Reception 101

Great ways to save stylishly.

Photo by: Monica Buck

Borrow Atmosphere To play up your theme, hit up specialty and antiques stores which may be willing to rent furniture and other items. Nurseries may rent plants and potted trees.

Lighten Up The right lighting can make a plain room look extraordinary. If a lighting designer is beyond your budget, try by replacing white bulbs with amber ones.

Upgrade One Thing Choose just one item to upgrade, but one with a lot of drama, like swapping standard white tablecloths for colored cloths that match your wedding palette.

Shrink Your Tables Seat guests at 36-inch-wide rectangular tables. The small surface area of this size and shape means once tableware is in place, there's only about a square foot of space left to decorate.

Put Favors to Work If you really want to include favors, have them serve more than one purpose, suggests Heather Snively of Weddings Unique in Orlando, Fla. "We package chocolates with ribbons and tags to use as table cards," she says.

Use a Band Sparingly For those couples whose big day just wouldn't be complete without live music, hire a modest ensemble to play for the ceremony and through cocktails and dinner. Switch to a disc jockey for the dancing later.