Most women already have a vision of what they want for their wedding. Unlike the groom who probably just started thinking about it when he asked her to marry him, the bride usually has had an image of her wedding from pre-school. How many boys have toys that show them as fathers or homemakers? No way, but just look at any toy section for girls and you'll find baby dolls, strollers, mini feeding bottles, and so on. But no matter what your visions of your perfect day is, you must beware of the cost bugbear. Most average weddings cost about ?15,000 ($27,000) and sometimes a lot more. It's OK if your parents have loads of spare cash just waiting to be spent on the wedding. But if you're a couple earning a joint income of about ?50,000 it's a lot of money to spend. If you can find a way of reducing the cost, then you should because the worst way to start a marriage is in debt. Financial strain is one of the major causes of marital breakups.

We've outlined some steps that you can take in order to reduce the cost of your big day:

# 1Find out what you need to do first.

People book wedding planners because they don't know what they need to do in order to produce the results they want. The woman who doesn't know what needs to be done will always be at the mercy of the person who does. So arm yourself with knowledge. Knowledge is truly power and in this case worth thousands of pounds. Find out what you need to plan for, the suppliers that you will need, and who will give you the best price. We've put together a free wedding checklist that you can use to give yourself an overview and a complete idea of all the things that need to be planned for and done. That's your first ?750 - ?1000 saved for the cost of a wedding planner.

There are many sites that offer you a free wedding planner checklist to download.

SAVINGS ? from circa ?750

# 2What's your budget?

Remember the old adage, ?Cut your coat according to your size?? Well it's been changed to ?Cut your coat according to your CLOTH?! What this means in modern terms is plan for only what you can afford. How much do you have in your account, how much does your spouse-to-be have? How much are your parents or other relatives and family members willing to contribute in cash or in service (e.g. making custom IV cards)? How much can you borrow on credit cards/loans not to put too much a strain on your mutual finances (nothing more than ?2000)? You might be able to re-mortgage your house if you have one, but this should be a last resort because it also takes time and effort for it to come through. Remember, you don't want to start marriage in debt. Put all of this together and you have your CLOTH. Remember; cut your coat according to your cloth. You will save yourself a lot of financial heartache later on if you plan only for what you can afford. And this will help you look out for the right bargains.