How to have a 2000 budget wedding with a big family?

Hi Michelle, welcome to WW!

1. Don't even try to have a wedding that other people want. Have a wedding that you want.

2. Postpone the date and take more time to save money.

Although DIY is great and saves money, very many big ticket items cannot/should not be DIY. So low budget weddings are possible, very difficult with a large guest list.

Best of Luck to you!! My fiance and I just purchased a house and we are finding it extremely difficult to find anything wedding related on a budget. I am diy-ing all the decor and flowers but with food and location and photos it's going to be difficult. My only advice is to shop around. I found that is you search local parks they rent out their pavilions for next to nothing and most have picnic tables so that takes away the need for tables and chairs.

Have your wedding, not theirs. There are many fabulous parks in your area; check the Morris County Park commission.

Any advice about staying on a budget is going to start with cutting the guest list....

Happy planning! let the wedding stress begin and welcome!

weddings under 2000 are hard but do able! I'd keep your options open and do things like

a friday night late wedding? (usually cheaper venue price etc.

sunday brunch weddings (my favorite idea ever) have your ceremony at 10, and have cute little breakfast foods like french toast! Plus you could a cute venue and give it an upscale feel without costing an arm and leg?!

Instead of reception can you do a hall/party room?

I got a hall with character. It has kitchen, bar

I can bring our own food, bring my own booze. That's $$ saved right there.

I do have family members who would love to get involved and cook for the reception, but I am deciding to get a local cater.

I would still like a grand affair, so I find it cheaper to just go with lights, LED uplighting $12each and give it a nice aura,

and a light with monogram name as a backdrop $15 for the projector and $89 for the custom name.

some ideas.

If you don't want to have to postpone your wedding, make it cake and punch only. If you are getting married in a church, you may be able to use their social hall. Otherwise, a park is probably your best bet, preferably with a picnic shelter in case of rain.

And limit your DIY. It is always less expensive to do without something than to DIY. A lot of brides end up with completely unnecessary (and expensive) DIY projects.

What do you want, I mean you can have a cheap wedding and invite everyone, but you will be doing things like having it in a park with no rain plan (tents run like $1000 min) and having guests stand for teh ceremony, saving the $2 rental per chair (or bringing their own) You can have it during the week and many people wont come, you can have a dry wedding, or make people buy their own drinks.

On a $2000 budget I recommend researching jack and Jills, cause if you can sell lots of tickets you can make up to $5000 but it would take quite a bit of planning for that. Then you'd be looking at a $4000-$7000 budget which might make it easier.

Either postpone your wedding or look them in the eye and tell them that you're going to do xyz because it's what you can afford and what you want. If what you can afford is not what you want, then wait a few years. You'll be together anyway!

Hi Michelle, and welcome! I hear you. Morris County is ridiculous. A bagel with cream cheese and salmon for ten bucks makes me feel like I wanna measure the bagel store guy's temperature to see if he has a fever. Bergen County isn't even that bad. So this is why we decided to have the wedding down the shore on a Monday. That cuts costs immediately. If you want to you can pm me and we can exchange ideas.

You can thank NJ taxes and rent for those prices.

Pot luck wedding@ Just kidding.

Don't worry about stepping on people's toes, ESPECIALLY if they aren't willing to help you pay for it.

My wedding would only have cost $1000 (including the photographer and wedding party's clothing) if my mom hadn't insisted on flowers and food for 150 people.

It is doable; you just have to be willing and ready to stick to your guns and do what YOU want.

I have never heard of anyone doing a Jack and Jill in north NJ.....

$2000 isn't very much. I'd start with the guest list. You'll have ot figure out how many people you have to really explore what you can or can't do.

Even if you're cheap- $150 for dress/shoes, $100 for something for him to wear. I'm assuming the officiant is free, but they typically expect a donation to the church. Is there a room you can have a small reception in at the church? If so, they will probably have chairs and tables you can use as well. Do a Saturday afternoon, so you don't have to do a meal. Serve cake, fruit/veggies and non-alcoholic drinks. You may not be able to hire a DJ, so don't get your heart set on dancing. You most likely won't be able to hire a professional photographer, so try to find a dang good amature.

If you family still pushes for a big wedding, I'd probably just start asking if they have decided to pay for it... because you don't have the money and have better uses for waht you do have.

Cut as many people as you can. Be picky.

A cake and punch like someone already suggested or even a wine and dessert reception. Tons of money saved doing it either way.. Dinner is what costs besides cutting the guest list..

7pm ceremony with a wine and dessert reception at 7:30.

You could just have hors d'oeuvres and cake. I've heard that historic sites are much cheaper than most venues. Off-times and off-seasons immediately drive down the cost. Do you have people you can trust to do things like photos or cooking? Those people who want you to have a big wedding...are they willing to help out? Good luck and update us on how you do!

I am having a Pakistani wedding which means our guest list will be around 350 people and my budget is only 7,000!

We are having a smaller ceremony and dinner with only about 50 in attendance and then we are doing only music, drinks, dessert bar and finger foods for the reception.

A lot will be DYI but I agree wait until you can afford it. A 2000 dollar budget will only stress you out and ruin your big day. We've waited until 2013 so we could afford one. :]

I say wait and save a specific amount a month for the items you don't want to miss. I speak from experience my first wedding date was 11/11/10 we moved it back till we could have the wedding we wanted with who we wanted and how we wanted it. I still did alot DIY and we did self cater which was stressful but worth it. I think in all I will have spent just over 4000. I splurged on the venue and our photographer since we needed somewhere nice I didn't have to do a ton to decorate and would fit the family(90 people) and I wanted good photos with a photographer I liked to work with. But 4 days after the wedding I am so glad we waited and saved a bit more cash. I was able to find great help and research everything so I know what I wanted and didn't want.

I'm planning in NJ ( Central ) but FH is from North Jersey, so we started planning there...and had to realize quickly it was too expensive. I would honestly say you should wait and save more. and here's why...as you start to plan you'll realize things you want, but never knew/thought you would want, and you'll start to resent your $2,000 budget... and wish for more. you love him a lot, you both want to get married, having to wait a little longer to make the day that much more special isn't that big of a deal. we waited until we were both a couple years removed from college to even announce that we wanted to get married/engaged ... just to avoid pressure like you're going through. That being said, as far as budget help you've come to the right place, the ladies here are EXPERTS at finding the best deals/diy instructions. & the vendor pages here can be a huge help. . .

Places you could save money on if you *have* to get married asap..

Have the reception in a backyard or at a park

*continued

get your dress as a sample or at davids $99 sale ... they also ALWAYS have that clearance rack with the cheaper/clearance dresses on it... they are sold as is though most of the time

have a bbq reception hotdogs, hamburgers, things that are cheap in mass quantities (Sams & CostCo might be your new best buddies )

instead of traditional flowers/favors, start collecting sauce jars, old coke bottles, even soup cans ( spray paint them with your color paint and wrap lace/ burlap around them )

but most of all, don't be afraid to ask your family for help. if they want some grand affair from two broke college kids ( speaking from experience) they can be ready to help out.