Realizing my budget is extremely unrealistic.... I'm gonna go broke.

People. That's the easiest to cut. How large is your guest list? Your venue can also make or break you. Have you chosen a venue yet?

I feel ya girl. i stay up some nights just wondering how im going to make this work financially

I am not sure where your wedding is but there are many ways to cut costs... My advice to you though is, DO NOT CUT QUALITY. I am a biased professional, En Blum is a Catering company and I hate to see people compromise quality with regards to the food. What is the point of eating terrible food? May as well order Dominos.

Food: Try doing a whole pig roast, Add some salsa, some great tortillas, and plastic plates! Awesome! Sometimes there are some chefs in your town that may 'not be working' or something like that and they will be able to help you out. Go the Farmer's Markets....

Venue: Depending on where you live.... You can look at some unique and picturesque places whether private or public and see if you can use the space for a fee.... ie: old barns, condemned buildings, get creative..! Drive around, through the country, out of town, etc.... You don't have to use some city park...

Flowers and Decor: Get creative here.... Trees, Branches, Wildflowers.... Etc.. Good Luck!

If you want to post a more specific budget, we might be able to help in cutting it down.

Here is how I am saving - asking a friend to do the photos - she is a professional and we are pay for her travel and lodging which is about half of what her normal fee is - I know a bunch of people feel this is a bad idea on this forum, but I know she will do a fantastic job and I have absolutely no worries.

We have a friend making the cake as their gift.

We are having wine and beer and prosecco - beer is from a local brewery and is really well priced. We might have a couple of bottles of whiskey available. It saves you money on all the crazy bottles of liquor that are likely to go half drunk. You might look into really good quality boxed wine - you can get the equivalent of abotu 4 bottles of wine in 1 box and it costs about half. You can purchase some inexpensive carafes from Dollar tree or ebay so no one can see that it is out of a box. And I'm not talking Franzia or anything

Does anyone in your family have a home with a big, beautiful yard? Saving on a venue might be your best bet.

Cut the favors. Do you have your dress yet? Also, HM can happen later, you can just do a quick getaway after the wedding and then do the trip later. That should help.

I chose not to do floral arrangements - we are having some beautiful fabric flowers that cost me next to nothing for 7 bouquets, 18 boutonniere & 15 corsages - I bought mine here - http://www.etsy.com/people/JujaCrafts

We are having the wedding at a family member's home which is saving us a venue fee - but we are spending on rentals - so be sure to look into the savings vs. costs of a public space you need to furnish and a space that comes with everything.

Cutting the list is the best way to save.

Also - you can consider doing a later ceremony and doing desserts and wine - just be sure to state it on the invite so people know to eat before

Join us for dancing, desserts and bubbly after the ceremony. (or something close)

I think the venue is the biggest decision in regards to how much money you will be saving. If you are spending a lot on a venue consider a thursday evening wedding. Weekdays tend to have a different rate then the weekends.Also it may take awhile but you can find a venue that will be nice and also allows you to bring in your own caterer,drinks,cake etc. The more Package-y the less choices and wiggly room you probably will end up having. As someone else said, if you post more details Im sure some ladies here can really help a lot. You can do it!

Check you guest list. Easiest way to scale back. Maybe have a minimoon and take a full honeymoon at a later time, or choose a more budget friendly honeymoon location. Cut back on "non-essentials" Sure, it's great to have the best china, glassware, favors, centerpieces, chair covers, funky linens etc...but alot of that can be scaled back or eliminated completely. Can also get a small wedding cake for you and FH to cut, and then a sheet cake of same flavors i the venue's kitchen to be cut and served to guests. Possibly change venues. Depending on your venue and your state laws, you may not be allowed to bring in your own alcohol as well. Check that first before booking and comitting to a venue. Perhaps a early afternoon wedding (12:30, 1pmish) with light food and a toast. Then an unoffical "afterparty" to really get your drink/party on. We all would love our "dream" weddings, but you don't want to go broke or put yourself in debt for one day. Save for the wedding, plan for the marriage .

Ok here's my plans so far.

Goal:Rustic wedding on a farm... Barn for reception.

