Wedding in Chicago for 10k-13k and 300guests... what are my options?

That’s a fairly high cost of living area. I had half that amount of guests in a similar cost area and my budget was double yours. I think you need to cut your guest list or significantly increase your budget.

I'm honestly not sure how this is going to work. I'm getting married in a relatively low-cost area (Delaware, where there's not sales tax and the rural area is super inexpensive), with budget-friendly catering, with 130 guests or less, and am spending 12K.

These are unrealistic expectations. You cannot invite 300 people for under 10k. You might be able to invite 50 on that budget, and you’ll still have to be conscientious about how much food, venue, and alcohol you will need. Food may be 100 dollars a plate. It may be 50 or even 26, but do the math and see if what you are anticipating is an option for you anywhere else. 50 bucks a person (which is affordable) will run you 15k just for food. Doesn’t include alcohol, or venue, or dress, or flowers, or anything.

You may be able to do this not in Chicago. There are many places in rural areas and parts of Pennsylvania that will do things for a reasonable price, and some places won’t. Food alone will cost you abou that much, even if it’s cheap. This is a high cost of living area and that means everything, food, alcohol, venue cost more because demand is higher. People will pay it if they want to get married there. Best of luck, but if you want your dream wedding in Chicago, I think you’re going to either cut your list to 50 or fewer, or up your budget by at least 30K. Feeding 300 people is not cheap no matter where you have your wedding. My wedding was like 6k for 50 people.

Cake and punch? Breakfast? MAYBE brunch? This is not doable in Chicago with a venue and licensed caterer.

I'm doing a brunch wedding for 70 in a rural southern location. Just my gown, photographers and rentals and I'm already over 5k. Add the venue, catering, etc and the wedding and honeymoon (4 days in Savannah) should be roughly 10-12k. I've economized in so many ways. Brunch vs dinner, regular venue vs state park, diy flowers vs florist, mimosas and bloody Mary bar vs open bar, etc. You probably could have a lovely 1920s wedding but you really need to reduce your guests by about 250.

Food wise. Italian and Greek are cheap
Venue wise. Think outside the box. Look into state/county buildings for rent. The draw back is that some of these have alcohol restrictions and won't stay open until the wee hours of the night.

That being said, I love my venue and the fact it only cost me $1200 for the day.

Check out costofwedding.com. Weddings in Chicago (zip code 60602 specifically) range from $25,802 and $43,003 and I don't think that number accounts for 300 people.

Like everyone else has said you need to cut your guest list. I am having a wedding in the Catskills area of New York and just the venue was just under 12,000. But that covers food, open bar, ceremony site, cake, and a place for FH and I to stay. We also only have about 104 people invited. That is not including florist, photographer, DJ, Dress, and Decor.

Or like others have said find other alternatives so that maybe you can invite all those people. But to me it still seems unlikely.

I also think it's impossible. I was a BM in a wedding last year. My friend got married in Schaumburg, IL (about one hour outside the city) and spent about $12000-$14000 total with an all-inclusive venue. But she maybe had 125 ppl. Just to feed 300 people for less than $10K you need to spend under $33 per person including tax and tip for food, which is certainly impossible for a licensed caterer in Chicago. Even without a licensed caterer, buying that much food and alcohol for 300 for under $33 per person would be challenging. And that doesn't include anything else in your wedding.

My wedding was about $9500 for 75 ppl in rural upstate New York. We had full open bar, buffet dinner, photographer, dress, the whole, so you can absolutely have a wedding for under $10K but not for 300 ppl.

I'm spending about $18K for 150 guests in FL. Chicago is an area with a high cost of living. I'd recommend cutting the guest list, that's the best way to host your guests well and not overwhelm yourself.

Ways to cut costs:

Cut the guest list (!!!)

Try Italian catering or BBQ (we are getting southern BBQ with 3 smoked meats and 5 sides for $25 a plate including sauces and drinks and veggie options)

Skip the flowers, candles are romantic and will get the job done for centerpieces

Buy a less expensive dress from Davids Bridal or a resell shop, cocomelody and other stores also have low price dresses that are beautiful

Try a community center or a fire hall for the wedding, these are usually less expensive.

