Just because the economy is in trouble, does not mean that you can not have a nice wedding. Here are some great cheap wedding ideas that will help you to create a lovely and memorable wedding, without breaking the bank. These will help you save money on the location, catering, decoration and other wedding-related expenses:

Reception Locations:

• If you belong to a church you can often use the fellowship hall for free or for just a small fee.

• Use the yard or house of a family member for the wedding and reception.

• Have the reception at a local city or state park. Often they have pavilions that have electricity and are perfect for a casual outdoor affair. These are perfect for family-oriented affairs as there are usually playgrounds for the children.

Catering:

• We cut our costs by having our relatives take care of different parts of the wedding as our wedding gift. This involved having each family member prepare a dish for the reception.

• My mother-in-law made a fantastic wedding cake for us that I decorated.

• You can save big money if you buy sheet cakes to serve your guests, though they never have to know. Have a single real cake layer made to cut during the reception, then have a few more fake layers made with Styrofoam but completely decorated on the outside. Once you cut the real layer, have the "cake" taken back into the kitchen, where the staff can cut the sheet cakes to serve.

Decoration:

• Dollar stores carry a number of items that can be used to decorate the reception area. They also carry plastic champagne flutes, flowers, ribbon and decorative items in all the colors of the rainbow.

• I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up lots of silk flowers and created all the flower arrangement for the wedding.

• The bridesmaids carried antique lace fans, which I picked up on clearance at the local Wal-Mart and decorated with silk flowers and ribbon. They were beautiful and look great in the pictures, plus it was something unusual that the guests had not seen before.

Gowns and Makeup:

• I bought a bridesmaid gown in ivory to wear as my wedding gown. It was beautiful, inexpensive and perfect for the hot August weather.

• Consider shopping for your gown at a local thrift store or resale shop. I’ve seen some absolutely gorgeous wedding gowns and bridal party gowns at thrift stores. Often there’s not a thing wrong with them that a visit to a dry cleaners won’t take care of.

• If you want to save money for the bridal party on hair, make-up and manicures/pedicures; look for a local beauty college.

• Years ago when I was a beauty consultant for a cosmetics company, I agreed to do her makeup as my gift to her.

• The night before the wedding, my maid of honor invited all of the ladies of the wedding party over to her house for an evening of giving each other manicures and facials. It was great fun and our nails looked perfect for the wedding

With these cheap wedding ideas and a little imagination and creativity you can have a beautiful and memorable wedding and still not break the bank.