BYO Food in Fredericksburg, VA

So you come on here, ask for ideas. We tell you what you're trying to do is a bad idea with valid reasons to back it up and then you call us "entitled". Please enlighten me how paying for a catered meal and properly hosting guests comes across as entitled. Entitled is expecting your 200 guests to cook for you on THEIR DIME. You're supposed to be thanking your guests by feeding them and giving them copious amounts of alcohol.

Check this out: for a Fredericksburg zip code it says you should expect to pay $36k for 200 guests. On catering & venue alone it costs $16k on AVERAGE. Re-frame your expectations.

http://www.costofwedding.com/index.cfm/action/search.weddingcost?zipcode=22408&sg_sessionid=1486692005_589d1ea59a91b0.72078921&__sgtarget=-1&__sgbrwsrid=7fbd26478d20039475a00f8ab6d41977#sgbody-3205795

.

You're in Fredericksburg, that's technically Nova. You should know better ffs.

#NotAllVirginiansAreIgnorant

Fredericksburg, Va.....that says it all for me. I hate going there!

Didn't read all the comments yet, but that's literally $5 per person, not including alcohol. You can hardly even eat at mcdonalds for that money.

Also, what makes us so entitled because we all saved and budgeted to properly host our guests? Oh, that's right, nothing.

Cut your guest list down to 25 and take them out for a nice meal. Done.

$5/person?

200 $5 foot-long subs from Subway for everybody.

Cheers. There's a reception that'll have people talking!

^ but no drinks or napkins. Or cake. Boo.

If I got invited to a "BYO Food" wedding I would laugh, decline, and not send a gift. GTFO if you're expecting me to buy an outfit, write a check, AND cook a dish.

YOU are the entitled one. Nobody DESERVES a wedding/PPD. If you can't afford it, wait until you can or have what you can afford.

Lord, I'm so sick of these posts.

@Lauryn, how entitled are you?! Suggesting OP give her guests drinks and napkins and cake!!! The NERVE!!!

(Yes, this is sarcasm.)

Oh my gere it goes

I'm here just wondering how she is paying for everything else that comes with a wedding of 200 guests for about $4k. A cheap-ish photographer is $1.5k, dress/outfits for the couple (on the cheap side) could be around $500, a dj (because with 200 guests I think there's supposed to be a party atmosphere) around $400, invites plus postage $200, bouquets/flowers (going cheap) $250, hair and makeup $100, ceremony site/officiant $400, wedding party/parents gifts (if at all) $300, centerpieces/table decorations $400, cake (if just getting sheet cakes) $200. That's 4K right there. Plus all the other extras that I probably forgot about.

And this is probably on the low estimate.

Think quality, not quantity. If your budget is $1000, sounds like a wonderfully intimate ceremony and dinner with you, FH, and each of your parents. That's it. (Is this budget inclusive of your dress, his attire, rings, officiant and license? You need to do some cost research immediately.)

Sounds like you know tacky people

There's no way this can be real.... OP is more focused on getting married this December instead of hosting the wedding the right way. Marriage is supposed to be forever so what's the harm in waiting a little longer??? What's a couple years if you're going to be together forever right? Unless there's some type of reason you need to get married so fast like needing a green card or something lol

True confession time: For my office holiday party we had a pot luck. I made garlic mashed cauliflower because it's the bomb. For some reason H likes to use soap to rinse the fuck out of dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. So I thought the dishes were clean. Turns out I used soapy, dirty dishes to make my cauliflower. Oops. Are you sure that a simple, honest mistake that can happen to anyone like this will not happen to any of your 200 guests bringing food? I wouldn't want to take that bet. But hey, at least everyone's intestines were clean.

@OP if you already "know several people who already have," meaning found a venue type you're looking for... why are you asking internet strangers?

Plan the wedding you can afford. You can have a very nice wedding under $5000 but you said $1000 for 200 people.

Does that budget include your marriage license, dress, tux, transportation, photographer, flowers, gifts for any bridal party, etc?

Fellow college bride here!! Most of these people have super strong opinions because they've been to weddings and have had a lot more experience than us. If you stick around WW you'll see people discuss etiquette and budgeting all the time. Potluck weddings are a huge no. You seem not to know the difference between an acceptable wedding and a horrible one. Being so young, many of your guests WILL know if you're not hosting properly. You might think they love you and value your friendship and know you don't come from money or whatever (us WW people have heard it 1000 times from similar brides) but PLEASE HOST PROPERLY or else all of your loved ones will judge the shit out of you. Potlucks are simply not an option. Nope. People will not be okay with that, even if you've gotten positive feedback from your guests, I swear to you it does not work.

You aren't going to find a place that allows this because of the safety concerns. Please don't do this. Wait until you can afford to host your guests properly, or make major cuts to your guest list.

ETA: entitled? Seriously?! FH and I have waited years to get engaged because we couldn't afford the wedding we wanted. We want our guests to feel appreciated and to remember our special day fondly, not as a horrifying story around the water cooler.

I'm trying to think of other chain fast-food restaurant gimmicks for $5, but alas, here I am still with that stupid Subway jingle stuck in my head