Super small and cheap wedding

@ JillR i would love to see your budget and ideas. And I was actually thinking of a BBQ catering and picking it up but i have to find a venue that allows that. Most want you to use theirs or you have to pay an outside catering fee but im still looking.

Use most of the money on food and the photography. The food will be good for the guests and your gonna want some beautiful photos.

I have 60 people on my list and have stuck to my budget of 3,000 so far . The venue is only 540.00$ and has all the tables and chairs already. We have a friend who is an amazing cook and he and a helper are cooking an amazing bbq spread for our reception. It can be done you just have to decide what your priorities are and spend what you have on those things.

@casey how did you find a venue so cheap? Did you do a state park or something?

Restaurant in Tacoma? Old Spaghetti Factory! :-D

Your best bet for photos is to try to find a pro who has a second shooter with a growing portfolio that is ready to take on their first or second solo gig. I know a couple photogs up there I could refer you to if you're interested. Feel free to drop me a line through my website or here on WW.

@Casey - is your friend a caterer? I ask because a bride posted last week about a friend who did BBQ for them and they had food poisoning so bad they couldn't fly and missed the first day of their honeymoon. Food safety for 60 people is not something to be taken lightly!

@Emily - is $2500 for the WHOLE wedding and reception including your dress etc?

My dress was 199. And venue was 350. You just have to do tons of research and find good deals.

Try Johnny's Dock Restaurant? They can accommodate 50 and you can arrange a delicious meal of house salad, crispy fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes for $17 plus 18% gratuity. The pasta entree is just a bit more, if you want to offer a choice. It's on a dock with a great view of the water, so you really don't need to decorate. Because it's a restaurant, they have tables and place settings and so on; you don't need to rent anything. The room requires a $100 deposit, but you can put that towards the overall cost of the meal so really you don't pay anything for the venue. You'll have to cover the alcohol bill, of course, but it's still pretty cheap for a nice meal in a beautiful place.

Self catering is not a rude and awful thing to do! OP, please consider these posts as the OPINIONS that they are. There are certainly definitive advantages and disadvantages to almost everything and we could argue points until the cows come home. Also consider the posts from vendors who have a monetary stake in the game. You might also consider excluding them from commenting on future posts. I know I certainly will.

Mrs Johnson has entered the thread.....

Self catering is rude and awful mrsjohnson. I thought we took away your advice giving rights?

In a counterargument, please think twice before excluding the vendors. They are wedding pros offering free advice, when they have nothing at all the gain from it (Centerpiece is certainly not going to benefit financially from suggesting you cut your guest list and go to a restaurant). The rest of us are amateurs; they see more weddings in a month than we do in a year and they know their stuff. Some of the best advice in my whole planning process has come from vendors, including the ones who offered me words of comfort during a family crisis. Just worth considering in the face of what I'd consider a poor suggestion.

I have 60 people and it's really impossible to pull this off for $2500. I'm spending ~$6k on everything and my wedding is in a very cheap, low cost town- cost of living is extremely low in the area.

I would cut the guest list first.

Look for alternatives to the normal venues, just being notable as a wedding venue seems to up the price. Possibility a cake and punch reception in the afternoon if you want more people. And a whole lot of DIY if you plan on decor. If you plan to grow your flowers have a backup plan in place, last thing you want is mother nature throwing a curve ball and killing them a week before.

Also, be aware DIY is not always the cheapest option. Your time, materials, and knowledge have costs too and often it's way more expensive.

"Also consider the posts from vendors who have a monetary stake in the game. You might also consider excluding them from commenting on future posts. I know I certainly will. "

Definitely consider having it at a restaurant. It's usually cheaper to rent out a private room and have them feed you than to have someone cater at a different location. You could also have drop-off catering like Italian or BBQ. In my area, you can find it for $10/person, so it would only cost you $500. For the venue, look at government-owned properties like parks. Your city might have a listing of their properties available for rent on their website. Government-owned properties are usually much cheaper than other venues. Also, be on the lookout for David's Bridals' $99 dress sale.

The "vendors" have been to more weddings in one year than I will probably ever go to. If anything, they know everything there is to know about weddings!!!

Emily, check out www.CostOfWedding.com to get an idea of prices in YOUR area.

This advice coming from a professional civil wedding officiant with 1,541 ceremonies under her belt (as of Sunday).

@emily - bear with me, this will be long! But here's my budget:

Venue: small, historic park run by the county historical society. provides chapel, outdoor areas for food and photos, picnic tables for up to 60 guests, and use of their sound system. $500

STD's: postcards from the venue, $5

Invites and RSVP cards: $42.50, vistaprint during 50% off sale.

Postage for STD's and Invites: $32.50

Officiant: FH's aunt is an ordained minister. donation to her church $100

Photographer: paid by the hour instead of a big package. $600/3 hours {we get a CD with photos, but have to pay for prints}

Catering: 3 kinds of sandwiches, 2 kinds of wraps, 3 salads, a cold soup, coleslaw, rolls, lemonade and iced tea. $850, ($20pp. + $50 server gratuity.) Also includes ice, disposable plates, cups, etc. set-up, clean-up, and complimentary cake cutting service.

3 rental tables for food and cake: Taylor rental, $22 (we are picking up and dropping off in FH's truck to avoid $50 delivery fee)

Cake: $257 at Publix (best grocery store cake, EVER. It's a Florida thing.)

Cake stand and cake serving set: Amazon, $50. I could have gone cheaper here, but I had my heart set on this stand and I will use it again, so it was a good investment for me.

Attire: my dress off the rack at macy's $70. FH is wearing slacks and a dress shirt he already owns. We bought a dress for my daughter, and matching polos for the 3 boys on sale at Kohl's for $60.

My jewelry: I have a string of family pearls to wear. bought fake pearl earrings and a bracelet on Amazon for $16.

Flowers: DIY bouquet with silk flowers; plus mason jars and more silk flowers for centerpieces. ribbon, bouquet holder, and floral tape, $189 on afloral.com and Michael's

Misc: Bubbles for the kids, Wedding arrow sign, and a couple other cutesy things for the tables, Oriental Trading, $8, with a $20 off coupon.

Favors: 45 bags of locally-made, all natural kettle corn, in cellophane bags with a custom label I designed: $82

Guest book: $25 canvas I designed and printed at Walmart.

I think that's it.