15K Wedding??

I'm guessing you'd be fine.. I'm planning on being way under that but I don't know Northern NJ's cost of living...

you can always compare with

www.costofwedding.com

but for my location it says..

Couples that live in or travel to Lucas, OH (County) spend between $17,109 and $28,515 on average for their wedding.

and there ain't no way I'm spending that much on my wedding lol

Of course a $15k wedding is possible. But it may not be a Saturday evening wedding with a sit-down dinner and dancing. Some less expensive alternatives that don't involve cutting the guest list:

* A weekday wedding.

* A Sunday brunch.

* A cocktail reception with hors d'oeuvres, sometime other than a meal time.

* An afternoon cake and punch reception.

When i went to www.costofwedding.com it said Couples that live in or travel to Madison, IL (County) spend between $18,262 and $30,436

but i will be way under that so I think its possible its all about how you plan it you could go with 2d Brides suggestions or maybe add DIY in there

good luck

It says that in my area, a wedding runs $19,127 to $31,950. We did my daughters wedding (at a hotel with a buffet dinner) including two suites for two nights, for around $9,500. There were 134 guests.

That cost also included the Bridal Shower and Bridesmaids Luncheon.

It can come down to who you know. We were fortunate in that my sister paid for the florist (as her gift) and my friend was the GM of the hotel restaurant, so he was able to give us some great discounts and waived some fees.

Hi. I'm in Northern NJ too, and I was an upscale, off premise caterer for over 20 years. In my experience, a rentable space that you need to add food, staff and linens too is not usually going to be a cost effective way to go unless you're looking for something funky and unusual (like Camp Rickabear, a girl scout camp with a distinctly rustic vibe that would invite simple decor, kraft paper table covers instead of linens, maybe an eclectic BBQ menu). An average rental space is going to run from **** without the first carrot stick. Add staffing, food, rentals (china, linen, etc) and you can zoom up to 150.00 in a heartbeat. (Don't get me wrong; I love these spaces but they are not usually a budget alternative......)

There are some totally great venues in north NJ that are not a fortune; Perona Farms, in Andover (new barn space alert; booking for next year; talk to Ron), The Manor (West Orange), Woodcliff Lake Manor (one wedding at a time, gracious, kind of B and B'y)

You could talk to Il Tulipano, in Cedar Grove, The Tides (in North Haledon), Trinity Restaurant (in Keyport, not really 'north', but close), The Old 76 House, in Old Tappan, the Brickhouse, in Wyckoff. None of these really have a heavy duty 'wedding place' kind of vibe, but I have officiated in all of them and been really happy with the food and service at each one.

That being said, there are many ways to have a wedding; cocktail parties, brunch, grazing parties.....the more open you are to different ways of seeing the celebration, the more fun you'll have and the closer to budget you'll stay!

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions!! They were all very helpful!!

I really appreciate it and will look into all of the venues listed

You can do it, Erika! You can do it! :-)

I am beginning to believe www.costofwedding.com was created by the wedding industry to make brides believe they have to spend that much on a wedding (along with the wedding reality shows, it's a conspiracy! lol) Seriously though, I live in Ohio as well but do not plan on spending nearly that much money. It can be done but you may have to do detailed research, compare costs, purchase used and even do some DIY.

It's a standardized product; by nature it can't really address every couple. Some couples will spend twice the money on their photographer because that really matters to them; some will spend less on a dress or rings, or travel. The better way to deal with it is to decide on dollars and then prioritize what you need to fit into that budget.

I agree with Rowena. I had not been on that site before, and was appalled at the statistics, though I did fill out the survey. The estimate $18-31K for my area, yet we are having a nice ceremony/reception at a golf course clubhouse for about 65 people and our entire budget (excluding engagement ring and honeymoon) is just $7500. I am under their "average" budget in nearly every category. Still a pretty hefty chunk o'change, IMO, but I'd rather put our money into a house.

The thing you need to remember about costofwedding.com is that when it calculates averages, one really expensive wedding can bring the average cost way up. For example, if you have four $10,000 weddings and one $60,000 wedding, the average cost is $20,000, yet only one person had a wedding that was over $10,000. If you look at the median cost of weddings instead of the average, I suspect it would be quite a bit lower.

Welcome to the WeddingWire Community @Erika!! As you can already tell, you've come to the right place to get all these answers The ladies and gentlemen (yes, they're here!) are fantastically generous in their advice, support, and critiques.

Congratulations on your engagement!

I found the costofwedding.com helpful because there were prices where I had absolutely no idea where to even begin with. I had no clue if a well experienced DJ would charge $50 or $****. Obviously that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Although we were above or under in all categories - the issue of averages 2d is talking about, and we didn't even use many of the items (e.g., limo, ceremony programs), it did help me get a sense for how much professional services are going to cost.

We did a less than $5K wedding.

It took a lot of budgeting, couponing, and research. But we aren't in debt and we had a nice ceremony. It was worth it.

It's cheaper if you are willing to forego a weekend during prime wedding season.

Also, if you know anyone who does cakes or has catered that will cut the cost.

Cakes alone can be pretty pricey.

We didn't use a limo or anything and we made our ceremony programs on vistaprint. We cut the costs by choosing a landscape backdrop instead of having to decorate every little thing. We choose the beach because it was simple but anything outdoors would do.

I think if you do a great deal of research, some DIY projects, & choose an AI venue on a Fri eve you can do it for $15K. That figure would not include your honeymoon. In my area, doing an all inclusive would be less expensive. However, all inclusives are not created equal. How far south can you go into Jersey? Can you go into the Pocono Mt. region? You might fare better in price

Re that particular site, we should have spent $21,578 and $35,964 in the Delaware County, PA region, for my daughter's wedding. W/out the RD or shower, we were slightly above it. However, my daughter chose a popular & pricey AI venue that did include everything. She had a cocktail hour with passed horsies and stations; a plated meal with choice of filet or fish; 5 hour premium bar; her centerpieces; linens; wedding cake; tableside wine service and a viennese table. Had she stayed within the Philadelphia area or right across the bridge in South Jersey, we could have done an AI cheaper.

Good luck!

We are planning on spending around the same amount of money and having the same amount of people at our wedding. I’m located in Southern California. I definitely think it’s possible. We cut cost by having an 11:00am Saturday wedding instead of a Saturday evening wedding. That cut the cost of venue in half. We are not providing hard liquor but we are providing beer, wine, and champagne. That was another large cut cost. We are also having a smaller wedding (75-100) people. The more people, the more expensive things will get. We picked an all-inclusive ceremony and location. But if you are the DIY type, which I am not, you can cut major cost there. There are many ways to cut cost! Good luck!

I'm open to having it on a fri instead of sat and am ok with DIY. Thanks so much or everyone's input!!! You've given me great ideas and made it seem less intimidating!!!

Good luck to all of the others planning their big day as well!!!!

I happen to think that the average costs on costofwedding.com is pretty accurate. I think our wedding budget falls smack in the middle of the range for Los Angeles. I think it's definitely doable for less and I give major props to all those brides that were able to do it for less than the average cost. The key though is to cut costs by

1. Not doing a Saturday evening during peak wedding season

2. Not doing a full open bar

3. Keeping your guestlist small

4. Shop around for your vendors

5. DIY as much as possible

Looking back I kind of wish I had been better about budgeting so I could spend more on the house but I think I was too worried about what people would say if I didn't do the traditional wedding that was expected. But as long as you know what your priorities are you shouldn't have any trouble staying under budget. Good luck!