Making a $3,000 budget work

A friend of mine had a shoe string budget and I believe cashed out less than $3K. They got married in a park so all they had to do was pay the reservation fee for the pavilion and the near by gazebo, used for the ceremony, came included. They did a pot luck but there was gaps in the food so they had to send out friends and family to buy last minute items, so if you do a pot luck know who is bringing what to prevent repeats of items and gaps in the menu (like missing soft drinks). My friend had many aspects of the wedding paid by family or given free by family friends so the accounts for her low pay out. She rented/borrowed her dress from the wedding planner, who then covered any tailoring of the dress and the after wedding dress clean up.

I feel ya. Getting married and making it just right is freakin' scary!! We want everyone to be satisfied and taken care of, but you know what? Those who know us and love us, understand when we have to do things differently, leave out some of the bling. It's really about you and your FH. Yes, there has been a lot of back lash today regarding who the reception is really about, but if you can't afford it, you can't. That is all there is to it. I would suggest (I don't know where you live) talking to your city council and getting a permit to marry in the park. I hear that is usually only around $100. Or do it at a court house where you can have around 20 of your closest friends/family (if that 's doable) then look into renting out a hall of some sort (also hear it is inexpensive) to have your reception. You can have your phone as the music...just attach to a good speaker, DIY decorations, see if you have a friend that would be willing to make your cake as a gift to the two of you. If you shop around, you can find inexpensive caterers.... like Mexican food or Chinese.... Keep it simple. Have another person close to you get ordained on the internet (it is legit) and have them marry you. That's free. So many ideas. So many that I actually ran by my FH, but he said we are only doing this once we have to do it right. Ugh. We found a venue that is all inclusive. The best package was $7600 (I totally cannot afford that, praying for a good tax return otherwise we cancel). We got 10% off of that for it being on a Sunday. They take care of music, photos, video, cake, catering, bouquets and boutonnieres for the entire wedding party, including my throw bouquet, the flower girls stuff, the ring pillow for the ring bearer. All we have to do is select our music and take care of the center pieces. The owner officiates and all he asks in payment is a wind chime to hang on his tree where everyone gets married. And the place is a B&B so we stay there for the night and he is allowing some of our guest to rent out the other cottages that don't want to or can't drive home after the reception. If you really put your mind to it, and do some serious ... long hours researching, you can do it. I have seen some really inventive ideas on pintrest, you can search thumbtack to find vendors that are inexpensive and highly recommended. You'd be surprised what you can find and what you can do with $3000.

Good luck to you! (and don't be afraid to make it a BYOB kind of event. Again, people that know you and love you, will understand and be supportive and happy for you)

These ideas are so helpful. Thanks for asking the question and thanks to everyone for the tips.