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Your eyes keep shifting between your budget spreadsheet and your potential guest list. You love your friends and family -- all 250 of them -- but at 35 bucks a head for dinner, you can't afford to invite them all. You could save thousands of dollars by cutting your guest list in half, but how do you decide who makes and who misses the cut? This part of wedding planning is no fun.

So here's an idea: instead of an expensive, fancy feast that blows your whole wedding budget, ask your guests to bring a dish to share instead of a gift. Provide guests who travel or guests who simply don't cook with a list of pre-made items that can be bought at your local grocery store, and appoint someone to field all the phone calls about what to bring. Sure there will be some repeats, but with several dozen guests, you'll surely get a nice variety for your buffet.

Make sure your invitations are clear about this. "In lieu of gifts, the bride and groom request that you bring your favorite dish to serve at our reception buffet. Call Mandy, the Maid of Honor, at 555-5555 with questions." Then you can take the money you saved on food and buy your own wedding gifts, so you get exactly what you need and want. Encourage guests to include the recipe with the dish they bring, so that you can create a wedding cookbook. You can even post the recipes online to share with all the guests.

A simple and practical shower theme is the recipe shower. Each guest is sent a recipe card in with their invitation. (If you like the ones in the picture, you can find them and more at Pink Bathtub on Etsy.) The guests fill the card out with a favorite recipe, and when they arrive they share the story of that particular dish: why they like it, why they think it suits the bridal couple, who gave it to them ... any little tidbit that will make its special significance clear.
The people at Apartment Therapy suggest that sharing these stories can replace the need for wedding shower games, but if you really like shower games, there are all manner of food-related activities that could go along with this idea.

Here's one: put a pinch of a different spice in each of several small plastic bags. Hand each bag around the circle, along with a felt pen, and have each guest write their name and what they think it is on the outside of the bag. The person who gets the most correct answers wins!

If you are planning an authentic Renaissance wedding, you'll want to think about the food you'll serve at the reception.

Foods at a Renaissance wedding feast would have included goose, venison, quail, fish, mutton, roasted boar, tarts and custards, cheeses, nuts, and fruits (those found wild like pears, quinces, and strawberries). Drinks included ale, mead, water, beer, and wine.

If you want to stay close to your theme, think about serving some of these items. Of course, if you really want to be genuine, your guests will have to eat with their fingers, and you'll want to provide finger bowls so they can clean their hands before and after eating. You might want to warn your guests if you're going to be that authentic, though.

They didn't really "do" wedding favors at Renaissance weddings. Any gift-giving was to the happy couple, and, though common. even that wasn't universal. So when you're looking for favors for your Renaissance (or historical) themed wedding, you'll need to get a little creative.

Here's one idea. Every household worth the name, in just about every era of time (until our own) would have had a kitchen garden. There, the busy housewife would pluck the vegetables for that evening's meal, and the herbs to flavor it. Every housewife would also know the medicinal and mystical uses of her fresh-picked herbs.

Renaissance weddings aren't just about the great costumes. The whole thing is made to be as historically accurate as possible, right down to the little details. That means you'll need a medieval menu for your Renaissance wedding.

Getting a good period menu will be easiest if you work with a caterer who has done this sort of thing before. You might have luck finding someone like this at a Renaissance festival. If you can't find a caterer with Renaissance experience, don't worry too much -- this type of menu is fairly easy to assemble.

Common dishes at a medieval wedding are lambs' legs, roasted quail, turtledove, goose, roasted boar, calves' head, and venison. Typical beverages are ale, beer, wine, and fruit juice.

Unfortunately for vegetarians, buffets of the period focused on meat, and veggies were little more than a garnish. The food presentation can be unnerving for a vegetarian, too. (As a vegetarian who recently attended her first Renaissance wedding, I got a bit faint when an entire roasted boar was presented at the reception. I couldn't even stomach what little vegetarian fare was available.) We are not suggesting that you compromise the authenticity of your reception menu for the vegetarians -- but maybe seat them somewhere with their backs to any animal heads that might be on the buffet table, and have your caterers prepare something more 21st century for these guests.

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Manolo for the Brides takes a look at menus and reminds us how lucky we are to have the option to get foods from all over the country, even all over the world -- shrimp in the midwest, fruit in the middle of winter, your choices are endless! But planning your wedding menu wasn't always so simple.

iDoSugar discusses the proper amount to spend on a wedding gift -- do you agree?

WeddingBee has a really cool idea for an anniversary (or wedding countdown) present. Even though it didn't actually work out due to storage problems, we still think it's a sweet idea.

Here at AisleDash, Caroline tells us all about a couple who had sex for 101 days in a row. What did they have to say about it? Click here to find out!

Being seated at the the kid's table used to be sheer humiliation for anyone over the age of 6; but with a little creativity and a lot of common sense you can create a kid-friendly space that's smart and doesn't sacrifice your sense of style.

Caterers like Peter Callahan have become famous for serving miniature versions of comfort foods with an extra dose of chic: Think tiny burgers, small servings of fries in paper cones and pigs in a blanket. Check to see if your caterer can whip up a children's menu of familiar foods - or, if you'll only have a few kids at the wedding, consider making some of these treats yourself. It's all in the presentation.

A plate full of bite-sized foods will keep dining-time battles to a minimum and little fingers occupied. Their parents will thank you and in turn be better guests for you.

Take a look at our gallery for inspiration. We bet some of your guests will sneak to the kid's table for some cotton candy!

