5k and under budgets

Yes, future mrs.jkr... I am your fellow Ashlander. Don't go to Lithia Park. There is a mountain lion on the loose!

@Baiey -the $215 you are paying to rent your church will most likely be tax deductible because it is an historic landmark. Make sure to pay by check, for a receipt. You could also save about 25 bucks buying a cheaper cake from grocerystore bakery. Sams and Costco have outstanding cheap cakes. Have you looked into any local restaurants to have your reception in, or to have them cater? Have your fh ask his favorite family or ethnic restaurant if they cater, you can find some good deals there too. What about asking the restaurant your fh works for to host or cater your meal? They would probably give him a great deal!

We have a $4,500 budget and the biggest thing I've learned is to prioritize expenses. For example, we both agree that we don't want or need a ton of pictures. So we're cutting back on hiring an expensive photographer. We did want a nice outdoor, wooded venue so that's what we went with (also, since it's such a pretty venue we won't have to have as many decorations which in turn saves money).

I also have discovered the beauty of shopping during sales. I got my dress for under $100, table clothes for under $60, and 30+ strands of Christmas lights we'll be using as decoration for 50 cents a piece. We agreed from Go that all we wanted was a nice gathering with all our friends and family so that's what we're working towards.

Priorities will be how you accomplish your budget goal. I had to triple my budget because alcohol and photography wound up being what I wanted my total budget at. I can't give good budget advice, but really try to invest in good vendors, they don't have to be the most expensive either just a good fit for you, they really make the event.

Our budget is less than $3,500. We wanted to stay away from catering because it is expensive so we are having a potluck (food is our gift, we just bought a house and don't need anything really) and I have been making all of the decorations and invites. The only thing that I bought so far was the dress and the down payment of our venue. Our family friend is doing our photography and my FH's sister's husband is officiating us.

We are getting lots of cake from Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene, OR

http://sweetlifedesserts.com/. We are not getting a specific wedding cake. Their regular cakes are absolutely gorgeous, each cake has different designs (we are getting 8: 12" round cakes of all different flavors...and they make gluten, dairy and egg free cakes...price should be around $250 for all of that).

Our venue is in a city building, which those tend to be cheaper. We are renting out the entire building (Pioneer Community center in Oregon City, OR) for $68 dollars an hour. There is a choice for having alcohol, but we decided not to, but we will at our after-party at our house. There was a $500 security deposit, but we get it back once everything is cleaned up.

I'm not ordering special linens, just brown Kraft paper (so people can doodle on the table). Joann's is having their Daffodil Sale going on now with a 50% of regular price...and other coupons if you are signed up for their specials. I made my birdcage veil and most of my flowers are origami. The few 'real' flowers I'm getting, I will just be picking up at the local farmer's market....where HUGE bouquets are only $10 and they let you pick the colors. For favors, I made flower seed pockets and we also have engraved pencils, it wasn't much of an expense...about $60 for 250 pencils.

Low budget can definitely be done!!

I set a $5000 budget and right now we are still $266 under with the $20 I spent today on something. The key is keeping your guest list small and finding affordable vendors. If you want up lighting, chair covers and sashes and a videographer then there is just no way.

Lots of research! My wedding is 5k. Look around for the best deals. We found our dj for $500. We're having family make food. Our photographer is a relative, along with our officiant. We diy'd our invitations. Got stamps at costco for $60. We're having our wedding and reception in the same place at a community center. And we are diy' ing a lot of stuff. It can be done you just have to be willing to diy and research.

Yeah we're not doing any of the extras. No dj, frills or anything like that. Not because I wouldn't be willing to work it into the budget if I wanted it but that's not our style at all. I'm thinking about asking family and friends if we can borrow all their soft white Christmas lights for the surrounding trees and things like that. We found a new rental company for our tables and chairs who said they'd really love to work with us so I'm hoping to get a good deal with that. Almost all of my fiancé's co workers who could help cater are also guests. I want them to enjoy the wedding as friends. We shall see. I'm feeling more hopeful after speaking to some more vendors today. All about finding kind people who are willing to work with you, it seems. I think our favors will be the jars (mason jars with handles and a chalkboard label for people to write their names on) we are giving everyone to put their drinks in for the night. Everyone has to have a glass so I'm thinking its a two for one. I'm going to ask my grandpa to marry us so no officiant cost. Not doing a veil, never had the desire to wear one. I am looking for some blush ballet flats with an ankle ribbon if anyone has seen anything like that. We're also not registering for gifts because we've lived together for quite awhile and asking for honeymoon donations instead. I will definitely be borrowing and shopping as many sales as I can.

Thank you all so much for your advice and kind words!! So helpful.

Our budget is pretty low too...half of yours in fact. We've been blessed with family members who have bought us stuff here and there. Things are crazy expensive though. We saved a lot of money by DIY the invitations ourselves. We found a lot of free online templates for a lot of our stationary, and have saved money that way. We cut the price at the florist in half just by DIY the bridesmaid bouquets. Yard sales helped a lot too. I went to a few where I found cute decor or items someone had for sale from their own wedding. Also, see what your friends can help with. I have one doing my hair and one making my guest book. If you have friends who have gotten married see what items they have that you may be able to use as well.

