Money Stress

Cut your list and DYI.

I have cut out trips to Starbucks and dunkin. I am not buying new summer clothes. I'm cutting my cable bill. Everything I save is going towards the wedding.

I took on a second job and we started thinking about what was important and what wasn't and just started saving! You have time

I am teaching, so when summer gets out I already have work lined up. My fiancé is also picking up extra work throughout the summer, even though he's in audio/video production. His summers are usually slow, but he's been very blessed this year with extra work.

Where are you located?

I'm doing along with many other people. I work 6 jobs and we just closed on our house today. It sucks. Being an adult sucks.......so many ways to get another source of income

Although nice... cut the dessert bar extras, bridal party, table runners, photobooth or anything EXTRA until you are certain you can afford it.

It's good that you are looking at this now & not waiting. Figure out a realistic budget & plan to spend 1/2 that on venue, food & drinks. You may be able to get the biggest bang for your buck by having a non-Saturday wedding and/or having a brunch wedding.

We are getting a Fri discount from our DJ, going with a 6hr photographer package, 4 hr beverage package & I was able to buy a lot of décor items for almost 1/2 the cost from a local FB wedding resale group.

Everyone can cut their guest list. Start with IMMEDIATE family, siblings and so's. then add your CLOSEST friends. The fact that everyone on your mom's side talk doesn't mean you have to invite them; weddings are not family reunions. If you have to cut cousins, you cut cousins. What Jenny said is absolutely right. And I'm not convinced that everyone who doesn't get invited is pissed about it, especially if they learn the guest list is pretty finite.

if your entire budget is 15,000, that leaves you roughly 7500.00 for food and drink. With the average service charge and tax at 25 ish % or more, that really mean you have to be at about 70.00 PP raw cost. Could it happen? Possibly. Do you want to spend the next 17 months eating ramen and glueing things to each other? Maybe not.

@rachael I'm located in Indianapolis but we are getting married in Emerald Isle, NC

Thank you all for your input. Like I said unfortunately I literally can't cut my guest list down anymore- it was at almost 200 and I got it down to 80. But I'll take the DIY approach for some things and see what else I can fiddle around with thank you all!

Pick up a second job? Cut your cable? Cut extra spending. Have a garage sale.

This board has been super helpful with identifying what is realistic and how to save money. I had NO idea how we would even have a wedding when we got engaged, but we have gotten some great advice, identified our priorities and I have begun to feel much more confident.

I hate to say it but you CAN cut the guest list. If you are paying for it, you do what you need to do. No matter what, you can't make everybody happy no matter what. Identify what is important to you, and learn the word no. It can be done!

@OP I saw that you're in NC. I don't know how comparable that is to Knoxville, but our guest list is 100 people, and for our two top venues (one is a golf club and the other is all inclusive), we are still around $13k, even with a photographer and video and full bar package. So, once you start looking at venues, you'll get a clearer picture. One venue is $1500, $38/pp, indoors. Out of the 100 people, about 40? drink. Our total bill with our quotes so far is right at $13100.

We decided on a budget then did the guest list. We also had a reserve "budget" which so far we haven't used. I was very strict about certain things- like photographer and flowers. I was more lenient on the cake.

I have student loans and some old credit card debt (which I consolidated) So, it hasn't been easy but it's doable. However, my savings account is the one being affected as I can't contribute much. (One more month for us)

Something we decided to do was when we got our income tax this past tax season almost 90% of both of our income taxes went into savings for the wedding and every month and every pay check we place X amount into that savings and we don't spend it. We include it in our budget as a bill a very important bill.

Even at that our budget is very small (5k) and some months is tighter than others. But we know this is what we want so we do what we need.

I picked up a few shifts a week waitressing at the restaurant I worked at in college! I'm fortunate that we make good money there...it has paid for my wedding completely! It was the best decision I've made, and has even allowed us to expand our budget, guest list, upgrade certain things.

1) cut your guest list (extended family, coworkers, friends);

2) get a lot of price quotes from different vendors give them your budget and compare;

3) pick up an extra shift/get a second job/do Uber or Lyft

4) cut out unnecessaries (favors, programs, signs, STDs etc)

5) use Promo Codes for invitations and anything really.

6) Thursday, Friday, and Sunday weddings are significantly cheaper. Book on these days.

7) DIY flowers/centerpieces, card box, etc. Always compare bc DIY isnt always cheaper.

8) buy used items try FB groups, craigslist, Poshmark, Tradesy, etc.

9) Consider unconventional venues like restaurants, public places (museums, parks, etc), backyard, etc.

We booked all of our stuff so that deposits were taken care of...now we have a whole yr to pay everything off... probably will pay one thing off per month or two

We cut our guest list. Worked some professional connections, had a wedding on. Sunday (cheaper venue) and had a morning/ afternoon wedding (food was cheaper and people didn't drink as much because they wanted to drive home).