AZ Bride in Tears (5,000 budget!!! Help where to begin)

Since you have such beautiful weather what about a public park? My cousin did that somewhere near Phoenix.

Guest list is another big way to keep costs down. How big is your guest list looking?

Definitely agree with Staci. Find the least expensive venue or even free. Do you or an immediate family member belong to a church with a reception hall? (If you are willing to go that route).

Maybe skip the DJ and have someone man the iPod during the reception if you are having dancing.

We did our wedding for under $4,000 and it turned out great. You can do this! Key things to keep costs down:

1. Keep the guest list small. The cost for food/drinks per person can make keeping a modest budget almost impossible.

2. I had a hard time finding a reasonably priced venue in our bigger city. I expanded my search to smaller towns just outside of the city. I found a great venue for $400 total. It included tables, chairs, table linens, etc.

3. We diid free e-vites for our STD's. Easy money-saver.

4. Flowers: Do wholesale, talk to your grocery store florist, use silk or do them yourself.

5. I had friends help me with hair and make-up.

6. Keep the food simple. We had meat and cheese tray, bread baskets, sundried tomato penne, antiplasto platters and fruit. We had various cakes in leiu of a wedding cake and were able to provide our own alchohol. Total $500.

1. cut the guest list to your immediate family and very close friends (less than 20)

2. eliminate the bridal party

3. find a cute restaurant

4. have a great party.

Don't try to do a massive party on a small budget. Do a small party that you and your IMMEDIATE family can enjoy!

There are so many parks out in Phoenix, I would imagine that some of them allow weddings at a decent price point. Also, have you considered extending your engagement so you have time so save more money?

@ Staci 100 guest ALL FAMILY

@Monica No we have been here 2yrs now...Our parents are deceased and NO one to help with cost.

@Sarah WOW your wedding sounds like you had a great time....Finding the venue has been the hard part..

@Celia Thanks i will work on that.

@Vanessa It has been a thought for a few hours now but its hard with so many medical bills for my son's chemo meds...

Thank you ALL for the great advice....

I also have a big family, but I limited my guest to my dad, siblings, aunts and uncles and a few of my dearest friends. No cousins. The only way you could invite 100+ people is if you do a cake and punch reception. You will need to prioritize and figure out what is most important to you.

I'm in Arizona and having about 100-120 people and our budget is 7-8k.

Our venue for 100 people is $1,650 and includes all the table and chairs so it is a really good value. I got an awesome deal on a photographer and found a florist that has a great deal on the basic stuff.

If you want more details and recommendations, let me know! What area of AZ are you in?

Quality over quantity. have a really small fun wedding.

I am in Phoenix AZ and Sarah you are right...we just knocked 16 people off the list....

Theres a rose garden behind Glendale Community College that i think is fairly cheap. Try a public park in Sedona maybe? It's kind of like a destination wedding!

There is a state park at the base of the Superstition Mountains I was considering. It has a covered pavilion for, I think, 75 people and AMAZING views. It was a couple hundred at the most to rent.

Look into doing mid-week wedding and off season. Also- if you do a brunch instead of a dinner- you can save tons of money

Apracticalwedding.com

Great site with tons of articles on how To's and DIYs and easily explained. They go through EVERYTHING!

Just be prepared to do a lot of hard work!

Definitely look at DIY ideas. short guest list and maybe just you and a witness on each side for wedding party. You can also do a ceremony and dinner for close family and friends and do a reception and invite extended family and friends for dancing.

I think my biggest suggestion would be to push back the wedding date, so you can space out your purchases. I did a TON of DIY's, that being said I did have most of the tools already to do them.

Figure out the guest list first then a venue that will fit that many people. Try having friends make food or have a restaurant cater it, but not at their location it will cut down on costs. If outside at a park a lot of those place are very low rentals.

I am doing my wedding for $5000 (that includes a $1200 plane ticket) so in all reality doing it for $3800, most restaurants/bars have a private function room and the don't charge for the room, mine they only are charging $30 a person for food, and with my 20 guests, it will be about $500. our photographer we found on Kijiji and then Facebook look at ads on craigs list and use Ebay and Etsy to add those personal touches at a fraction of the cost!

The best place to make cuts is the guest list. You will find ways to trim costs here and there, just make sure you plan ahead of time what you plan to spend on each aspect so that you don't go over. Another place is flowers - skip it, or use fake ones! So expensive, and they're dead so soon.

Http://www.idocelebrate.net/