There are some areas in your wedding where you can cut costs, and others that are non-negotiable.
Among the latter are of course the basics, like keeping your guests fed and not making them do the washing up.
But one US couple who splashed out on a "gorgeous and expensive" venue took some drastic cost-cutting measures which have left the internet horrified.
A wedding guest took to the popular 'Wedding-shaming' Reddit forum to share details of the "horror" wedding, which on the surface looked "opulent".
"The bride (a relative of mine) and groom have gone all out, renting a gorgeous and expensive venue for their wedding. Beautiful ceremony, lovely pictures," she recounted
During the reception, the buffet was served up and the guest went to fill her plate, while her boyfriend went to the bathroom.
"He then comes back to the table with an empty plate. When I asked why, he says there's no more food."
The guest said she thought it was "no problem", and went to tell the mother-of-the-bride they should ask the caterers to put out some more food.
"She gets a peculiar expression on her face and says there is no more food. What was on the buffet line is all that they have. Period.
"It then comes out that the bride and groom blew most of their wedding money on the venue and the bride's couture gown, so they decided to 'self cater'.
"They wanted a certain 'opulence' so they purchased top-of-the-line ingredients (good cuts of meat, artisan breads and cheeses, etc.) which meant they ended up with only enough to feed about three quarters of the guests.
"The rest went hungry."
The nightmare didn't end there for the starving guests. After dinner finished, the maid-of-honour came over to ask some guests to accompany her into the kitchen, which was "a zillion degrees".
"She shows us stacks of plates and cups and then tells us we need to wash them," the guest revealed.
"Apparently part of self-catering is you rent the dishes and glassware, and if they aren't returned clean at the end of the evening you lose your deposit.
"But since the bride and groom are pinching pennies at this point, they haven't hired anyone to clean up."
The guest revealed she and about nine others spent the wedding reception "elbow-deep in soap and water.
"We miss the first dance and the cutting of the cake, which turns out to be for the best because (wait for it) they hadn't purchased enough cake for everyone either."
The guest ended the post by revealing the couple divorced three years later.
The post racked up over 80 comments from horrified Reddit users, most of whom said they wouldn't have stayed long enough to be put to work.
"That is INSANE. Imagine inviting a bunch of folks then having the gall to tell them 1/4 of them will DELIBERATELY be left hungry," one person wrote.
"If I wasn't super close to the couple then at that point I'd probably leave," wrote another.
"I would have refused and left right then and there," added another.
