If you are a foodie, cutting the food budget for your wedding day is probably not something you even want to consider. But what if you’re trying to cut costs? Is it possible to have gourmet, without the gourmet price tag?

It sure is! You don’t have to sacrifice great or even gourmet food just because you are trying to scale back on your expenses.

The first step to save money on food and drink for your wedding is to pick a venue that will allow you to be flexible with your options.  Since the key to saving money is to get creative, start by throwing away all the old notions you have about what a wedding reception should look like, and find a wedding venue that will accommodate your needs.

Once you’ve got that figured out, here are seven ways to eat, drink and be married – without blowing your budget!

1. Serve it Family Style

We have a serious blog crush on the lifestyle website Brit + Co., which features tons of domestic inspiration and DIY goodies that are sure to come in handy as you start your happily ever after as a married couple.

So we were stoked when we heard that they’ve partnered up with Target, for a photo contest inspired by Target’s latest wedding registry campaign, “Be Yourself, Together,” with a Grand Prize of a Target gift card worth $500, plus have your photo featured in a post on Target Wedding’s Pinterest Board hosted by Brit Morin and 4 additional winners receiving a $100 Target gift card each! Not too shabby, eh? We know we could definitely do some serious retail damage with that amount!

Couples are encouraged to submit a photo that shows how they reflect the idea of “Be Yourself, Together”, which celebrates the individual personalities in the relationship by encouraging them to mix and match gift styles and categories to create a truly awesome, customized registry that reflects them.

Brit Morin, founder of Brit + Co., will choose a group of finalists whose photos will be posted on her wedding Pinterest board for Target, where readers can like and share their favorites.

Photos can range from snapshots during your favorite vacation or your engagement photos, as long as it shows off your distinct styles and how madly in love you are (easy, right?!). Submit clicking here  by 10/15/2013 and share away on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest using #TargetBYT.

Photo One:Rachel Smaller Photography;  Photo Two: Kate Connolly with Off BEET Productions

Sponsored post.

Confession: The jar of salsa pictured above was inhaled in about five minutes post photo shoot – chips and all. DIY projects (especially the eatin’ kind!) do have their perks!

This homemade salsa is a scrumptious DIY wedding favor. You can make it when tomatoes are in season, and freeze it until your wedding day. Enlist your mom, your sister, your BFFs (make some extra to reward them for their efforts!)

Ingredients: (Fills twelve 8 oz. wide mouth Mason jars)

• 10-12 large, ripe tomatoes
• 2 large onions
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 – 3 serrano peppers (I used one because my kids don’t do spicy!)
• 3 sweet green peppers (or a mix of green, yellow and red)
• 2 (5 1/2 ounce) cans of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• chopped cilantro (optional)
• 12 Wide Mouth Half Pint (8-oz.) Wide Mouth Jars (if giving as favors)
  Continue Reading Homemade Salsa (that You Can Freeze!)…

Amy and Nick wanted a wedding that reflected their easy-going personalities and chose Starling Lane Winery in beautiful Victoria, B.C. as the perfect venue to host their intimate ceremony and bbq reception. Amy put her talents to work over the course of their engagement, crafting her heart out, and with a little help from their friends, a ton of hard work and a lot of love, they pulled off the ultimate vintage-inspired DIY wedding. They capped off the evening with marshmallow roasting and s’mores for a truly sweet finish to a beautiful day!

Thanks to EA Photography for sharing all the wonderful details with us!

Amy, 29 & Nick, 28

Victoria, BC

Wedding Date: July 14, 2012

Number of Guests: 70

Wedding Cost: $13,500

Wedding Ceremony Location: Starling Lane Winery

Wedding Reception Location: Starling Lane Winery

Looking for a way to save money on your wedding flowers? Check out these 7 creative ways to save money on your florals.

1. Pick Your Own Flowers

Picking or buying your own wildflowers and making the bouquets and arrangements yourself is definitely one of the easiest ways to save money, but it’s not for everyone and we only recommend this option if you have friends and family members willing to help you arrange flowers on the day of your wedding. It may seem easy enough, but it’s much harder than it looks and you’ll have a lot better things to do than fussing over the freesia before the ceremony. It’s also important to have realistic expectations when arranging your own flowers — if you want flower arrangements that look like they do in the magazines you will need to to hire somebody.

Pros: Wild/your neighbour’s flowers are free
Cons: The last thing you’ll want to be doing on your wedding day is arranging flowers