Large wedding with $15,000 maximum budget - any tips or advice to share?

Wow, you are getting food for over 400 people for only 10k? Or better, way less than 10k if everything else is included too?

We are having a similar budget, but a max of 70 people. I don't think we can get too much over that.

10K feeds more than 400 people in your area?!

Smells fishy.

I understand that location and desires can change the cost of the wedding. We are keeping it fairly simple and using some unique places. For the food, we are doing a simple meal with no appetizers (chicken-based entree, two sides, salad, rolls, and drinks of water, tea, and lemonade) with my family and several close friends helping provide dessert. I was looking at holding my wedding in Indianapolis, but decided to venture a bit out of the way to my Alma Mater (about an hour west) and found that I could almost cut the catering costs in half because I went outside of a large city and picked a different reception site (a savings of close to $4,000 in that decision alone). Granted, food still takes up 1/3 of the budget, but that's to be expected with the number we are feeding.

I've been able to save by picking an off-season time to get married, allowing friends and family with various talents and skills to help, renting the tent, dance floor, chairs, and tables all from the same company (discounted of course because of how much I'm renting)...and researching the beejeebers on sales and off-the-beaten path locations. My fiancee and I focused on what we wanted - photography, food, and DJ - and those are the aspects that take up most of our budget (even when feeding that amount of people, because we are ordering so much food, we are able to negotiate better deals with the caterer and not sacrifice the quality of food). Granted, food costs does not cover alcohol, but we are looking at keeping that simple as well - a brew (his) and a wine (mine) selection as the alcohol "favorites of the night." Skipping save-the-dates, using postcard RSVPs, and printing our own invites (buying the paper in bulk and then using a local copy store to make all the prints). It's extra time for sure, but saves me in the long run.

Do WE have any tips? I'm dying to hear your tips because this doesn't compute -- not if you're using professional vendors. Having a place to put up your tent (your Alma Mater) doesn't mean the tent and everything in it are free. White wedding tents are expensive. DIY invitations are pretty standard around here, as are DIY centerpieces and decor. A pre-owned wedding dress will save you money, but not enough to turn a budget that will host 100 guests into a a budget that will host 475 guests.

You say that a little over $10K has already covered food, photography, reception venue (including tent, chairs, tables, dance floor), dress, officiant, and your ceremony space. Even if we left out everything besides the food for 475 guests, we're talking about less than $22 PP.

So, how are you doing this? You must have a lot of free labor and friendors in the 475 person guest list. Nothing else makes sense -- unless a lot of business people owe you a lot of favors. Would you at least share the menu with us (and who's preparing, serving, and clearing it)? This is really hard to picture.

The caterers (except for desserts), photographer, tent/other rental, and reception site are all professionals. I am actually renting a separate reception site due to the reception hall and space not being available at my Alma Mater. The wedding tent is quite a bit when it comes to costs, but by having one, I save on costs that other, indoor sites, would have incurred due to food minimums. I did the math multiple times to ensure that I was actually saving by using a tent instead of going with an all-inclusive site (such as a reception hall) which, in most other cases, would be much cheaper than the tent.

I'm currently in the midst of finalizing a contract with the caterers, but would be more than happy to share the menu once it's completed. And the caterers take care of their food set-up, servicing it, and clean up. I have several friends who used to cater and are retired but still retained their glass plates, cups, and utensils and am working out details of borrowing those from them instead of renting or having plastic. The tent and dance floor costs also include set-up, but will be having immediate family/wedding party help set up tables and chairs to save on costs. Does that help answer your questions? A lot of it came down to research and networking with friends who know the area better than I do to recommend the sites and vendors I should get in touch with. I spoke to around 6 different caterers, 10 venue sites, and 5 wedding Mass potential sites before finding and narrowing it down to the ones I have. Just a lot of research...and then some more research.

Having never been married before and being the first one of my siblings to get married, a lot of this is new to me, so any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks!

If you are having a tent have you considered bathrooms for your guests? Will they be provided in a separate building or are they something you need to rent? That's great about your friends having plates and silverware for you to use! Does the caterer also clear tables? That's one reason we went with a full service caterer. Have you looked into flowers? Reducing the amount of flowers can save you money without skimping on hosting your guests well.

I'm sorry, no one needs to have 400 plus people at their wedding. And your family does not want to make 500 cupcakes.

None of this adds up.

400 people? No way.

Our budget was 15k for 100 and we went over.

McDonald's has a dollar menu, that could work for your guest. jk!

I don't understand why everyone is so shocked to hear that you're pulling off a wedding that big for that cost. I have 1/3 of your guest list and 1/3 of your budget and no one is surprised at that. If 150 guests for $5k is no big deal why would 450 for $15k be any less believable. Having that many let's you get bulk discounts you can't get with 100 guests. As far as flowers go, go simple and in season. See if there's a local grower willing to work with you directly. My favorite flower is gladiolus, a very tall, multi bloom stem available late summer/early fall. I chose my wedding date based on that. I bought tall cylinder vases and three stems will be perfect to fill each. I went to the farmer's market where I've always bought them and can get them for $3/dozen instead of the $8/stem I was told by two different florists. Or go non floral for the centerpieces. As far as dj goes, see if you can add a sound system to your rental contract and use Spotify. It will take work to create a playlist but there are some great existing playlists that you can draw from. About 40% of my playlist came from one called soft pop hits. Spotify has a built in cross fade option that will eliminate dead air. Keep up the good work.