Venue we are going to look at on Saturday: http://www.sinklandfarms.com/weddings.html (3 hours away)

1700 for farm and barn for friday and saturday. Includes 50 chairs. They have more available to rent.

Guests: Estimating 75 but everyone will be traveling a few hours minimum so distance might cause some to decline.

Food: Restaurant that offers catering of just large trays of food to serve buffet style... 600 too low?

Alcohol: Champagne... keg of beer... bottles of other malt beverages.... etc.

Photographer: Small package no more then 800... ( I have photographer friends that will be attending to snap pictures as well)

DIY invitations... ink and postage cost only.

Decorations + Centerpieces: DIY... shopping online sales, micheals, etc.

Flowers for bouqets.... Don't mind going fake if it saves a lot as long as it doesn't look fake.

DJ: 400 too low?

Not sure how much to estimate on a lot of the items

What I did to save money - creat an excel spreadsheet that lists EVERY single cost, all the way down to each individual item for each individual centerpiece that was needed. This helped alot when deciding where we could cut costs.

You will have a much better sense of how much to estimate once you start talking to other vendors. Have you talked to any DJs? In my area 400 couldn't get you one from Craigslist, let alone a pro.

Catering- $600 sounds extremely low to me, because the lowest in my area is about $2000.

Dj- Might be too low, but then again, it might depend on your area.

Photographer- you might want to put a little more into that and get a better package because once your wedding is over, the pictures are all that's going to be left. My photographers package is $1700 for eight hours, unlimited number of photos shot, editing, release of copy rights, they put together a wedding photo album consisting of pictures of our choice, 500 prints, and they travel to two locations.

I would really stress the importance of a good photographer.

I have to agree with Devyn - 600 is very low. I am doing 125 guests and we are doing BBQ food buffet style. My food plus people to assist with set up and clean up and keeping the food trays filled - is just under 4k.

You should call a few places to get an accurate idea oh the $.

Use the budgeting tool on WW - it is pretty great.

I'd ask the venue to throw in the extra 25 chairs for free - the worst they can say is no.

I'd go prosecco over champagne - much cheaper - is there a Trader Joes in your area? They do a great inexpensive bottle that you can order a case or 2 of.

I would have an afternoon wedding, appetizers, cake, and punch. Limit alcohol to beer and wine. Go to your local farm or grocery store the morning-of and buy several dozen flowers and make your own flower arrangements.

Can you move the wedding to a Sunday or Friday evening? A lot of places will give you discounts for having it on an-off day. We're having our semi-DW on a Monday and that has saved us thousands of dollars for the venue, photographer, and even the bakery! I also agree with Jasmine D - maybe do heavy appetizers, desserts, beer, and wine.

FH has only 2 requirements dinner and alcohol. He'd tell me to cut everything else for the dinner. i told him the price and he thought i was talking about some 5 course fancy dinner.

We have to do saturday. I'm going to talk to the vendor and see if they'll let me only to saturday and not friday for less money. but i kind of doubt it.

Also we have to do saturday since everyone has to travel. Most are coming from NJ (we live in NC) and since we had to find a place 3 hours away... even our local friends have to travel.

Wait another year or readjust your expectations.

$600 for food would break down to $8 a person, and unless you plan to just do light hors d'oeuvres and punch that's pretty unrealistic. If you are budgeting for $600 without tax and tip than don't forget about those. NEVER forget to budget for all taxes. Even a few dollars here and there for tax will add up to hundreds fast. The tax on the food where I live for $600 would be another $33. The quotes I got for a buffet dinner were more like $20 a person.

For any DIYs figure out and make lists of ALL the materials you will need. Find prices and add it all up before you buy anything and start any projects. Look around for the same items that you can just buy. If the total for the materials is higher than the cost of just buying them, than just buy them.

Photography and DJ can be done for those prices, but again you may want to readjust your expectations. I did find a photographer who had a $800 package, but only for 4 hours.

Check out blogs - like Brokeassbride - there are lots of great tips and budget breakdowns to help you.

Find a different venue. I wanted a similar venue to yours. http://www.cedarhillbarn.com/ But thought about it, and decided it was more important to not go into debt than to have my dream venue.