$3,000 Budget

First off I want you to know that you can do this!! No matter what anyone says, you can do it! I'm working with a 5,000 budget for 250 guests. We found an old historic venue that charges hardly anything to rent so definitely look into places like that. Try Azazie for dresses, amazing quality dresses for a good price! Food were doing tacos (we found a caterer that offers $3 per person but might be doing family cooking too as my aunt is a chef) but keep food simple if that's your style, check with small diners a lot of them offer great catering for less. Good luck girl, you got this!!

With that budget and guest list, do a lovely cake and punch afternoon wedding. Ceremony at 2pm, reception done by 5 or 5:30pm. Sandwiches, cake, juice, coffee, tea. Short and sweet, not over a meal time so no expectation of providing a full meal (which you simply don’t have the budget to do).

Does this $3000 include your venue cost? I’ve learned food is probably going to be your biggest expense aside from that. We’re having about 120 guests and the food is going to be around $1200. For affordable dresses I’ve heard good things about ASOS, BHLSN, Lulus, Etsy. If you’re trying to save money and you really want the videographer, I’d go with that over the photographer unless you know someone who is very affordable. Professional photography can be pricey (we are paying $1100 and that’s on the low end). Aside from that, try to DIY decorations instead of buying them if you can. Most of the time it’s cheaper unless you find someone selling their wedding decor.

It depends on where you live but it is doable. I set my budget to $3,000 from day one. FH set the budget higher and I’m determined to do it for less. So far, so good. I did a lot of DIY. Buy decor and things used from brides on craigslist or Facebook marketplace. Lower your guest list if need be. I wanted 50 guests and FH wanted 100 so we settled on planning for 75. FH is latino so chips and salsa bar, street tacos, rice and beans, street corn and salads are on the menu and not breaking the bank. Shop sales and use coupons for wedding related items. You can get decor items like charger plates in bulk from the dollar tree. Candles, candle holders and vases, all bulk from the dollar tree. Real floral can be expensive. Greenery is cheaper. If you can get a good deal through your grandma, go for it. If not, don’t base your centerpieces on florals. Candles could be cheaper. Just research and shop around. Talk to vendors, I’m currently talking to a photographer about custom packages because I don't have a bridal party, don’t need getting ready pictures, don’t need two photographers. My needs are much less than the standard package so working out a deal to save money and get some professional pictures is making me very happy. Restaurants that cater can be more cost effective. Italian food, Mexican food and BBQ are usually cheaper. Brunch weddings seem to be gaining popularity and with it being earlier in the day you wont need heavy alcohol. Davids Bridal has dress sales all the time. The Kiyonna dresses are never more than $288. Torrid also has wedding dresses for under $200. Constantly check sales and check you budget. As I find something for less than what I had budgeted for, I allocate the extra money to something else. Good luck!!!

I'm not sure where you live but if your town/city has public parks that may be a cheap venue option. Most city parks are run publicly and are often cheaper than your typical wedding venue. It might require some extra planning to make sure to keep the costs down. Like finding a park that might have an outdoor amphitheater or stage so that you don't have to rent a tent or chairs. Or perhaps your town has a local arboretum that's willing to host events. Those are beautiful with all the flowers. Or even just a friend or relative that may have a beautiful home or space of land. Your food and your venue will probably be the most expensive things to tackle. If you can keep the cost down with them as much as you can then you can devote more of your budget to the other aspects.

The first thing is you should definitely look into non wedding specific venues, such as vfw halls or firehouse halls! Wedding venues are way too hiked up! Also, I would say spending 750 on a videographer is going to eat up way too much of your budget! Could you settle for just photography and have someone video the ceremony for you? Finding a cost effective caterer is really going to be key! Look into Italian or bbq buffet style! They tend to be the most affordable!

My budget is 3000. Let me tell you it's not been too bad honestly. We got my dress on sale/clearance from David's Bridal for 250 (they have cheaper). Our venue was 75. We are doing jumbalya so it's a lot of food for not too much of a cost. Her outfit cost about 150. Our shoes were 165 all together. Photographer was 430. I suggest using Thumbtack to find some great vendors in your budget!! Just make sure to look around. You'll get it! Dont let anyone put you down for how much you have to spend. We cant all have money

I am not sure if this is doable for you, but a lot of times vendors will come down a little in price if you pay cash. With all the vendors involved with a wedding, those savings can really add up. If you can swing it, it is worth a shot to ask. Worst they can say is "no".

If you are getting a photographer, ask them what the price is without an engagement shoot. I asked many photographers when I was getting price quotes and every single one of them came down hundreds, even thousands without the engagement shoot. Also, if you have a local college near you, you may be able to hire a photography student for a fraction of what it would normally cost.

Traditional wedding cakes can be very expensive. After getting some price quotes, shop around and compare what cupcakes, pastries, cookies, doughnuts, even pies cost compared to the wedding cake. You can even do a regular sheet cake. Sometimes even venues include a wedding cake in their package, as ours did.

I'm not sure where you are located, but book a venue off season. For example, peak wedding season is April - October. Getting married in November - March can be EXTREMELY less in cost for the same venue during peak season. If you don't have luck with this, then try VFWs, American Legion, Knights of Columbus, and other halls like these. We have a local one that is $475 for 4 hours with the option of adding more time onto it. The hall includes the space, tables, chairs, a full kitchen, a bar, 100 person capacity, and clean-up.

For your dress, try preownedweddingdresses.com, tradesy.com, stillwhite.com, thelastminutebride.com, and David's Bridal. You can search the "pre-owned" sites for never worn or altered gowns. That's how I got mine. It was a barely tried on sample at a small boutique.

