Budget Wedding

mzxsns · January 2012

Hey everyone! I need some serious help with affordable venues, centerpieces, caterers, photographers, flowers etc. I am on a serious budget. I would like to keep the entire wedding around 5000 dollars. The problem is, I have HUGE ideas, 250 guests and expensive taste!

My wedding isn't until june of next year, however I'm just trying to put some things in order in advance. I need any and ALL suggestions from ladies in/near the Columbus area.

Thanks!

tiffanydaniels · January 2012

That will be very hard, I hate to break it to you, that guest count is high, you would definitely want to consider a non saturday wedding (especially in June) for 250 guests I am not very helpful on a venue location that is cheaper.

consider doing your own flowers, simple centerpieces (we are doing ikea lanterns with a few silk hydrangeas around it. We are using picture perfect potraits and anita kline for cake (best taste and price)

peachykeen26 · January 2012

Yeah, we are having our 100 guest wedding for $5000 and are barely underneath it.

I would have your wedding on a Thursday, Friday or Sunday. Do not have a Saturday wedding. We are getting married on a Tuesday.

Our venue is the Everal Barn in Westerville, we're getting married on a Tuesday and the venue is half price because I work part time in Westerville and pay Westerville taxes.

We are doing our own food, ordering some flowers from Costco and the others are coming from Flowers on High, the bouquets and boutinierres.

We aren't having favors.

Our photographer is Stephanie Barnes from Stephanie Barnes Photography, best person I have ever met!

Your best bet overall would be to cut the guest list in half or push the wedding date off until you can afford a 10k budget. You have over a year- you can save 10k by then. Just put your mind to it and make sacrifices. It's so hard, trust me, I get it.

But, you can do it!

MrsColeman2012 · January 2012

Thats my budget for 80-100 guests and I'm not even sure I can do it....DIY only goes so far ya know?

I would take PP's advice and try to save a little more by next year. As far as some money savers...find a venue that allows you to bring in your own caterer and alcohol, do a TON of research online and find the BEST possible pricing on everything. Walmart does 3 tier wedding cakes for less than $150. It isn't going to be some immaculate creation but they taste decent and if you have simple taste like I do, they are perfect. We are creating our owncenterpieces out of mostly dollar tree stuff...cylindar vases with floating candles and green filler gems. We are using artificial flowers, but even then are using very few because even the artificial flowers aren't cheap...we are supplementing with more candles instead. Great lighting can make any venue look elegant and classy, even with minimal decor. Make sure you are careful when it comes to rentals...some stuff is actually cheaper to buy...and by that same token, stuff you can't afford to buy (ex-fancy candlebras) you can sometimes rent for less than half the cost. Depending on how our budget shakes out, we are seriously considering doing just beer, wine, and the champagne toast. As far as food goes, pasta is a much cheaper option than meats....Carfagna's Kitchen sells pans of pasta with different sauces for around $60-70 and each pan feeds around 30ppl. Utilize your resources...if you have a friend who went to school for photography or know someone who can hook you up with a deal on a DJ that can help alot also! Lastly, scour the wedding classifieds board, recycledbride.com, ebay, craigslist, etc for brides selling the stuff from their weddings. It's a great way for someone with expensive tastes to get stuff at a great discount. The best part about buying your own linens, decor, etc instead of renting is that you can try and re-sell them afterwards and make back some of your money! Good Luck!

foreveryoungone · January 2012

I'm speaking as a mom from your parent's generation. We used to have weddings in our church and church hall, with cake and punch. We could invite everyone we wanted to share in our day, and were just as happy as brides today. So think about what is really important to you and your fiance: having all your family and friends there and having an lovely dessert reception, or having a more intimate group and spending more on the location, decorations and food.

BuckeyeBride2011 · January 2012

Yeah I think you are going to be in for major trouble. $5000 / 250 people is $20 each. I think you will have a tough time just feeding that many people for that price.

BUT.... if you were to do ONLY a dessert reception that was listed just above - maybe with a Walmart cake, no booze, and on a Friday..... THEN I think you might be able to do if.