Wait 5k for your entire wedding or your food budget is 5k?

I am having a 300 person wedding and our food is very cheap, $22 a person and it come out to $6600. The bar is $20 a person so $5000. I am still managing to have a 30k wedding, if not more. I am interested to see if you can pull this off.

The reception venue has a smaller indoor space that won't fit everyone but is perfect for having the food (buffet style) and the tent is for seating and the dance floor. With that comes 8 restrooms (4 men, 4 women), so I lucked out with that. Hadn't thought to ask about clearing tables, so I appreciate that tip - I'll be sure to ask our caterer.

As far as flowers go, I am planning on buying in bulk and have the centerpieces primarily non-floral (also using ferns that grow in my woods as part of the greenery). I appreciate the tip regarding contacting local growers as I hadn't thought of that but had stuck to online bulk flower vendors. Definitely something to look into as there are several in my area.

Pretty sure we aren't doing cupcakes as far as making them ourselves...those are some of the most time intensive "simple" desserts but can work out well depending on the number of people (can be hard for larger numbers). Instead, we are looking at doing a dessert style bar with various offerings (pie, cookies, simple sheet cakes which two of my sisters do cake decorating anyways and could cover with simple but beautiful icing designs, brownies, etc. and then having a smaller main cake that my fiance and I will cut). And when it comes to the amount of guests, it really depended on what we want. Some people prefer a smaller and more intimate wedding. However, after discussing how we see our day, having family and friends to be able to witness and celebrate this important occasion with us was important...which for us happens to amount into having a larger number of people present.

As far as DJ and music goes, that is currently in progress in terms of searching for one in the area (my fiance is taking care of that research). If it comes down to it, we might use Spotify (much appreciated tip!) as I have another friend with full sound equipment he said we could use.

Thanks for the tips - these will definitely help me out

You're welcome. My budget for our 150 person guest list is $4,500 and it looks like we're coming in under budget even though I just added a second photographer. I know you said you already have that covered but for anyone else looking to cut costs there, look for someone just getting started in the wedding industry. The first photographer we booked has been mostly a portrait photographer, senior photos, child photos, engagement shoots, family portraits etc. She charges a lot less and in exchange for her getting to use any of our photos in her portfolio she gave us another discount. The additional photographer I just added has mainly done family photos and more artistic stuff, her style is perfect for first looks, the detail shots like centerpieces and rings, and that unusual shot she miraculously managed to capture at the reception. I'm so excited to get twice add many photos now going with two separate ladies instead of one with an assistant.

Wait, you're planning BUFFET STYLE for 400+ guests!? Wow. I can imagine the long lines and wait for food already. Hope you're not planning on having a receiving line. A good friend of mine had a little over 400 guests (because bride and grooms's parents are business professionals and well known in the community so they invited practically everyone) They had enough servers so we all got our food in a timely manner and went by each table for "quick hellos" and "thank yous". Some people tried to take this time to catch up, good thing he's very assertive and got out of that or they'd never be done! Good luck to you!

I would absolutely hate to be in a buffet line with 475 people! That is insane. What are the guests going to do who get their food first and have to sit for hours waiting for others to finish eating?

I'm glad to hear that others are able to stay within their budget Certainly using people who are starting out or expanding into wedding services is a good way to go and I'm happy that you (FutureMrsDitlow) have been able to find the ones that work for you. Our photographers are very reasonable for what we are getting and the quality of work is beautiful. It was an area of the wedding we knew we were going to spend more on, but the pictures will be there long after the flowers have died.

Buffet style can cause long lines if not set up properly, but having done some work for a catering company in the past I know there are ways to set up buffets that get everyone through in a timely manner (having more than one buffet table certainly helps, serving from both sides of the table, and set up for ease of traffic flow all aid in decreasing wait time). The reception venue has a hall we are using to set-up the buffets in which can spread them out over more space so it's not all squeezed into one section or area.

We are not looking at having a receiving line at the wedding and instead are leaning towards the "table stop" option and my fiance can be assertive when he needs to be, so I appreciate your reflection on your own observation of that.

This just reads really odd. It's like a humblebrag but not. Everything OP has said has pretty much come up before with all of us when planning our own days. I think it comes down to wanting to be able to properly host a certain amount of people VS having a 400 count guest list. A 400 person buffet? No thanks. Spotify instead of a DJ? No thanks. I would never ask my family to make my desserts either, but I feel like that advice would fall on deaf ears. Good luck OP.

I'm more shocked that anyone wants 475 people at their wedding. Table stops? That in itself will take probably an hour and a half.

Buffets; you'll need at least 9 of them, all staffed, no action stations.

Bars; at least 6 of them.

Staying within a budget starts by having a group of guests you can reasonably afford to host well.

My friend's wedding had 4 bars which I think worked out well, but this depends on what and how much your crown drinks. They also had 2 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of champagne for each table that sits 10 people. I think this helped out a lot.

Celia is right, your table stops will take at least an hour and a half if not more. Plan your wedding photos well ahead of the reception and do a first look to cover your bases. My friend had a coordinator and their timeline done exceptionally well, their coordinator was very prompt in keeping them on track so nothing was missed.