Planning a Not so Expensive but Not so Cheap Wedding

-Get married in an off month, day, or time. I'm having a Saturday Brunch wedding in October (peak season) and my venue is literally half the cost than it would be if I'd held it at the same place just a few hours later.

-Consider alternative venues that aren't traditionally used for weddings. How cool would it be to host a Celestial reception in an observatory or atrium? Get creative.

-Don't blow your budget on a dress you'll only wear once. Check out sample sales, unconventional dresses, or alternative stores like LuLus/Asos/BHLDN.

-Get creative with catering. Traditional wedding dinner foods are expensive and overdone. Think about opting for a pizza bar, BBQ, or even food stations. These are far less expensive most times. Also look into catering by a local Wegmans. BYOB your alcohol if possible.

-DIY as much as possible, or get some talented friends/family member to help you out with decor/photography/cake/DJ.

-Buy your flowers wholesale and DIY them with some friends.

We've got a budget of 10k (less than 1/3 the average budget for our area) and these tips have served us very well. Our wedding is coming out on budget and I really don't feel that I've had to compromise on anything that I really wanted in the wedding.

Do you have a budget in mind? Even if it's just a ballpark estimate, you can use that final number as a starting point and compare it to existing budget breakdowns online to figure out how much to spend on each item. I'd also recommend you and your FS to make a priority list for what's important to you individually, and merge those lists to see what's most important to the both of you. If having great photos is at the top of your list, look into photographers in your area and be willing to splurge. If food isn't that important, consider doing a buffet-style meal, or finding a cheaper caterer.

View Quoted Comment For a wedding budget, is that just money on hand or do brides just go and get loans because I'm thinking that's what's going to happen here

View Quoted Comment Please do not get a loan. A wedding is not worth going into debt!

We've had a nearly 2 year engagement so we've slowly been saving for the wedding. You can definitely do a nice wedding for less than 10k.

What's a feasible budget for you without taking out a loan? Maybe I can point you in a good direction to save

View Quoted Comment We got engaged January 4, 2019 and the wedding is May 2, 2020. I'm moving to Missouri from Kansas in a month or two, so money is rough now. My parents dont have much to contribute. His parents are paying for the honeymoon, so no worries there. My FH has a job interview coming up, hoping we get this job and budgeting will be no issue because it pays so well. Without the job, it's sort of just saving a little money from each of our paychecks. I currently have no idea on what my wedding budget is looking like, but I'm thinking we can do it around $1,000 maybe more just with him and I contributing.

If your budget is $1,000 you’ll need to do something with less than 20 people. The most expensive part of a wedding is catering. I would suggest getting married at a courthouse or local park and take immediate family members out to dinner at a restaurant. Hire a photographer for just an hour or two.

View Quoted Comment Do you have a venue? Imo if you don't have a venue, you don't have a date. Kelly has a great idea!

Also, a Saturday is typically the most expensive day to host a wedding. You can usually save money by having it on any other day of the week.

$1000 won't cover a traditional, or even a budget wedding and reception. Focus on making the wedding special. Hire a photographer to shoot the ceremony, then have your friends and family take lots of photos during the reception.

*Must-haves to be legally married: An officiant, witnesses, marriage license.

-You can get an officiant for around $100, sometimes less depending upon your location.

-Witnesses will be any friends or family members present at the ceremony.

-The cost of the marriage license depends upon your location. It shouldn't be much.

Add up the costs of the officiant and license. Pick a space that is romantic and beautiful. Have your friends and family meet up and stand around you in a circle. No need to rent chairs, etc.

Choose outfits that feel special. You can get a used dress that looks like new for under $100, or just buy a bridesmaid style in white. Bridesmaid dresses are gorgeous and easy to buy new at around $100. Check out Azazie.com

For the reception, either go out for a nice dinner or have a backyard/ park BBQ.

View Quoted Comment Dont get a loan. If anything try to get credit cards with 0% interest for a long time.

View Quoted Comment

As others have mentioned, your $1000 is best spent on an intimate restaurant venue with less than 20 of your closest family/friends. There's always time for a grand vow renewal a few years down the line if you're really wanting the big wedding experience! Here's how I'd handle a $1,000 budget:

-Dress $100: Do not spend more than this on your dress and DO NOT buy anything that requires alterations. Here are some places to find budget dresses: Lulus (top recommendation), ASOS, Saved by the Dress, DB $99 sale, Facebook Marketplace, or Poshmark.

-Ceremony Space $100-200: Use a courthouse, your personal church (hopefully they don't charge you), campus chapel, or local park (Lafayette Park looks gorgeous) as a ceremony space. Forgo any event rentals such as chairs or arches as they'll eat up your budget. This may mean you have to keep the ceremony short and sweet.

-Decor $100: Do not spend a single penny on anything unless it's second hand or from the dollar store. Seriously, I've gotten things from my local thrift shop for $6 that are being sold in stores for $60. Make as much as possible. And skip flowers cuz they're expensive af and your theme won't suffer without them.

-Photographer: Honestly, I think any photographer you can hire for $200 probably won't be worth the money.... Especially with how great phone cameras are nowadays. I'd say you should spare the money and just ask that friends/family share their candids with you. If you really want to hire somebody check your local High School/College for photography students who are looking to build their portfolio.

-Reception Venue $500: Find a restaurant with private dining that will serve your guests for about $25 a head or less (for a guest list of 20 people). After doing some research I found John D. McGurks Irish Pub in St. Louis and think the patio would be great for a celestial theme! There's a rental fee of $250. The cheapest buffet option that they offer is $14.95 per person. Here's what it looks like!

I’m getting married on 3/19/21. I wanted to have an “off-peak” wedding in general and I love the early spring months but pricing was significantly better. We probably will be paying for the majority of the vendors and don’t want to spend a fortune but we know that we at least want to make it fun and a memorable time. We have done a ton of research this far and have done complete comparisons between vendors. Luckily we have time to save up but still we are budget conscious

- Get married on an off day (weekday, off-peak season)

- do you budget FIRST before reaching out to vendors, this saves everyone's time bc if you don't, it's back to the drawing board

- try all-inclusive venues. It can really be cheaper and a lot of the planning will be done you just have to pick colors, food options, etc

- Look at city venues, parks, random halls in the city over, museums, pretty restaurants, just unconventional options and you might get a deal. Maybe think of approaching vendors who might not have done it

- get a DOC. this isn't money saving tip, but I think at the very least, you need a day/month-of coordinator to help you relax the day of

- don't be scared to negotiate. Negotiate everything tbh. BUT make sure you're still being equitable to your vendors and not ripping them off. This also means limiting open bar to beer/wine/signature drink in exchange for something else like an upgrade somewhere else.

- Wedding wire has a really good vendor search tool. use it for every vendor and some has their pricing on there so you can get an idea of things