Where am i on the budget spectrum for a 75 person wedding?

What's included in your budget? Is this just for catering, or alcohol too? It depends on where you live and what kind of event you're thinking of in terms of formality.

I totally agree. Went to a wedding expo yesterday and overwhelmed. I'm also having a small wedding in florida. We're guessing 60 people. We're not sure to book a venue that provides everything or do just book the venue and do everything else individually

Is that your budget for just your venue or everything total? We were right outside of Philly, $11,700 for 55 guests. That included everything.

View Quoted Comment We had an inclusive venue that provided everything (except for DJ and Photog) and planning was so easy. We were able to customize our wedding cake and centerpieces. We used their florist for the rest of our flowers as well at a separate cost.

This is getting scary! We are also figuring for 75. Our budget is a little higher but I think yours is definitely workable.
February is cold so we're looking at entirely different venues, so at least that's different.

Im expecting 16k for 50-75 guests without dj, photographer, floral arrangements population 300k

For clarification that's how much I want to spend on eveeeeerything. Here's our rundown of basics:

-Venue that includes catering and tables/chairs/linens (ceremony and reception in same place).
-DJ (no band)
-Photographer for at least 6 hours (no engagement shoot)
-Officiant
-very small wedding party (two on each side)
-tiny cutting cake and a sheet cake cut in the back for guests

Skipping:
-florist (will order or buy fake for what we absolutely need)
-favors

I'm trying to have a fairly traditional wedding and just use moderation to keep costs down.

View Quoted Comment Yes, the weather really impacted where we looked for venues but in a way it was a nice way to narrow down the options. If I had every option in my area to choose from I'd be a crazy person!

....I'm still a crazy person.

View Quoted Comment Did you talk, or take info from, the Holiday Inn on 17? As much as I keep talking about a really individualized outsdoor thing, I like the idea of having them handling the lions share. Plus, the whole round building thing appeals to me.

I live near Washington DC and when I was originally planning for 75-80, it was easily going to cost me $30k+ for a verrrry simple wedding with no frills. That was including an inexpensive dress, and probably underestimated other vendors such as photographers, DJ etc. I was looking at a “cheap” venue for the area, and got one catering quote from a caterer known to be more affordable and in just that, it was nearing $20k. That was before purchasing my own alcohol. That was with zero floral. Basically, crazy.

Now, I’m doing a 20-25 person destination wedding. It’s still not cheap because it’s at a pricier place. But overall, I’m looking at $18k for everything aside from honeymoon. And that’s including a way more expensive dress and accessories, more realistic photography budget, a few extras. I’ll be honest, I thought mine would be less than that with this option, But I knew it wouldn’t be so much low budget as it was more manageable. There’s less room for surprise charges—a lot is included.

Anyway, you’re doing good!

It would depend on your location but generally, we are spending about ~35K for 150 adults in Washington D.C., double your number (and that's with all the side cuts without limiting guest experience). So I'm estimating for 75 adults, a budget of ~$17K?

View Quoted Comment I’m impressed (see my comment above yours at my precious DC area plan!) I guess part of it though is that most things cost the same even if you have fewer guests...like venues, photographers. You save on catering and booze but not much else? I also have a feeling that the per person cost ends up being more because caterers want it to be worth their while? At any rate, good job!

I wish I could edit that last comment to say “previous” not “precious”!

It looks like I'm very fortunate to be located where I am budget-wise! I felt like it was expensive but the perspective is very helpful! Thanks for everyone who has shared so far!

I live in a big city, but not on the coast so costs are much more reasonable here. We’re looking at 10k for 100 people including everything.

View Quoted Comment I looked at them online but didn't go any further. The circular shape is a very unqieue perk to that venue though!!!

We are in Orlando and my daughter has a guest list of 131. Our budget is $13,000 which does not include the dress. So far our we have saved over $1000 by booking our venue on Black Friday and $3500 by having it on a Thursday instead of a Saturday. IN addition the flowers came in $900 under our budgeted amount. It can be done you will just have to work at finding the vendors who will work within your budget. Our caterer is also only at $3000 for a buffet with Cuban pork, beef carving station, salmon, mashed potato bar with both white and sweet potato. IN addition we will have a plated salad, yucca with onions and peppers, spanish rice, and fried plantains. You may have to step outside the normal vendors or one that is newer to find the price you want.

My budget is 15k for 150 people in Ohio... and I have had no issues. We are having an open bar, sit down meal, etc. I have not had to cut any corners. This includes the honeymoon!

View Quoted Comment Thanks! Keeping in line at 35K in DC was tough but I had a good friend that did 20K in Alexandria, VA a couple of years ago so I took notes from her. It helped that I picked a non-inclusive venue (but included all tables and chairs in the price) so I could research, pick, and choose my vendors. For instance, I picked an el la cart cater so I could have a separate cater to do just appetizers and the cake (cupcakes). My venue was also BYOB, and that saved us at least 5K. Other areas that saved bunches was having non-flower centerpieces, and non-fresh flowers bouquets and boutonnieres. Saving on the small stuff also added up. The cost of the wedding dresses were super cheap too; it's Vietnamese tradition to wear three wedding dresses. But we saved on the wedding we put into the honeymoon; we are spending ~16k on just the honeymoon.

Budget is regionally-based. You should start visiting some venues and getting pricing. If pricing is above your budget, you may want to consider lowering your guest list.