Champagne taste on a beer budget!

The best way is to have a smaller guest list! Weddings are usually a per person cost for food and drink which is the bulk of the expense. Having 50 guests will be a lot easier on that budget than trying to have 250 guests.

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We've cut the guest list as much as possible (I have a large family) and it's still not enough.

We are getting our cake/cupcakes from sam's because they taste good and are pretty cheap! We also did all fake flowers which ended up being around $350 total. Another thing we are doing is getting married at a park ($20/hr). It's definitely doable!

View Quoted Comment How many guests are you inviting? Also finding a venue that allows you to choose your own caterer and getting drop off restaurant catering can help keep costs down. Minimal decorations, cake from the grocery store, minimal hours for photographer, secondhand dress, playlist instead of a DJ, small bridal party, and beer and wine only are all things that can help.

I wish I had $15,000 to plan a wedding. That seems like a good amount lol. You will need to cut back on your view of the reception basically. I am not sure where you live or where you want to get married but you can have a lot of people but do a smaller budget. Cut alcohol and just do beer and wine. Do a very minimal cocktail hour and do not do an expensive dinner. Have you researched some country clubs because where I live they are much cheaper than hotels.

Also consider an off day like Sunday-Thursday and maybe do a brunch or lunch wedding as you can shave off considerable costs. I feel like if you and your fiance did not plan to elope from the start then I would not do it because of budget as you will regret it.

Cut your guest list. Look into a Friday or Sunday instead of Saturday. Skip things like videography, provided transportation, professional hair and makeup, save the dates, favors, menus, programs, welcome bags. Have small bite desserts (cookies or brownies) instead of the traditional cake. Have a wine & beer open bar instead of full open bar. Don't have a wedding party. Do your own flowers. Skip cocktail hour & take all your pictures before the ceremony. Pick a venue that doesn't need much (if any) decorations.

That’s honestly a good budget.
Do off season November-March
Do off day Sunday-Thursday Download thumbtack appYou can find beginner and experienced dj/photographer/florist and mua for really good prices. Maybe a Cash BarDIY centerpieceUse Global Roses for your flowersYou can use dollar store candles and one vase of flowers for your centerpieceaDiy bouquetUse still white/preownedweddingdressFor your dress they have samples and new dresses or you can just use off the rack Small or no Bridal Party

I also ran into this. I thought I could have a wedding for 200 guests for $15k and I couldn't make it work with what I wanted. We're rolling in closer to $25k. We could have been closer to the original number by renting out a hall instead of a venue, getting our food through a restaurant instead of a caterer, skipping the china rentals, limiting alcohol to beer/wine, etc. BUT I didn't want to. I told my FH that if I was already going to spend all of this money to have a wedding, it was going to be the one that I wanted. I made cuts in some areas (cupcakes instead of cake, DIY flowers, DIY invites) but there were areas that I refused to budge. Guest count is for sure the number one thing to cut costs, then venue, then food/beverage.

1) Ask your favorite venues about a non-Saturday night, off-season rate. We did this and saved over 50% off site fees.


2) Consider a brunch wedding. Can cost 50% less than dinner.

Where are you located? 15000 can go further in certain areas as compared to others! My budget was about the same and we added an expensive honeymoon but dont regret it! We cut back by doing minimal decor and I found a venue that included food, alcohol, and flower centerpieces for 70 a person, a cheaper DJ and photographer, made my own bouquets and boutonnieres. Its doable but not easy! Which makes me feel nuts for saying because 15000 is a lot of money but damn are weddings expensive!!

(1) choose lower cost of of living location for the wedding, e.g. if you live in SF, host your wedding in Austin.

I almost did this because the cost savings can be immense! When I was researching different wedding locations, the prices of almost everything (food, photographer, videographer, etc) was cheaper in Austin compared to my home city b/c I’m in a HCOL area. Extra benefit is all the the friends/family you’re not super close with but are obligated to invite anyway—not all of them will make the effort to travel, so automatically reduces your guest count for you, which means smaller food and beverage bill.

(2) MOST IMPORTANTLY, make a list of your priorities and build around that. Rank with numbers each category. Ex, if celebrating with as many loved ones as possible is priority 1, compromise on everything else (no professional phot and video, lunch reception not dinner, and so on). Ex, if having amazing photo and video for your memories is most important, honestly just elope! That way you can hire the exact videographer and photographer you want rather than someone you’re okay with because the pricing is cheaper. If budget allows, once you return from elopement trip, host a dinner reception at nice restaurant that features your cool elopement video that evening so your guests can view and share in your elopement experience.

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Yeah, this is kind of the problem we are running into! I don't want to cut my guest list down so much that I don't get to spend the day with the people I care about...our minimal guest list is just family + our wedding party and we are still at about 100. Our ideal guest count would be closer to 150+. We are in Alaska, but there aren't any venues here that really fit our needs (PLENTY of elopement options, though!). My fiance wants an "east coast" style wedding- super formal and extravagant. I told him he needs to give up on that dream because it's not happening for $15,000. Hahaha. Right now we are looking into the Bellingham, WA area for a venue to see if that is cheaper than other places we've looked. One plus side is I was able to get a dress on sale for $350!! So, I have that going for me...haha.

Wow! So many great suggestions! Thank you to everyone that responded with advice!

I will probably have to write a different post altogether now...asking about cheap venue options!

We are in Alaska, but have already exhausted all of our options here. We are thinking about looking into Washington State, maybe Bellingham? It's clear to us that our guest list cannot be cut down anymore than it is...so now we need to focus on a cost effective venue & catering! I can definitely do the flowers myself, so that helps!

Thanks again, everyone!

You can do a lot with $15,000. Look into your local Fire Halls, Banquet Halls and VFW'S a lot of them are nice and affordable