HELP! Need ideas!

futuremartell

Hello I live in los Angeles, ca. My wedding is for April 24, 2010. We had a big wedding planned for about 300 people. i recently got laid off from work and threw all the plans down the drain. i canceled the hall but have not canceled the church. I still want to get married but don't know what to do......Do you suggest that we do something smaller/more intimate? What are some ideas? Who do i cut from the invite list? I will appreciate your advice!
thanks !!!

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_need-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:4c57d4b2-77e8-4a53-829a-3bd6cc57099ePost:11e0f432-ca43-4bb3-992f-63c4e1b3664b">Re: HELP! Need ideas!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: HELP! Need ideas! : If I'm reading this right, this says go ahead and have the 300 at the ceremony, and then pick the 100 "best" to feed and celebrate with.  If that's what this says, then the answer is no, no, no, no, no. If it is cut your entire guest list for both ceremony and reception to 100, then I agree. The biggest piece of this is, IMO, cutting your guest list.  You can have a small, family only wedding, and it can be lovely. You can have a cake and punch reception following your ceremony.  You can cut other things that are absoutely NOT necessary:  limos, large WP (if you have that) for example.  You need to decide what are "wants" and what are "needs". To be married, you need a bride, groom, officiant, license, and perhaps, if your state requires it, a witness or two.  EVERYTHING else is a "want".  So scale them back.  GL
Posted by trix1223[/QUOTE]

TOTALLY MISREAD MY POST...... No one in their right mind would invite 300 and only feed 100.

If she already invited the 300 people then she needs to damage control and decide what to do.. either have the 300 guests or cancel entire wedding and send appology notes to all guest. If no invitations went out, then invite her closest 100 family and friends to ceremony/reception instead of 300 people.

futuremartell

I haven't sent out any invites yet so I think that's an advantage.
Thank you so much for your advice gilrs!

islandgirl88

Then you're good! Just plan something a little more low key and go from there. Start by trimming the guest list, that will make life a lot easier for you.

MyNameIsNot

Have you sent out STDs?  If no, then you're good to go. 

How much have you cut the budget by?  What kind of budget are you working with now?  What vendors can you cut and what are you stuck with?  If you've dropped the venue, what sort of space are you looking at?  Does your church have a hall or do you have something else in mind?  Is pushing the date back and option or is that set in stone?  Will any of your vendors allow you to keep your deposit if you postpone?   Could you chuck the whole thing and make the honeymoon into a DW? 

To give a littlle perspective, I know people that have thrown weddings for 50 people for under $2K in less than 3 months.  You still have plenty of time to work it out, but we won't be able to give specific help without specific needs.

For your guest list, sit down with your FI and "rank" people.  Do a "must invite" a "should invite" and a "could invite" list.  Then do your counts.  Really, your must invite should be parents, grandparents, siblings and WP.  Everyone else is negotiable.  The lower your guest count, the lower your cost.

For generals, I'd suggest finding a new space, ASAP, and look for something where you can bring your own food/drinks.  From there look for cheap food, like a local BBQ, mexican or italian place. 

Potluck is tacky, but if self-catering is an option, it can be really cheap.  You can make a bunch of trays of lasagna and garlic bread ahead of time and have someone heat it up and serve it. 

Really, though, it depends on what kind of cut you are making.  If you are talking about dropping a $20K budget down to $10K, you can make it up by cutting the guest list.  If you're talking about cutting a $30K wedding down to $3K, you're going to have to reconsider everything.