Small budget wedding tips and advice

She really shouldn’t be commenting on what you should or shouldn’t do. As a planner she should help you achieve what you’d like, within the budget you have. If that is out of her reach, perhaps she is not the right planner for you.

I would tell her this is my budget i can’t do anymore what can we do with it? If she doesn’t offer any helpful options then I think you are better off doing it on your own. If she doesn’t like the community center ask her to give you different options within your budget if nothing is within your budget, you don’t like them, or it’s to far ect. Politely tell her you choose the community center and you would be more than happy to get married there

Keep the guest list small. Close family and friends only. If you don’t speak to them regularly they don’t make the list. You can do cupcakes instead of a cake. Limit flowers. Small bridal party. It can definitely be done. A nice intimate wedding

We are doing our wedding for know more than $4K- $5k. Including my dress, bridesmaids(7) dresses, ring bearers(2) suits and flowergirls(3) dresses. Everybody's stuff was on sale, are will be on sale when we get it. I'm not trying to spend unnecessary money. I believe in living beyond a wedding. My girls and I are doing a lot of diy stuff for the wedding. My ceremony and reception will be all in one place. Anyway it's your day, your way just remember that. Especially if you are paying for it yourself.

You can totally have an amazing day on that!!! Drop her tell her thank you but no thank you. Then just research you can find a great place. Do a week day or Sunday wedding they are cheaper. Our venue rents for 3000 for a Saturday wedding and 800 for a week day wedding. You have the day of your dream. You got this!!!

Is she actually a wedding planner, or is she just in a sorority and has experience planning events? huge difference.

I feel like you can totally make any budget work. start researching some different venues near you and make a spreadsheet with prices, and per person costs. Just get as many different options down as you can and go from there. You're biggest thing will be to keep the guest list down.

Your planner is supposed to do what you want and find the things that you want in your price range. You can definitely do it for $7k!!! How many people are you having? What state are you in? What kind of reception do you want? The only thing she may have been right about is you don't want to setup/clean up yourself. But if you have dedicated people it shouldn't be a problem especially if you can decorate the day before. Walmart does a great 3 tier wedding cake for about$140 and it taste good too. Your bridesmaids don't really need flowers, you only need a bouquet. Do a buffet rather than plated. Have only beer and wine or maybe make batches of drinks like sangria and rum punch that are cheap and still good. You got this!!!!!!

I am planning a 2000 to 3000 wedding i found a dress at a vintage store for 100 dollars and a venue that cost 900 dollars.... hair is going to be about 100 for me and 3 of my bridesmaids to do there hair .... its being done by a family friend who is a hair dresser .... i am doing my own makeup ..... and then the rest of my budget is for decor

Your Wedding is your day. The thing about weddings is that everyone tries to tell you how to do things. It is possible to make it work on $7000 and still have an amazing day. If having an actual wedding is what you want than please don't let anyone dissuade you!

Good luck on your special day!

View Quoted Comment I kind of got that vibe as well. I told her if places I had found that I thought were cheap to rent. She said no, because they were all places that we’d have to decorate, set up and break down ourselves. But honestly that seems like the cheapest way. I even mentioned that our local community Center was 500 to rent for 8 hours but she didn’t think it was nice enough for a reception

View Quoted Comment Right now our guest list is only at 80 including the bridal party

Also I’m in Florida. I had found a venue that’s 1600 for the whole day. They supply tables and chairs but nothing else. I thought it was a good deal but she said too much since we have to provide food, alcohol, and decor. And no, she’s not a wedding planner. She actually does event planning for the school board here. She’s my “aunt in law”? 🤔

I am planning on a budget! We only got a nice venue because my father wanted to pay for that ($3,500) i only got a nice dress because my mom wanted to buy that ($1,400) and my friend is going to make us a small cake (just for cutting) but everything else is on us

Guest list: 100 give or take

caterer- $1,300 (bbq)
extra food- $200 (Costco: rolls, fruits, other stuff)
donuts- $200
photographer- $1000
hair and makeup- $220
booze- $300? (Keg, Costco)
decor- $couple hundred (preowned)
invitations- $100 (Costco)
flowers- $200 (farmers market)
cutlery- $100 (Costco/ Amazon)
Favors- $60 (honey)
DJ- No, just a playlist and a friend to make announcements
Officiant- fiancés dad

i know there is more but I can’t remember.

