$1000 wedding?

My venue is a partially enclosed shelter at a park for $150 for the day, reception is going to be a grill out with hot dogs and burgers and potato salad and regular salad. I'm buying cupcakes from Sam's club. I'm getting a second hand dress for $150. The reception is at the same place as the venue which saves on decorations and building fees. Our officiant is an ordained friend. The building only holds 100 people so the ceremony and reception will be small. This is also the 3rd wedding for both of us so we don't need much as long as we have each other.

Hi Amanda,

Congrats! Word of advice from someone who's been wedding planning on a budget since July... make sure you know what you want and what you're willing to give up. Only pay for the things that absolutely matter. Scour the the internet and local resources for ideas that will save money. The venue is definitely going to be the most expensive part of the wedding. I would check with loved ones/friends of the family/church members or whoever is in your network to see if someone has a house with a large backyard. This makes everything much easier, or scour Airbnb or another rental home site and see what your options may be. Make sure to tick the "Suitable for Events" checkbox and discuss things with the homeowner first. Check out local event halls such as VFW's and non-profit organizations that usually rent their spaces out. They are usually more affordable than say, a golf course, banquet hall, etc.

The other biggest expenses will be food and your wedding dress. Depending on where your venue will be and their catering requirements and rules, consider doing BBQ or DIY catering. As for wedding dresses, check out Modcloth, Cocomelody or even Amazon.

Good luck!

View Quoted Comment You rock Stephanie! All great ideas and quite a few are what I am doing to keep costs down. We have 4k budget for 100 people and bridal party of 6. Thinking we may hit 5k because the venue is 2k and catering is adding up

I have been letting my points accumulate that I get from using my amazon credit card and so far less than a year of mainly using that card and that's paying for 500 dollars worth of decorations. You can also use the points your earn to buy visa prepaid cards to buy things from other places.

I have a little bit more of a budget, $2,000, but we're trying to keep it under that. We're having our ceremony/reception in my parent's backyard in the country. We're holding it in the late afternoon so we can just serve sancks and our "cake" (we decided we wanted cupcakes instead of a big cake) my mom and I are going to bake and decorate the cupcakes ourselves a couple day before.
I don't know what your plans are for your dress or if you're even planning on having one, but I got mine from Macy's, really pretty and nice quality only $148. We've decided that it makes more sense to buy him a suit for he weddingas opposed to renting a tux for roughly the same price, so that going to be anywhere from $150 to $300, and that is the jacket, pants, shirt and tie. We're both wearing Vans so that'll be about $80. We're getting our ring from Modern Gents so it will be about $80 for both of our rings. I'm making my own bouquet with fake flowers from Hobby Lobby, every other month their flowers are on sale for 50% off, so that will be about $30 for my bouquet. I bought our invitations from Hobby Lobby, they were on clearance for $1.99 for a pack of 25, they are blank so I will have to print them out later, but it beats spending hundreds of dollars on silly pieces of paper that people will just through away. I suggest getting a friend to take pictures, I have one that is a photographer and I'm just going to give him $75 and make him a pie. The one thing that I don't know how much it will be is the officiant, so I'd be prepared to have to pay $100 to $300 or so for that. Anyway, I hope at lea

(Accidentally hit the reply button) Anyway, I hope at least some of this craziness that is my planning can help you out! Good luck and I wish you two the best!

View Quoted Comment Actually found a beautiful one for 4t0

Where are you from? I could try to help you find places. I personally purchased my wedding dress from Aliexpress for under $50- so that is one way.

Use fairy/Christmas lights for a romantic feel (family and friends can lend you them) plates don't all have to be the same... each table with the same though.... BBQ, beer and wine, home stereo with playlist downloaded and ask a friend or two to take photos. We get very fixed on everything being perfect like in a fairy tale but at the end of the day being married is what counts.... Look at marketplace for a dress 💕