Is a budget of $5,000 too small? Food options?

Is $5,000 your total wedding budget or just your food budget? How many guests will you have? More details will help you get better info and ideas.

With a $5000 budget, you’ll want to have a small guest list if you’re planning on a full meal and alcohol. Alcohol easily can go over $1000, and after a venue/dress/food you’ll have very little left for decorations/photography

How many people are you having? If you having about 30 people you can have food/drinks and sweets at Maggiano's. They have private dining rooms with space for dancing. They can hold more people but get a little pricey.

You could always have a brunch wedding.

BBQ, Mexican and Italian are very affordable options.

You could rent the silver chafing dishes to keep the food warm. You can do a self serve bar. There are plenty of options for the self serve bar just google it so you can see the pics.Get a cake from walmart, a 2 tier cake is about $75 and 3 tiers for $140 and they taste good too. You can do this. Good Luck

If you dont want the silver warning trays you'll probably need to do a cold buffet. Salads, sandwiches, veggies, fruit, ect. We had croissant sandwiches from Costco for my grandfather's memorial and they were awesome!! It's not traditional wedding food, but its affordable and delicious. Everyone was happy with them.

Other general tips - I would suggest hiring a student photographer who would be willing to cut you a deal to help build their portfolio. Photography can easily eat up half of a 5k budget.

I would also suggest bhldn bridesmaid dresses for your wedding. Most of their styles come in white or ivory and run about $300. Traditional bridal gowns are 1k+, so I would definitely try out some bridesmaids dresses and see if any fit your vision.

Create a playlist and cut the DJ. Costco has great cakes as well as Sam's club. I'm on a budget too and have looked into alot od these options. Good luck to you!

My budget is $5000 - I had to cut my guest list from 50 people to about 15 people (immediate family only). I originally was planning to do a simple mid day ceremony with sandwiches and salads catering and beer/wine only. Buuuut even at that, all the rentals and incidentals started adding up. I wanted a more timeless, classy feel than I was going to get for 50 people and a 5k budget. So we hacked out guest list to ONLY immediate family, and two friends. Instead of hosting dinner at our house - we are having dinner at a local Inn Restaurant @$42/pp for dinner, and $150 for a few platters of finger foods at cocktail hour, and we're doing a $500 bar tab since there are not too many drinkers but we wanted to provide alcohol. Having it at the restaurant has made things SO much easier - decorations are pretty much handled because the Inn keeper does lovely tablescapes and the Inn is already decorated for the season. So I guess - see if there are any local restaurants that you could go to for the reception? We also cut out DJ, favors, programs, bridal party, and a few other "extras"

How many guests? I'd look into restaurant catering rather than a catering company, either Mexican or Italian or BBQ.

I’m sure it can be done but honestly, you’ll have to DIY almost everything, even food....maybe have a nacho bar and do it in your backyard,

I have budget of $5,000. And, yes, I am DIYing almost everything. The wedding is for 75 guests and is being held at my MIL's backyard. There are ways to cut costs.

Food: I am having BBQ meats catered but making the sides and appetizers, a friend is baking cupcakes. We are doing beer and wine only. I am buying compostable plates and cutlery.

Decor: I am also doing my floral arrangements myself with bulk flowers I am purchasing from a local farm. I have bought all our tablecloths, and other decor items off resale groups on Facebook. I am using chairs from town hall and plastic tables I am collecting from friends and neighbors.

Dress: I found the dress I liked from BHLDN and then bought it used off Poshmark.

Music: Our one splurge is a live band. We hired a bluegrass band for $500. We will put together a playlist for the rest of the night and just play it off a computer.

Invites: We sent out emails using Evite.