Which way do i go ?

What about having the ceremony on the beach? It will be "public" but you won't have to pay an arm and a leg for it

View Quoted Comment Absolutely considered it, until I spent a June in central Florida and realize it’s HOTT AF with no breeze and more than likely there WILL be a rain storm at some point. I appreciate your quick response 💋🫶🏽

Sasha, how about a Church? In my experience, they are very affordable and include an officiant and musician. How about a library? They usually have beautiful foyers and meeting rooms. Also, I don't think it's low rent if you have a ceremony space at your cousin's. But, if it's hot, how will you keep your guests cool?

Try Peerspace. They have places in your area they are a lot cheaper than booking a venue. Honestly, if the places we were looking for could fit our guest size we would have went with that option.

View Quoted Comment Gurllll !!!!! My thoughts exactly! I’m wracking my brain 🧠 trying to figure this out with limited access to cash, it’s my biggest concern

Look into parks department owned venues which are incredibly inexpensive and have tables, chairs and a kitchen. You provide all the vendors and other rentals you want.

If your cousin is ok with it, I would absolutely have the ceremony and reception in their backyard. You probably can't beat the price! You could get an arch relatively cheap to stand under for the vows, rent some chairs, and may have a family member or friend officiate. Seems like it would be the best bet to keep everything economical!

If your cousin back yard is good for the reception then it will be for the wedding as well get a tent for the reception and have the wedding outside on the property. And save moving from 2 different locations

An issue with backyard receptions is that you then have to pay to bring in pretty much everything: tables, chairs, plates, silverware, tents, the catering staff to travel to your home, etc. This can sometimes cost more than a venue. I would gather the costs to do this first before deciding on the cousin’s backyard. Try looking for all-inclusive venues as these tend to give you what you need at a better price.

It's actually not that cheap to have a backyard reception. You need to think of things like weather plan B, electrical power, water, bathrooms, heating/cooling issues, parking, to name just a few. All of these will really impact the comfort of your guests.

The best way to cut the cost of a wedding is to lower the number of guests. Good luck with making the decisions, it's tough!

View Quoted Comment I appreciate this point of view very much, overwhelmed is putting it mildly. I definitely see why folks just elope

View Quoted Comment Seriously considering lowering the guest count. I sent out the STD’s about a week ago and got back about 25 from about 80 and I’m not even mad about it. I’m secretly hoping less people drop out …. This mess is EXPENSIVE

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Once you send STD's, you're kind of locked in with the guest list. I guess just don't add any more at this point. Yes, the biggest expense in weddings is the guest count.

What do you mean you got 25 back from STD's? Those don't require a response. Invitations need an RSVP, and are sent out 6-8 weeks before the date of the wedding. Anyone that got a STD needs to get a formal invitation. So currently your guest list is all the people that got an STD, so you can't lower the guest count at this point without uninviting people.

Other ways to save is to have your event on a Friday or Sunday, or consider having a lunch/brunch reception.

View Quoted Comment I did my STD’s a bit different, when I sent them out I also sent a google form attached(I did it electronic) the google form asked for their mailing address for formal invitations, so I doing so, I could get a general headcount of those interested. And so far since I sent out about 80 or so all with the option to Plus One, I’ve only received back about 25… so without them filling out the form, I don’t have addresses to send the invitations

Unfortunately, it's your job to then contact people in like March of '23 to get the addresses so you can send the invitations out in April. Your wedding isn't for a year, no-one is going to feel urgency to send their addresses now. I wouldn't use that as an indication of intent to attend your wedding.

View Quoted Comment Trackin’ although seeing as that this wedding is getting more expensive as the days go by, I’m using their Inability to follow directions and their lack of urgency to my advantage. Most folks will need to fly to our wedding which is why we were giving 1 year advance notice, so I’ll send out formals soon enough and if I don’t have your address No worries 😉

How about a restaurant wedding? We are having a church wedding followed by a lunch at a nearby restaurant (in Florida!). We are still spending a decent bit, but I would wager it’s much less than other options. We will end up paying the restaurant around $4000 in total (whole wedding will be about $13k. Just don’t look at steakhouses - they can be ridiculously priced.

View Quoted Comment I like that too ! Thanks

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You wedding isn't for another year though? Why would people think to send their addresses so soon since invitations won't go out for 10 more months?

Formal invitations shouldn't be sent out until 6-8 weeks before the wedding. The advance notice was the STD's you sent out.

You're hosting this event, and as such you need to be responsible for acquiring the addresses you need. You can't leave it to others to decide that you need this information now.

View Quoted Comment Seeing as that over 95% of the wedding party will need to purchase plane tickets, hotel stays and a rental car, 52 weeks seems like the perfect amount of time for advance notice to plan accordingly. Not to mention summer arrangements for kiddos ( our wedding will have no children ) and we sent the google form included with the STD that indicated please fill
Out this form so we may gauge a proper head count & include your mailing address for a formal invitation. Which means, if you haven’t found the time to fill out A form that was texted to you, prior to us sending out the invites, you’re just not going to get one, and we’re fine with that, the less folks show up the better the food will be 💋