5k and under budgets

Cake and punch? Fh's cousin had a BEAUTIFUL mid day cake and punch wedding that was wonderful! That may not be what you wanna do, but it's a tip lol!

That was my original budget. We recently were blessed to find out that FH was getting an extra $2000 in scholarships for school so we bumped the budget to 7k, but even that seems too small. I'm stressing about how to make everything work within our budget. We are doing a destination wedding because we knew if we did a wedding around home we couldn't afford it in our budget with how huge his family is. Of course, that now presents a bunch of new issues. I'm just thinking I will have to be really strict about the extras.

Yea...that was our original budget too - we had to double it and really I think the final total will be more.

Im with valarie haha we started with a 5k budget and then even my dad said to hell with this lol

You didnt say what type of wedding, how many people, the location of the wedding, venue of the wedding and reception, or what your wanting for a reception. That info would help with suggestions. Im having 37 in a church wedding and a restaurant reception and my budget is $3000 - $3500. Ive had to compromise on my dress and shoes getting both new but from Craigslist, and FH will wear a suit he already owns. Small wedding party of 1 MOH and 2 BM. Dollarstore DIY wedding bouquets, and grocerystore boutineers and coursages. Beer, house wine, and rail drinks instead of open bar. Small cutting cake instead of a big wedding cake, since cake is served as part of the meal price at the restaurant. Very limited centerpieces, since Id rather spend the money on good food...and the centerpieces are not edible. :-) Purchased table runners and the guestbook platter at a wedding consignment store at discounted prices.

I think I was very naive when started my wedding planning thinking we could do it for 'x' amount. Things add up quick that I never thought about

We would have been able to afford a 5k, but we were gifted some extra money from my grandma, so we made it a little fancier. I only could have afforded everything with a daytime reception. See if some venues have daytime hourly event prices... We got a $3000 venue for about $350 because of that!

I originally wanted my wedding to be 5K, then I had a meltdown last November when I started researching and realized just how expensive everything is, I feel for you! I am not anywhere close to 5K now, but that's mostly because we talked about what we would have to compromise on to reach that goal and decided we could allot more. However, 80% of our budget is venue, food & photography. Had I decided to get married in a public park pavilion, BOOM, $$ saved (research because some even have beautiful halls you can rent, I almost went this route, but was afraid the swampiness of the area might make mosquitos & noseeums too much of a problem in May- I'm in swampy FL...). Know anyone with a nice big backyard? Then you can splurge on other things...

Food-- I went with locally sourced, mostly organic vegetarian catering... $$$... But, food was really important to us. My brothers and BOTH fathers were HUGE advocates of Moe's catering, LOL. "Dude!!!! $8/ person! It would be the most EPIC wedding EVER! People actually like Moes!"-- real quotes... I'm still getting harrassed for my choice of not doing Moes catering.. "biggest mistake ever.." Thanks, brother. Or Italian food catering from a restaurant would be a big budget saver. If you are in a low-key environment no need to have servers staffing the buffet table.

Photography-- I never realized my FH was a photography snob before wedding planning, but apparently he is. I just graduated from an ART SCHOOL, I was literally surrounded by hungry wannaby photogs, but he "didn't want to take a chance." Ok... but asking around the photography departments of nearby schools to see if there are any students that would be interested in shooting your wedding for their portfolio for a couple hundred bucks would be a great way to save money, and still have great photos without relegating the job to attendees... Same for videography.

And lastly, I'd just like to add that I've read tons of articles on "how to save money" on your wedding and they're always like "skip the favors." My favors seriously cost me less than $100 to make and are providing me with much joy as I grow and pot them (little succulents grown by me and potted in DIY dip-dyed terra cotta pots). In the grand scheme of things, skipping favors isn't going to make or break the bank.