Wedding cake has got to be one of the number one reasons we look forward to attending weddings, right? Isn't it a huge bummer when the cake is cut and the couple has selected one of those weird flavors you don't even like? Maybe as an adult, your taste buds have become accustomed to fine desserts that would have turned your stomach as a kid -- but what about those kids?

They're going to want dessert, and they're going to cry if it's not yummy. A cheap and easy way to solve this problem is to have a make-your-own sundae bar. All you need is a couple flavors of ice cream (hint: keep it simple with chocolate and vanilla to ensure that everyone can find something they like, and maybe one other more exotic flavor) and about five or ten different kinds of toppings. Hot fudge, butterscotch, sprinkles, fruit, oreos, nuts...yummy!

This can also be great for impatient kids who just can't sit still while they wait for you to get to the cake already. (Why do people always take so long to get to the cake?!) If you're worried about the kids getting too riled up, try sugar free frozen yogurt instead, or at least have it there as an option.

We took a peek at super-luxury weddings to create this inspiration board: From record-breaking bouquets to Indian weddings that are truly over the top, we found that you don't have to be an LVMH heiress to add a few luxurious touches to your real life wedding.

However, it doesn't hurt to dream, does it? So let's get to it!

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Beyonce and Jay-Z got married. They didn't invite us, but we still got the scoop.

Brooklyn Bride gives us fair warning -- Martha Stewart is taking over the world.

Wedding Chicks tell us all about the art of the pupu. 'Nuff said.

IndieBride's Ask Elise section offers some straightforward advice on when you should open gifts, (and what to tell your FMIL if she disagrees).

Whether it's for health and weight management purposes or religious beliefs, more and more people are on special diets. What does this mean to you? As you plan your reception menu, it might be a good idea to give some thought beyond the typical chicken or beef, especially if whole groups of your guests observe some kind of diet restriction.

But how far should you bend to accommodate the particular eating habits of each guest? At brides.com, one gal is struggling with the dietary needs of some of her guests and the caterer's inability to flex in this situation. She is actually considering cooking the reception meal for these guests herself -- as if she didn't have enough to do already!

The best answer to this dilemma seems to be to try your best to accommodate, but don't knock yourself silly jumping through hoops. If someone is on a restricted diet, they should have to take some of the responsibility for getting fed and either discuss options with the caterer (you can put them in touch) or pack a lunchbox with something to munch.

Do you have a hard time justifying spending $4 per slice for your wedding cake? Unless you're looking for a really unique cake that requires specialized skill to create, is it necessary to hire an expensive professional to bake your cake?

This was one of the areas of my budget that I really couldn't get past. I looked online and checked with different bakeries, and saw a number of beautiful cakes and fun fillings. The fact was, I really just wanted a simple cake decorated with a few flowers, but the cost to create that wasn't much less than something really extravagant, and it seemed unfair, like when I pay the same price for a bikini as for a long dress, which I really hate.

I found the answer in the neighborhood grocery store's bakery. I had a lovely, three-tier cake (pictured above) with buttercream frosting decorated with flowers provided by my florist (at very little cost -- they were essentially extra blooms). And the entire cost was approximately half that of the fancy bakery cakes. I'm no cake expert, but I'd have to say it was just as good, if not better, than any of the pricey cakes I've had at other weddings, so I have no regrets.

What are your thoughts? Would you consider a grocery store cake? Why or why not?

Cupcakes - the childhood treats that have become exceptionally hip - can now be the inspiration for your wedding decor. Too childish? Not if you dress up elaborate cupcakes with these filigree paper wrappers from Paper Orchid and display a tower of cupcakes in a beautiful cupcake stand. The humble cupcake has reached luxury status and would be the perfect cake alternative for both the unconventional and playful couple and for the terminally hip, ultramodern bride and groom.

Paper Orchid also offers matching favor boxes and invitations to coordinate with your beautiful wedding cupcakes. How clever!

Another reason to consider cupcakes for your reception is that you can offer a variety of flavors to please everyone. Can a traditional cake do that? I think not!

Via Parentdish

We talk a lot here at AisleDash about catering for your wedding, and for a good reason -- feeding your guests is no simple task. Other than at weddings, you probably think about catering as mostly something to be done for work conferences, awards luncheons, and funerals.

But that needn't be the case.

If you're hosting a shower, catering might be something you want to consider. You'll be busy as hostess making sure everyone knows each other, ensuring the games go smoothly, and keeping things moving in a timely matter. You don't need to be stuck in the kitchen -- at the very least, it'll make you miss the party you spent so much time planning. There are a number of options from which you can choose to make certain your guests are fed and happy and you still get to have a great time:

A common problem for couples getting married on a tight budget is the size of the guest list. Many people find it very difficult to exclude anyone, and people with large, close families often don't have much of a choice other than eloping or having a huge guest list. The reason more guests mean more money is catering. Every head has a price tag.

If you are on a really tight budget, but can't imagine your wedding day without your 200 closest friends, consider a dessert reception instead of a full reception. You won't need caterers or lots of tables and extra space. Simply set up a hall with some seating, space to mingle, and tables with cake, coffee, and champagne. It can save you thousands and still be elegant.

For just a few hundred dollars, you can serve a traditional wedding cake, a groom's cake, fruit and cheese, an assortment of other sweets, and even a chocolate fountain, if you'd like, and you can make most of these things yourself to save even more money.

Etiquette reminder: be sure your guests know the nature of the reception beforehand. Include something on the invitation like "Dessert reception to immediately follow the ceremony."