It can be done, you will need to stick to a small guest list and forgo some of the extra. My budget was this price as well and I have gone over that, but my option to go over was because I could afford to do so and wanted some of the extras. I can tell you that, I am not going over by much maybe $1500. My guest list is at 44 (including me and the FH); this was largest cost saver. Also you don't have to do a full open bar (or even have an open bar), mine will be a consumption tab with limited alcohol selections. I was able to still get a photographer, videographer, DJ, have it in a nice venue and get a wedding coordinator. I spent a lot of time researching vendors and piece-milling things together, but it can be done!

It is all about priorities.We are paying for our own wedding & wanted to keep costs down.

We've been together for a long time. We live in Florida & the majority of our family lives in the Chicago area. After speaking with our immediate family members , we decided to have a ceremony on the beach without any guests in our hometown & a more traditional reception with our family up North. We are putting the majority of our budget into the reception where we are expecting around 75.

I have a $3500 to $4000 budget. we are having a small wedding with 50 people or less. My venue is the most expensive thing, but it's also doubling as my reception area. I have known my planner for a long time and they are giving me a really great deal, I even get my ceiling draped in their price, their son is going to be my photographer for just the cost of a memory card. i'm only having the MOH and BM. My other best friend is getting ordained so she can marry us, that's free. i'm DIYing as much as I can, white flowers seem to be cheaper so i'm getting those and dying them along with my baby's breath. My MOH is designing my invitations and all that goes with that, they are pocket invites. My MOH's brother doing the catering so big discount there, and I have a friend doing my cake, thank god she does it for a living. My advice is to reach out to people you know, see what they can help you with to stay on budget.

My original dress was only $200 from David's. I loved it, and it was stunning. Caveat, I had a separate dress for the ceremony. We started with a $10K budget, but we tripled it in the end. That being said, $5K can be done. Keep your guest list small, and your food and dress simple. Also don't go crazy on decor. DIY non-floral centerpieces. That's all I've got.

My budget is $5000 except the wedding dress was paid for by my mother and isn't going towards that at all. I've been given permission to go as high as $7000 but I'm trying to stay as close to $5000 as possible.

The venue is $500 and includes tables and chairs for 110. I'm only inviting 75-80 people. We are having a taco truck that we love that makes fancy/fresh tacos instead of a traditional caterer, and they are only $1300. We found a photographer for $1200. DJ for $400 (but he is a family friend and doing it at a lower rate). I'm still not even set on having him; I might just borrow speakers and set up Spotify to play the playlists I have. It is definitely hard, but I'm sticking as close to $5000 as I can. If I get some grant money for school in the fall and spring I might add some money into the budget on my own, but for now I want to be as conservative as possible. It will be beautiful and fun and lovely no matter what we do. I still have a lot of time to plan, and I can't officially book the venue until May 1st - but once we do I'll start bargain hunting. Vistaprint has invites that we really love and they are so much less than what Wedding Wire's budget estimator is putting in. I'm going to do my own makeup and possibly my hair - I don't want an undo, and I'm good at curling my hair the way I like it. I am also thinking about making my own birdcage veil. As far as plants - I work at IKEA and we have cute little succulents I'm thinking of using on the tables. I only have one bridesmaid and I'm most likely going to test making our bouquets/bouts/corsages since I want a leafy/green/fern type bouquet without flowers anyway. Those type of plants aren't expensive.

I feel like I've probably overloaded you but I totally get where you're coming from because so many people on here have huge budgets (or no budget, it seems like). I'm perpetually on the hunt for a deal, but I've found some good tips and ideas from here. One of my favorite weddings I went to was a small firehall wedding - they had an open bar, their friends bartended, they had a pasta buffet and cupcakes. It had to be less than $5k but they were so in love and so happy to have their day. I've also been to some fancy over the top weddings where the bride was angry the whole day that things weren't "perfect" and honestly, I'd take the less expensive one any day of the week.

My budget is 6k for 180 , or so people. We had our priorities of wanting a great photographer on the top of the list of our budget. We are paying not even $300 for the venue (community center) with that rental we get chairs and tables along with use of their kitchen. the main part of the meal ,pulled pork , is coming from the local butcher. Instead of hiring a company to cater we are hiring two local purple to help out. Saving a lot of money on the invites and using plastic plates. Silverware and cups. Only having small flower boquets fir the bridal party, minimum decorations, saved a ton on tablecloths over renting. There are also a lot more ways of how we are saving money.

Sarah you wedding was perfect I loved your photos! I love your chapel. My budget is 5k the only way to stay on it is to have simple reception. We are getting married in a 100 year old chapel in beautiful, historic Mount Hermon in the Santa Cruz California mountains at Mount Hermon Cristian Conference Center. They dont allow alchol so After the ceremony we will have a quaint reception in the lounge next-door.

