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1. Help the environment

Most Top 10 lists end with the best that it is offering, but let's start this one with the best, or at least most original: recycling aluminum. Check out the website called Wedding Cans. It might sound odd, but a month into her project, its international news. Check out the Wedding Cans journal for a full report on the media madness.

2. Get Corporate Sponsorship

This idea sounds weird, but it comes from Wise Bread. It might stink of "selling out" something that's supposedly "sacred," but aren't we adults here? Weddings have been as commercialized as Christmas, so grow up. If you agree to display corporate logos at your wedding, you might be able to avoid personal loan companies to pay for it.

3. Participate in a dare

One pretty bizarre idea that I saw on Romance Fire is to “take a video of yourself conquering a known fear if the price is right.” In the tradition of "Jackass" and "Fear Factor," you could play on people's fear to get some extra financial help in your nuptial ceremony.

4. Use your registry

The website Worst Case Scenarios opines that you could put items for the wedding, like limo services, flower arrangements, and food and beverage, could be put in the registry instead of for gifts.

5. Sell stuff

Of course, there are numerous tip lists out there that suggest you sell your stuff, either online, at a yard sale or some other way. Perhaps you could put on an auction.

6.Just ask

Another very popular idea out there is that you should start a web site or a group on a social network and simply ask for people to donate to your wedding.

7. Have everybody pitch in

Similar to the registry idea, which has people helping pay for the wedding instead of just buying gifts, you can ask certain people, close friends and family members, to pay for one thing. Have someone buy the cake, another person buys the favors. Pick the stuff you want and tell people that's what you want as your gift.

8. Try a vacation home in lieu of a wedding hall

This is how to save money instead of make it, but it's a good idea. Wedding halls know they can gouge you, and they do – they can cost thousands per hour. Look for vacation homes nearby, and have the reception at a beautiful home or yard. You can rent these places for days and still spend less than a few hours at a hall.

9. A little help from your friends

This isn't so much for the bride and groom, it's for the guests who are getting fed and possibly drunk at YOUR wedding. A common way is to hold a "Jack and Jill" party, where guests pay a small cover to get in. Then, the money is given to the couple.

10. Planning ahead

Every expert says to save money in advance to pay for your wedding. They also suggest that you could get a second job or offer some sort of service and save the money you make. To that I say, “duh,” but because it is the most common piece of advice out there, I figured I had to include it.

Tags: budget, planning a wedding, saving money, wedding cans, Weddings