Wedding budget under $1000! Is this doable?

Hi Jenna- the ladies are giving you good advice. But just as an FYI - please read the WW sticky and change your avatar. The default rings are often associated with spam or trolls. If you change it you will get more responses.

If you save $25 a week for a year, that alone would be $1300. If you save the same amount for 2 years, you have $2600. The suggestions you've already gotten are good ones...wait another year, and/or consider having a courthouse wedding with a nice dinner reception.

What tends to really eat a lot of the budget is catering. So of course the more people you have, the more that goes up. Our hotel we are having the reception at was only $400 to rent, but our catering is going to be several thousand dollars. You can totally just elope then throw a small family get together, or have a small cake/punch reception maybe. Some days I think I am crazy for having this big wedding!

I would either wait and save or get married at the courthouse and have a small intimate dinner with close friends and family.

Agree with the others....either wait or have a courthouse wedding followed by a nice dinner out for you and your immediate family.

Is this a real question? Sorry but I can't see how it's possible, unless you get married at city hall and go for dinner...

You should look into either a Sunday brunch wedding or a Friday evening wedding. I hear both options can be great cost savers! You can also ask a friend or family member to get ordained and marry you -- for free. I think the online certification is only about $50.

We bought a house in March, and are also paying for our own wedding. We scaled our wedding down a lot and cut the guest list down. But I also have been buying things and saving for this wedding for a while. I would wait if having a nice wedding is important to you. You can still do something nice with $1,000, just not with 75 people.

The only way it would be possible with the amount of people is to do this:

Rent a community center's room (search the town you want and community center or rent a facility, etc). The ones in my area are around $400 for 5 hours for a room that size and they often have chairs and tables provided. Have the ceremony and reception there. Get plastic tables cloths from the Dollar Tree, because your budget can't afford cloth ones. No chair covers. You can also get a couple decorations from the Dollar Tree. Things like streamers and banners. They actually have a nice Wedding section (The Dollar Tree, not one of the generic dollar stores that aren't actually $1). So that's maybe $30 there for the bare minimum. Call local pizza places and ask about pricing for catering pasta. Not pizza, because that is crappy for a wedding. I've put together lunches in my office that are $5-6/person when we get Pizza, Salad, Pasta with meatballs and bread sticks. That includes tip and delivery, too. They come in those large foil trays. Most places will provide napkins and plates, but if you want something nicer, go to the Dollar Tree for those or maybe even a wholesale club like Sam's Club. So, without the pizza, and if you get an aunt or uncle to go pick it up so you don't have to tip, then that should be about $300 for food (accounting for the declines and assuming you will have 75). That would be salad, pasta with meatballs and bread sticks. Which is a good meal. You will have to provide drinks. I suggest just doing water bottles (if you have an Aldi by you, they have 24 packs of bottled water for $3). And maybe 3 kinds of pop cans. Cans would look better than 2 liter bottles. You can't have alcohol because that would mean you would have to pay an extra deposit in the hall and hire a security guard. So, we are up to about $800. So you have $200 left for the Officiant and your wedding dress. Find a cheap dress on ebay, Craigslist, FB selling sites or the David's Bridal $99 sale. Get a corset back so you don't have alterations to do around the chest and a simple skirt so alterations on the bottom won't be much. For flowers you can go to the grocery store and get bunches and put them together the night before.

So basically, it will be very tight, but it is possible. I would also suggest you push the date back so you have time to save more and more time to hunt for more deals (like on the dress).

It's doable if you cut the guest list to less than 20 people and have a restaurant reception.

We're getting married in our backyard, DIYing almost everything, and it is still costing us about $3k for 60 guests due to tent/chair/table rentals, food, alcohol, photos, and other unexpected costs.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the JOP and a restaurant with close family. You could do cake and punch during the day and leave it at that. $1,000 just isn't enough to do more. There also isn't anything wrong with having a courthouse wedding now and doing a vow renewal in a couple years.

Could you please not just drive by and drop a "Can I have a $1000 wedding for 75-100 people?" and not come back to either see the advice or respond?

For real though.

And Pancakes' plan only works in certain areas of the country where rental costs are lower. I just pulled up the meeting room rental schedule for the town I live in, and for a room that holds 76 people, it would run you $725 for 5 hours as a resident, or $1025 as a non-resident. Even the park shelters start at $700-$900 for an 8-hour rental.

I am all for a budget wedding. I am helping a family friend plan one with a similar budget, but it is much smaller. That being said, a BBQ caterer will usually cost you between $7 - $15 a head. So you need to take that into account. Each person you have increase your budget for food, seating, and decor.

I am personally a fan of intimate hors d'ouevres wedding. I helped my mother host one out of our clubhouse in her neighborhood one year. When your budget is limited you have to decide what you are willing to give up to make it work. A $1000 wedding is feasible, just means you have to make cuts.

I see quite a few couples that either elope or have a small wedding celebration, and then have a huge reception for an anniversary.

My wife and I had a small extended cocktail hour for 30 people. We'll eventually have something larger for our 10th anniversary.

McDonald's prices are about 8.00 for a value meal. According to her profile, she is in Pittsburgh, not known to be a super cheap place either. Getting McDonald's for 100 people would be 800.00 of her 1k budget. What should she wear? I wore a 100.00 dress. That's 900.00 spent. She needs the license, that's about 80.00 and an officiant. She would have to have an officiant for 20.00.

A JOP wedding with cake and punch or a restaurant for close family only is indeed do-able.

The rest, not so much.

I would start out with Pancakes idea and see what you can do with it in your area.

Yes, its doable.
We rented a huge park pavillion with an overlook fo $100.

Budget food for $500. Sams club has 3tier cakes for $70 or opt for a sheet cake, donuts, cupcakes. Sams also sells veggie platters for $9.99. Make inexpensive foods that can be made in advance such as cole slaw, pulled pork or chicken, cucumber salad, or baked beans. Consider places like popeyes for catering. Dont be afraid to grill or have a breakfast, lunch, or brunch reception.

Decor, thrift stores are amazing. People dump used wedding stuff all the time. I bought a huge box of quilted masonjars for under $10. Glassware solved.
Reuse and recycle. We're using little glass yogurt jars as tea light holders and creating luminaries with tin cans by punching holes in them.
Sheets make great table cloths and curtains.
Use flowers that are in bloom for bud vases.
Grocery stores sell bouquets for $9.99
Consider opting out of flowers for herbs planted in recycled tin cans.

Photography. Ask a friend, Ask that people chip in as a wedding gift, or create an instagram hashtag to collect guest photographs.

Zola.com is amazing( not affiliated). Create a wedding website for free, create a registry online, and guests can rsvp online saving money on stamps and cards.

Alcohol. I work at a restaurant so Im able to use our wholesale distributor. Sparkling wine is $2.50 a bottle. Yes, its cheap but most people dont drink it after the toast anyway. Plus you can create a mimosa bar. Consider a keg or two. Also, creating a signature cocktail allows you to make large batches using cheaper alcohol(guests wont see the bottle if its premade) or consider sangria( yay box wine).

Get creative!

Oh, and wedding dress at goodwill for $40. Wedding rings were clearanced for $35 for the tri set at walmart. Licence in MD is $55.