Can't afford a wedding :(

And cut the kids.

They are all close friends and family.. my mom is one of 5, my dad is one of 7, lots of cousins (i'm the oldest, but the youngest is 10)! friends only make up about 10-15 for both of us.. however.. i have been friends with these people for almost my entire life and their parents are like second parents to me.. when I say close, i mean close... ive lived with some of them, call/text almost daily and constantly see these people..

I can't cut the kids.. they aren't random children. they are my cousins... we don't exclude kids from things like this in my family.. it's just the way things are. I know it may seem silly to a lot of people, but we are a really close family and we do sleep overs with all the kids and i can't exclude them

I know it's more doable than I think, i really need help being pointed in the right direction if anyone has any ideas as far as vendors they've heard of in MA.

Do you have a fire hall in your area? I am having my reception at a fire hall that also caters and its $13pp. $8,000 is very doable, my budget is less then that and I am still have a nice wedding with 150 people. You can do it!

We are having a wedding for 150 for under $8000. Getting married in the church, recption at a fire house banquet hall, got a steal on a DJ and awesome photographer on craigslist, I did splurge on my dress, we found 2 awesome caterer's that we are choosing from, and everything else will fall in place.

We did a budget, how much we can spare from each check. Elimimated things like Starbucks...though it is killing me...$7/day adds up and will DEF be worth it. We are cutting back on day to day living now, and it is helping A LOT! Its def possible, its been done and is being done for less. Good luck

You can do it. I went from a $25,000 budget to $7,500 for 150 guests can not and will not say no kids for my wedding my neices and nephews and honerary neices and nephews are part of my joy and will be included in my day. Look on the out skirts of popular areas...go check out rural Colleges and Comunity Colleges they usually have very pretty event facilities at a very reasonable price I'm using a Comunity College about 45min away from Downtown Seattle has lovely outdoor ceremony space and a spacious reception hall and for 2,075 we get decorations lights center peice mirror tiles and votive holders, all linnens 3hr Ceremony time 5hr reception AV staff DOC, chair covers and sashes isle pillars and swags an arch for the ceremony, and one behind the cake table and soooo much more it's rediculouse!

$8000? That's a good amount!

we had a wedding, on a holiday, with about 175 people for only $6000

you just have to take your time and truly decide what you want and what you need!

take away things that won't kill you if you dont have them...like aisle runners, tons of real flowers, expensive dress and accessories, etc.

and we had lots of kids...both families are really big! The kids really don't eat much.

maybe find a banquet hall where you can get your own catering and not have to spend so much on a plated dinner

I recently started a Budget bride thread. There have been ALOT of money saving tips discussed. Maybe you could find some ideas there?

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/super-budget-brides/5057ad1cd04c1f38.html

Totally doable!!! don't get discouraged. Is there is a church that you can have it at, that will cut costs. If know know people who can't cook, ask them if they can prepare some dishes or appetizers for you. If you are cutting out party favors, there is no way that you can't stay in budget. Shop Ebay and Amazon for anything that you need to purchase. I found my dress on 1 website, then found it on ebay for $40 less. I have also noticed that there are plenty of brides on here that have offers items to other brides after there day had passed. You are working with way more money that I am, and I have tons of favors. I set my budget for $2500 and I am at $3200 for 60 people. I could have actually done this for less than $2000 but I went shopping crazy, and now I am going through withdrawal. You have plenty of time to organize the wedding of your dreams. See if there is anyone else that you can cut. I am only doing close family and friends. Good luck!

Could you rent an Elks lodge or such? You could also have a potluck type of reception. Good luck.

@ Rachel H. I never thought of Colleges!!!! That's a great idea!! I will look as soon as I can!

We've already gone through our guest list with a fine toothed comb and there are actually people I want to invite that i am not going to invite due to budget.

I'm glad someone on here understands my kids situation!! Thanks Rachel H. I was feeling pressured to not invite children.. We are a large hispanic family and the Grooms family is Irish, also fairly large and as an elementary school teacher i adore children and I will not exclude them from this very important day

Thanks for all the great ideas... I will look in to as much as I can

Victoria another idea that I'm doing as far as guest list is doing two mailings of invites an A list the ones you cant live without at your wedding and having an early RSVP date than after those come in if there are "will not be attendings" start mailing out invites to the B-list people in the corresponding amounts that way you get to have as many people you want as possible...but only send STD's to the A-list you don't want people wondering where their formal invite is when it may never come. Also am doing e-STD's and e-vites for b-list to keep costs low

Kids eat less so you should be able to make this work. It's time to get creative. I see a lot of folks have suggested public areas. If your downtown area has an open public space, that may rent out for considerably less then most reception/wedding venues. In my city we have lawn area in front of a monument & I didn't know it but found out that it can be rented for weddings. So when in doubt ask. basically in open area may be able to be rented for an event. Our state house is ridiculously inexpensive to rent but it does have a lot of regulations. Just research your location. Doing a pitchin for food can cut cost with catering. It can done very well. Just create a vision & you can do a lot of DIY. Dollartree.com really has some great useful stuff. & they also have a wedding page. Oriental trading is a great site too. If you need wedding jewelry togo.com is a way to get something that looks like it's real for cheap. they don't have a great return policy though.

Postpone it another 2 years

Honestly, you need to be creative and truly look at your guest list too.

If you cannot afford the big wedding, do not do it. Get married, have a small gathering with those close to you, and have an anniversary party later, when you have the dough.

$82 per person? Nuts, unless you can truly toss money around. Although, may who can toss that around do not, as they are smart enough to find better deals.

I live in Peabody, MA and am getting married at Danversport Yach Club in the smallest room and if you have it ona sunday or friday night the minimum spending is $5000.00!! It includes everything except for dj and photographer!!

Thanks Keri L.!!! I will look into it! Rachel H. Thanks for the A-list, B-list idea.. Wil talk to fiance about it