$3500 Budget for Brooklyn/queens wedding

Have you looked at any hotel ballrooms?
They can probably work with your budget, plus you’ll have the food & drinks package to look at . Our is coming out to around 2500 with 300 guests

View Quoted Comment Where are you located? We started planning our wedding with a 5k budget and had to bump it up to 8k. Boston area and about 100 people.

Is this your total budget or just for the ceremony and/or reception? How many guests do you expect to invite? I’ll need more information before I can recommend venues/restaurants. Your best options are to do a cake and punch reception, or have a very intimate (immediate family only) ceremony and treat your family to a nice dinner. There is nothing wrong with having a small wedding or eloping now and having a celebration of marriage or vow renewal when you can afford a big party. A lot of restaurants will hold small weddings with a food and drink minimum, but your seems really tight. Do not self cater; most, if not all NYC venues will not allow you to do this for liability reasons and will require a licensed caterer. You’ll also be lucky if you can pull this off in three months. You’re looking at the beginning of wedding season here in NY, and most places book out well in advance, like 9-18 months (most at least a year out). If you don’t have a venue booked, then sorry, you don’t have a wedding date.

How many people? Some friends of mine had a small family only wedding and then a week later threw a house party for friends.

View Quoted Comment Where are you located? This is completely unrealistic for NYC, in fact, unrealistic for most places in the US. That’s $8.33 a person.

View Quoted Comment We’re down in Dallas , TX it helped US a lot that we got a good discount we managed to work out a good deal. Our budget is also at 5k . But we’ve got the food covered, we got a cash bar which isn’t so crazy expensive. We’re also having to rent the dance floor but they were nice enough to offer to pay for half of whatever we got.

Ok. The OP asked for venues in Queens and Brooklyn. It is crazy expensive up here. Giving her numbers from areas that have a lower cost of living is misleading.

View Quoted Comment You found a venue that serves food and drinks for less than $10/person? You can barely get Chipotle catering that cheap!

OP: the best way to spend less is to keep the guest list very small. You can have the wedding at a community center or inexpensive hall and then find a caterer for the buffet. You can have a more casual reception and you won’t have to spend a lot of money. There are lots of videos on YouTube for DIY dollar tree centerpieces that look quite nice. Also, you could elope now and have a marriage celebration/vow renewal later in life.

View Quoted Comment $2500 includes your dress, food, venue, ceremony, flowers, decor, music, invites, thank you notes, gratuity, everything with no gifts? That's insanely good if that's the case.

Check VFW Halls and lodges. Also check about buying out a restaurant for brunch and have a morning wedding. Get married in the restaurant. Or throw a bbq and get married in a back yard. Keep the guest list low. Or look at weeknight weddings and argue for heavy discounts. Or elope and spend the money on a photographer and roam the city.

Events Party Hall in Queens

Most places won’t allow you to have diy catering because of liability. I think with your budget you will have to have a very, very small guest list, especially for your location.

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Are you in New York as well???

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We live in Brooklyn!

Is there any particular reason you only have 3 months to plan? $3,500 would cover JUST our food, not even alcohol, for 75 people. If I were you I would wait, but if for some reason you have to get married in 3 months I would plan a very intimate ceremony, immediate family only, and take them out to a nice restaurant after. You can have a beautiful wedding for $3,500 but your options are going to be limited as far as how many people you can host and what extras you can have.

Why 3 months?
Either wait and save up for the wedding you want that is hosted properly OR see the JOP and have a small dinner at a really nice restaurant with just your immediate family to celebrate (since that's all a reception really is: A celebration)

It sounds like you’re having a courthouse wedding and a nice dinner out with literally just your parents and MAYBE siblings. That’s the kind of budget you have for that area.

I was at my nephew's birthday party in Prospect Park and saw the most charming wedding! It was in the morning under an oak tree across from the big bathroom area. I'm sure they had a friend or family member out there since 4 am to guarantee the spot, since you can't reserve it but that made the venue free!
They had only rented a couple dozen chairs and most of their guests sat on picnic blankets. A music trio, I don't remember much about since they were out of my hearing range. A beautiful brunch spread that was clearly where they spend the most money.
Everyone including my FH was really impressed! We loved the the style and general attitude. Also, an NYC wedding on a budget with a real sense of style.

Court house or park ceremony with lunch at a pizza place (beer and wine) for 30 VIPs? Sounds intimate and fun. The bulk of your money to food and beverage. I wouldn’t spend over $200 on your dress. Hopefully your FO has a suit in the closet, maybe just buy a fresh shirt and tie. No bridal party. No paper invitations. But do buy and send paper thank you notes. You can do it! But first find a lunch venue that’s $2000, and then add the taxes and tip and go from there.

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There is a VFW off Ralph avenue on Avenue N or M not sure exactly, they are on the same street as Glen Terrace. Check their prices to see if they can work with you.