Help! Small budget & nontraditional wedding

1.) The meal that you serve should match the formality of the event. For example, it would be frowned upon to serve a BBQ buffet at a black tie wedding. As long as the rest of your wedding is on the casual side, it's fine for the meal to be as well.

2.) That's entirely up to your preference. We got rid of the traditional bouquet and garter tosses, but kept the spotlight dances, cake cutting, and speeches.

3.) I think this is along the same lines as the meal. It's fine to have whatever dress you want, as long as you're also treating your guests well. For example, don't purchase a $3k gown and have a cash bar.

1) I would serve whatever is tasty and in your budget. My brother had an absolutely gorgeous wedding in a field by a barn, and the bride's uncle made BBQ.

2) Keep what you like. I am opting out of speeches and the bouquet/garter toss simply because those things don't appeal to me.

3) There's nothing wrong with wearing a traditional dress. If that's what you want, go for it!

Thank you so much for your upbeat response You are 100% right - the things that matter to us like tasty food and a dress I love should be present. I shouldn't have to sacrifice myself. I wanna have some BBQ at my wedding too!

After I read your comment I was like "Omg, do I want a casual wedding???" and my immediate feeling was, "No I do not!" We ultimately decided to take a break for the rest of this year on reception planning and take the time to save up more now (esp. with COVID) for the venue of our dreams and also to better afford a catering service. We will also be postponing our wedding for 2022 to give our guests a break financially since time will only tell what the future holds. At the end of the day - a lot of DIY was making me stressed as it is a logistical nightmare, but I agree with your points to save in easier ways like a more affordable cake (which I will be planning on purchasing at a local bakery) and buying all flowers in bulk. I appreciate your input and insight greatly!

I agree with your points completely! This post has really helped me figure out me. It's been difficult planning on my own because I have varying degree of tastes in many things. I want my wedding to be fun, but your points also helped me realize that I do want a great wedding venue to match the banging dress I hope to wear at it. You also helped me realize that I need to just pay for a professional catering service and not skimp out on one which will end up costing us in achieving satisfied guests and/or giving us more headaches down the road.

Oh no! Not at all! I just realized that I was telling myself I was okay with settling on a more casual vibe - and then tried to make everything else about my big day casual. We don't want to confuse our guests on the etiquette & attire for our wedding even if there will be fun and interactive (non-traditional) elements to it.

Our big three that we care about are 1) Reception 2) Food/Drinks 3) Music/Entertainment. We are lucky to be creatives and that most of our friends also musicians or creative in some way so all of those things will be DIY or hiring someone we know which is saving our budget overall. I honestly think staffing (catering staff/bartenders, day-of coordinator) are underrated investments to make the day run smoothly. I don't want my family and friends cleaning up during dinner or running to get ice on my big day because anything can happen. Rather postpone so that I can hire a professional to sort that bit.

I think you have to start with:

How large will this wedding be?

Do you know anyone that has property and is willing to let you host a wedding at their place?

Could you forgo a traditional buffet / sit-down and have heavy hors douvres if the drink is concern?

Will you purchase your own liquor and if you do, are you going to hire bartenders for serving?

Do you know anyone that DJs and would give you a discount?

Our wedding budget is quite small, yet we are doing everything we want - We've opted for a smaller 40-45 guest Destination Wedding (in hopes the count will be about 30 - 35), We wanted a sunrise wedding and we're getting it because most venues can use their space twice in one day and we're getting it discounted because we will be done by noon.

The wedding dress I chose was $1500, but with a little time and patience I found it online for a fraction of the retail price - brand new and the veil which the boutique wanted $200 I found online for $10. Our wedding rings were $2000 in the store and we found the same rings online for 1/4 of the price. I think you just have to think outside the box and determine where and how you want to spend your money. Get creative and you can still have what you want and consider to be your dream wedding. Don't just forgo something because you think it will cost too much, find a way to make it happen and it will.

Judging by your last post, you answered a lot of the questions I posed - you're well on your way to still having your dream wedding on a budget. Good luck, I know it will be a beautiful day. And don't settle!

It can be whatever you want! Like a PP said, you want the food to match the feel of the event, but other than that, there is absolutely no reason to give up your dream.

FH is a semi driver which means he has to work with his hands a lot under the hood, with rigging, etc, so rings were a big deal to us. We needed something very durable and quite plain so as not to have anything that could "catch" while he's working. The more durable metals were SO expensive in regular stores, but we found the same rings online for 20% of the regular retail.

The dress was super important to me, and I found one I love at JJsHouse online. I only spent $200, and I'll have to get it altered, but it is definitely the right dress for me.

Just browse and see what you like. There are reduced cost places for ordering flowers and such (they're silk but if that doesn't matter to you, it won't matter to anyone else!)

Like a PP said, low cost and cheap are not the same thing. You've got this