Wedding for 2000 dollar budget?

Changing your date will help you save enormously. May/June is prime wedding session and prices are much higher. Personally, I'm saving $2500 on my venue by having it in an off month. I've also been able to negotiate a bit more with other vendors since work is a little bit slower during off seasons.

ETA: Another way to keep your date and still work with the budget is to see what public areas around you are available. Parks can make beautiful backdrops for ceremonies and are generally cheaper to use, if not free. Doing an outdoor ceremony can cut down on the desire for decor because it's already pretty. Doing an off meal time can help keep food costs down without treating your guest poorly.

Push it back and or have a small courthouse wedding with your immediate family and take them to dinnner.

Honestly that's the best way to do it. We were aiming for 4-5K and we are struggling to keep it below 6 at this point. And we are keeping it VERY small- and it's still costing us b/c we want it to be VERY nice so we have splurged on our current vendors.

If you really are keeping it small- want cost efficient- courthouse- JOP- and dinner for your immediate family. That's the best most reliable way to do it.

Think restaurants with private dining areas. This will hopefully allow for an all inclusive packages that will give you everything - venue, food and bar, staff, linens and centerpieces, etc. You'll spend the majority of your $2000 on this, but you may find something that only leaves you with attire for you and FH, a license and an officiant.

Have it on an "off" day/time--venues often have lower rates for less popular days of the week. Lunch is cheaper to serve than dinner; a non-mealtime reception would be even cheaper (think cake and punch in mid-afternoon).

As someone who lives in the GTA of Ontario, I can tell you that it won't be possible for you to have a regular wedding/reception for $2000. Our caterer was $21 PP and we had 53 guests. Even with that and doing the bare minimum-which trust me even I could see how minimal it looked, we still spent $6500.

I would suggest finding a beautiful spot for a ceremony and then taking your guests out to a nice restaurant afterwards.

Host it in a restaurant.

I'm with annakay and Zoe. A restaurant reception will be your best bet.

We have a $2500 budget (in sacramento). We picked a monday to get married because the venue is $400 as opposed to $1200 on weekends, and our day had special meaning to us. We are doing bbq catering which is $9 pp with 80 guests. My e-ring came with wedding bands so were set there just need FHs ring. Im having a home baker do my cake which will be $350. We are not doing real flowers on anything, and bough all of our decor on clearance after the holidays. We were even able to get all my BM dresses on sale for $25 a piece! Its doable you just have to shop around and watch for sales.

Duplicate post sorry

You will not find a caterer in the Toronto area for $20pp. Most caterers have minimums so 28 people at $20pp is not something they will entertain. Restaurants with private function rooms are a better bet, but fancy / high end restaurants will be beyond your budget as well. You would probably have to go with a casual / pub type location. Also, it's not a very smart idea to put your wedding expenses on credit.

ETA - a nice dinner at a steak house or bistro is easily $75pp. That is more than your entire budget when you multiple by 28 people, and it may not even include alcohol. Your budget is very tight even for a restaurant. However, lunch or brunch will be a cheaper option.

Why not wait an extra year to save more money and so you can get the house expenses out of the way?

Would you consider Markham?

Smash kitchen and bar has private dining rooms that will seat 30, and if you do a brunch they have a fixed price option at $20 that includes entree, dessert and coffee/tea. You'll still need to pay tax and tip, but it's not a bad deal at all.

My dad threw us our engagement brunch there, and it was really nice.

Or you could get a bunch of their pizzas, which are all under $20. Two pizzas will feed three people pretty easily, though to be safe you may want to get one per person.

You can do Hyvee catering. It is about 10/pp. I know it sounds lame but they actually have some pretty good options and then you can get plastic plates and stuff. I totally get if that's not your thing but it's worth a look!

Try looking into state parks, o the things that will go into planning a wedding on a budget,off peak season, a lot of DIY, small guest list which you already have. However I think with your budget JOP with immediate family is best with a small cake reception or dinner depending on your area and cost but it would be much nicer IMO with fewer people so that you can splurge on those few guests and not stress about all, maybe when your finances are in a better place have the wedding you desire with all the guest you'd like but for now JOP with dinner and immediate family. Good kuck and happy Planning.

