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CO-ORDINATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME.

One trick to save money on your wedding and yet make it look beautiful is to buy all the basics in plain white or cream and decorate them yourself.

Buy a plain white wedding cake, plain flowers, plain vases for the tables, plain dresses, plain car, plain shoes, plain place markers, etc etc etc. Buy the best quality you can so that items can be re-used afterwards, for example, buy linen napkins instead of paper serviettes that have to be thrown away afterwards. You can also often borrow things such as plates and cutlery if you have catering the reception yourself.

Decide on your colour scheme. You might choose one colour such as blue or pink, or a variety of pastel colours (pink, blue, purple). You only have to look in a flower garden to see how pastel colours go together. Once you have chosen your colours, have a look at colour swatches or a patchwork quilt and notice how a range of colours match without necessarily being exactly the same. This means that you can mix and match items without losing the theme. Bridesmaids dresses, for example, don't all need to be exactly the same. You could have them all different, but as long as they were all blue they match.

Once you have collected you blank items, you can decorate them all to match. For an ultra-economical wedding, choose decorations that can be removed afterwards. This is also the green, ecological option. So don't paint onto your plates, but decorate them with swirls of strawberry sauce and a sprinkling of icing sugar. Don't embroider the napkins, but make napkin rings with matching decorations. Clip or pin on decorations where you can, so that they can be removed or given as wedding favours. Make sure your mother and his wear a matching outfits so the photos look extra good, too.

Pick a motif such as shells or flowers of a particular kind and repeat them throughout your decorations. Forget-me-nots are a beautiful blue, are tiny flowers that can go on almost anything, and are a lovely pastel colour - apart from that they have a great name just perfect for a wedding!

Buy rolls of florists ribbon in three co-ordinating colours and string it up everywhere - it really looks fabulous. It can be used on the car, too.

Learn more about this author, Susan Hibberd.
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