Is it possible to have a wedding under $10,000 in NJ/NYC?

Others have mentioned PA, so I'm gonna chime in to tell you to be careful with that one. Philly is almost as expensive as NYC (it's usually one of the top 3 cities on those "more expensive cities to get married in" lists). If you look into that option, you'd probably have better luck in more rural parts of the state like the Poconos.

I'm not settling and am spending 3-4k. But I only have 35 guests and am DIYing the flowers.

ETA: I live in northern nj 2 miles from manhattan.

I thought it was. Until I started planning one. Like Jo says the only way is a super small guest list.

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. This is what happens in life, not only with weddings......

The cheapest place I can think of in NJ is 40.00 per head, plus 7% tax and 20% service. And I wouldn't ever host a party there.

In the end, it's far better (I think) to host 30 people well than to stretch and host 100 people in a mediocre and stressful way. As anyone here will tell you, expenses crop up that you never expect.....

I am in NJ but it's Southern NJ and since I am off peak season we got a good deal. We are paying about $80/pp including service charge and taxes. Our minimum is only 50 people.

However, if you are north and you are wanting peak season, you probably won't be able to do it.

Is 10k for everything or just the reception/food/beverage?

Cut it down to family only. I would start over and begin with moms and dad's and siblings. Try adding on from that instead of cutting down from 100.

I'm shocked so many think PA is cheaper. I'm in PA about 45 minutes outside of the philly and its still costing $35k for 100 people. I'm sure there are places in PA to get cheaper prices but they are gonna be a hike.

I think it's possible but not at a catering hall. I live in NY so I know the struggle. I just had my 100 person wedding & I had to compromise on A LOT & still spent 30k. But I had my bridal shower at a beautiful restaurant which was 38pp (not including tax & tip) but we had 3 courses, wine, beer and mimosas. I'm sure you can find a beautiful restaurant to host 100 ppl and spend 5k. Then the other 5k you can use on everything else. For centerpieces for the shower we got flowers at Costco and arranged it ourselves. The flowers were only $120 total. You would spend more since you'll have more tables but it is possible.

It's not possible unless you're in a backyard and don't BBQ.

Get married at City Hall, pose for photos on the Brooklyn Bridge, reception at Joe's Shanghai. Rock awesome vintage attire and get one of the thousands of art students in the city to do the photography. Better food, better vibe and flushing toilets, unlike some faux-rustic barn with portipotty nonsense, or the crap catered-by-Aramark wedding I attended last summer at the Bronx Zoo.

You also have to take into account everything else: photographer, videographer, DJ, etc. These are optional (depending on what's important to you) but cost the same whether you have 100 or 40 people.

Hi! I live in NJ and I highly doubt it. My FH and I were thinking about having an extremely small wedding. However, that thought went out the window as we started out guest list. We invited 100 ppl and that alone is over $10,000.

Maybe shorten your guest list will probably work.

Either way. Best of luck.

and with two sentences Danielle shows us the error of our ways, actually expecting to pay market value for parties in the most expensive area of the country. Why hire pros when you can go to a courthouse, hire a student and eat....something. At least you'll have flush toilets.

It's not do-able, okay? So lose the 100 people or lose the 30,000. Which, by the way, is low in this area when all is said and done (photos, music, officiant, flowers).

No I strongly doubt this.

We are getting married in north jersey for a little over 10,000 with a guest list of 100. We have a cocktail hour, open bar (the whole night), sit down 3 course meal, DJ, photo booth, and photographer.

I'm paying 12,000 for my venue and its all inclusive for a guest of 100 people. My FH brother is paying for the photographer which is extra. You probably can spend as little as 15,000. Its gonna be hard to do it for 10,000. That was our first budget but realized we might have to spend a few thousand more if we don't want it to look cheap.

I'm in NC and my venue is gorgeous and they do catering, cake, drinks, and they have decorations I pick from and they set it up and take it down and it was only 10,500! Not sure about NYC or NJ! Goodluck to you though, I know it's very stressful!

I'm getting married in New Jersey and yes it is ! That's our budget and we have everything so far !! BUT we also didn't have to pay for the reception site because my FH sister works at the winery.

Unfortunately thats one of the most expensive places to get married. You can probably do that for about 25 people hosting properly.

Echoing what others have said - no, not really. I'm planning a wedding for more people - 160, cut down from 230. Before I started researching, I naively thought I could have a $10,000 wedding. "Oh, I can buy off the rack, and screw fresh flowers, and maybe have it in a park...." hahahaha. I thought that just because extravagance wasn't my thing that I could make it work.

What I found through many many hours of research is that the Ala Carte places that people claim are cheaper because you can pick your own caterer, etc, etc, are really not once you factor in ALL the additional costs (linens, tables, silverware, tents, servers...). So all in one was really the only option. My venue is $93 pp with tax and gratuity included for a Saturday night wedding (but they did have packages starting at $85), and that's one of the best prices I found. The only thing cheaper was a Saturday afternoon wedding (which I was open to) for $83, but I decided the other place was the feel I wanted and worth the extra money.

The problem is, you need to feed people, and that's expensive. You can cut in lots of places, but you still have to take your cost per person and multiply it by 100 at the end of the day.

For me, my family (which is big) and close friends are important to have there, so there was no possible way we could cut the guest list more. It was hard enough to cut it as much as we didn't. Maybe if we had small families and a few close friends, we could have a backyard wedding with 40 people... But not possible for us. So if you're in the same boat, I'd say you have to be open to expanding your budget. We upped ours to $25,000! Originally I wasn't thrilled about spending that much on one day, but... It is what it is! Celebrating with friends and family is important to us. Good luck with your search!