Engaged couples typically look forward to their wedding with excitement and enthusiasm, but sometimes those positive feelings are tinged with anxiety over money. You want to start your marriage off on the right track, not with empty bank accounts or heaps of debt. If you’re feeling the pressure to go above and beyond for your nuptials, follow these amazing tips to shave down the final tally.

Set the right date:

Couples who want to make the most out of their budget should be strategic about the date of their ceremony and reception because it could determine the prices set by venues and vendors. May, June, September and October have moderate weather, so their dates are in high demand — you’ll find that ten out of the ten most popular wedding dates take place during these four months. Pinning your hopes on these dates is not a good idea because they will be on the expensive side and because most venues will be booked solid well ahead of time.

The days of the week and times affect wedding costs more than you would ever expect — picking weekdays or Sundays instead of Saturdays will radically reduce the fees from venues, vendors and facilities for traveling guests. Events that take place during the morning or afternoon instead of the evening will also be much cheaper.

Trim the guest list:

It’s all too easy to let the guest list get out of control so that the number of seats hit the triple digits. Realistically, slimming down the guest list is one of the best ways to trim a wedding budget — you need to ignore the worries about disappointing or insulting people in your extensive social circle and do this for your benefit. In the end, it is your special day and your attendees should only be loved ones that you desperately want to be there.

Cutting down the list will certainly be difficult in comparison to picking out cake flavors or boutonnieres, but you will be thankful that you did it when you see the price difference. Stick to inviting your close family and friends, instead of coworkers and distant relatives you haven’t seen in years.

Do it yourself:

Vendors will try to convince you that you need to buy all of the bells and whistles when you tie the knot. They will try to get you to spend your money on every single little detail so that your day will look like it came out of a bridal magazine spread. Couples who want to save money on wedding planning and preparation can ignore the high prices from vendors by nixing the features altogether or by getting creative and making them on their own.

One element that vendors encourage couples to empty their wallets for are flowers. Instead of paying for ornate floral arrangements from the professionals, order your flowers in bulk and arrange them in quaint vases or mason jars to complete your tables. You can make yourself a DIY bouquet from an assortment of seasonal blooms and floral tape — slowly build the collection from the center and keep it steady with strips of tape, then cover the stems with lengths of clean ribbon.

Give yourself a budget:

Setting financial limits is a great way to prevent yourself from unrealistic expectations and planning an event that goes way beyond your means. When you don’t do this cautionary step, you run the risk of overspending and looking at your bank account to see that there is nothing inside of it.

When you don’t give yourself a healthy budget, you set yourself up for money problems like missing essential payments or dealing with emergency expenses like a stalling car or a burst pipe in the basement. If you have nothing in the bank and you need to make an urgent payment before the next paycheck hits, you can look to the company MoneyKey for assistance.

You can apply for a quick payday loan to get the short-term help you need to get out of that sticky situation, and then pay it back at a convenient pace. Just go to Moneykey.com/articles/direct-lenders-online/ to find out if you can get the loan you need — check to see if the service is offered in your area. This is a quick solution that will alleviate unnecessary stress, but you should always watch your budget to make sure you’re borrowing within your limits.

People often give the size, the cost and the grandeur of a wedding far too much credit. At the end of the day, these factors won’t do much to make your marriage a happy and fulfilling one — compromise, compassion and the love you have for each other will.