This first thing that you need to think about is the wedding gown. You have a few options here. You could consider buying a second hand wedding dress. Look in your local newspaper for women that may be selling their wedding dresses. You could end up with a very expensive gown at half the price. Another option is to look in the outlet stores.

A lot of the big name event planning gown suppliers will have an outlet store filled with returned gowns, outdated gowns or excess inventory. These gowns can go for as little as a third of the retail price. If you know someone who is handy with a needle, you could always buy a plain gown and then have all the dazzling extras added. You may also want to look into renting a wedding gown.

The next step is to use costumes in the theme. For example, if your theme is Mardi Gras, use beads, masks, feather boas and coins to decorate. Place these items on the dinner tables and receiving tables. Have staff and catering staff dress in costumes and ask guests to come in costumes. Just make sure that the "dress" is clearly written on the invite so there is no confusion about what they are to wear. Have incentives for guests by offering door prizes for best costumes.

Another way to include costumes is to have grab bags full of costume accessories tied into the theme that can be left in the guests hotel suite prior to the event or when they arrive at the front door. A disco theme could have funky glasses and an afro, Mardi Gras theme elaborate mask and beads, and a Woodstock theme peace necklace, tinted sunglasses and a flower child wreath. That way, if guests haven't arrived with any costumes, a few accessories can easily create the look for the event.
Instead of hiring a professional photographer, have a friend or family member take pictures at your wedding. Another idea would be to find a student that is studying photography and hire him. If you don't want to risk getting awful event planners, have a professional photograph just a few pictures of the wedding itself and have a friend take pictures at the reception.

Buy your flower wholesale and design the arrangements yourself or have a friend or relative do it. Make the centerpieces yourself. There are plenty of places online that will show you great ideas on how to make professionally looking centerpieces.

Have a friend or relative that you know is good at cake decorating to make the wedding cake. Ask around and you may be able to find someone that is taking cake decorating classes and would jump at the chance to try out what they have learned.

If the event has karaoke, you can even have small groups have a dress-up table where they can select costumes that tie in with their song, such as "Summer Lovin'" from Grease or "Love Shak" by the B52's. Another popular idea is to have a dress-up photo booth. Guests can select costumes and accessories from racks and have pictures taken by a photographer as a souvenir of th evening. The costumes can be tied into the theme such as saloon costumes for a cowboy theme or groovy 60's costumes for an Austin Powers theme. A bonus is to have a painted backdrop and photo printer on hand for immediate prints!

Whatever you do, don't pressure your guests to wear full costumes. It's supposed to be fun, so let them express themselves how they want to. Remember, the event planning ideas is to create a memorable evening that your guests will talk about for days and months to come.

Heidi Loney has worked as a costume designer and wardrobe stylist for theatre, film and television for the last 10 years. She currently owns Ms. Dress-Up, a Toronto based retail and on-line store offering quality kids and adult dress-up clothes.