Budget Wedding

Look at non-wedding vendors for attire. Websites like Baltic Born, Lulu's, Torrid, Azazie, etc. all have bridal sections now selling dresses for hundreds of dollars as opposed to thousands.

If youre looking to offer alcohol, stick with cases of beer and some cheaper bottles of wine. Brewing your own tea and lemonade is fairly simple, and those large 5 gallon dispensers arent too expensive either.

For florals I believe you can buy loose flowers at Sam's or Costco and do your own bouquets. You could also go with flower alternatives like plastic, silk, or wood.

You can also have a fun reception without a professional DJ. Create a playlist and have someone bring a good Bluetooth speaker or rent some outdoor speakers and just play it from someone's phone. You can also do all the formal music this way, just assign a friend or sibling to help play the right song at the right time.

My brother and sister in law were on a tight budget as well and made it out under $5k for 100-some people. That included honeymoon and rehearsal dinner which I think is pretty good, especially when mine is costing closer to 30k. Theirs was still just as fun and beautiful as any I'd ever been to.

You will get a lot of advice against self catering due to food safety and logistics.


I'd look into a "cake and punch" reception

Sounds like you’ve got lots of great ideas already!

If you are doing bouquets and are okay with fake flowers, check out hobby lobby! I was able to build mine for just a few dollars a piece. Or, depending on the season/location you can grow flowers or pick wildflowers and dry them.
For food, you might be surprised how cheap it is to just get a pan of pasta from a local Italian restaurant. It could save you a lot of stress. We did that and then grocery store items for apps. I’d skip things like printing schedules, programs, menus. And if you want linens I found it’s actually cheaper to buy than rent, though it’s definitely a pain to store and transport all of that.
I agree a DJ isn’t necessary, especially if you have a friend who owns audio equipment. We found a PA speaker on Amazon for about $50. The microphone was quiet but the music was loud enough!
Someone told me recently that her moms friends were coming to the wedding to “work it.” So they got free help, the mom got to see her friends, and they had fun doing it.

I love your ideas 3, 4, and 5!!

I would caution against self-catering for that many people, as that would require a professional kitchen for those kind of quantities. How will you keep cold things cold and warm things warm? You'll need a ton of equipment etc to make that happen.

Other ways to save would be to have the event at a non-mealtime, like 2 pm, and serve cake, punch and maybe some small appetizers. Lunch weddings tend to cost less to cater than dinner weddings, so maybe that would work.

Avoid asking for money from your guests or asking them to work for free.