Needing Creative Ideas to Save on My Wedding?

I am getting married in September. I want to have a very simple wedding, but I know that even a very simple dress & invitations will take some money. I'm pretty much living paycheck to paycheck right now and I don't have anything of value to sell. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I would love to hear them. Thanks

Suggestion:

Skip getting invitations done at a printer or something. They have BEAUTIFUL affordable invitation kits at most office supply stores (Office Max, Staples etc) and craft stores (Michaels, Hobby Lobby etc). I got mine from Staples, they were very simple and I pretty. I believe they were $39.99 for 50 of them. I took them home and downloaded the free template from the invitation company's website, typed in what I wanted then took them back to Staples and had them printed. I got so many compliments on them! My mother, myself and my MOH addressed them which cut costs there for a calligrapher. As for the dress, head to places like David's Bridal or Jessica McClintock. They always have sales and clearance stuff (try signing up for their email updates online and you may get a coupon to use in the store). DB has HUGE selection of bridesmaids dresses and most of them you could get in white if you found one you liked and most are much less expensive than bridal gowns.

Our ceremony was outdoors and on the water so we really didn't need any decorations but for the ceremony I had my MOH's mom do some beautiful but simple centerpieces with branches and fake flowers crystals etc. All craft store stuff. If you need craft stuff that you can't find in stores, look at save-on-crafts.com, they have EVERYTHING you can think of at pretty reasonable prices. Also the Dollar Store now does online ordering for bulk items, they have lots of decor stuff and fake flowers, glass vases, votive candles and holders etc

As for venues, try places that aren't as typical — we had our ceremony and reception at an architecture firm downtown on the water. They had a lovely back patio area with stairs that led down to a sidewalk with a artsy arch over it, perfect for a wedding. We were able to have the reception inside their cafeteria (it was nice, not like a school cafeteria lol) and it was very inexpensive. Plus there were tons of cool artwork and sculptures and the place was so beautiful on it's own that we didn't have to decorate a lot at all. Hope this helps!