If you have to, buy the linens instead of renting, way cheaper

Invites from Vistaprint are very inexpensive and good quality (they have 50% off sales frequently)

Hi everyone, thank you for the responses. I should have specified that I just mean the venue, catering, and alcohol (parking maybe) only. Everything else has been accounted for

Do this still seem unfeasible to everyone, even in the suburbs?

You need to adjust your expectations. There is no way to properly host 300 people on 10-13K.

Your options are to either significantly cut your guest list (to approx. 50 ppl) or significantly increase your budget. Both are doable it is just a matter of what you value more.

To cut your list start building it from just you and your FS, then add parents, grandparents, siblings (and Significant Others). Still have space then start adding your wedding party, close friends, etc. Keep building til you reach capacity, perhaps adding aunts and uncles next. This will likely mean not inviting any cousins, no coworkers, no family friends, etc.

Or you can increase your budget by pushing the wedding date back (giving you more time to save) and picking up extra work. Can you work extra hours at your current job? Can you pick up a second job on evenings/weekends? Do you have anything that you could sell to earn extra money? This will be time consuming and exhausting but, if you really want it you'll need to work hard to get it.

Ensure you are looking into other budget saving ideas too. Consider brunch or lunch instead of dinner. Opt for a limited bar of just beer and wine instead of a full open bar. Limit the number of people in your wedding party. Look into off season rates, discounts for having it on a Friday or Sunday, etc. Eliminate any non-essential items like programs, favors, signage, and most decor items. Your overall priority though should be your guests comfort and enjoyment so, focus on the things that will affect them and limit spending on everything else.

Good luck! I live in a lower COLA then Chicago and I'm probably going to hit about $7500-8K for 30 guests. I've splurged on a few items and probably could have done it cheaper but, not by too much.

I absolutely agree with PP that this is not possible. However, I live in the western suburbs (Aurora) and we did look at a venue (a banquet hall) that was all inclusive with food and full open bar for $47/person. It's fairly generic and would need to be decorated, but was the most affordable place we looked at. The venue we chose is a little higher than that but we will still be hosting 200+ guests for less than $15K (not including photographer; DJ; etc.) It even has a covered outdoor patio area which I love. If you are open to banquet halls, there are plenty of all inclusive locations throughout the suburbs that are much more affordable than $100-$150/person. They would need some TLC to fit your theme, and you'd still need to cut your guest list to fit your budget, but for what you get a lot of these places are fairly reasonable, at least in my opinion!

View Quoted Comment Yes, that still seems impossible. My catering/alcohol bill was that total for 130 people.

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Not likely. Breaking it down you are estimating about $35-40 pp including gratuity, taxes and fees. I don't think you will find something that meets that goal. Perhaps you could find a cheap BBQ place or do something like Olive Garden but, I'm not sure you will get alcohol and a venue too for that price.

What is your overall budget? Food and venue costs should be approx. 50-60% of your overall total. If you give us an idea of how much you are spending on everything else we might be able to suggest areas where you can cut back. Food and alcohol is crucial to your guests enjoyment and should be your top priority. It should be the last budget item you skimp on when planning.

10K for 300 people is only $33/head. You're not going to find a nice meal plus alcohol in a major city like Chicago for only $33/head. Not even my rehearsal dinner was that cheap. Cut your guest list in HALF and you might be able to make it happen. Your expectations need a serious readjustment.

View Quoted Comment Kaye where is this? 😍

Agree with PPs. Just our open bar at our venue is about $30/head. And that doesn’t include bartender tips, tax, any of those extra costs.

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Kaye, This is unrelated to this particular post, but every time you post these pictures I mean to tell you I think your venue is stunning.... We're suburban So Cal people so nothing like this exists in our area, but it just looks like the most awesome place. I could sit in one of those rockers for days!

View Quoted Comment Yes. Like P/P have said, Chicago is high cost and popular. You're catering alone will annihilate your $10k budget. I sincerely doubt you'll find acceptable catering in that area for less than $50/p which puts you at $15k.

Venues below a couple of grand are few and far between, especially those with space to accommodate 300 guests and vendors.

Hi There! Welcome to WeddingWire!

I love big gigantic weddings! You have well over a year to plan and tweak your ideas to put on a great show for your guests and have a special day with your FS.

Thought you might like to see the WeddingWire Cost Guide It is super helpful and identifies hidden costs!

Also, here is a our WeddingWire Budget tool!