We stuck to our $4500 budget. Things that helped... an affordable venue, my dress was $99 and I wore shoes I already own. My DH wore a suit and shoes he already owned, we just got him a new shirt, tie and vest. We did our own flowers. We only had a FG, no other BP. We kept the food simple and had an afternoon reception. I DIYed the decor... a lot of pieces and material came from the Dollar Tree and Goodwill. We used vintage table cloths from various family members instead of renting or purchasing our own. We bought seven round cakes from the grocery store for $8 a piece (they looked and tasted great). You can do it!

Here are our pics if you want to see how it all came together.

http://over.st/weddingday

The guest list had to be small. We wanted a 5k wedding and I'm really good with money. we are getting married in our backyard and DIY for all of the decorations. We both have big families so our guest list is 140 people. Now the cheapest I can get it is about 7500.

The only way we could have managed with an under $5k wedding is a family only affair at the park - 30 people or less, no DJ, no full meal, no alcohol, simple cake. We got the cheapest catering we could find and it will cost us $4K JUST TO FEED 130 people.

You will have to make compromises to stay within budget. So if you can't compromise and give things up, you won't stay in budget. I compromised a lot and it was making me really sad. My dad just upped my budget with a generous gift because my FH told him all the cuts I made and how it was making me sad.

You just have to decide what your priorities are.

It can be done. You just have to be realistic about what you want and what you can afford. Where are you located? How many guest?

My budget is 6-7,000 but I'm trying to do everything as cheap as possible. Look for an unconventional caterer. Like BBQ or a mom and pop place. If there is a local place you like just ask them if they cater! I found a local caterer that lets me buy all the food and she prepares it. She gave me a grocery list so I have a few months to clip coupons and watch for sales. Also if doing DIY decorations never buy anything at Michael without a coupon. This week they have a 50% off one so I'm making several purchases. Another thing i did was shop yardsales, goodwill, and facebook wedding groups to get 2nd hand stuff cheap.

We used Moose Munch as favors. My DH works at Harry & David, so we get a nice discount on all their stuff. We got those packages for less than a buck apiece. Not one single guest left it behind!

We've booked our ceremony location at a small historic chapel which is owned by the city we're living in so that was super cheap. $315 for two hours ($100 of that is a refundable damage deposit so really it was $215). At max we will have 70 guests but it'll probably be between 55-60. We're doing a small cake for just my fiance and I ($35), everyone else will have dessert on our s'mores bar. My grandma graciously offered to pay for our photographer so thankfully that is separate from the rest of the budget. I can add reception time to the same park we're doing the ceremony in if I want to but that will add an extra $400. Still very inexpensive as far as venues go and it's beautiful. But we will have to rent all tables and chairs (I want family style so we're just doing three long farm tables). The dress I'm looking at is less than $300 but my fiance doesn't own anything currently that's suitable to be married in (I don't think I want him in a traditional suit but maybe a patterned collared shirt and fitted blazer with some boots) so we will have to purchase those things for him. A woman at our local farmer's market has the most amazing flowers and we will purchase those from her. Very inexpensive, maybe $15 dollars for a large bouquet. Not doing any kind of major decor on the chapel because it's beautiful the way it is. All the trees will be bloomed out in fall so not a ton of decor needed there as well. We would like to do some beer and wine. Trying to find the cheapest backyard style catering we can offer. But my fiance is a chef so there will be minimal compromising on quality, catering is very important to us.

We just want to be married and have an intimate celebration with our families. I want to dance with my husband among twinkling lights with everyone we love around us. Eat some good food and go home

Sarah o. Ohms gosh where do you live? I'm in ashland (apologies if you are the ashlander and I only remember your old picture)

We stared with $10k but doubled it because my parents are generously paying for half of it.

It sounds like you found a great venue!

We are having a small wedding, at an outdoor city owned property. The property has tables and chairs and a rain alternative. I'm not wearing a poofy, marshmallow wedding dress. I'm getting just a simple green or blue dress, probably from Banana Republic. FH is wearing a vest and dress pants as will his Best man. Our catering is the most expensive thing, 60% of our budget. I'm only having a bouquet which I will be making (done it before) from flowers from our garden. Our officiant and wedding license are also a big expense, but there is nothing we can do about that.