First, when you are a bride-to-be, you have "Take Advantage of Me" written all over you. Most brides don't know how to negotiate and will pay the first price offered. If someone is to going to pay that price, great, charge it. But you don't have to pay that exorbitant price!! Don't think that the first price they offer is the lowest one they are really willing to take. Since most young brides are new at weddings, vendors know they can get away with a lot more...including the price of their services or product.

A great tip for working with vendors: When a vendor calls you back the very next day saying, "I have someone else looking at that same date; I need you to make a decision now." 90% of the time, they are lying. Unless you absolutely trust them because they are friend or you've had many good recommendations to use that person, either find someone else or wait and make sure that is who you want. Don't be pressured into buying either products or services, you don't feel 100% comfortable with. Be choosy! Pay what you want, not what they want! Negotiate till you get a price you're comfortable with and is in your budget.

The next wedding tip is there is normally a 25-30% mark-up if it says "Wedding." Yes, this is true. When a vendor, store, or product says "Wedding Shoes," "Wedding Photography," etc... It will always be more expensive than "Normal Shoes" or "Normal Photography." Keep this in mind when you are shopping. Try to find those things which aren't specifically "Wedding." This will save you lots of money!!

You don't ever have to pay premium price for anything! Don't do it!! Find those less expensive vendors!!

One way to keep track of all the different vendors in all the areas you have to plan is a Wedding Organizer. Normally these can be expensive at a Wedding Store or Barnes & Noble, etc... Why not create your own for a fraction of the cost?? All you need to do is go to Wal-Mart, Office Depot (somewhere like that) and get a three inch 3 ring binder with a slip cover in the front, three hole dividers and three hole plastic business card holders. Label the dividers with all the different categories you will need for your wedding. Put business card holders in each category. This way you can keep organize all the different places and vendors you visit. Also if you get a three ring binder with a slip cover, you can put a picture of you and your fiancée in there. This way everybody can see "your guy."

A helpful tip: Once you've decided on a certain vendor and completed a contract, take out everybody else that you're not using. This will help keep the weight of your organizer down!