much time spent planning, here's some things I learned from the experience..

Think twice, and then THINK AGAIN, before you send anyone a "Save the date". Send then ONLY to the people you absolutely must have at your wedding. It's always okay to invite someone who didn't get a "Save the Date", but it's not okay to fail to invite someone who has been asked to plan their vacation and budget around your wedding. One of the most common questions brides ask is "how do I get around having to invite the people I already sent STDs to?"

Think ahead about your invitation wording. If you plan to save money or go green by skipping the inner envelope, then make sure your invitation itself has a place to write the names of the individuals being invited.

Start early to collect names and addresses. You don't want to resort to sending grown people's invitations to their parents, or having to use "and Family" because you don't know their names.

Great tips, ladies!

I totally agree about "hiring" friends (which is actually why we decided not to go that route), but I've found that the DIY thing is quite the same concept ... you're saving money for sure, but the time/blood/sweat/tears spent to do them yourself is often not worth it.

I'll have to remember the Spanx thing -- I've used them lots so I know all about how that "gusset" isn't always a fail-proof helper when it's time to relieve oneself. (HA!) I too have the one that goes up to the ribcage, so I'll have to look for an alternative just in case.

And Aspasia P., you are SO RIGHT about the STD's! We decided not to send any out to save money (but a few months after that decision, I thought about a small few who I REALLY wanted to be there on the day of and just sent them a quick, informal email). Can't imagine the nightmare we'd be facing if we'd sent STD's to everyone (since we ended up making lots of cuts to the guest list and creating a A-list and B-list)!

YES I agree on thinking critically on who to send STDs too...as you start buying more things and spending the money becomes more real, there is no way you can uninvite people..Relatedly, I've learned the hard way to stand my ground when people want to add guests..i went from wanting 100 up to 150.

I had the problem with people adding guests too! it was soo frustrating, not sure how to avoid it aside from ust standing your ground the best way you know how.

the DIY is a great point as well, half of my DIY project supplies were returned before a proper prototype was even made! and i didn't find that it saved me any money in the long wrong!

i also had the suggestion to only put white wine on the tables, and have people request red wine just so you don't have a number of half empty bottles at the end of the night. however, my wedding was the opposite we came home with 2 full bottles of red wine, 6 half empty bottles of white and 8 or so unopened bottles of white.. the red seemed to be a hit!

I'd also suggest having all of your girls try on their dress in the store one last time, do up the dresses as though it's the wedding day. my girls dresses morning of were a size or so too BIG. it was terrible! thankfully they pulled it off, but they were uncomfortable for the day and spent way too much money on a dress that honestly looked terrible.