Destination wedding in Florida on a budget?

What's your budget?

If I could keep it under $5000 that would be great...IDK how possible that is, but I'm paying for it myself.

For 50 people I think 5k is way under realistic values. Mine is in Cocoa Beach in November on a Friday and I'm spending about 13 for same amount of guests.

Can you tell me how you're spending 13? By that I mean, where is all the money going- to reception, ceremony, food, venue in general? I'm just starting the planning process!

Well food alone (booze included and venue) is $78pp. That includes an open bar. I think that added up to just under 6k. $875 for dj and steel drum player combo. My other big expense was photog. It's a little more than I wanted to spend but she's amazing. Spending about 3k and I'm bringing her with me from Ohio. I'm doing Etsy flowers so I'm only spending $400 there.

Thank you!!

Anytime. I originally planned on about 10k and blew that budget due to our families being needy lol. We did add a photo booth also but it was a fun must have. Only $450 so worth it.

We have done extensive search in our area for Florida destinations for my daughter we did find a few but in the end we decided Mexico would be best for our budget. We found that "Out of the Blue" in Jupiter Fl was a good venue but not on the beach. The Marriot on Hutchenson Island will do a beach wedding for around $850 for ceremony , Good price and host your guests and do the reception, but the reception for 50 will be more like 8-9k. DJ is around $1500. Photography starts at **** and that's conservative. Flowers and cake still need

to purchase as well.

We just booked our Daughters wedding with Jean at Hot Spots Travel (970) 420-1167.she is a destination wedding expert. She did all the research, with everything we said we wanted, the price range we wanted to stay in and the budget we wanted to stay under for travel for our guests. It was great To have an expert. We found that Florida was just to pricey for our guest to travel as well.

Most would be spending 1800-2k just for the weekend to attend the wedding with flights and hotel and food. We chose an all inclusive in mexico that included the food and transfers for our guests.

You may want to consider mexico.

I hate to bring the bad news, but destination weddings are a luxury, not something appropriate for such a low budget. If your budget is $5000, then I would suggest eloping to a beach in FL or inviting only immediate family and their spouses. You can't host 50 people for $5000 at a destination location. It just isn't possible. You have to pay for your own flights, your own hotel, food for everyone, gifts for bridal party, hair and makeup, DJ, your dress (and either buy a fancy steamer or pay to have it steamed when you get there), a coordinator if not included unless you're planning to fly back and forth to make plans, cake, photographer, etc, etc, etc. Even locally, that's a stretch, but at least locally, you get rid of the costs of hotel and flights.

Also, if you're expecting people to spend all this money to fly down to FL for your wedding, you need to spoil them a bit, not just get by with the minimum. Locally, you can have a BBQ wedding. In FL, you need something more because of the time and money people are spending.

Unless you can raise your budget, lower the guest list to, say, 10 people, or postpone until you can actually afford a destination wedding, I would plan for a local wedding.

Panama City Beach, FL. About an hour away from Destin isn't too expensive!! They have an island called shell island with the whitest sand. Worth checking out I'm sure you could find something in that city! It's pretty big

ETA: I don't know if a DW is possible on a $5000 budget though. I'm spending 10 and my wedding is only a half hour away from my home

Destination weddings are not a luxury. And if you invite people to a destination wedding you do not need to spoil them. An invitation is not a summons, if people choose to go that is on them. There is nothing wrong with BBQ for a wedding. You don't have to serve filet mignon and lobster because people are flying in. Every wedding is a destination for some guests so we should all be doing more than the minimum. OP I think realistically $5k is not enough for 50 people. Your food and venue will take all of that and not leave enough for other aspects. I would see if you could cut the guest list in half or increase the budget to $8-9k

Sorry, Keisha, I couldn't disagree with you more. BBQ for a destination wedding? No. If you're going to have your entire guest list take time off work and pay for flights, you need to step up your game. I mean, technically a punch and cake reception is perfectly acceptable too at a non-meal time. Would you really not object to a wedding in Italy that serves cake and punch?

DWs are 10000% a luxury. It costs a lot of money and vacation time for your guests to come, and then you need to properly host them while they are there.

Our wedding was on Vilano beach in st Augustine. We went through sun and sea beach weddings. It was amazing and they did a fabulous job. 5,000 for 50 people might not be doable. We had 30 people and a buffet dinner with cake and dj etc and it was 12,000.

I don't see how 50 guests is small. Our invite guest list rough draft is about 60-70 people, with nearly half OOT. I'm in South Florida, and it's nearly impossible to find anything around $5... I'm looking at around $10K for mine. Average for my area is $19k-$32K...

A DW is a luxury, and you have to take into consideration how many will fly in. Most of my family is in Massachusetts, with one Aunt in Texas. I don't view my wedding as DW, as i live here. However, i do acknowledge the costs associated with my family having to fly/drive in. So i understand my family and FH family (lives in Canada) may not come to the wedding.

I've noticed it's cheaper for Monday-Friday weddings, than Friday/Saturday by about $1500-$3000 with some venues.

Where in Florida are you looking? What time of the year?

@elizabeth she never said she wasn't going to host her guests. I don't get why people assume the worst about people. Where in the world did she even mention BBQ. And it's rude and super judgey to think that BBQ means lower class. As long as she provides enough food and drink her responsibility as a host is fulfilled. And yes that includes BBQ. Did you provide kobe beef to your guests that traveled to your wedding? The sense of entitlement goes both ways. If I feel that I should be treated better because I decided to go to a DW I shouldn't accept that invitation.

@HisBeauty, it depends on where you look. We're going to pay well under $32k for 80 people in New York City.

@Keisha, BBQ can be done well, but I don't think it screams wedding, and unless you are doing some world class level BBQ, I think that's not great for a DW.

Keisha, the point I made is that with a budget of $5000 she CAN'T host her guests properly. That's just not enough money for the number of guests. If you read, I specifically said that she needs to cut her guest list to properly host OR have a local wedding.

And no, nothing I said is "rude or super judgey." I never said that BBQ means lower class. You said that. And I suppose you think it's also perfectly okay to serve cake and punch for a destination wedding in Italy? Because if you don't, then that's also "rude and super judgey." The bottom line is if you're going to expect all of your guests to spend a small fortune on attending your wedding, then you need to step up your game to host them.

And FYI, since you asked, yes, I went all out for my guests as I had a destination wedding.

@AL..I agree it depends on where you look, i never said it didn't. I was stating the average for MY area of Florida, and what I've noticed while planning my wedding in this area (where i live). I live by Trump International Golf Course, that's not even on my radar! LOL

@Keisha, I'm absolutely not service seafood at my wedding, and have already gotten crap for it.. SMH.. nothing wrong with BBQ, it can be done correctly. There's no one way, or cuisine that's universal to all weddings. Each couple is different in what they want/prefer.

I live in Florida and I am hosting a wedding for 100 guests under 5000$. it is possible you just have to do a lot of work on your own. And really look. Such as have a friend be an officiant and get certified online. My fiancé's mom is making the cake. We found a super cheap caterer for 13$ a guest. We are also hosting just a cash bar. And we aren't having a videographer. We are making the invitations on our own as well. A lot of crafting stores currently have invitation kits on clearance right now. Such as michaels and joanns. It is possible.