Budget Wedding

I always tell people not to be afraid to borrow things from people so that they themselves don't need to buy it aha. I borrowed tons of stuff like easels to display things rather than buying it myself.

Lots of DIY projects, as well as checking facebook marketplace or offerup for any good deals (whether it be jewelry, decorations, linens, etc.)

For flowers, we were able to find a wholesale florist who will sell the flowers at wholesale AND assemble them for only $200 extra (came out to $950 for all my flowers)

We decided against having a videographer because of budget, and were able to find a photographer for $1,000 (cheapest we could find). For a photographer, I would say do research on all of the photographers in your area and their pricing, then possibly any photography students that need shots for their portfolio (could be cheaper)

Good luck!!

There is also a posting about "Free Wedding Photography" (I don't know how to add it to this thread), so maybe look into that?

My venue in NJ is $95 per person and comes with flower centerpieces and 3 tier wedding cake.

The easiest way is to cut the guest list. A good rule of thumb is invite in circles, or only invite people you would take out to dinner and spend $100 per plate.

What vendors do you have connections for?

The next suggestions are going to be, no DJ, use a playlist. This one is not my favorite, I feel it affects the guest experience. If you have a connection for a DJ, awesome. Make sure you still have a contract.

Next, warehouse flowers or faux, many people here swear by Sam's Club or Costco flowers, some go for faux which look just as nice, about half the cost of a florist but you have to DIY.

Next, cupcakes/desserts over traditional tiered cake. Usually less expensive, others have done Sam's Club cakes, only downside you have to pick up, store, transport, and set up yourself. Don't try going to a bakery and fooling them into thinking the cake you are ordering is not for a wedding, you may be faced with a breach of contract in the end and no cake despite paying for it.

Some easy ones are: cut down your bridal party, the smaller it is the less you have to pay for gifts, accessories, transportation, etc. No favors, mostly a waste of time and money. No programs or other personalized paper products.

Biggest tips are:

1. Cut your guest list. For example, if you invite immediate family only, you can have a very lavish wedding on a lot less than $15,000.

2. Be creative in the style of your wedding. For example, a brunch wedding is typically a lot less expensive (for both food and alcohol) than a Saturday night wedding with dinner and dancing.

3. Think about what you really need, as opposed to what your favorite wedding show or Pinterest board suggests you need. For example, you could get married wearing a nice dress you already own, an evening dress, or a bridesmaid's dress (which could even be white, if that's important to you) rather than a wedding dress. You can skip decorations, programs, favors, photobooth, limo, etc. You could have a photographer only for the ceremony and formals, not all day. That's not to say you shouldn't have these extras, if they are important to you. But don't get locked into thinking you have to have them.

Some of my biggest savings were: only doing partial day photography (we did getting ready pics, ceremony pics, and portraits during cocktail hour, and then they left before the reception got under way. Not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but it worked perfectly for us) and doing florals myself (real flowers were important to me but not something I wanted to blow the budget on, so I ordered wholesale/bulk from FiftyFlowers.com and arranged them myself for centerpieces/bouquets/boutineers/general decor). Then there were a couple small decisions or tweaks that were minuscule savings but we realized a couple small dollars saved here and there could add up! (Examples: If we were totally torn between 2 good vendor options, we let dollars and cents make the deciding vote. Ours was a DIY venue so we brought in everything. For some, I paid the cost of convenience — our caterer was full service and could coordinate ALL rentals but the coordinator did mention to me that we may find better deals elsewhere in certain things —for the most part it was a wash: I could find one company who could do a couple items cheaper but then other items were more expensive, and then there were deliveries to coordinate. I didn’t want to go deep down that rabbit hole but one of the things on their quote was chairs at 6.90 per chair. I had another company for tent rental [so already paying the delivery fee] that had very similar chairs for about $2 less , so I saved a nice little chunk there)

Sadly the biggest budget busting factor out there is guest list. The fewer guests, the less you spend. Ultimately we did end up trimming our guest list a little bit to get our costs where we wanted them.

View Quoted Comment Where is that at? Does that include most things?

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Hackettstown, NJ

You have the option of plated vs buffet and comes with your own coordinator, floral centerpieces (you meet with the florist and pick what you want), and wedding cake (you sit with baker and design your cake).

