Tyler Schroeder and his fiancee are designing their wedding invitations on their computer.

Tifanie Morgan has borrowed a handful of wedding accessories — party favors and centerpiece items — from friends.

And Natalie Toman spent only slightly more on her wedding gown than she did on her prom dress.

It’s small cost-cutting moves like those, the soon-to-be-brides and grooms say, that help keep their weddings on budget in an era where the average U.S. wedding costs about $28,000, according to research company The Wedding Report.

“We’re not going all-out by any means,” said Schroeder, 23, a client service analyst at Information Technology Inc. in Lincoln. He’ll marry Shani Bates, 26, a nurse at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, on May 2.

“We’re trying to keep it in the means of our budget.”

Money-smart decisions are sure to leave a few dollars left over for honeymoons, houses or even retirement accounts (struggling though they may be).

And they may become increasingly common as a rocky economy forces Americans to change the way they manage their money.

Reports show consumer spending already has slowed dramatically, with some economic experts predicting a grim holiday shopping season and, worse, more layoffs on top of the hundreds of thousands the country already has seen.

Are small-scale weddings next?

Perhaps, experts say. But only time will tell.

“Certainly, people are examining where their money is going much closer, and that would translate into brides doing the same thing,” said Courtney Lockridge, publisher of Nebraska WeddingDay Magazine.

“We’ve definitely noticed that. Brides aren’t just saying, ‘Oh, I’ll get 52 centerpieces.’ They’ll sit down and maybe look at that a little closer.”

But even though couples may be weighing their purchases a bit more heavily, Lockridge said, their actual spending hasn’t yet dropped significantly.

That may take a few more months’ worth of uncertain economic times, she said.

“Young gals might not be cutting back because they’ve had it good their whole lives,” she said. “Some of these girls have envisioned their wedding days their whole lives.

“Are they really going to change that? … I don’t think so.”

Terry Cossel, owner of Grand Illusions Event and Party Decorating in Lincoln, Beatrice and Omaha, also hasn’t seen major cutbacks yet.

“This business is pretty recession-proof,” Cossel said. “People are always going to be getting married.”

Toman, 21, a junior psychology major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she’s always had a rough idea of what she wanted her wedding to be like.

So when Chris Tamayo, 20, proposed on Oct. 21, she was ready to hit the ground running.

Run she has: The couple will get married Dec. 20 at the Thompson Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

“Everything just went really smoothly,” Toman said.

Toman’s stepfather is footing most of the bill, she said, and he didn’t give her any restrictions.

So she splurged in some areas, she said, like decorations and flowers. But she also found a good deal on her dress at David’s Bridal and invitations from Grand Illusions.

And the couple will honeymoon in Key West, Fla., a less-expensive alternative to their first choice, Hawaii.

But overall, Toman and Tamayo haven’t had to make any major sacrifices.

“I want it to be perfect,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.”

Likewise, Morgan, 25, who works at ITI, has big plans for her June 6 wedding to Heath Vogt.

With financial help from their parents, the couple is planning 600-person wedding and a potential honeymoon to St. Lucia in the Caribbean.

But Morgan also was able to borrow a few items from friends, like wedding favors and votive candleholders.

Morgan and Vogt both are on tight budgets and believe saving money is important, she said.

“We don’t want to live beyond our means,” she said.

Schroeder and Bates, too, didn’t want to get too extravagant.

They’ll design their own invitations and get help with flower arrangements from a florist friend, Schroeder said — savings that could help fund the home they just bought.

At the same time, he said, the couple want to make sure their wedding day is memorable for all.

So they splurged a bit on a nice venue for the reception — the Holiday Inn downtown — and a bus for their wedding party.

“This is our one-time thing,” Schroeder said. “You’ve gotta have fun with it.

“Nobody ever plans on doing this more than once.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.