Is it possible to do a wedding under 7 thousand?

I would be really interested in getting more details on the folks who are staying on this budget with 100+ guests.

We probably could have stuck to that amount, if we had only done the ceremony and post ceremony luncheon (DW, so we're hosting more events), and had worked out a deal with our photographer for that level of coverage, but we're also only having 35ish guests.

Ehh it might doable, depending on what type of atmosphere you're looking for. You can look at city-owned buildings or your surrounding city's civic centers for a venue, in my area these were the least expensive and you get the longest time ($250-$600 for a day in my area). I didn't go with those because they weren't what I was looking for but some of them are very nice! You could use a local BBQ joint or something to properly cater that would save money and supply your own alcohol and go thrifty and second hand for everything else and nix the flowers. But I think it could be doable but very hard with a guest list that size. I'm at $8K with just venue and food for 80 people.

My 110 person wedding in the mid south in late November (low cost of living area in the off season) was over double your budget. And it was fucking fabulous. I got my dress half off, had a Friday wedding so I had venue and DJ cost reduction, and I did my own hair. I'm not telling you it's impossible because I've never tried to do it. But 150 for 7K? Eek. It may not be a wedding your guests will enjoy attending.

It all depends on what you want. You can do it if you are smart and give yourself plenty of time to plan. Also plan for everything to cost more then you expect it to. My budget was 10k for 140 and I'm over budget by almost a grand (and even then I'm DIYing a lot like flowers, decoration, and desserts). If your okay with DIY and your able to plan it right then you might be able to swing a 7k budget. If you want to be able to relax the day and days before your big day or you want your guests to be dining on fine china I would say that's not a realistic budget.

I would say that you could probably plan a wedding with a budget of $7K for about 75 guests. I wouldn't say it's impossible at 150, but you may have to sacrifice some of the things that you want (not anything that is for your guests). If you find a venue that is under $1K, catering that is about $15/pp (likely BBQ), and the venue allows you to bring your own liquor then that would be about $4750 (if you are in a small city or tiny town). Leaving you only about $2250 for everything else. You may need to buy a $99 wedding dress, skip the photographer (or hire someone just starting out), skip the flowers, buy candles/mirrors/decor from Dollar Tree, skip the videographer and photobooth, diy your invitations, etc. For reference, my wedding for 140 guests cost $30K but we did not skimp on anything. Good luck.

@RealLifeBride - You are employing Friendors and self-catering and not having alcohol. You cannot speak about having a properly hosted event.

Keep the guestlist low, be okay with less time, and cut a lot of the extras. We're doing it in $3000. Our guestlist is 45 people and we're having a morning wedding with a short lunch reception. My dress was off the rack, my flowers are repurposed from another wedding (Shoutout to @Elphaba!), no bridesmaids or groomsmen, and I have negotiated with multiple vendors. Stay firm in your price point and splurge only with a few things. Try to find all inclusive vendors. Look outside of the box, try to refrain from using the word "wedding" because it generally increases prices by 50%. Sometimes it IS okay to use it, but be hesitant. We got the room for our wedding for an extra hour for free because the manager found our story endearing.

JessieJV

Well, since I am not paying for either alcohol or my dress, YES 8k is my budget.

@Lumos your budget is the 8k the wedding however is costing more than 8k, so you can't really provide advice on how to stay under the budget of 7K to properly host guest when you yourself are recieving help to do so.

Well @Vandekerklove my advice was and I quote

"I highly suggest doing a small, intimate wedding unless you're going to have some help."

Not too sure why you guys are getting on me about this. My budget is 8k. I do not need to pay more than 8k so the money I need to budget is 8k, nothing more. I said 7k is more for an intimate wedding unless you are having help.

I hope that makes what I meant more clear.

ETA: Spelling

YOUR budget is 8k, the WEDDING budget (what OP was asking about) is considerably higher. That's why Richard called out the discrepancy, I imagine.

I like your username though.

I don't see how I contradicted myself. I said I had help. I said do intimate unless you have help. At this point, I feel as no matter what I say I can't win.

OP, do an intimate wedding. That's all.

It depends on where you live! I set my budget around 5K cause my fiancé and I are paying for it all ourselves. Our venue is a pavilion attached to a bar in rural Wisconsin. We'll be getting a tent also. $500 for pavilion rental +2 bartenders/servers and clean up afterwards. $800 for the tent/tables and chairs. For food we're doing BBQ chicken, potatos, veggies, fruit trays, buns and other snacks stuff that we can bring in ourselves. That'll be about $2500. For alcohol we'll have kegs, wine, and signature cocktail. That'll probably total $1000. My friend from college is DJing for us for free. My cousin is a photographer so gave us a good price. Decorations are all DIY too. And I didn't include my dress in the budget which is kinda cheating but oh well I would assume bigger cities charge more for venues but not in small town Wisconsin good luck!!

@Jamie - No self-catering. Poor hosting is not a good idea.

An average of 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses each year. Personally I wouldn't want to take the chance my first party hosted as a married couple is a vehicle for that.

@jamie almost every bride here pays for their weddings themselves

It really depends on your area as others have stated. We have a 10k budget for 150 guests. I know that sounds crazy to some, but we are having a properly catered BBQ meal with apps, alcohol (beer, wine, 2 signature drinks), a DJ. Etc. what we are skipping out on is a videographer, programs, expensive cake (having a dessert bar instead), expensive flowers (having our local grocery store provide them), photo booth etc. You just have to figure out what's the most important to your guests. Everything else can be eliminated or modified. Think about when you go to weddings and what sticks out to you the most. For us, it was food, alcohol, DJ. That's where our budget is mostly spent. Hope this helps.

Https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/our-6k-budget-garden-party-cermony-reception-bam-pro/5f8cc09ac54ca741.html?page=6

Here's the link to the write up from our wedding, we spent just under 6k for ~75 guests. It was a casual garden party with catering, dancing and our wedding ceremony to kick things off. We did make choices to get everything to fit in that budget (such as 1 hour photography package for $300). We skipped lots of things, (no engagement photos, no professional make-up, no programs, no STDs, no videographer, no favors). We did not have to pay for the venue (family property).

What is the type of event you are looking to host?

If anyone has spent less than $7,000 on a wedding, they probably have not done it in the past three years. Wedding have come to be extremely expensive. I was told it was impossible, as that was my wedding budget. It heavily depends on where you live in the US (I live in RI and it is EXPENSIVE up here). Also, you may find that your guest list will be limited to about 30-75, and the type of wedding is going to be limited. An indoor wedding in the winter/spring may be manageable. A little country club near me cost about $6,500 for 100 guests in October - April. If you want a backyard wedding, you can buy things little by little, but the costs will be much higher in the long run. In New England you can expect most vendors to budget out like this:

Photographer $1,000-$3,000

Videographer $800 - $3,000

Food $35-$120 per person

Bar - $30 per person (serviced open bar) or $700+ for DIY Beer/Wine Bar (for 100 people)

Dress $500-$1,700 (for a Budget Bride)

Tux Rental -$150

Hair/Make-up - $250+ (for Bride only)

*tent rental/chairs/tables/etc -$2500 - $6,000 (for outdoor ceremonies)

Location/Venue Fees - $500-$2,500

Ceremony Fee - $500+

Invitations & Stationary $200-$1,000

Decorations - $200+

DJ/Band - $800-$3,000

Flowers - $1,000+

Hope that helps. You can get a lot for a little if you have money upfront and use that to your advantage. I paid in full for a lot of things and got the vendors to lower their rates from 10% to 30% or include things I could otherwise not afford.