Big guest list, small budget. Suggestions?

You could always do an afternoon cake and punch reception. It won't be a rocking party, but it's a nice light afternoon gathering. I've been to several cake and punch receptions, and I honestly prefer them to big hosted affairs. Hope this helps!

I believe it's something around 15-20% on average decline. You said 120 is that including +1?

Cut the guest list.

In the area I live I'm finding hotels are cheaper, and cheaper the further you go out of the city (minn.-st. Paul). Golf courses may be too expensive unless you do something out of season or a Friday/Sunday most places offer discounts. You can always wait till you have a better budget too if you're in an expansive part of the us.

I agree you might want to look at an off-meal time reception, such as cake and punch. I understand the hesitation about cutting your guest list, but it's a reality for almost every couple. The most important thing is making your guests feel comfortable, so don't cut any of those things. Things that you can cut is by having simpler decor, etc. Also check second hand. I even found once burned candles that were a fraction of the price.

JoRocka beat me to it.

You're in a very high priced area. We paid about $20k for 65 people just outside of Phoenix. You might want to think about having your wedding on an off peak season, making it adult only, and talking about what really matters to you. Photographers for the entire day typically run $3k and up. Flowers that are in season will cut back some, but sometimes not enough. Does this budget also include your dress, wedding bands, honeymoon, tuxes, etc? There are plenty of off the rack bridal salons that all used or last years designs for $99+.

A song comes to mind..."Cut it, cut it, cut it....your price is way too high you need to cut it!"

But for real, I had to come to this hard conclusion too. REALLY look at your list and start cutting it down. Less people, less everything=less money/stay on budget. Start with acquaintances, co-workers, old friends and work your way up. Good luck!

Shorten the guest list.

Cut your guest list - or have a long engagement and save. You can't properly host that many people at a meal time. Food and booze for a dinner will be your whole budget..... no dj no dress no photos no invites.

Change the season to an off season and cut your guest list. Your third cousin will understand.

Date twin, yay! Sorry, first one I have had!

Anyhow, my budget is 10K and guest list is 100. I am in southern Cali.

I have my venues but it was a lot of hard work to stay within that budget. It can be done, but you may want to consider cutting your guest list because if not, you will be very limited on options, and probably won't have your dream wedding because you will have to cut something out or just settle for stuff.

Wish ya the best of luck!

I think your options are:

(1) shorten guest list or

(2) extend your engagement

There are small ways to save here and there (no favors or stds, weekday wedding, etc.), but in order to make it work, you'll probably have to do one of the two above.

You can't have it both ways. This is something FH and I had to learn. Cut the list or raise the budget. Otherwise you'll skimp on things and end up not being a very good host to your guests.

There's no way you can properly host that many people with that budget during a meal time. It would probably be super tight even doing cake and punch.

What about a firehouse hall, VFW, knights of Columbus and doing BBQ or something like that? You can spend about$25-$30 a person that way. Most of those halls charge about $700 for 4 hours and provide the tables and chairs.

I agree you are going to have to cut your list to be able to stay with in your budget

Depending on your area, it's totally doable. Our budget is coming in at about $10,500 with 89 guests. We invited about 120. Look for venues that aren't traditionally wedding venues -- I've seen beautifully decorated county fairgrounds (I did not think I could do it justice the same way I saw in the pics, so I didn't bother with that idea). Another thing I explored were just area local barns. You can rent a non-decorated barn in my area with tables & chairs for $1,000. Ultimately, I found a decorated barn for not much more than that, and services added in. Pick the things you really want to splurge on. Cut costs on others. But above all else, make sure you've got solid food, drink, entertainment for the evening. You want it to be beautiful, of course, but beautiful doesn't mean overdone and overspent. Sometimes simple is gorgeous! I DIY'd my invitations, STD's, and wedding programs. We aren't having a rehearsal dinner. My dress was one I fell in love with at the store from a 2010 line. I bought a new sample model from a shop online on Tradesy. I went to a tailor that isn't affiliated with a salon (but she used to manage the alterations dept at DB). We are using two kids for photographers who are just starting out and do an amazing job with shots (one is a granddaughter of a colleague and friend). My big splurge was linens. I couldn't care less about linens until I saw plum with a lace runner over top. So I bought them, and anticipate selling them after the fact. They were just as cheap to purchase as to rent! Also, find a local FB group for recycling your wedding -- I bought several things second hand and sold some already that I decided against (I bought my veil; bought a sash; etc.).

Also -- all-inclusive venues, IMO, are way cheaper! Search for a package deal where you don't have to worry about all the tiny details. And if the space is naturally beautiful, don't spend oodles to add in your own personal touches -- let it be beautiful as it is!

We have about that many guest and the same budget. It takes some looking and also some real thought process on how important a wedding season date is to you. There are 2 venues we are touring next month. The first (and one I'm leaning towards) is normally 4800 during peak season. We are having an off season wedding and the price is 2500.

We are also not fancy people by any means. We walk a fine line in between country chic and redneck. So, to go with our rustic themed wedding and barn venue, we are doing a bbq buffet dinner. To have it 100% catered is 3k, we are having the same food dropped off for half the price. Now, realistically I would be hesitant with that, but we've been to a couple different weddings where that ended up being how the couple did their food as well and it was just fine.

The venues we are looking at also have a lot of everyday appeal and decorations, supplying linens and also have storage rooms of different decorations we are allowed to use. I plan on utilizing all of that to cut back costs.

We made our own wedding invitation template and pocket trifold cards, got a killer deal on our stationary at Michael's and are skipping things like the inner envelope to cut back on postage. I have no issues with an off the rack dress and am also toying around with cutting things like wedding favors, because every little bit counts.

Wow! Thank you all for your advice! Shortening the guest list seems to be taking the cake (pun intended). So does having a non-meal wedding. I've never been to a wedding that didn't have catering or a buffet so it didn't even cross my mind to have just cake and finger foods. I do plan on saving money in other ways, like not having flowers at all (not a big flower person), doing a lot of DIYs, having a playlist instead of a DJ, etc. My date is also tentative. I'm using it as a place holder because it's our anniversary. We're also not crazy fancy. We mostly just want it to be fun! We got a lot to think about, but we still have some time. Thank you! :-)