Wedding on a budget

I'd say whittle down the guest list to 30 if you want a meal. I'm having 65 people and the food alone is going to be 5k. Guests and food are expensive.
That being said you could do a ceremony in a park with a cake and punch reception instead and have the larger guest list. All you need is a cake and some drinks. Maybe chips if you're feeling nice.

Were planning on 65 guests and looking at food options for about $1200, so it’s definitely possible with 50. Were getting married at a non-traditional venue, a large group campground, and holding ceremony and reception in the same place ($250/night). We’re planning on having a taco/burrito bar, but we also looked at pizza and bbq for a similar price. Renting chairs and tables (and tents if needed) can add up, so a backyard reception may not keep you under $2000. I would contact local restaurants, many have banquet rooms you can rent with a food minimum. Some people have 30+ for rehearsal dinners (my friend had 37 I think) and do those at restaurants, it may just take some research. As PP suggested, you can also plan for a time between means and just do cake & punch, but it sounds like you want to do dinner so don’t give up! Good luck!

For a guest list that small finding a small venue and a cater might even be cheaper than a restaurant sit down. If you know a restaurant you already like that has a separate rental room give it a look but if not look for venues that do not advertise a bridal. Look at VFW's, local community club houses and meeting rooms. If you like rustic look at camp grounds mess halls for rent. There are tons of these cute little spaces that let you bring in whatever you want. My wedding is just too big for most of them. But say the rental cost is $500 (about average for that kind of a place in my area). Then you have $30 a head for a caterer. That's well in range with most catering packages.

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Thank you for the advice =). That's exactly what I had in mind. A separate rental room just hope its not as crazy as a wedding venue price.

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That's not bad! I just wanted to avoid the rental fees for tables and chairs etc. Was hoping that I could cut down on the cost by going the restaurant route. Thanks for the advice, and congrats on the wedding

I think this will vary heavily depending on type of restaurant and cost of living in your area. I absolutely think it is worth exploring, and calling around to local places you like. We are having our reception at a restaurant, but booking out the entire space so our minimum spend is quite high. (It’s also one of two “fine dinning” options in our suburb near and expensive city). We have booked for a Friday morning during winter and all these factors brought our minimum spend down quite a bit, so lunch, brunch off season etc are maybe possibilities to consider as well.

I agree with PP, try to stay under 30 guest. We found a nice little coffee/restaurant place. They have a beautiful gazebo in the back. They only fir 50 and that's it. For 50 alone, we are looking at 2300. We will be having kids but kids are either free or half price. So if we had all adults, it would be way more. Also that price does not include the venue price. We also have to get the cake from them and believe me it's not cheap. So I say keep it small. I was look at different restaurants and some charge a cake fee per person. So look into all that detail. The good thing about renting at places like this, majority of the time the tables, chairs, tablecloths, and centerpiece are included.

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Thank you! Yes I am considering getting married Monday - Thursday, I just know people will be oh sooo annoyed with us. LOL . That's great info though, I am going to check on the price differences between brunch or dinner and times of the year. Appreciate it!

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Thank you. Yes I think I am going to at least try to stay at 30 or under. I really want something nice, but can't wrap my head around spending 10k that we don't have lol. Your venue sounds like its gonna turn out great =). Thanks for the advice.