What's the budget

So our budget is $15k for approx. 100 persons for our October wedding. We are trying to keep it between $10k-$15k as my fiancé and I are paying for the wedding ourselves. $10k and less for that many guests is pretty challenging. Not impossible if you can get a lot of things for free or at significant discounts (50-100% off), but definitely challenging. I don't say this to discourage you. Just stating what we are currently experiencing.

I think it’s going to depend on location, what kind of meal and service you’re looking to have. A BBQ dinner is going to be a lot less expensive than a plated 3-course meal, and holding your wedding in a private backyard will be less expensive than a ballroom in a resort hotel.


I live in a high cost-of-living area (Southern California - live in Los Angeles/Orange County, but wedding in San Diego) so my wedding for 180 people (that includes 12 vendor meals) was over $100k. That included everything but our honeymoon and my engagement ring. However, we also threw a multi-event wedding.

I think the first step is figuring out what you can afford and what are “must-haves” for your wedding. Getting an idea of how much things cost in your area (such as venues, photographers, DJ, catering, etc) will be a good indicator of what kind of budget is realistic and if you need to either increase the budget or cut your guest list.
Does your budget include your dress? Hair/makeup? Wedding bands? Honeymoon? Or is that $5-8k strictly just for venue and catering?

View Quoted Comment Thanks hun and i do have a little bit of help my cousin is a wedding planner my other cousin is a cater so my family is helping as much as they can my venue is not that experience its a ballroom kinda feel. I just want my vision to come thru

View Quoted Comment Non of those things aee included in my budget. My budget is venue,decor,flowers,dj, photographer,and catering with some miscellaneous things added. So im thinking should we up our budget

Depending o. What are you live in you hay have to double your budget for that number of guest. If you cut it down to 100 it will save you more money. I’d go with a buffet style. Get simple slim glass vases from the dollar store and place a mini meal amount of flowers in them. And get a pack of 100-200 tea light candles that will cost you around 15-20$. Try vista print for your invites, STDs etc. they have 50% off sales frequently. You can get your dress from DB or fashionnova, lulus, cocomelody, ModCloth, or if you want designer for less try Stillwhite, nearlynewlywed and preownedweddingdress. Your bridal party if you have one can get a dress from Azazie and have small bouquets. Etsy has very inexpensive veils and wedding jewelry. Thumbtack app has inexpensive dj, photographers/videographers. Just try to get as much done as early as possible.

Something simple and chic like this

Depends on which state and what type of venue you choose. Were getting married in RI which is super expensive. Our budget was originally 10k (I laugh now) for 65 people and after all the vendors/dress/transportation/hotel/etc. we are close to 20k now. Luckily both of our families are helping out where they can especially since we are a one income household (my fiance is a FT medical student)

Our wedding is only for 25-30 people and we’re spending approximately 8k for everything (venues, catering, flowers, photography, rentals, attire, rings, decor, cake).

As others have said, budget has a lot of variables which will affect it. I’m from a major city in Australia and our wedding is costing us about $33,000 USD ($52,000 AUD) for 120-130 people but we are having all the bells in whistles.
I think you should look at budget before you consider guest count because sometimes budget might not accommodate your guest count depending on what your non negotiable are.

I’m getting married this October (originally May but postponed due to COVID) and the cost for venue, catering, videographer, photographer, dj, florist, decor, rings, gifts for bridal party and parents is about $25K and that’s for 115 guests. I live in MA and we looked at multiple vendors in each category to get the best deal.


I think if you do a lot of DIY you MAY be able to get around 15k, but I wouldn’t expect any less than that if you’re going to have a lot of vendors.

I think it is possible to stay within your budget if you don’t do a venue with all inclusive vendors but that would require you having to hire each vendor separately. It’s more time consuming but it can be done

i can see that as doable if you have cheaper catering and venue options

View Quoted Comment Thanks that was really helpful😃i have been looking at somethings on the weband i have a wedding planner thats been helpful with som DYI things

View Quoted Comment Wow!!!looks like im going to have to up my budget

View Quoted Comment I live in mississippi and i have a little help from parents friends and so on bt my family will have to travel cause im originally from texas so im reaaly trying to show them we are not so country we city folks too lol

View Quoted Comment We would have some help from our parents my cousins is my wedding planner and my other cousin will be my cater his friend will dj just want to make sure i get what i want and everything comes together

You can definitely make it work! You’ll have to research venues that are free or charge a small fee, low cost food, or just cake & punch (if your doing a reception outside of mealtime), and have the wedding on weekday rather than the weekend. We are inviting 100 guests and are estimating $22k-$23k for the day.

Definitely depends on venue and what you plan to do for food/drinks. My intimate wedding of 30 turned out to cost us almost $30k but it was a destination + 7 whole days. I think whatever y’all feel comfortable spending is what your budget ends up being.

Im also in SoCal and for 50 people (Pasadena, CA) its going to be 30K :x Bear in mind I sunk 5.5K of it into my photographer/videographer because capturing the moment to relive those memories 10, 20, 30 years down the line was reallllly important to me. My priorities was that and food so thats where I went ham.

13K food
4K Venue
2K Coordinator
5.5K Photography
Its really what you envision at the end of the day. I dont have any flowers, bearly any decor (Japanese Garden), and only 2 bridesmaids, and 2 groomsmen, and no DJ. We just wanted people to eat and enjoy the day together

View Quoted Comment

I totally get it. That's my struggle right now is making sure the vision comes true.