Budget issues,

Your family isn't required to help, it's your wedding not theirs. I would look into free/cheap venues for starters. Like a public park maybe. You could also have it at a time of day where you can just provide drinks and cake, like mid-afternoon. That would save you a bunch on catering.

I'm paying for my own wedding, but I don't see how that's an issue. I'm an adult, marrying another adult, and wouldn't dare ask someone else to pay for the party that we decided to throw.

-Drastically cut your guest list - you can save a lot of money by having 50 guests instead of 100, or 100 instead of 200.

-Have your wedding during non-peak season so that you can save some money with your vendors. Also consider having your wedding on a Friday or Sunday instead of a Saturday.

-Either arrange your own flowers or use all fake flowers.

-Host an afternoon wedding with an appetizer reception rather than an evening wedding with a full dinner.

-Have a very small bridal party or no bridal party at all (to save money on bouquets, gifts, etc.).

-Have a long engagement so that you can save up more money to have the wedding of your dreams (my FH and I have a 2.5-year engagement partly so that we have time to save up).

This is good news! It means you can plan the wedding that YOU and your FS want, rather than succumbing to family pressure to make it bigger or include things that aren't important to you.

As others have said, the best way to reduce the cost is to have a smaller guest list. Then have a frank discussion with your FS about the top 3 things you each want. Prioritize spending on those and eliminate or be very frugal with the rest. There are so few things that are actually required to get married that you can find a lot of wiggle room with some creativity and a realistic outlook. Good luck!

I paid my own wedding and I definitely was trying to look for the most cost efficient things

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ALL OF THIS! This is pretty much what I have done to keep my wedding cost low!

-wedding guest list of 46,-diy center pieces,-bought our own linen,-one maid of honor & bet man and flower girl for wedding party.

We opened a joint savings account and put a percentage of our paycheck into it each week. I only ordered my bouquet, 3 boutonnieres and 3 corsages from the florist to save on the cost of flowers. We are hosting a intimate dinner reception for our guest with no dj and just playing music off a speaker. There's a bunch of things to consider on what you want to do for your wedding. Start making a list to help you stay organized. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Thank you, so much for your advice. Some of the comments I had read so far have seemed a little harsh, but I did ask for advice. Your advice has been the most helpful so far thank you for expressing compassion in your comment.

Inexpensive ideas:

1) elope or have a courthouse ceremony with immediate family then treat them to lunch

2) get married in a church or temple and the reception hall is pretty cheap to rent. Have it at a non-meal time (like 2 pm) and you can just serve cake & punch

We're paying for it all on our own.

We only have immediate family going because it's a destination wedding, and because we saved on not having a huge ceremony with a ton of guests - the money is now going towards paying for our immediate families travel and accommodations.

Agreed with previous posters. Your family isn’t required to help, so they’re not “refusing”. Set your budget and have the wedding you can afford. My fiancé and I are paying for our wedding entirely ourselves and it has never once crossed my mind that my mom or his parents should be paying for it.
Consider getting married off season, on a Friday or Sunday, but your guest list. Just lose some of the bells and whistles and you’ll see it’s extremely doable on your own. You can get married for like $50 bucks at the courthouse so there’s an option for everyone

View Quoted Comment Why people are so rude we will never know BUT this is excellent advice 🙂 I would also go onto Pinterest and look at ideas there! Good luck!

What everyone has said. We found a banquet place that does lunch for half the cost as dinner. No open bar. I am DIYing what I can splurging where I feel it's necessary. We planned almost 2 years for our engagement so we could save. Most importantly remembering this is 1 day of the rest of our lives so some things are just not important. Nobody is going to say she should have had nicer napkins or tablecloths. I found some local facebook groups for wedding resale items so I scour them everyday to see if there is anything I can use. I have got some great deals. I even see dresses on there. When I got my dress I set a budget before going and was sure not to try on anything above my all in price and kept in mind alterations etc. Amazon has cheap veils and accessories dont buy them at the bridal store.

No one is required too but we never had the offer either. we are paying for our own wedding, Our biggest thing was finding a venue that included at least the food, booze, tables/chairs, silverware and linens. And planning in off season and an off day which saved us a ton! I wanted certain things at the wedding which I made sure we had in the budget but things like our centerpieces, guest book, "bar tab" (we paid a portion and once it runs out its cash bar.) also hair and make up i was able to cut waaayyyy down.
our engagement photos were rocky, I had a buddy of mine retake them from our previous photographer and they came out beautifully. I had to hire a new photographer and she includes another shoot in her package (which we havent done yet) so i had to go over for that.
The games, we have a bunch of people with GIANT JENGA that they will bring and corn hole so we will not have to rent them out.
Flowers, went from real to silk like lighting fast! (Budget Bride has the bouquet I want already made). It cut my floral cost just under a fourth to what i would be paying for real.
Find someone ordained to marry you. FH's brother is marrying us and he is not charging us. Those people are between $200 and $550 depending on who you choose.

A girlfriend of mine does personalized items so she is making our "welcome bags" for oout of town guests as our wedding gift. STDs and invites we used vista print because I had a coupon. But Walgreens I know is cheaper than what I've spent. And you can get them the same day unless you can print your own. RSVP's are all done online, saves time, paper and its faster.
Our guest list is super low too. Mostly it's only family attending. We will under 100 people including the vendors on our list. Later we will through a HUGE BBQ somewhere and invite the rest of our world to celebrate.
I did do a lot of searching when promos and sales were happening too which helped a ton too. Keep your eyes peeled. I wont lie, after going through all this planning and a move and my stress level through the roof, we should have just done the onesie's with our bridal party and courthuse idea. (but my mother yelled at my FH if i didn't have a wedding) which is fine.
Just remember to breathe and take it one step at a time. We've been together almost 7 years and engaged since 2017. Didnt start the planning process until 4/19. As long as I am marrying my best friend in the gown I chose, I am happy, Doesnt matter where it is to me.