SUPER budget conscious

There's so many people attending my wedding that I could feasibly use as vendors and get quality work for a lower price. But I'm NOT. Because I'd rather have them enjoy my day. "Its right for us" is one thing but saying "its right for the people we're inviting" sounds like a load of BS

I have a tight budget as well. I only invited people who mattered. 40 people tops. His uncle who we both adore is going to marry us in a park of our choosing. We're doing a lot of diy and having out favorite Mexican restaurant cater. We're also using a lot of friends and family for certain hook ups (tables chairs, cake, alterations, flowers, etc...)

It also helps not to get caught up in the idea of a wedding. Remember what it's about. It's about you and your spouses commitment to each other and if you want it to be a show for others then yes it will require money. remember it's for you and him or her not everyone else.

They dont like you using friends on this site. my photographer and planner are friends and i dont see anything wrong with it but it will be hard to self cater for 200 ppl. thats a lot of crockpots to buy

Self catering... no no no! That's a huge liability.

Ohhh lord! The things I have read here... I can't wait to see how this wedding will turn out... good luck! Pray your guests don't get sick...

If you can't afford to host 200 guests properly then you need to re-evaluate your guest lists and what you really want..

Melissa, as stated above, I have very qualified friends that i could use as several vendors. However I won't, or if I choose to do so, i will PAY them their standard rate. I'm not going to pull the, "Well we're friends, so shouldn't i get a discount" card.

Elope and spend the money on your honeymoon.

"They don't like you using friends on this site..."

You forgot to add at the end..."because it's not fair to make friends work for free at my wedding instead of paying them. Oh, and I'm screwed if something goes south and I don't have a contract with them." Fixed that for you!

You also forgot to add an apostrophe and a capital letter. I added those on the house.

I already said that im gonna pay my friends SOMETHING idk what yet

@Melissa But are you paying them enough to appropriately compensate them for their time, expertise, and effort? That would be a lot of raffle baskets.

I am. My budget is 3000 and we have a little over 200 people. I have family cooking the food. My FSIL said that her pastor gave us the ok to use his church ($75). My reception cost $500. My boss is a pastor so he is marrying us for free. Our dj/photographer is $600.I made my own bouquets and center pieces. I believe it can be done.

Kendra - you really need to call your insurance agent and have a talk about liability coverage under your homeowners policy. Some companies limit alcohol coverage, especially if you are charging guests for the alcohol. I'm not saying you aren't covered, but it's best to always verify these things.

As Georgina from Get Out says...

@Normika Why put that stress on your family when they should be enjoying your day with you? Who's going to serve the food? Clean it up? Make sure that it's a safe temperature? Sure it can technically be done, but is saving money worth putting your family through that? I've worked for a caterer and have done weddings for that many people. It's a LOT of work.

I haven't read everything but my advice would be to cut the guest list and switch the full on meals to a dessert reception. Another idea is that if you have to have all of those people due to your family insisting, gently ask them if they would be willing to contribute money towards your wedding to cover the costs of the must have guests.

Our wedding was about $7,000, for 100 people. Everything was great! It is definitely do-able. I think it just depends on your area and what deals you can find.

You can do it for WAY less than $30,000, but definitely not 3,000 for 200 people. Cut your guest list for sure.

I'm on a budget too so, don't get me wrong but 3000 is cutting it to short unless your going to the court house and a back yard reception. The venue we're looking at comes with a lot and a DOC for like 8500

Kristin - you can afford to feed 200 people for $3000 when you aren't paying for the food. Your family who prepares it, is.

Kristin, right?! We spent $60-80 on pizza for our kids’ birthday parties, then drinks, chips, fruit platters... it adds up quickly. That’s just for 15-20 people!!

Normika, my mom used to make wedding cakes, my FH is a chef... we refuse to self cater or even ask family to work at our wedding. I cooked for my mom’s second wedding. It was fucking miserable and I’ll never do it again.

99% of us are on budgets, they’re just varying amounts.