Well there's lots of reasons one cannot do any of that stuff straight after their wedding.. and have to wait months or years to do anything. I don't know about the joint family politics, but it might just nto be very do-able to decorate the way you want it to...esp if they feel like it's not their home.. or those who have to struggle at first because they're not well settled yet... they have ot make do with what they have........
Sara, what I meant was your really don't need to spend money if you can't.
You can move things around and play with the your exisiting things that you have.
You just needs to have some sense of style and "will" to make your surrounding especially your bedroom according to taste and it is be doable even if you can't afford buying new stuff, etc.