What is your wedding ceremony and reception budget? And did you go over?

The best advice to keep you budget low is to keep your guest low. That is the hardest part. Good luck, a 20k wedding in Orange County seems pretty cheap IMHO.

Hello & congrats! My wedding is also in OC and yuuuuup pretty expensive. Looking at the wedding calculator OC is actually around 30,000 from 150-200 guests (scary right) but it can definitely be done for less. You may be able to get a beach permit (not entirely sure how that works) and then have your reception at a restaurant? Not sure what your true vision is. I would definitely recommend shopping around before going with a final vendor and be sure to ask TONS of questions. Good luck

We were shooting for 15,000. We were lucky enough to get 5,000 from each set of our parents and then we were going to contribute 5 as well. Our current budget it at 25,000. Lol. But that's including honeymoon. We were unaware of wedding prices when we set that budget.

Just saw your other questions. We are getting married May, 5, 2018 in Missouri in a wood chapel off a Nature Reserve. Venue includes ceremony location, reception location, planner, tables, chivari chairs, linens, and staff. A great deal!

Our budget was technically $10,000, but we have up to $18,000 to spend, and it looks like we're coming in just in the middle of those two!

We're in Sacramento CA and getting married in August 2018. We originally set our budget at $10k, before researching anything wedding. After, we increased it to $20k, currently trending to end at $22,500, including honeymoon. Keep your guest count down, shop around and DIYs.

Orange County CA: we originally set our budget at $20,000 and we’re basically laughed at by venues since a lot of places that’s their food and beverage minimum (especially with Ocean View). Try the Beachcomber in Corona Del Mar, it’s on the beach and accommodates small parties (I think up to 100). We had too many so ended up at the Coyote Hills Golf Course in Fullerton which is really pretty. We’ll be over our original budget but we’re working to save money everywhere other than venue/caterer.

Just saw your other question: we’re getting married 8/11/18 which was the date I wanted and the last August Saturday they had. The venue includes a wedding planner

Ocean front venues-😳Are not cheap. Many of the restaurants I contacted along the ocean in my area have minimum food and beverage cost of $6,500 and up. For all the bells and whistles, and that large of a guest list $10,000 only covers about 3 vendors, so that isn't a really realistic budget in CA along the ocean. My wedding was this past October in Redondo Beach; $30,000, 42 guests, 5 vendor meals. Saving money-we cut our guest list in half. Other things to consider: cut cable, Cheaper phone and Internet plans, eat out less.
I had a notebook I could carry in my purse that had notes from meetings with vendors, then in a 3 ring binder I had vendor contracts, inspiration photos; once I had a coordinating company I wrote out instructions and diagrams on room set ups.

Can't edit on mobile, wanted to add, I had my wedding ceremony and reception at a restaurant in their upstairs rooms overlooking the harbor.

I live in good ol' NYC which means they throw extra dollar signs on everything here... my original budget was $10k but now we are at about $16k. That's not including my dress etc

We had a budget of 10k but quickly noticed it was going to take a lot from our part to stay within our budget. With most of everything booked and set for our wedding in November 2018. We are over budget by a little under 5k but all in all not bad we are getting our dream wedding exactly how we would like it.

Our budget was $12,000 for 91 people (cut down from $15,000) and with everything we have so far we’re at $11,895. We don’t want to go over but we found a videographer that charges $699 and I don’t want to not have one so we will be going over.

We had a $15000 budget in central Illinois for 175 guests. It wasn't easy getting the budget to workout, but so far we have. Included in that is a weekend long venue rental, DJ, caterer, bartender, alcohol, photographer, decorator/ DOC, our wedding bands, linens, florist, dress, accessories, alterations, random decor/chair rentals, hotel for night before wedding and the night of the wedding, save the dates, invitations, random decor, and one BM dress. I had to search for the perfect place then I just kept searching for quality vendors who weren't about to break my budget. I also have a little wiggle room of about $800 and have found an amazing videographer for about $1800. I'm still convincing FH, but I'm hoping to book him. I took notes with each vendor and anytime I called one I had pen and paper ready. Another thing that has worked for me is having all wedding related things sent to one email. I also brought inspiration pics to every meeting. Honeymoon is about $3k right now as well that is not included in the $15k budget.

I live in Dallas Fort Worth and I set a budget of about $23,000. I do think we will exceed a little , maybe $25k-26k, when it is time to finalize food choices, etc. I also didn’t account for menus, programs, table numbers, etc.... so a small amont but still going to put us over where I was originally. But I’m not letting myself change consider vendors that will put me wayyyy over budget.

View Quoted Comment We originally started at $10k, but with everything wrapping up it's going to look more like $21k for 100 - 110 people.

Still, I don't think that's not bad for lower Manhattan.

My budget for a NYC (Brooklyn) wedding was $20k and we ended up at $22k. This includes everything except wedding rings and honeymoon, which were an additional$10k. Keep in mind that prices vary widely across the country with NY and Cali being some of the highest. Also, when some people provide their budgets, they often forget about all the little stuff they buy over the year (which can add up), RH dinner costs, gifts for BP, and many other items. The main reasons I was able to stick close to budget: my dress was $900 including alterations, no BMs or GMs, didn’t need to hire transportation, kept floral to personal flowers only and really shopped around, no videography (photos only), venue didn’t need much decor (they provided candles for cocktail hour, ceremony aisle, dinner tables, fairy lights across ceiling and backdrop for ceremony/dinner room), designed my own STDs and invited and printed them through Costco which cost $140 for STDs, invites and RSVP cards, escort cards doubled as favors.

It definitely is possible to have a wedding in your area for $10,000 or less, you just need to be willing to cut your guest list to a few of your nearest and dearest!

We live in NH, and our budget is $20,000. So far we are on track to stay within, however I have not done things like alterations yet. And unfortunately our venue only does a consumption bar, so depending on how much our guests drink.

In OC as well, with a guest list of 100; date in early 2019. Our original budget (target?) was $20,000. Daughter researched at least 16 semi-inclusive venues and we visited 10, from Fullerton to San Clemente. They all priced things differently, but bottom line was that venue space (for ceremony & reception), food, beverage, etc., averaged $15,000. Some included more for that price (e.g., DJ, cake, etc.). Among the most inclusive/lowest priced options in that cost-range, were: Wedgwood San Clemente, Chapel of Orange, and Orange County Mining Company. (Wedgwood kind of has an "ocean view," but you have to look past the freeway to see it.) We also visited the Tivolis in Laguna Beach (in the canyon; no ocean view, but close enough that you could do pictures at the beach). Ultimately, she choose to go in another direction (higher-end, more formal), but base price is still in that range. We're finding that the conventional wisdom that the reception is about 50% of budget is pretty much right on -- early on we revised the budget and are currently at $28,500 (not including a videographer, which she hopes to be able to add). When we started, we didn't believe the "cost calculator estimates" of $30,000 in OC, but, honestly, they are dead-on. Not going over that is requiring that daughter be very budget-conscious and thoughtful about her choices. We expect her wedding will be beautiful and fun, guests will be well hosted, and it's exactly what they want, but not extravagant by any means.

As mentioned, if you need to stick to budget, you probably need to rethink your priorities -- especially the size of you guest list. There is a lot of "sticker shock" to adjust to. Good luck!

I'm in St. Louis and our total budget is 20k for our wedding not including our honeymoon (debating putting it off more toward the summer). We're having our wedding in May, so during prime wedding season.

if you want to save money your main thing has to be your guest list. But cut things that won't be missed... programs, favors, etc. Have your wedding on maybe a Friday or Sunday. Live frugally in your day to day life. Use coupons, don't go out to eat, etc.