Definitely possible! I’m having around 60 to 70 guests, my venue is a barn venue for $500. That’s 2 days rental too, that’s where you run into problems with parks. I looked at those & most are a one day rental & I didn’t wanna decorate same day. I found my venue on the Facebook marketplace actually! Food is BBQ buffet from 2 different restaurants. And we’re having it served by volunteer family members. Cake is $190, she charges $3 a person & doesn’t charge to add decorations which a lot of bakeries do. My dress was David’s Bridal & BM dresses are LuLus. My venue has majority of the decorations already but for the remainder I’m renting for $200, which includes a 6ft wooden cross, an entrance way for the aisle, 10 centerpiece lamps, a vintage dresser for a cookie bar, plus much more. That’s with delivery & pickup...I use as many coupons as possible & Im also not having dancing so no dj & it’s a dry wedding (no one that is coming drinks) so that saves me money. So don’t fret it will come together beautifully!

It honestly depends a lot on where you live. A full traditional wedding (caterer, alcohol, venue, photographer, ext) would be impossible where I live (Washington DC) for that many people. If you're in a lower COLA area, the most expensive costs are still venue, food and alcohol and those should be about half of your budget, so $1500 total. Then work on everything else. As others have mentioned, try non traditional venues such as park and also just cut things such as alcohol.

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Yes but we are having it at our church who are letting us do it for free I do plan on doing a donation to the church afterwards. I have a family member is going to do the photos she does photography on the side. Thank you.

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I am definitely doing a dry wedding and we are looking at a venue that charges 300 for 6 hours

Hey, so, that is a small budget but I totally think its doable. I am also on a small budget of $5,000. I listed some things I decided to do or considered doing to cut down costs:

Keep your guest list small (were having 50-60 people).

I saw an ad (I didn't actually click it but it looked cool) where you can get a videographer for $200-$800. Its called Wedding Mix.

Walmart has very pretty 2 tier wedding cakes for $70 or 3 tier for $140.

I have a friend who found her wedding dress for $75 at a dry cleaner's. Apparently after a dress is left for so long they are allowed to sell them for the price of the dry cleaning bill.

Amazon - If you have a prime account, there is an A to Z guarantee aand very pretty dresses for mostly under $200. I bought a beautiful dress from them for $99 total that includes shipping. Tip: try to get a dress with a corset back to help ensure your fit and reduce cost for alterations.

I know you said you have flowers covered, but just in case your interested, I got my boquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, 1 corsage and 6 boutenierres for $188 total from Etsy. They're wooden, look real, beautiful and available in any colors you want. Its also nice because it doubles as a gift for my bridesmaids as well as I will have my bouquet and his boutonniere as keepsakes.

Get married somewhere you don't have to pay. Were getting married in his parents yard. But I've heard several public parks and outdoor areas are all free or very small fees.

Don't do the whole tux for groom. I bought FHs vest from Amazon and it looks great and was only $18 with shipping vs the $89 it would have cost to rent a similar vest from Mens Wearhouse.

Wedding Jewelry: I've bought a ton of wedding jewelry at great GREAT prices from Claire's aand also Citi Trends. I have probably spent $25 total and have 6 or 7 different jewelry sets to choose from for my big day plus hair accessories and other jewelry for wedding party.

Use an up and coming photographer, someone who does it on the side. Also, do the same for DJ or some ppl mentioned making their own playlists on ipod aand just letting the music run thru.

Hope some of this helps

You could always go for a small cake and have cupcakes that match. Also ask friends and family if they know anyone who does baking for fun or on the side that could help lower costs. Plus if you have cupcakes, you don't have to worry about plates, silverware, etc. That helps too

Another way to help with the budget is to cut down some of the guest list. I know that no one likes to hear that but everything I've researched, the first suggestion they make is to cut down the list.

As someone who is also working with a tight budget I suggest a college of arts student with a great portfolio for your videographers/photography and family/family friend property if at all possible. 100 people will be hard but not impossible. Other considerations are state parks which are already naturally decorated and beautiful. I would also suggest a minimal bridal party. Italian, Mexican, or BBQ food. We're doing BBQ. And diy music. As for your dress, if you find one you love you could try to find the identical one online for a reduced price or consignment.

I would recommend looking on sites like nearly newly wed and once wed for a dress! They’re styles that are maybe only a season old and great prices!

My brother had a wedding for around this budget. They had their ceremony at a beautiful botanical garden and that soaked up a good bit of the budget. The reception was at an Italian restaurant that had the option to order food family style. That being said they probably had about 20-30 people there. If you absolutely cant cut down your guest list maybe consider DIY for the catering. You could prep everything ahead of time. Or call around and ask for drop off catering or graduation catering packages

Shop around. Look for deals. Think outside the box lots and lots an lots of DIY. Having a small guest list is the biggest thing I think see if a family member you trust could video graph do photos. A dry wedding will also be a big budget saver. So check out cheapest weddings in Netflix I got lots of great ideas from that show! Do not be afraid to ask. "How can I make this cheaper?".

You can do this! Get your cake or cupcakes from walmart. For food you can do something like Mexican, Italian or bbq. If you must have drinks beer and wine only or you can make big batches of something like sangria or rum punch. It's cheap taste good and you can put them in clear drink dispensers from walmart or five below. You can get nice plastic china, flutes and wine glasses for cheap from smarty had a party or amazon. You can make a playlist and use your phone. I would reach out to the local college for a student that can video it and take pics. or use two students one to take pics and one to video it. You could probably pay them $100-$200 each