Who did what?

We designed and printed our own menus and signs and programs. We actually did a DIY social hour as well and all the decor

If budget is a concern, then you're definitely in luck in terms of food. Vegan/vegetarian meals are generally a LOT cheaper than the meat or fish option with caterers, so you can definitely save some money there. With my caterer at least, all of the vegetarian and vegan options were between 1/3 to 1/2 of the price of the meat and fish selections! I would highly recommend having a professional photographer, caterer, and a reliable venue that you are excited about. Some things that we DIY-ed were programs, escort cards, favors, welcome bags for out of town guests, and all rehearsal dinner decor (+ set up and clean up for the rehearsal dinner because we had drop off catering for this).

Are you referring to what you can pay for on your own? It really depends on your budget so you guys will definitely need to start working on that. In our case my mom helped with securing the venue by paying the deposit, and she also wanted to pay for my dress and veil. Other than that we're paying for everything. What works for us is treating everything like a monthly bill, even if a payment isn't due yet. For example, the remaining cost for our venue was split into 3 payments due every 6 months. But we pay something towards it every month. Same for our other vendors. Regarding being vegan, when inquiring with venues that have in house catering I would ask about their ability to accommodate that right away. These days most if not all will accommodate vegetarian, but not necessarily vegan. If you choose a venue that allows outside catering then you can find your own caterer that specializes in vegan food or can at least accommodate it.

View Quoted Comment Unfortunately the fiancé isn’t a vegan and does want to have atleast one option. We have tossed around the idea of just doing like hors d’oeuvres for a couple hours instead of a big sit down meal but idk.

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I think you'd still save a lot if you did a sit down dinner with guests pre-selecting their meals, if you expect a significant number of guests to choose the vegan or vegetarian option. Passed hors d’oeuvres can actually be a lot more expensive than a sit down meal! So say the vegan option costs $15 a plate and the non-vegan option costs $25 per plate. You would be able to keep costs down a bit since more guests would select the vegan option.

View Quoted Comment More so like what did you guys put most of the budget into and what you guys did on your own. Like DIY flowers, invitations, etc

Awesome thank you

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Oh ok. We DIY-ed the programs, escort cards, favors, welcome bags for out of town guests, and pretty much everything for the rehearsal dinner since we had drop-off catering.

We did not DIY the invitations, but we had guests RSVP online via the Knot to save money on postage. We sort of DIY-ed videography. Instead of having a professional videographer, we used a go-pro camera to capture the ceremony, speeches, and first dance.

Most of the budget went into the venue, food + alcohol, live band, flowers, and photographer.

View Quoted Comment I totally agree with this!

I’m DIYing all my decor, my bridesmaid and her husband are helping my diy my flowers. I’ve DIYed a few lawn games, that hopefully the weather will be nice enough to use. Family and friends are doing food and the cake (we’re just having an afternoon reception so no full meal).

The first step is to come up with a budget. Then, sit down with your fiancé and discuss what are the top three things for your wedding. (The most important aspects are where you should focus your money.) Try to get an idea of what prices are like in your area so you know if you’re getting good deals, how much things should cost, etc.
You can eliminate things like programs to save money and cut back on things like florals. Getting flowers from grocery stores can save you a bunch. Make your own centerpieces. DIY your invitations if you can do it cheaper than you can buy them. Pinterest has a ton of great ideas!

We are getting inexpensive invitations from Etsy and doing online only RSVPs. We’re making our own centerpieces and other decor elements. The bulk of our budget is going to what’s most important to us: the venue, food/drinks, and the photographer. We also booked a professional DJ.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your input! 😌