2,000 wedding budget!

My best suggestion is to have the wedding at non-meal time because $2,000 is an extremely low budget and food a meal can easily take up your entire budget. Our food and beverage minimum was $7,000. We spent over $1,000 for 30 people for rehearsal.

Have your ceremony at a non-traditional venue like a local park and host a cake and punch reception afterward.

$2,000 will be pretty difficult for a wedding that size. I would look into very low cost or free venues (museums, community centers, universities, public parks). I also agree with Veronica about having your wedding at a non-meal time. Ex. 2:00 ceremony, serve cake and punch, maybe a couple light refreshments, and end by 6:00 so your guests can go get their own dinner. Cut all the unnecessary expenses like favors, extra stationary, decorations, flowers, etc.

Get married at a local Elks hall or VFW. Buy the decor at the dollar store, Walmart, or Target, and do the decorating yourself instead of hiring a wedding planner. If you have bridesmaids, they could help you decorate. Choose a less expensive time, like a Friday afternoon in the winter, or a Sunday brunch wedding. Davids Bridal sells lots of dresses for less than $250, but you can also find good deals at mall stores like Macy’s (where I bought the dress for my 2nd wedding). To save on decor, use fake flowers instead of real. For music, Have a DJ instead of a band. Don’t do additional lighting beyond what they provide. Hire a photographer from a local college, and skip the videography entirely. Limiting your guest list is another great way to stay in budget, and it sounds like you’re already doing that. To save on stationery, only send invitations, not save-the-dates. Save on transportation by driving yourselves to the venue instead of renting a limo.

I agree with the previous comments. Have the venue at a non-traditional location, and avoid providing a full meal (there's no way you'd be able to fit that into your budget). Get your dress from a second-hand store, and see if you can borrow decorations from friends (candles, lanterns, etc).

Depending on your support network, you can ask people to help and designate them roles. For example, my Fiance's mother is making our cake because she's an amazing baker, and my aunt is making the other desserts. My grandmother offered to make our horderves, and a friend is handling hair and makeup. My cousin offered to let me wear her dress, which happens to fit me perfectly (it isn't my style, but it's a good backup in case I can't find a dress I can afford), and so many other people have stepped up.

Sometimes people are wary of offering advice, so you may need to ask them directly or make it known that you're looking for extra hands!

I was in a wedding 5 or so years ago and their budget was $3,000. They had their ceremony in a public park, their pastor officiated, they had no seating. The only flowers they had were baby's breath. No cake, only cupcakes. Her mother made all the food (I wouldn't recommend - some of the chicken was undercooked and I found a hair in the macaroni salad - needless to say I didn't eat anything). She had a local seamstress make her dress for $100, no veil. No engagement photos, no bridal shower, no bachelorette. A friend was their DJ. Plastic plates & utensils. No alcohol. No favors. Very simple invites from walmart.

Get suits at H&M (we found my husband’s suit there for $80); look at the clearance racks at David’s Bridal or at department stores for dresses. Try looking at schools for reception venues (we had mine at one, it was only $120 to rent, with tables and chairs and mic). Try to do self catering and buy frozen food in bulk from Gordon Foods or some place similar, and have someone else (not associated with the wedding) cook it—a lot of schools have big kitchens. Go to thrift stores for decorations once you have a vision in mind.

You may well want to reconsider that guest list. Typically, the cost of the reception is about half the cost of the wedding as a whole. So that means you're trying to feed 50-75 people for $1,000--or less than $20 a person--even if you spend nothing on decorations, dance floor, DJ, etc.

By contrast, you could have a simple ceremony for just immediate family, take everyone to dinner at a nice restaurant, and still come in under $2,000.

There is definitely no shame in getting married at a courthouse. That can be a very lovely way way to have a ceremony, and then for your reception, take your guests out to a meal afterwards. No shotguns required.

Imma disagree with everyone saying it cant be pulled off. Were having ours at 4 so well be serving dinner. We have a beautiful venue that includes our reception also. I made everything myself as far as flowers and signs . The food were getting from walmart deli. You can get 100 hot and ready chicken for only $75 then ull just need sides and biscuit for your guest. No different then having a chicken place cater but cheaper. We bought a buffet thing to keep the food hot . Ordered nice plates and cups off Amazon, not paper ones either. We shop sales for decor and our attire. Like after Easter suits will be on clearence, toy could get suits then . Wete at 1300.00 all we have left is my sons suit and shoes thats only because he is chunkY and we dont know what size hell be in then and shoes we cant find his size in black. Hes still gaining and growing . I got their shoes at rack rooms using rack room points from shoes I got christmas. So , normally $54 ! Pair I paid 16 for two pair ! So many ways to save without cutting back. This way we can still invite whoever we want and not have to scale back on anything ! But if u did want to save even more have it at a park. Most parks are cheap weekdays and weekends offer one low price for all weekend and most have a reception area!

Were also doing a dessert bar but I'm mami g most myself and the rest I found a lady on Facebook marketplace to make it . Usually if they arent a real business and do it from home they do it cheaper the more u get ! But always look at reviews first. Cheaper isnt better. But if people have great things to say and experience a go for it. U dont have to settle for the court house , if that's not what u want . It's what I wanted lol or to elope but he wants this wedding sp I made sure to not go broke. We didnt have a budget but I wasnt going to pay crazy prices

A simple wedding can be done for $2000. David's bridal has dresses under $200. You can also order bridesmaid dresses in white. Hit the local mall at prom time to see what they have in white.