You are looking at a prime date over a year from now. I'd look into March, Tuesday, morning.

You have a small guest list which is really smart, but consider your timing.

I am having a small (40ish) wedding and I started out with a 3k budget, got it down to 2.5k, and am now whittling to hit 2k.

1. We aren't doing a venue. We are using a friends house with a big backyard. Free and a small gift.

2. Clothes. I am getting a bridesmaid dress from David's Bridal for under $150, he is going to get a custom utilikilt also for under $150. I'm going to wear converse, but you can find cheap shoes alllll over the Internet. No veil, no fancy under garments, no extra jewelry.

3. Rings. We are getting wood wedding bands on etsy for about $60 a piece.

4. Costco does cheap bulk flowers and this was the original plan. Now that I'm aiming to cut back even more, we are doing candy instead. Candywarehouse.com has these really cute sunflower lollipops (120 for $50) and we will be doing small old fashioned milk bottles with lollipop bouquets in them, and these will also be our favors. The bottles are $26 for 24 bottles. I found them on a restaurant supply site. I am not having a bouquet or anything like that.

5. Food and liquor! This is one of two big expenses. We will have a dozen bottles of wine, good quality but still at $15 each. French Beaujolais is a great red that is often priced lower for the quality than a more popular type. And New Zealand whites also have a great quality to price ratio. We will also have 4 cases of beer. 2 of nicer, and 2 PBR. Our friends are drinkers, and PBR is a normal beverage for most of us. We are doing the cooking. A friend, who is also our officiant, will be making a vegetarian gluten free lasagna for our kosher and veggie friends, my MIL will be doing one of the apps, and another friend will be doing ribs. We are doing 3 cold apps for cocktails before the ceremony, and two mains with 3 sides for the dinner. Bamboo disposables for flatware and plates. Plastic (not solo!) for glassware. Table cloths from tableclothfactory.com.

6. Our single biggest expense is the photographer. I used thumbtack to find someone who is going to do 2 hours for $500. We are timing it so that we can have family pics before guests arrive and she finishes just after the ceremony and can join us for dinner if she chooses.

7. Fancy cupcakes instead of a giant wedding cake. Wedding cake is gross, fondant looks pretty but isn't really edible. Cupcakes rock.

8. Doing my own hair, going to Sephora day of for a make over that requires just a $50 purchase.

9. Entertainment-FH has a giant vinyl collection. You probably have at least one friend that is a music nut. Free!

10. Invites from vistaprint and RSVP through email and phone ONLY. No expensive reply cards and minimal postage.

We are getting married at the start of peak wedding, on a Saturday, but all the DIY stuff means that we can skip around most of the pricier stuff.

It is going to be more work than giant wedding with a caterer and a planner and all that stuff. It's also going to be cheaper. It will be casual, I don't know how much of this we could do and still try to be formal.

You can do it, especially with a small guest list like you have. You just have to manage your expectations.

Remember, you are hosting a party. As Cheyenne (Howdy neighbor!!!) and Monkeysmama have illustrated, it can be done. The venue, food, and any liquor is the most expensive.

Try a restaurant banquet room for the meal, have cake and champagne, or get catering trays from a local restaurant (such as bbq or Mexican). I do recommend hiring a person as a "server" to keep hot food hot, cold food cold, and refresh the buffet area, if you don't do a restaurant. You don't want anyone to get sick, or for your friends/family to work at your party.

I've worked many lovely backyard weddings where they had drop-off catering. I have a couple getting married on the ski slopes in a couple of months, and they are hosting the reception at a brew pub. Think outside the box. For venues, you can also try community rooms, grange halls, etc.

Best wishes!!

Also, change your avatar! The rings are associated with spam/trolls.

Thanks everyone now I'm stuck on the wedding date. My fiance says he doesn't really care but would like fall wedding so fall 2017. I really don't want to wait that long, I would rather spring wedding not to hot not to cold. He knows how I feel and said okay do whatever but now I feel like he has no say when he says that and I want him to contribute too its not all about me.

How did you ladies settle on wedding date?

I mean it will be hard either way for us to have a wedding if it is in spring or fall but we should be able to pull it off I think.