My advice.... cut the list in half AND drop your expensive taste.

Sorry if so blunt.

mzxsns · January 2012

Thanks so much ladies. I am definitely taking the advice into consideration. I am really considering cutting the guest list in half.

MrsColeman2012 · January 2012

I think that will help you the most

If you do that, you will have a much easier time fulfilling your vision and your "expensive tastes"...which is what I had to do

However, if it is important to you to have all 250 or at least close to that...a friend of mine just had a wedding for that many on a $5000 budget and she didn't have to do a cake and punch reception. She managed to feed everyone a sit down dinner. It can be done...just takes a lot of research and a lot of hard work!

mzxsns · January 2012

Could you message me her venue and what not where she was able to have it? That is awesome!

MrsColeman2012 · January 2012

I can ask her where she had it but I know it was out of town...it was in Ohio but in her small hometown. If you are getting married in June, you may want to take advantage of an outdoor venue like Park of Roses and then have your reception in a shelter house. Although you may still consider cutting the guest list...a lot of venues don't accomodate that many people and if they do they will be pretty tight or out of your price range :-/ Even cutting it by 50 would probably do wonders for you!

storme2 · January 2012

We are having a Sunday wedding and haven't found anything to be cheaper than a Saturday wedding. Most venues are catching on to the weekend wedding trend and charge the same prices. Everything is just so expensive, I would recommend using local vendors and small businesses run from home, as well as cutting that guest list, also check out venues further away from the city, such as Delaware, Dublin, Grove City, etc.

mzxsns · February 2012

I am seriously having a love/hate relationship with the planning of this! lol. I love it, but hate it at the same time. I really hate cutting the guest list because we both have large families, but I'm realizing it's not necessary to have everyone there. I think I am going to look into some parks. Also looking into Cosi. I just have my mind set on city lights! I'm sure I will figure it out though. I have a year, so the planning has just begun. However I cannot believe how many people have already booked venues for certain dates in 2013, madness!

LovelyLauren21 · February 2012

I'm going to sound like a broken record chiming in, but the ladies are right - cut the guest list in half and drop your expensive taste. COSI is definitely out of your price range. If you find a venue that you can afford, you can always do a pasta buffet, pasta is so cheap to make and really simple.

Also, you're not alone when it comes to budget weddings. A lot of brides are being forced to take this route of turning pennies into gold, definitely a challenge. That being said, the big expensive venues book up just as fast as the big cheap venues. I wouldn't wait much longer to lock in your reception location. I have a friend from college that got engaged over the holidays and just booked her reception for October of 2013. It's never too early to lock in the place you want!

I wish you tons and tons of luck! And if you figure it out, please give us your secrets!! Haha.

SassyArtemis111 · February 2012

I've been having trouble finding a lot of afforable options myself. A larger guest list definitely ups the price. I know for my own personal wedding, we are trying to save money by recruiting friends for certain aspects, like photography, to reduce our costs. I'm also working with my bridal party to make our own decorations and favors.

My fiance and I actually run our own DJ business. We provide five hours of service for $250. If you're still looking for a DJ, feel free to contact us. Our website is http://youngmusicentertainment.com/

One thing that I thought was stupidly expensive was cakes. However, one of my own wedding clients actually suggested 2 Chicks Cakes and Catering. We really like them, and they have GREAT prices. We are looking to get our cake from them. Here's their website: http://2chickscakesandcatering.wordpress.com/

mzxsns · February 2012

Can anyone tell me about Mount Vernon Ave in Columbus?

green795 · February 2012

Mzxsns-Mount Vernon Ave in Columbus is a street in the King-Lincoln District, not a venue (if that's why you were inquiring). It's an "up and coming" area, and it's not really in the best neighborhood. The King-Lincoln theater is a venue close by.

mzxsns · February 2012

Yea, I was looking at the King Arts Complex for my wedding.

studerjen · June 2012

Did you find a reception hall that fit your requests?

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