We will be serving various drinks. coffees, tea, water, etc. There will also be appetizers, cake and a guest book to sign.

Thanks RuRu! Your day is coming up quickly. I love the venue you found! Our venue allowed us to provide our own alcohol as long as we obtained an event license. We stuck with bottled beer, hard ciders and wine. It didn't take very much for our afternoon reception. We had sweet tea, infused water and sparkling ciders for non-alcoholic drinks. We kept our food simple too, but everyone got plenty to eat. Good luck with your wedding. I'll be looking out for your BAM.

Good luck! 5 k was my original budget....we are at 15 k.....everything is so expensive! Here's my advice (these are things I didn't do)

1) Very small guest list. LIke, immediate family and close friends small

2) No alcohol

3) No DJ

4) No videographer

5) Cake/punch reception

We're DJing ourselves. A friend is officiating. The venue was $50 for the whole day for up to 100 people. A friend is doing the food (BBQ) and we're not doing a cake...my aunt might make some cookies or something. We're going to pay for the food, and I'm anticipating about $300 for food, and maybe $150 for alcohol.

We probably won't have favors...although I do have some inexpensive thoughts.

We got a deal on the photography ($150 for 3 hours, through a friend). My dress was $150. Fella has his stuff already, just has to buy suspenders and a skinny tie. My friends are helping me with my hair...

Our budget is $1500 absolute max...I think we're going to be ok. I still have a few things to buy (make up, a petticoat for under my dress, strapless bra, reception shoes, and supplies for the guestbook/scrapbook.) but I think we're going to be under $1000.

So far, ours should be around $4k. The TL;DR version: We scoured the internet and all of my friends who have had weddings recently to get amazing deals and have done a lot of DIY/repurpose stuff.

Long version: Around 70 people.FH's sister is our officant.

Venue: We found a venue that no one really knows about yet for $450 (6 hrs, has a sound system, includes tables, chairs, and white table cloths- overlooks the river, rustic decor and they remodeled an old factory style building) and the lady who owns it is wonderful!

Photographer: Thumbtack.com. His name is Glenn and his portfolio is beautiful. He's doing 3 hours, 150 images edited for $495.

Food/Bevs: I've priced out our food expenses at about $400. We're doing a luncheon featuring FH's fave BBQ, some deli trays from Sam's, italian spinach and raviolis from my favorite Italian place. I worked at a liquor store for quite a while and will be purchasing a case of assorted goodies. With the case price, it's 15% off. Then we're going to get a case or two of beer (Yuengling and New Castle), cases of water and assorted Coke products from Sam's.

--Related: Repurposed some old glass bottles we had lying around for a rainy day project. Added burlap and ribbon with little faux pearls to be used as centerpieces. Have been collecting china for place settings. Thanks to goodwill, flea markets, and thrift shops, that's only been about $100. $7 for a 36 pc set of flatware at Sam's. Ebay for linens like table runners. Michael's has $2 36 ct paperstraws. $8 for a cake topper at Michael's, too. Cake topper on clearance at Michael's for $8.

Cake: FH's aunt and cousin are bakers! They're doing our sweet treats free of charge. We're still going to give them a Michael's GC since they love to DIY, too!

Clothes: Dress is from David's. With veil, slip, preservation, and a hanging bag, $1000. Need a few alterations done, but no big deal. FH already owns a tux, snazzy shoes, etc. So, one less thing to worry about!

Invites: DIY print at home kit from Michael's - $15 for a 40 ct. Download the template... Adjust as needed.. Print!

Favors: Etsy.com - $17 for 100 heart shaped recycled paper that's infused with seeds to be planted. DIY'ing chocolates in the shape of our fave nerdy characters and heart shaped wax melts (we have a candle co. we run) in our fave fragrance. Michael's had these great little "thank you" charms we're going to tie on the bags for $2 a pack. Total will probably be about $1 a person.

Additional decor: We have plenty of candles! 9 candle stick holders from various thrift shops. Michael's had bird cages on sale 50% off so I have one for cards. Spent $1 at goodwill for a smaller one to put DIY print cards "Advice for the bride and groom" in. Michael's also had these little $1 chalkboards on tiny stands. Dollar Tree for little glass vases to hold the straws and forks. Also doing DIY little books to color in with crayons for the kids (and probably some adults) that are attending.

Guest book: Shutterfly sent an offer for a free 8x8 book when I purchased my dress at David's so we did that. Also, we have this huge 2x4 canvas that I've affixed a big R (future last inital!) to and bought paint pens for people to sign. Oh, bought a scrapbooking pen for the book so that it doesn't bleed or smear...

Hair/Makeup/Nails: My mother, FMIL, and myself will all be getting our hair and nails done together. I have a friend who is an amazing stylist and well worth the money. There is a great little nail shop that does mani/pedis for $35 a person. Doing my own make up.

Music: We're just going to use this little app we found for a playlist builder.