WE'RE BROKE

I agree in that you shouldn't take out a loan BUT like an earlier poster said you also have to do what is WORTH it to you. If you do take out a loan, can you pay it back, is it going to be a financial strain? These are things only you know but I personally would suggest if you want to get married soon, cut the guest list and prioritize what important yo you. We have a 5K budget being paid all in cash no credit/loans and we splurged on the venue. dress and flowers (MIL bought the dress) because that's what was important to us we would have splurged on photography but we got lucky and found someone amazing in our budget. The most important thing is that you have no regrets if you think your going to have regrets wait or take out the loan, although I don't reccomend a loan, good luck and Happy Planning!

Yes we're ridiculously broke after bills and saving! So I feel you sister! We're having a long engagement, and I research everything to death to make sure we're getting the most bang for our buck. Anything on the bottom of the priority list will get cut if we end up not being to afford things.

I like to use the term financially challenged, LOL. Yes it is very hard. I get paid weekly and I save a little bit every week and it does add up. I took the amount I need and how many weeks I had to save and divided it and that is what I save every week.

We had the same problem. Ours was a total of $6000 but it felt like it took forever to get it all paid off. We had it all paid in full in cash by the day of, but it was a pain not being able to spend any money. In the end it is totally worth it!

I understand feeling broke and not being able to catch up...but don't start your marriage off with debt. It's not worth it. We spent $3000 total on our wedding and our wedding received rave reviews. We were even compared to a $30k wedding and an $80k wedding and people STILL said they had a much better time and the food was better (everything was homemade). Just cut the guest list or the budget...you still have a while...it'll happen!

I would suggest to not go into debt, if you can in the future have a vow renewal of your dreams...if you can't have everything you want now. The person who sacrifices will have most in the end. You can have a fairy tale cutting corners too. Make your own flower arrangements, your own favors, look at places on ebay for decorations, look for intimate spaces like a park for your ceremony, beach,... you can do this, dont stress!

Like some of the others said, you need to do what you feel comfortable with and what you feel is worth. We're in the same boat.. Not a lot of extra money so we decided to have a more intimate wedding (we're inviting about 80 people, but im sure 20% of those people will not make it), also DIY for everything. I'm keeping it casual and I personally feel for us, we're happy with that. It's a party and it's celebrating you're love so it shouldn't have to be over the top unless that's exactly what you guys want and you're willing to pay the price. We are paying cash for everything and slowly saving up.. So it's your choice, but remember it's one day and you can use all you would've spent towards a house or car or something you guys will have for a long time. Good luck with everything hun!

Awww thank you to absolutely everyone who has contributed your input!!! We are definitely saving as much as we can and I am looking into ways to DIY for invitations, flowers, etc. any recommendations on those would be greatly appreciated but thank you all so much!

We will be taking out a loan! We're so used to saving for the wedding now that it will be easy to pay back the loan by a year after the wedding, and we don't have to push out our date. I think it's fine to take out a loan if you're successfully saving money already every month... But if not, best not to!