For NJ try looking off season--winter or middle of summer. It's hard but you have to really search. We checked out Olde Mill Inn. They were $99/person open bar seated meals and wedding cake. It was another like $3/person for ceremony but said prices were going up August 1. Also I saw Pantagis Renaissance looked affordable.

Sorry saw u said u have caterer. Do bulk flowers online and decorate ur self and keep it minimal (nobody is going to remember anyway) . Trader Joe's has really nice big bouquets so u can do a simple "wild flower bouquet". Skip the hole block and welcome bags. Just suggest hotels near by. Do online invites. Do a smaller "show cake" or like sytrafoam cake to cut and just serve sheet cake that's cut in the back. Skip champagne toast. Skip the chair covers if they cost more,honestly I don't think anyone notices. Skip the dj lights maybe even skip the MC. No video, try and get a photographer that will give u a USB drive and print ur own pictures. Get a friend to become an officiant and marry you...

We found a venue which allows outside caterers and byob. They also provide farm fresh flowers at $20 a bouquet. We decided to do a very casual clam bake to save money on the catering, but also make it a fun special event (guests know to dress appropriately). Spotify playlist, no bridal party, DIY favors, individual tartlets instead of cake, disposable cutlery/plates, beer and wine only, Costco garlands, DIY dried lavender centerpieces, DIY order of events and DIY guest cards. PHEW I HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK.

First tip don’t get married in ct. I am from ct and it is so expensive! I had to go outside the state and we are getting married in Maine
our wedding is also on a budget and my budget was 10,000 and I am rockin and rolling with it being under 10,000 by the time the date arrives if not just at 10,000
i did A LOT and I mean A LOT of research to find venues, photographers, dj’s, cake, dress, center pieces
i actually found a dress I loved on Pinterest and it was 175! I went with it and I love it! Needs some alterations but who cares a dress for 175 I’ll pay for some fixing
for the venue I looked at all my top places and discussed pricing with the owners. Instead of a three course sit down meal go for the buffet.
Centerpieces I have been going to local goodwills buying things here and there that I can create into my centerpieces. Some arts and crafts time with my bridal party.
The bridesmaids dresses I found on JJSHOUSE.COM
photographer and Dj I just shopped around and looked at prices I could afford and yet still be 100% satisfied with what I’ll be receiving. Asked my venue for Dj recommendations and it worked out

View Quoted Comment Did you order the bridesmaid dresses yet? I heard jjhouse was a scam site (people not receiving items or them being totally different) so I’m just wondering how they turned out. And I’ll have to look outside ct. he’s from lower central so it takes about 2 hrs to get to another state so I didn’t consider it, so thank you!

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We haven't ordered them yet but we will be soon.

I haven't heard anything about it being a scam so thank you for letting me know. maybe I can find the dress I picked out somewhere else. but all the reviews on the site and under the dresses seem to be all 100% positive. so now I am 50/50

I also forgot to mention to help save I am going to be asking someone in my family to marry us so we don't have to pay a justice in peace hundreds for what 10 minutes??

I am also having cash bar. we will only be paying for an open bar during cocktail hour the rest of the wedding is cash.

guest list is under 70 people

the only thing I did not skimp on is the photographer. I find that the pictures are very important.

I also suggest go to bridal shows and sign up for everything! I have already won three things

a jewelry party and I got free jewelry

a pots and pan thing where we won our wedding bands, champagne glasses, and a 3 day honeymoon in the Caribbean

and just now won a mary kay thing with lots of things she will be doing and I get free makeup.

View Quoted Comment I just had googled reviews for jjhouse and the reviews off site weren’t good. I always do that or watch YouTube videos of unboxing from the site (maybe a few to get honest answers) that way I’m getting a few different ideas of what they are like! And thank you! We have one in the Phillies stratum tomorrow and I was debating on going, but I’ll definitely go check it out!

NJ tops as the priciest state for weddings. Have you tried looking in surrounding areas? Especially Philly just the same. Is Connecticut an option instead? If not check surrounding states. Could look into PA, we might have cheaper options but I know our venue is expensive here but that was our choice.

View Quoted Comment Ct is actually a higher average then Nj and I have looked into pa and found some cheaper so I’ll have to just keep searching.

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Oh lordy! You hit the most unlucky spot. But yeah definitely keep searching in PA!

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Oh also...our venue includes open bar and our coordinator is officiating at no additional cost.

Check out your local VFW and Firehalls for receptions. They are affordable and the food is great! Also for flowers check out your local farms.