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can be done to tone down the cheese factor and save money too. These types of bouquets are arranged in floral foam encased in a plastic cage at the top of the handle (not only a money saver, but hydration for the flowers). Choose a pretty greenery to hide the foam, something a little different from your usual boring fern. Start with a focal flower, a few lilies maybe, they're nice and large and take up lots of space. Add some smaller flowers around them, say some lisianthus and spray roses, finish off with a filler flower and you're done. The bouquet will be showy without the expense, as you can space the flowers out more. As for covering that hideous handle, wrap it with a satin ribbon or add some ribbon streamers at the base of the bouquet to hide it. In most instances, the bridesmaids are carrying them with two hands and you rarely see that handle anyway.

Flower substitution is another way to cut costs. There are so many flowers that can replace their expensive counter parts. Below is a list of some great inexpensive flowers and fillers that are classy. I've stayed away from anything that is typically known as a "cheap" flower: carnations, daisies, chrysanthemums. With this list of flowers in your wedding planning folder, no one will even notice or care:

Lisianthus
Spray Roses
Alstroemeria
Dendrobium Orchids
Asters
Delphinum Belladonna
Dahlias
Phlox
Miniatur e Sunflowers
Miniature Gerber Daisies
Hypericum Berries
Calcynia

A large expense of the wedding flower budget is decorations for church or other ceremony site and then those for the reception. My rule of thumb for the church, which in most cases is pretty large and majestic, either go big, or don't go at all. With most churches being very open and the ceilings stretching up to the heavens, pun intended, you need something large. A small arrangement will just look lost up on a grand altar and therefore, be a waste of money. There are many flowers and ways to do a large basket and keep costs down. First of all, make sure the arrangement will be on a stand or pillar. Flowers on the floor are most definitely lost. Guests will not see them at all. Go tall with lots of snapdragons, delphinium, natural branches. Use a large flower as a focal point, stargazer lilies, hydrangeas, or those great peonies we talked about earlier. Add some fillers and draping greenery and you're done. If the church allows, have a relative bring them to the reception, set them in front of the head table.

On to the reception. Nothing completes a

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