for Your Reception: instead of springing for a band or a DJ, make a playlist on an iPod to play over speakers at your reception. You can let it play in the order you choose or shuffle so it’s random. – Peter, Tarzana, CA
• Save on Wine: buy all of the drinks yourself form a wine wholesaler to save money while still being able to enjoy liquor at your reception. – Anne, Reading, UK
• An Alternative to Cake: wedding cupcakes are a growing trend that could be better on your budget than a traditional cake. – Janna, Southern CA
• CDs as Favor:
  

  My wife and I gave CDs as a gift for our guests. We took some of our favorite songs from our relationship together and created two different CDs each with a different cover. If you use iTunes to create the CD, you can even have it print out a CD cover with track listings. We made 300 for about $275, less than a dollar a gift!

  – Tim, Norwalk, CA

For many more frugal tips from real-life brides and grooms, head over to FreeShipping.org’s 63 Ways Real Brides and Grooms Save Money.