Planning Wedding on a budget of 6500

1) keep your guestlist small (25-30 people)
2)look at venues through parks and rec depth (community center, park gazebos, etc)
3)consider any day except Saturday for ceremony/reception 4)consider brunch or lunch instead of dinner 5) look at Costco for bouquets and centerpieces (or fiftyflowers.com)6) get cake at grocery store

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for the advice I wrote everything down. Definitely want a smaller wedding. Never thought of the brick and lunch instead of dinner.

I am using a wedding planner book that I have found useful and has some great budget advice.
JM Sunshine's advice is also spot on. Good luck!

Sit down with fiancé set your priorities. What aspects are most important to you and what do you feel comfortable cutting entirely? For most couples they focus on the guest experience (good food, free drinks, great dj) plus great photos for your memories. The rest you can cut and not miss. The only requirements are an officiant, a marriage license, your fiancé, legal witnesses as required by your state, and a reception immediately following for those attending the ceremony. Do whatever it takes so that guests do not open their wallets at your wedding. Limit your wedding party. Make a list of those people who you cannot imagine the day without. Everyone else gets an announcement. Do not invite anyone out of obligation to please others whom you don’t want in attendance.




As far as vendors. Look into a parks department owned venue. They include tables and chairs plus a full kitchen and typically let you start when you want so there are no inconvenient gaps and you can stay 8-10 hours.
Look into grocery stores for a tiered cake and bouquets. A grocery store wedding cake is just as tasty for half the price of cupcakes that are expensive and messy. Costco.com has premade bouquets.
Ask your favorite local restaurant to cater. The Mexican or Chinese restaurant you visit for date night offer catering. You get twice the amount of food that a regular wedding caterer offers that is just as tasty if not more than a regular caterer at half the price. You sacrifice the waitstaff and champagne that many couples don’t care about.
Wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses can be purchased inexpensively from Azazie/Cocomelody/Revelry.com
Costco.com and Annsbridalbargains.com offer full sets of invites cheaper than you find elsewhere. Places like Zazzle will add up very quickly because each piece is sold separately including envelopes.
Do not purchase a wedding planning book. You can find the same info for free at GoogleSheets under free templates that can be accessed from any device. Make your own binder using a blank 3 ring binder from Target with clear pockets to store paint chips for your colors, fabric swatches, contracts and brochures, etc

Also do not spend a dime on save the dates. Your parents and grandparents sent save the dates in their time over the phone 6+ months before the wedding and did not pay to do so. Skip the new trend of postcards and magnets that costs unnecessary money.

View Quoted Comment "Do not purchase a wedding planning book. You can find the same info for free at GoogleSheets under free templates that can be accessed from any device."


But you can check your local library if they have any wedding planning books on top of internet searches!

View Quoted Comment The GoogleSheets wedding planning template is at least 10 pages of spreadsheets accessible on your phone or laptop to organize you and keep you on track. Most wedding planning books are not aimed at true low budgets. They take the national average of 5 figures and call that “low budget” and send the message that if you have under $10k to work with, that you are too poor to marry. So read through the books but don’t take the information as gospel.

Best way to manage the budget is limit the guest list. Also you could think of a morning ceremony with a lunch reception, which is less expensive.

View Quoted Comment

I got this book for myself and my best friend who got married last year! IT IS THE BIBLE for weddings! I highly recommend!

I used Basic Invite for our save the dates and Invitations it was awesome and I didn't think too pricey. I chose an all inclusive venue. They provided dining service with tables and linens so i didnt have to buy anything but table decor and other decorations i wanted they also provided a DJ and it is on a boat, super excited! Best of luck!