Far too many people draw up a dream list of wedding must-haves before ever considering how on earth they'll pay for it. First work out how much money you have available to spend on the wedding and then stick with it. Audit savings and do a general budget to see what spare cash you can free-up by wedding time.It really is worth pausing to think about the financial impact of a wedding. While a wedding is a wonderful dream day, it's important to remember one of the biggest causes of divorce is debt and financial worries. If the cost of your wedding leaves you financially crippled and in debt for most of your married life, it's a pointless waste.

If you're saving up to get married or perhaps have been given cash by parents for it, it's worth ensuring you maximise the interest before you spend it. Of course it's probably best to stick to an 'easy-access' account which means you can take the money out when it's needed, but many people avoid cash deposits that actually give you enough interest amounts, wrongly thinking their money is locked in.

Once you know how much you've got to spend, list everything you need to budget for in order of priority and cost each one accordingly. Decide which is more important to you, a professional photographer, and great flowers on the table or beautifully hand-crafted invitations? After that see how far down the list your budgeted cash will go. If it doesn't go as far as you want, you need to change your list - not your budget. Venue costs are likely to account for around one third to half of your budget.

The most important question here is "is it worth it?" This is a way of saying that while you may use it, could the wedding cash be better spent on anything else - not an easy question but always one worth considering.

Weddings are a high spend event, so you may as well make the most of it. Cash back credit cards pay you each time you spend on them, sometimes as much as 5%, so if you're spending many thousands or lakhs on a wedding you could very easily get smaller thousands back.

Stay on schedule on the big day. Running late can mean overtime fees for limousines, musicians and other vendors.

Consider a wedding away. Many popular destinations offer reasonable packages, plus you'll probably have a smaller guest list—a definite money-saver.

Skip the buffet. Contrary to what many people assume, buffets may not be cost-effective because you'll need to supply more food than you would for a plated meal. Be sure to check with your caterer, and compare costs with a sit-down meal.

Most photographers shoot digitally these days. With digital pictures, you can order your own prints through a discount photo lab for much less than your photographer would charge for printing from film. With your discount prints, you can put together your own wedding album without spending a lot. Just buy an album you like and arrange the special pictures yourself!