FRESNO, Calif.—A tight economy has some brides using homemade wedding cakes instead of bakery cakes and iPods instead of DJs. Yet others spare no expense for a once-in-a-lifetime blowout with limousines, top-of-the line photography and romantic ceremonies at wineries.

A slumping housing market and rising food and gasoline prices are having mixed effects on families planning weddings, said Jean Picard, a Ventura, Calif.-based wedding consultant and the state coordinator for the Association of Bridal Consultants.

Brides on tight budgets continue to cut costs and brides planning high-end weddings continue to spend, she said.

“It’s that mid range where we see people being much more careful,” Picard said.

On a recent Sunday, future brides and families with various-sized budgets attended the Premier Bride Showplace bridal show at the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center.

The average cost of a wedding nationwide in 2008 is expected to drop for the first time in years, down $28 to $28,704, according to The Wedding Report, a research firm that tracks spending and other data.

That’s a change compared with the trend of the last 15 years, when wedding spending nearly doubled, according to Conde Nast data.

Weddings run cheaper in areas like Fresno, Calif., which cost an estimated $23,450 in 2008, up nearly $400 from last year, according to the report.

At the bridal show, vendors pitched everything from wedding cakes and table linens to party buses and photo booths.

Chocolate fountains where guests dip anything from strawberries to marshmallows in melted chocolate have boomed in popularity over the past few years, but Fresno-based California Chocolate Fountains owner Ken Rose said his business is down about 20 percent this year.

The fountains cost a minimum of $500, he said.

Nancy Ramirez of Fresno is getting married in December and is cutting back wherever she can.

“Money is tight,” she said. “We have a low budget so everything’s being made.”

A friend talented at scrapbooking is making invitations, which normally would cost between $150 and $300. Family and friends will handle photography and videography.

Business is down about 40 percent at Candice Mlotkowski’s photography business, Weddings & More by Candice.

Mlotkowski’s prices run between $1,295 and $2,195 depending on the package, which is at the more affordable end of wedding photography prices.

In contrast, Riverview Studios, with wedding photography packages running between $3,000 and $5,000, hasn’t seen a decline in business, said manager Stephanie Wingo.