First Things First

It all depends on your area. We are probably going to be looking at $16K at the end of the day for 180 guests. That is with a lot of DIY and thriftiness (is that even a word?). Also as Megan said location plays a huge part. My venue is all inclusive when it comes to food and beverage so that made it much easier.

Sorry to sound like a parrot but it really depends. If you're planning to have a ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, DJ, flowers and cake, $8,000 probably won't be enough for $175 people. You also have attire and rings to consider. There may also be need for travel and hotel accommodations, perhaps a limo to the venue...

You should start emailing venues for pricing and try wedding wire's budget tool. There are a lot of "small" costs that add up (and aren't exactly small).

I know that friends and family members have promised to pay for certain things but they may not realize how much those things will cost. There are also those who may have offered in a moment of excitement but won't actually follow through.

You should also make sure that you make adequate plans for your guest's comfort and have a location sheltered from the elements with adequate heating and cooling in case there is inclement weather.

I think you will be hard pressed to properly host 175 on 8k anywhere in the country.

If you don't have a specific day, you can always look into having a Friday or Sunday wedding because venues usually charge less those days. Also you could look into having a wedding outside of peak season (May-October) which usually helps with price. I live in tiny town WI, about 1000 people and our wedding is going to cost between $10K-15K. Cutting your guest list is also another good option. Like others have said, unless you have the money already you shouldn't count on that money from others. My dad said he would be giving us money but I am planning my wedding like I am not getting it. Friendors are also not the best idea, my mom does photography but I am hiring someone else for my wedding.

I'm only expecting 100 and my venue and catering is 10 to 18K

Welcome Tori, i also am having a September 2018 wedding. We are having an estimated 80-100 people and for a total of like 22,000. That price includes ceremony dj photographer cake decor and flowers. Im outside of Philadelphia. Good luck and happy planing!

You seem to have a lot of help. So that's a good start. You will need to cut your guest list down. Get prices from venues and work from there. You can do Italian food because it's less expensive, if the venue doesn't cater. If they do try to keep it more simple but yet think of your guests & their experience. Possibly check out photographers with a more basic package but give you the digital files to reprint. You can make your own albums later on. As far as a dress, check out consignment stores or buy off the rack when there are sales. Keep in mind you'll probably need alterations so look into the cost in your area compared to cost at the store. Do you have a family member/friend who can officiate? Don't do favors. Try not to count on others with all the help because anything can happen. Best of luck to you

In NJ - I was lucky to be able to get 15k for 150 people.. that's just for the food/open bar at the reception alone.

You stated you found catering at $25 pp that's already 4K+! That's half your budget. You need to go for BBQ at this point. That total doesn't include taxes, tips or the service fees so your looking more like 5k.

It totally depends on the location and the sort of event you are going for. My food alone--not even alcohol, which is a separate charge--is costing more than double that amount for about half as many people.

It really depends on your area. We are having around 130 guests and for food an alcohol it will cost us between 10 and 12k, depending on the package we choose (buffets cost less at most of the venues we looked at, friday vs saturday vs sunday pricing).

Your food and beverage budget is going ti be your largest expense, typically about half of your budget. So with an 8k.budget your looking at around 4k for food. Your options are to either up your budget to properly host your guests, of cut your guest list down until you can properly host however many people for you budget. Pleae don't skimp on your guests experience. Make sure you have professionally catered food, alcholo (beer/wine is fine and will help costs), and a seat for every butt.

Congrats on your engagement and happy planning!!

You can easily cut some costs by just doing beer and wine for alcohol. Pasta or BBQ is usually the cheapest for catering. Stay minimal for flowers or go paper/fake. No favors. No DOC. We have found some great deals in our area in NE Ohio and have been able to keep under 10k. It's not impossible but you will have to research for those deals.

The cost of your wedding is very area specific, but costofwedding.com is an average, so people fall well below and above that average. When we looked at average cost for our city, it was between 19k and 33k. We have looked at two amazing all-inclusive venues, and one is 8k and the other is 12k. Both are for 100 people and full bar. So, just know that!

Make a guest list and see the price of venues with that guest list. For FHs top venue, we will pay $50.12 for each guest for all food related items.

I have an 8 sheet Google sheet for our budget for different venues, and once we found the price per person, we moved our guest list up and down accordingly.

I don't care where you're located, $8,000 does NOT sound like enough for 175 people.

I think the hardest thing is cutting down the guest list. My dad had 7 siblings and my mom has 5, and we are all a very close knit family, and I would hate to not have these people celebrating with me. My original guest list was around 250 and I've cut it down from there. The venue I like (but still have to visit to make sure) is $500 not including food, and I have researched some photographers for less than 1,000, but I'm stressing because of my big family.

Depending on your area 8,000 could be very hard to do. is that just for the food? or the whole wedding

We're in the Philly area and though we could do around 120 for 10k but after pricing it we realized it would be more like 15-20k and that is with a done of deals that we have gotten from local vendors we know personally from working in the theatre industry. Definitely do a lot of research and keep an open mind. But 8k for 175 is really pushing it.

If you cannot cut your guest list, are there expenses you can cut to save more money before next September. FH only eats out once a week for lunch instead of every day. I got rid of my fancy gym membership and work out at my apartment's gym. We do not go out as much on the weekends.

For the venue you are interested, why not contact them now and see how their pricing is for food? Do they do food on-site or do you have to find your own caterer?

Reach out to them now to see how far your budget takes you first.

Were pretty frugal as it is, saving money is what I feel like I live for. Im still I college and working full timer, and my FH runs his own business, and we have a two year old. I have a lot of medical bills to pay off, so we really can't exceed 8k. Im trying to make it work with what we have, cutting things no so important, but its just difficult. Im researching like crazy and pulling in all the contacts I have to try and get us deals, it just feels like I will never have the wedding ive dreamed of, due to money.

Tori, you can't save enough by cutting things, making your own centerpieces and calling in favors to do this right. (And calling in favors doesn't always work out the way you hope....)

You can have the wedding you dream of.....for 30 guests. And there is nothing wrong with that at all.