Budget sorrow

shortcake4561

I'm still relatively in the pre-planning stages of the wedding planning process, but my budget for the reception is only about $1200 for the venue and about $6000 for bar/food etc... for about 175 people. I live in New York so that budget in and of it self seems to be a bit of a joke because everywhere I've looked seems to be upwards of $20K. Does anyone have any suggestions?

MrsMLRB

What about renting out a park and having a barbeque? You could even get a picnic shelter that way you don't have to worry about rain.

You could also go you your place of worship and use their community hall.

CSTK1910

I like the park/picnic idea. If you look around, you should also be able to find places that have an all-inclusive package. My venue includes centerpieces (not flowers though) and ceremony decorations (as well as chairs, china, linens, etc), and they wave the venue rental fee with the purchase of a package, but they are not any more expensive than venues who don't include those things. A lot of places also include the wedding cake. Saving the money on those other areas might allow you to spend a little more on "food/bar" because it actually includes a few other categories.

Also, I would check your local board if you haven't already because they would probably be able to give you more specific advice. Check out the budget weddings board too...it is amazing the stuff they can do with a limited budget!

starryeyedsarah

I'm getting married in the parish to which I belong, as well as using the reception hall associated with the church in the same little town.  They're cutting us a deal because we are parishioners, so I would recommend looking into something similar to that ... sometimes you can get deals with places/people you already know, too.