Whether you are sending out 50th anniversary invitations to everyone you know or are having a private party to celebrate your 1st wedding anniversary, here are some tips to help you save costs.

1. Organizing the party.

Do you really need to hire a party planner?

Cut costs by getting a close pal or relative to coordinate the entire party.

2. Food.

Must you cater the food?

It may be cheaper to buy take out and present the food artistically on pretty plates for a buffet spread instead of hiring a caterer.

Better yet, if you have a pal who is a great cook with some showmanship and he or she is willing to play chef for your wedding anniversary, you could even have him prepare his specialty in an open kitchen as he plays TV chef and shows of his skills as an entertainer and a chef.

Or you could make it a pot luck and get each guest to bring his or her specialty instead of an anniversary gift.

Or you and your closest and dearest could cook up a storm in the kitchen to prepare a feast for all your guests.

3. Music

How about the music?

You could hire a professional live band to provide the background music but you must be prepared to pay a huge fee for their services.

Then again, you could hire a bunch of talented teens for their first ever gig, who would be willing to play for a token fee in return for the exposure they get. You could check out colleges, ask your friends if their kids or friends of their kids would like to play for your party. Remember to audition the kids to see if their music really is suitable for your anniversary party.

Or you could get a DJ to play the music that would get guests in a partying mood.

Or (the cheapest option) you could just get CDs of your favourite music and put them in your CD player to provide background music for the party.

4. Drinks

You would be surprised how much money you might end up spending on drinks if you aren't careful.

Are you going to provide a free flow of wine and champagne? How many crates of beer would you be getting for your guests?

A drunken brawl wouldn't be a great way to remember your anniversary party by now, would it?

Then again, serving water or syrup would just seem too cheap.

How about a home made punch?

Here's an alcoholic version.

1 large ripe watermelon
1 kg of whatever ripe fruits that are in season, which are very juicy.
3 liters (2 1.5l bottles) of 7up or sprite or ice cream soda
3 cans of beer for that alcoholic zing
Lots of ice to dilute it so it wouldn't be too sweet.

For a non alcoholic version, substitute the beer for another bottle of ice cream soda and 3 large, washed lemons finely sliced.

Juice the fruit. Pour in the 7up, sprite or soda with the fruit juice and beer (for alcoholic version) and top up with ice shavings.

For the non alcoholic version, pour in the sodas, fruit juice and put in the slices of lemons for garnishing and to give the punch that zing.

If you want to save even more money, or if you run out of fruit juice, you can mix a different, more affordable punch.

3 liters of soda
1 bottle of rose syrup
As much water as it takes to dilute the mixture so that it is not too sweet.
Maybe 3 large, washed lemons finely sliced to stir into the punch and give it a classy flavor.

5. Anniversary gown

What will the wife be wearing for her grand entrance?

The husband?

Can you fit your old wedding gown and tuxedo?

If you can, that would be a great time to wear it. If not, unless you foresee going to other black tie events in the near future, it might be more prudent to rent a gown or borrow one rather than buy a new one just for the party. As for the jewelry, you could use what you wore on your wedding day. Or you could buy new jewelry that looks absolutely stunning yet which is remarkably affordable. The trick is to go for CZ jewelry instead of diamonds, rubies or other precious gemstones.