Don't rent a tux for the guys, check out JCPenney, etc. for inexpensive suits. You could skip a suit all together for the son, having him wear a shirt, tie, and dress pants (groom could do this also).

Some churches will let you have a cake and punch reception after the ceremony in their hall. Decorations can be found at the local party store or Walmart.

If you don't want a religious ceremony, rent out a shelter/pavilion at a public park for a ceremony and cake/punch reception immediately to follow.

Flowers don't need to be expensive. Most grocery stores have flowers that can be made into a bouquet by trimming the stems and wrapping with ribbon.

Weddings don't need to cost a lot. You just have to think outside the box and keep it simple.

If you chose to include food would family help you make like a backyard BBQ style food. I use a deep freeze and stock up on BBQ through the year for our summer reunions that way. Then do grilled corn and potato salad sides. Or big pans of pasta. I definitely agree on the park venue or some churches will let you do ceremony and a reception style dinner in their facility for a donation - you could see about this too? JJshouse, Macy's, Amazon, David's Bridal runs 99$ dress sales in my area in the beginning of the year as well. Or bridal shows - sometimes they do off the rack dresses really cheap!

Thank y’all for all of your ideas so everything is pretty much planned out at this point. I was able to find a beautiful venue that holds 100 people inside and also has a gazebo separate from the building across the land it’s an old battle filed called Nash farms In Georgia. Wich is 980 but I get 300.00 back 3 weeks later so 680.00 Wich includes 100 chairs and 20 tables! So that wasn’t to bad. Tuxes we will hit after Easter and see if we can find anything on clearance. My dress I’m gonna look for at David bridal the 99.00 dollar rack. Good we’re gonna carter threw Walmart.. not really catering but it’ll do. For the reception we’re gonna have music diy style I was able to find a place to rent speakers mics and a mixer for 150.00 cake is coming from Publix 40.00 serves 80 people. My lovely sister is making all of my wedding favors and all of my wood decor that I want also she’s doing the bridesmaid and groomsman gifts all for free. We’re also service alcohol only beer and wine Wich came in pretty cheap since my fiancé works for a beer distribution company and wine isn’t that bad. So the only thing I’m really lack is the photographer Wich I’m looking for someone to do it but if not then I will settle with family and friends taking pictures for us.. becUse the people we are inviting is all family mostly so I don’t wanna scale back the guest list! Thank you guys for all your idea suggestion and inspiration!

I had a budget of 2900 I searched where I am getting married and found a bed and breakfast that does the whole ceremony and reception the only thing is there is no going to be any dancing our families are all older but try to look for everything included in the wedding package

$2,000 is totally doable! Before I realized we could up our budget I had been planning to keep it simple and sweet with just a couple thousand dollars.. heres some things worth considering...

*have a charcuterie board spread with little finger foods after the ceremony instead of a full blown meal. Or u could do a potluck style picnic and have everyone bring a dish! People will be more than happy to participate on your wedding day 😁

*buy a used dress or buy online. I've seen some gorgeous wedding dresses for under $200 on the internet, some with really good reviews.
*disposable dishes! No use in renting them, no one cares about reception dishes and its cost effective.
*like others mentioned about having the ceremony at a park, u could at least do the reception there. Do a standing ceremony somewhere and and then after the ceremony the park should have a pavilion or picnic area/tables to feed and seat your guests
*dont have an open bar. If u have your reception at a park u probably wont be able to have alcohol anyways, but worth checking into. If u end up wanting to have booze on a budget, supply your own and you'll save A TON of money.
*use local wildflowers for your bouquets and make them yourself. If u want a roses too u can buy a 50-100ct bulk from Costco for cheap or just buy a few dozen at your local grocery store.
*thrift store finds!!! (And the dollar store)... candle holders, cool centerpieces, picture frames, christmas lights, flower pots, etc. Can all be obtained second hand or for cheap, and will give ur wedding a cool vibe on a budget.
*play ur own music over a speaker. We have a tiny EUboom and that thing BUMPS! U could easily blast the playlist of your choice thru a small speaker via your phone or a laptop. Just have a family member or friend cut the tunes and start them up again when need be so u dont have to worry about it.
*do ur own hair, makeup, and nails.
*check out facebook yardsale for local bakers. I found a local lady whos doing a 3 tier vanilla cake for us, decorated with wild flowers and roses to feed 60 people, for $150. Most cake shops start around $2-300! Defintely worth looking into. Or make your own/have your mom/grandma/aunt/cousin or someone else help u do it. Or buy a big sheet cake from Costco or your local grocery store and have it personalized with your names and wedding date etc.. OR u can always do cupcakes instead 😁
*create a wedding hashtag and encourage guests to take photos and post them with your hashtag on their social media accounts. U can gather them all together and pick the best pictures of the day. Theres bound to be several great ones with all those people and their fancy phones taking photos! ..u can even have a friend be the designated photographer (or "phone-tographer") and have them do your photos.
*make your own guest book.
....hope that helps! 😀

Oh wow I should've read the replies. U already got it figured out 😂😁

For photography look for someone who charges by the hour! We are only having ours for two hours and she is $125 an hour. You could also try photography students from a local college too.

Find an extremely cheap or free venue, DIY most of your decor, shop sales, have your wedding at a non meal time.. get a photographer who charges per hour.. Skip having a DJ and play your own playlist. I think all said and done our wedding was about $2,500

Do a lot of diy shop online for thing how many bridesmaids