Is this even possible

emgray1

Hi everyone.  New here!  I got engaged last week.  Yay!!!  Ecstatic!  We are in the Baltimore area and are open to most all ideas at this point.  We have narrowed down our guest list to three categories.

1. Parent, siblings, most immediate family, etc. -32
2. " plus 5 friends a piece (plus ones) -50
3. Extended family (without room for cutting second cousins, etc.) -138

I believe our budget is around $10,000.  Should I even begin thinking about a "traditional" wedding.  "Traditional" meaning venue, catering, drinks, dress, etc.  We are willling to forgo flowers (although will this make things look cheap in this format), we know a novice photographer who is willing to help, we are shop savvy when it comes to attire, and will get creative with stationary. 

My question is, should I even waste time pricing all of these things?  They are beginning to seem as though they may add up and be out of the question.  Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!  Any alternative plans are welcome as well. 

So excited to be here!!!!!

Emily

MairePoppy

Yes, you can have a lovely wedding with your budget. Here are a few possibilities:

1. Brunch receptions are usually less costly than four course sit-down dinners. If you are serving alcohol, less will be consumed.

2. Check your area country clubs. I was very surprised at the prices on wedding and banquet packages.

3. Don't plan a Saturday night wedding. Many places offer discounts for Sunday afternoon and Friday night bookings. Also, off season wedding dates are less expensive.

4. Check  the websites of your favorite places to see if they discount wedding packages for leftover dates. If you're willing to take a date that is less than six months away, you might get a great deal.

Kristin789

We did lunch at a country club for $16 inclusive per person. No bar.  Just a champagne toast which was $2 each.

Consider Sunday of a holiday weekend.  A good friend of mine got married on the Sunday of MLK weekend in January.  Everything was about half price at the venue. 

[Deleted User]

Yes you can, if you take the time to shop around and compare. This way you can figure out how you can get the most bang for your buck. Keep things simple, it hellps keep the price down & stress level down too. Figure out what things you can live without if there isn't money for them.

Keep your bridal party small, fewer flowers needed then (don't cut the flowers totally, you'll regret it down the road if not immediately) and less money for gifts.

Will you have to make some concessions, yes, but can you still have all your loved ones there one your budget, yes? It's just going to time to do research and hunting for best prices.

Also try non-traditional venues, where maybe you can bring in a catering service. But talk to different vendors for ideas while shopping around and they may be able to make suggestions.

lnf616

This is our entire budget.

We are in NJ in an expensive area, but we found a deal on a Saturday afternoon in February.

Our reception will run us about $7500 for 130 people, cocktail hour, open bar, etc.

So off season may work well!!

May I also suggest for your honeymoon a cruise, I believe that there is a port near you!
We saved a ton of money by cruising out of NJ to the bahamas!

Really with a 10,000 budget you most certainly can do a traditional wedding!!

erinlin25

agree that you can definitely do the 130 guest list with that budget!  You just have to look for deals, but its definitely doable!  Lots of country clubs will do "all inclusive" type packages and you can still find beautiful dresses for under $500--look at "last season" styles and especially at this time of year sales will happen to make room for the new designs.  Find a florist who gets flowers wholesale, etc. Good Luck!

fleab2oo3

That is completely Doable even with your largest guest list. Our guest list is 200 and our budget was 10,000. We did go overbudget by a little over a hundred dollars, but we thought that was close enough. We are having a dinner, small cocktail hour with a limited bar. 

NOLAbridealmost

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_is-this-even-possible?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:9dd8c650-8e9b-49de-9e2b-c793bca8e5bdPost:a981d797-da15-4e47-85d4-68bd24ec7a2d">Re: Is this even possible</a>:
[QUOTE]We did lunch at a country club for $16 inclusive per person. No bar.  Just a champagne toast which was $2 each. Consider Sunday of a holiday weekend.  A good friend of mine got married on the Sunday of MLK weekend in January.  Everything was about half price at the venue. 
Posted by Kristin789[/QUOTE]

<div>I'm surprised your parents shared the costs per guest with you. ;)</div>