Budget

Depends what state you're in and what your vision is.

Well here are the factors to consider: your location, how many guests and how elaborate you want the reception. You could married for $500 realistically but it depends on how grand you choose to make it. If you want a lavish wedding then no $5000 will not get you far. Also think about what are your splurges: venue, photography, etc...

Second everyone above. It all depends on what you’re willing to “sacrifice”. My photography alone was almost $4k. But honestly now that we’re 60 days out and feeling the heavy weight of these bills (ours is north of $20k at this point and by no means lavish—we just chose a destination at a resort) I’d wish we did something smaller and more budget friendly. So don’t get discouraged by sticking to your budget and not getting all the glitz and what you see on Pinterest.


Depending on the number of people/where you’re at/and the type of food you want I’d budget the $5k to get you catering but probably not a venue and catering (unless you did a free or outdoor park). I’d suggest using the budget tools on WW so you can see all the small expenses that add up.

We are planning for a small and intimate wedding for about 50 people or less, we live in Chicago but we are willing to look for a venue in suburb.

Try to find a venue at City buildings (some cities rent out their halls), Parks, or Golf Courses and hire a catering service. Sometimes hotels and your town's historic homes/museums can be on the cheaper end.

I don't know what your food catering preference is but, you can always do food trucks or buffet styles, they tend to run a little cheaper than plated services.

I'm in southern Wisconsin and our max budget is 5k because I'm not willing to go into debt over a party. There are a lot of different options you can find. Just shop around.

View Quoted Comment I am thinking the same thing. I don’t want to put everything in the wedding.

View Quoted Comment I agree. We're a very laid back couple. We aren't trying to go for a Pinterest wedding. We want something we actually enjoy not something that the bride magazines say we should have.

I think that's doable if you find the right venue and catering and have a smaller guest list. You may have to have a venue that's not as nice as you'd like though and you probably can't have a lot of extras like photobooths and DJ but it'll still be doable.

I think u could do it for a small guest list. Is that $5k supposed to cover all the extras too like photography, DJ, centerpieces, cake, etc?

View Quoted Comment We are just actually looking for a venue for both ceremony and reception for 5k

Our catering alone is 6k and we only have a guest list of 100 people.

We live near the suburbs of Chicago and most wedding businesses around here are quite expensive. Search for free/ very low cost venues to start!

I live in Chicago, but I'm not getting married here because most of the family is in another state. From what I've heard from friends, everything is pretty expensive here. You'll probably get more for your money in a surburb.

If you shop around you should be fine for 52 people but also know that you may have to consider minimal things on it

Also you can consider Spotify or pandora instead of dj. Also you tube. You can pay for one month or what ever it is so no commercial have songs already set do not have worry. Then see if venue has speaker if not you can use slurping sound system from house or buy new

Like everyone else, I think I depends on where you live and also possibly the time of year too (from research experience in my area). My wedding is in January 2021 in Green Bay, Wisconsin...For a wedding at the venue I'm getting married at with 200 people, you could get the room rental, a full meal + unlimited beer & soda for 5k exactly. (minus the tips/service fees/etc), and they offer a separate room for the ceremony for $500. So yes, it is do-able, but it all depends on different factors.