We can no longer afford our wedding and it may be too late!

Don't let the wedding be the focus of your life, it's the marriage that matters. DH and I were saving up for a nice ceremony and reception, had the venue reserved, photographer reserved, dress, BM dresses, suits, etc. and about 2 months before the wedding, right after we sent out our invites, we ended up buying a house and decided we could not afford the wedding we were going for.. we actually moved it to our backyard and it cost sooo much less.. we spent some of the money we saved for the wedding on moving expenses and minor repairs that would immediately need to be made to the house and the rest is in savings..

Don't be afraid to push the date back or do something smaller. In the end, it matters most that you are happily married, right?

Aww that stinks. Why don't you call your venders and say you are psopoing the event for another year? Also, you friends will understand no matter what you decide if they are real friends.

I should add, DH and I were married 9 months PRIOR to that wedding.. we had a civil ceremony with just our closest friends and parents. Everyone knew about it, it was no big secret, but because of our circumstances, we wanted to be married before we could afford a wedding and it really was the best thing for us.. maybe something for you to consider?

I'm sorry Kelli. Me and FH can relate to this as students (and as date twins as well!) we know how nerve racking it is right now too. My best advice is to scale back everything you can. Remember the day is about the marriage. If the relatonship falls apart while you are planning your marriage kick off party whats the point?

How many guests do you have? I would change your plans for the catering if its going to cost thousands. Even just a cake and punch would be just fine! You may just have to cut your losses on a few things. Tell us more about your wedding and maybe we can help you come up with a new plan?

FH and I cut the guest list way down and are self catering to keep our food budget in check for examples. Lots of people here can help you come up with some ideas to work with your new budget.

I am so sorry. Maybe see if you can push the date back, most venues will work with you. As far as a caterer goes, is there a cheaper route?

We had a last minute venue change (after our save the dates went out), and we decided we didn't want to go broke for a wedding either. We are getting married at a public park with a lake, and having the reception at a restaurant on the same lake.

Financially, weddings suck lol but this should be a happy time, dont let it interfere with your relationship. Good luck!

Ok calm down. You still have about 5 months to go. You do not want to get a loan for your wedding. Think more long term. Weddings is for only one day. Maybe you can talk to your venue and set a later date. Redo your budget for the wedding and stick to what you can do. It's not worth starting off a marriage with debt and more debt. Think about what you really don't need. Also how big is your guest list? The most important expense is how many people you are inviting. You had already sent out your save the date which is early. Since you did not send invitations this is the time to see who you really want to be there. Also you can do a destination wedding for very less and they do everything for you. Also what other couples do is just do the cermony and have the reception at a later date. If you belong to a church than it should be less money and just have that. And let your guests know at a later date you plan to have a reception if you like.

Figure out what is very importnant to you. Your husband maybe able to get a job before than but it puts more stress upon both of you. Also is there away you can get a job or part time etc? For me I wanted everything at my wedding but I had to decide what was my must have and what is extra. The less people you invite the less it cost.

We have only invited very close friends and family. The guest list is around 80 people. Another thing I did not mention is that we too, just bought a house 6 months ago :/. We are very minimalistic people and I plan on doing a lot of the stuff myself. I have designed all of the invitations myself and have a friend who owns a printing shop. We were given a very good deal on the cake. So far, I have felt very lucky. Considering the average cost of a wedding is around $25,000, ours will be nowhere near that when it is over. The most expensive purchase I have made has been my dress at $1100.00. Our DJ is $850.00 for 6 hours. The food will be $50.00 a person and that includes a full bar, but does not include the 18% gratuity or tax. So, being the fanatic person I am who freaks out over everything...my biggest worry right now is the dj and the food. You have to tip the dj on top of the price of his service. For the food. Assuming every single person decides to come, not counting the gratuity

You can always consider changing things up to make the expenses less. I am a stay at home mom and a student, my fiancé is the bread winner. I have done TONS of research on how to save money on my wedding. I'd have to know more specifics but if you are interested in changing things around and need some help, let me know! I can give you some tips on things I am doing so you can cut back. My entire wedding (not including our rings) is going to be 9K or less for about 70 guests, and we are doing a buffet AND open bar! You might be able to change your orders that you already put deposits on also if you talk to your venders!

Or the tax the food will be $4000.00. These are the two things that have me up all night long stressing out.

I say ditch the cake you have lost your deposit but that's no big deal. What had you planned and what can you ditch. Like champagne easilly ditched. No photog yet, find a student to do it, Don't do any kind of floral decorations, Make easy invites with no folds etc lighter in weight lighter in postage. talk to mom dad etc, ask if in lieu of a gift mom would mind paying $ towards wine on the tables. Talk in in laws, ask if in lieu of doing a rehersal dinner (not necessary) if they would mind paying 1/4 of dinner cost for wedding.

Did you contact with the dj? If not either try to negotiate a lower price or find someone else to dj maybe for a smaller amount of time. Also, you can scale down your bar maybe eliminate alcohol or only have it for a certain amount of time. With the food can you look at your selections to see what you can eliminate that should help cut down the $50 per person price for your reception.

There are many ways you can decrease that catering bill and you dont have to have a DJ. You may have to make some hard decisions. Caterering alone without taxes will be like 4k assuming everyone comes. You may not everything you wanted, but I think your relationship is the most important part of the wedding!

Definitely talk to catering about your package... I bet you could cut down to significantly reduce the cost! Also ifd you haven't sent out the invites yet maybe cut the list to 50? even 30 less people x $50+ 18% is almost $2K