$7k can be doable. If she doesn't know how to do it, cut the middle man and plan the event yourself. That will give you an extra $1k to do other things with. Furthermore, the reception is where the cost is anyways (well, unless you go with a fancy venue), so that suggestion doesn't' really save a lot of money.

You can easily trim costs with: 1) Stationary. Consider going electronic for most of it, 2). guest list count - this will be vital to reducing all your costs elsewhere. Have a line and don't cross it. Ours was everyone had to know both of us as a couple. So there in our lives within the last 5 years. That trimmed our list to 65 invited; 50 attended. 2) Food. Be very frugal with your caterer. Hunt for a $20/pp max or consider alternative food options. 3) DJ - while great, you can get by with a clever playlist list. More work and you need to figure out an MC situation, but it can be done. 4) Decor. DIY what you can, go simple. Search dollar stores, produce junctions or other such places for flowers, get inexpensive favors (or cut them all together, etc. 5) Alcohol - do not do an open bar. Go wine and beer only. 6) Venue. Parks, fire halls, and family backyards are your friend.

Ive heard that if your budget is under 10000, your budget is better spent elsewhere than on a planner

Yeah I wouldn't listen to her. Our budget is the same. $7,000.00 and we are doing great our venue has a minimum of $3950.00 and that covers pretty much everything, we have a guest count of 90 people and just needs a photographer, and our attire. So I'd say its possible. Do it your way, not how anyone else thinks you should do it.

View Quoted Comment Katie!! Check out Fairview Green River if you're in So Cal. They're super professional and really reasonable! It fit my budget and I was definitely under yours for around the same amount of people! They do a ton for you too! Food, cake, set up and tear down, centerpiece options, linens, partial DOC, and DJ are all included!
https://www.fairviewevents.com/locations/green-river-corona-ca

View Quoted Comment

Oh my goodness wow. just wow. I'm so baffled that SHE would have the nerve to tell YOU no, like this is your wedding, if that's what you want & will allow you to do what you want in your budget, then that's what you want.

I'd say if the community center is where you wanna go, do it! Especially cause a lot of community centers are nicer than what people think. And really, there is no harm at all in decorating yourself, then you know you will have it done the way YOU want it

It's 100% doable if you have the right planning techniques! Go to town on Pinterest and find things that you want and then find ways to make those things (or at least most of them) happen in a budget friendly way.

A lot of my ideas stemmed from Pinterest! I found a lot of good deals on Amazon and then asked people in the wedding industry for budget friendly websites. We got our satin table runners for $0.69 each, table mirrors for around $2.75 each, vases for $1.00 each, flowers will be $1.00 per stem at our local flower wholesaler, I found my dress on the discount rack and was able to get my dream veil because of that.

Just do research on deals, sometimes I've even gotten discount offers via wedding expos for food/photography/DJ and make sure that you look at reviews too because sometimes a lower price tag can mean significantly lower quality of service! Also if you know anyone in the wedding industry (or even planning a wedding themselves), see if they can get you deals!

First of all- she is fired! Just tell her you'd rather family be able to e joy the wedding without working it away. Then I'd just hire a day-of coordinator. Keep it small and intimate, and watch your venue prices. Shop around, and be open to odd suggestions. We ended up finding a plantation-style former military mess hall that's huge, beautiful with tall windows and chandeliers, can hold our wedding and reception, and its only $175/hr. Be more frugal with your photographer/ videographer or skip the videographer. We're doing our own music to save some $$$.