Lynne Rustad, a Lincoln-based wedding consultant and author, offers these tips to pull off a fabulous wedding.

• Shop the Junior League Jumble Shop and other thrift stores for your bridal gown. Tell the shop volunteers what you’re looking for and ask them to call you if a wonderful dress comes in. Watch for discounted dresses at bridal shops; inquire about buying a gown from the showroom floor. “You can save 50 percent or more in some shops.”

• Buy your shoes from a department store sale rack. Pick a style that you can wear again and again and again.

• Get married during Christmas or Easter when churches and halls are likely to be decorated with seasonal flowers.

• Buy a membership to Sam’s Club or another discount warehouse. “It’s a great place to get flowers and food trays.”

• Make your table decorations. Shop for vases, ribbon and other materials at a hobby or craft store. Once you have all of the pieces, throw a centerpiece-making party. “It’s a great way for your families to bond before the wedding.”

• Make your own bridal bouquet using fresh-cut flowers from the home garden.

• For an outdoor or garden wedding, decorate with bright annuals in clay pots. Decorate the pots with ribbon and paint to match your wedding theme. “Give the centerpieces to the couple at each table whose anniversary is closest to your wedding date.”

• Pass on the open bar and serve champagne punch from a rented fountain.

• Skip the sit-down dinner and serve heart-shaped finger sandwiches from silver trays borrowed from family members.

• Pare your guest list from 300 to 100 and “hug every one of them.”