Skip to main content

Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

Mary123
Just Said Yes September 2022

Catering location to international families on a budget?

Mary123, on June 16, 2021 at 9:23 PM Posted in Planning 0 4
Hi all! We are trying to figure out where in the world to have our 2023 wedding. We are paying for it ourselves, and I am definitely feeling the pressure to make it as nice of an event as we can for our budget of $10k.


The guest demographics:40% of our friends and family live in Florida, 40% live in the Philippines, and the remainder are scattered throughout the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, China, and Korea. We live in Georgia, USA. No matter where we pick it’ll be a destination wedding for 90+% of the guests.
Guests are mostly rich except for my immediate family, us, and our best friends. We have attended many family weddings that were nice and it is expected we return the favor. We can only afford to do that if we did it in Mexico/the Caribbean. I’d say 70% of the guests would say “woo vacation” and the other 30% would feel offended by the financial burden. The 30% include most of the bridal party and we would be distressed to put them in this position.
We are trying to find a place in GA/FL that is affordable, but it looks like everything will be so expensive between renting a space and all of the food. We don’t want to throw a public park party for people potentially spending thousands to come from abroad.
We would like to accommodate everyone but it feels like our options are to have a budget nature party (we don’t have access to a backyard) that would feel uncomfortable to most of the guests, or to have a more luxurious wedding that would push financial burden to many of the guests, especially those with kids. We’re not even sure the international ones will even come. What would you do?

4 Comments

Latest activity by Mary123, on June 17, 2021 at 7:33 PM
  • Jm Sunshine
    Jm Sunshine ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    How many guests are you inviting? I would suggest that on a $10,000 budget you pick somewhere near where you live so YOU'RE not adding travel costs to your budget. If 70% of you guests are "rich" they can come to you. I would at your parks/rec department (many have historical buildings) and bring in your own caterer. Think outside the box:. any day other than a Saturday is cheaper and brunch/lunch receptions are 1/2 cost of dinner ones.
    • Reply
  • Mary123
    Just Said Yes September 2022
    Mary123 ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    View Quoted Comment
    We have about 70-80 obligate invites (aunts, uncles, adult cousins, parents, and grandparents) which goes up to 120 with their significant others and children. We would additionally like to invite maybe 30 people who are not family. Our head count concern is that if the wedding isn’t “nice enough”, that the majority of our guests won’t make the 50-60 hour round trip flight (which, even with a nice wedding I wouldn’t blame them for skipping!)
    • Reply
  • Jm Sunshine
    Jm Sunshine ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    I am sorry, but I do not see how or where you will be able to host 150+ on a $10,000 budget for the type of reception you are envisioning.
    • Reply
  • Mary123
    Just Said Yes September 2022
    Mary123 ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    View Quoted Comment
    It’s likely many of them won’t go regardless of how we throw it. The average Mexico destination wedding for 100 people is around $10,000 which seems like the expected number of attendees. However, you’re definitely right in that we are struggling to find a similar price in US, where it would need to be in order to not place financial burden on others.
    • Reply

You voted for . Add a comment 👇

×
WeddingWire celebrates love ...and so does everyone on our site! Learn more

Groups

WeddingWire article topics