What's the lowest budget i could get away with?

Readingdiva123 · February 2010

Hello all I'm extremely new to all of this wedding stuff. I've only been engaged for about a month. My FI wants to wait until we have enough saved to even set a date for our wedding. But i don't want to wait too long. So what do you think is a good budget to have a nice wedding? Neither of us make much money and I'm feeling a little discouraged that we may never have enough money. We really don't want to do a courthouse wedding. We want the church and as much of the experience as possible. So please help. Thank you!

bethbloom · February 2010

It depends entirely on how many people you plan to invite. If you're having a small wedding, people do it for a thousand bucks. Bigger invite list means more money ends up being spent.

reddy123 · February 2010

i agree with pp, make a list of the 40-60 must have people. Once you start having 100+ people things get spendy. Once you know how many people, then you can shop around casually for a venue (you can never be too early for this, some girls book two years out). You may be able to get a nice church to cut you a deal and have something bigger with just appetizers and finger food... ?

reddy123 · February 2010

btw, to answer you question, I personally think 2,500-3,000 is the lowest you can go. That would be with the appetizer menu for 50 people. I'm not any official quoter though

tiffgriffin7 · February 2010

Totally depends on what kind of reception you want to have and the setting you want to have it in.

If you want an afternoon reception, no alcohol and a small group than prob $1000 or less

If you are thinking an evening reception with alcohol and a full meal it can go anywhere from $5000 to $30,000 depending on how many guests

I think the first step is figuring what is important for you to have at your reception and ceremony and then budget from there.

Our entire wedding including rings will be about $9500. That doesn't include rehearsal dinner or honeymoon.

We are having a 5 hour reception with open beer and wine, BBQ dinner, DJ, Florist, Officiant, Photog and about 100 guests. I think we did pretty well with our budget, we pretty much have everything we want and didn't cut much out.

I also had a friend who was planning a $30,000 wedding but that was a formal evening dinner, open bar, the best photographer, flowers, etc...just depends on what you want

lindseroo · February 2010

Oh you can really go $1000 like pp have said. BUT it does depend on guest list, menu, venue, ETC. I would go for summer because it's a lot cheaper to rent something outside. I could say SO much more! There are many books and articles on how to save money. Go to the library, read articles on the Knot, and get creative. Good luck!

mayflymanitou · February 2010

We planned an afternoon ceremony/ evening buffet reception for 140 people on a budget of $5000 (included everything but rings and honeymoon). Rather than starting with what you want, I would highly recommend first figuring out exactly what you can afford to spend. Once you have a budget set, then determine how much to allocate to each of your priorities. There are lots of areas where you can save money (or simply eliminate the item altogether). We have a lot of budget-savvy ladies here, to feel free to ask for advice!

Good luck!

kikicurlytop · February 2010

It so depends on what is important to you. A lot of people have a cake and punch reception at like 2:00 in the afternoon. You could do it in a park, or if you want to get married in a church then you could most likely just do it right there. If you are already affiliated with a specific church, then you can talk to them about your wants and your budget. My pastor, knowing we were on a very tight budget, offered to do the ceremony for free, and the church would give us as much time as we wanted for a very low cost. If you go the cake and punch route, which with a tiny budget is a great option, and you only have very close friends and family there, then you could probably do it for under a grand.

Readingdiva123 · February 2010

Thank you all for your wonderful advice and making me feel welcome to the community. I think i have a pretty good idea now and feel like i better start figuring out the guest list and pricing things even though i haven't set a date. thanks again you all rock.

elizabeththompson · March 2010

It's so true that you can do it for really cheap (like $2,500) if you just keep the guest list small. The only thing you've got to do is use your imagination and think outside the box a little. Get wildflower bouquets and get married in a field, or serve a brunch instead of dinner since that'll save lots of money. It's amazing what you can do with a little imagination.

Biolady · March 2010

You mentioned wanting a church wedding. Ask the church for help. There are always retired ladies who just want to help out at my church. They would love to help decorate, maybe even help cater and bake for your wedding. Utilize the church hall and make it into a wonderful potluck dinner. I think that sparkling cider is just as nice as alcohol. Don't forget to ask your relative for help. Once you ask it's amazing who will start offering to help. Most of my female relatives want to help put their stamp on the wedding. It gives them ownership and makes the day that much more special for you and them.

I feel that the wedding is about the uniting of two people and joining together of two families. If your friends and family are there to celebrate with you any amount is good.

Good luck in figuring out the details

emalee_jane · March 2010

So refreshing to be see other brides not spending over $10k! I always fee like the odd duck having such a tight budget....

randiekay215 · May 2010

Yay for budget brides! At first I was feeling a little bummed because there arent many budget brides my age-they all get their rich daddies to pay for it! hehe Anyway I would say a wedding under $2500-$3000 is TOTALLY reasonable. But just like everyone has said your main worry is the guest list size. And here's a really good tip; start buying things now. Just little things here and there. It makes paying for the wedding a lot easier. Much less stress than waiting until 3 months before the wedding to buy everything. Start looking for venues and book them. If you can afford to at the time-pay for it all up front. Not just the deposit. Its a relief knowing you wont have to pay any more for it when the time comes. Look in to doing your own flowers as well. Its cheap and I think its fun. Its a good way to really do things the way you want. And as far as favors, etc go: think about donating to a charity instead of spending money on things people will throw away. There are SOOOO MANY ways to cut down on cost. You can always go back to the traditional "cake and punch" reception instead of feeding people a meal. Consider doing your ceremony at a time that would be between meals (like say 3pm, AFTER lunch but well BEFORE dinner) that way they wont be expecting a meal. Like I said there's a lot to consider. I could go on for DAYS! Good luck with your planning!

What's the lowest budget i could get away with?

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