How are you affording this?

I’ve had to change some things as well for cost. i think your options are to push the wedding back or adjust your vision and ease up on how specific your vision is. Something someone told me for advice on planning a wedding is to remember, “it’s about a marriage not a wedding” because it really is about your special relationship and love! that being said it’s still totally okay to have your dream wedding you just may need to adjust to accommodate that dream!

Trust me, you aren't being unrealistic. It's possible to have that dream wedding. You have many options!! You could start intimate and do a party when you're more economically stable, you could skip the whole thing, you could only celebrate with really close people and keep it intimate, you could just go for everything over the top and figure it out later or you could just try and get everything perfect within the budget. Hard, but not impossible. Of course budget is important, but don't let it throw you guys off. My FH is a bartender at Chili's, he only gets paid $2.13 the hour + tips and sometimes the more puertorricans ask for, the less they leave waiters or bartenders as tip. He's lucky it's a U.S. restaurant chain business and people here believe it or not, take leaving tips more seriously at big food chain industries than at local restaurants or bars 😓 I work at a local pharmacy but I'm only into 12 hours a week at $7.25 an hour and I get money taken for other purposes so we aren't actually on budget either at all!! But our families have helped us put our dream wedding together piece by piece. Hand made items, no big food entries but our own family cooking everything, went with the cheapest idea for the cake so we didn't waste it if people doesn't want, dress and whole attire with local bussiness and discounts on last years collection, no veil or tiara since most of them are too expensive but a silver wreath/hair vine, no formal attire for guests but swmi-formal, not doing a formal farewell to leave for the honeymoon, not booking accomodations for wedding night or nights before our trip, etc. We didn't see anything possible yet here we are 26 days away from our wedding and 28 days away from our Mexico trip, with almost everything done and finished, and I was able to reach deals I thought we would never be able to make with understandable vendors for payment. There are many ways you can actually do it on low budget and not realize how. Trust yourselves and never stop looking because there ARE good deals for good prices. Don't give up on the wedding you really wish to have because sometimes they can be possible ❣ Best wishes and I do hope you can achieve every detail for this dream wedding!!

View Quoted Comment Law Enforcement Officer😊

View Quoted Comment 😂 I thought the same thing!

We saved money by doing a Thursday at the Mansion at Mountain Lakes it’s about 95 dollars a person. We are also doing centerpieces ourselves, and reached out to vendors that we previously knew.

How do you feel be

What part of NJ are you looking to get married at and what time of year? The Wilshire Grand in West Orange is very affordable. I was quoted $95 pp for a May wedding. Also, the venue I am getting married at..The Palace at Somerset Park. Winter weddings start from $85 pp

View Quoted Comment Amazon pays you to do surveys? How can I sign up lol

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It wasn't Amazon, it's another site, I just cashed in for Amazon cards

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That makes me feel better lol

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I wanna know too

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Glad I'm not the only one lol

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Lol right!

So you can have a nice venue, what about a brunch wedding? Or a small weeknight wedding (can be 30-50% off for a Sun-Thur night)?

Sometimes you can't have your "dream wedding" because it is not realistic. Sometimes you have to go a different route and spend less.

We're using our tax returns to pay for the wedding. The benefit of not owning a house, and having a kid means that we get a pretty decent return each year. It's not ideal, but it works.

View Quoted Comment I thought that same thing!! 🤣 dont feel bad.

Weddings are so over priced!! FH and I are paying for the wedding and honeymoon ourselves. Part of the reason we’ll have a 3.5 year engagement is because of this. Luckily we’ve both moved up/ come into our careers and we make good money. We are still trying to find ways to save though! We are having an early ceremony and reception; 11am ceremony & 1230pm reception. Saved us 3k-4K! We are also only doing beer & wine for cocktail hour & reception. These are just a few ways we’ve been able to save and still have the wedding of our dreams!

Weddings are expensive. You either lower your expectations, go into debt, or plan it over a long period of time.

We are paying for it all ourselves in 5 months on a budget of $1,500 max for everything. We cut guest list, moved dates, thrift shopped for hours, and pretty much nixed decor.