Where am i on the budget spectrum for a 75 person wedding?

I think you're ok. Definitely on the low end. I'm at $17,000 for 70, and weddings are extensive where I live. I'd consider you a budget bride, which means you may not be able to go with traditional vendors on everything, there may have to be some DIY or creativity on vendors.

I live in Washington DC, but got married in upstate NY where my mom lives to save money (and its beautiful up there). We spent $9500 on 75 people total, including dress, DJ, photographer, venue, catering, open bar. BUT I think we would have spent double to have the same wedding in DC. So $12,000 for 75 people is completely doable but in a more rural or lower COLA. But even at $12,000, you should probably just avoid certain items. For example, you should look at off-the rack dresses, and probably avoid a florist, esp. if you want to stay at $12,000 and not end up at $14,000 to $15,000. It's really easy to be on track until the last 6 months before the wedding and spend an extra $1000 to $2000 on alterations, gifts, taxes, tips, etc.

We got married in DE and had exactly 75 in attendance at our wedding. Our venue was semi-inclusive, and the venue cost alone was around $11k (included ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception spaces, catering, alcohol, linens, china, glassware, tables, chairs, base allowance for centerpieces from a specific list of florists, and base allowance for cake from a specific list of bakeries). Total cost with everything from DJ, photographer, attire, accommodations, upgrades to flowers and cake, honeymoon, rings, stationary....everything was around $30k.

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I'm in the 2nd tier suburbs of DC, and our weddings are similar. We're hoping to have about 45 guests (invited 65). All in (including the honeymoon) will be running us about $13-$14K. Final numbers of guests aren't due for another 2 weeks, so we could be as high as 55, which will increase our final number.

And all this on top of buying a house and keeping those expenses from going off the charts, too....

12k for 75 would be very low in my area, but still on the lower side in the southeast I believe. We have a 20-25k budget for 130 people which is considered on the lower side (but we are in the 2nd most expensive area to have a wedding, Long Island).

Thanks for the input everyone!

I had a feel it could be done but I'd have to be careful. I've looked at venues and I'm very lucky that so far the one I like most is doable (but I carefully researched and didn't visit any at all that were outside our budget).

I’m planning on a 40pp maximum wedding reception on a 10.000 budget in NYC. I found a Italian restaurant with a garden at the back with a $60,00 a tree course menu per person! Which is amazing !!! I think the most expensive thing I will contract is the photographer !

I have a guest list of 100 people living in PA and my budget is about $30,000. I originally started with $25,000 but it was not do able with my guest count and the city I live it. My venue is what cost us the most. Did you think about a DW? $12,000 will get you far with that.

View Quoted Comment May I ask where you held your wedding? We are outside of Philly too and having trouble finding all inclusive venues. My budget is on the low end as well. Thanks!!

Ha my budget has already gone up 1,000 dollars since I posted this.... even though we got half off our venue

View Quoted Comment We were in Bucks county not too far from Parx. Our venue was the Buck Hotel. It’s a restaurant that’s been around forever and they have several different banquet rooms. I honestly cannot rave about them enough. Everyone came up to us saying how great everything was. They even packed us some dessert for us to take on our mini moon. The location isn’t the greatest for pics on the outside but the inside is gorgeous. There is also a nature center 3 mins away that you can reserve for a donation (it was raining so we didn’t get to do pics there). Our DOC was amazing (I think they called her a floor manager). They did all the setup and packed our stuff up so someone could pick it up the next day. And the food....amazing! Especially the cake! Some of our pics there to show what the inside looks like.

We're inviting around 170 people and are also working on a $12,000 budget. However, we have a free venue (a family friend's beautiful home), a great florist connection who is getting us flowers at cost, and I'm bartering with my hair dresser for wedding hair. Take advantage of any connections you have like graphic designer friends, people you know who are great at doing makeup but aren't professionals, etc. Try to think outside the box with everything, and don't go crazy with decorations--those can add up real quick.

Think about areas you can save. You can save a lot of money on flowers by using mostly greenery and seasonal flowers. Keep your cake fairly simple and research bakers who run their business out of their home (we did this and found someone who does cakes for $2.75/slice compared to $4/slice at a local bakery).

Good luck!

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What was your wedding? I know prices increased since 2018, but I couldn't find anything near that price range in the philly suburbs.