I am planning my wedding for April 11, 2009. My fiance’ and I can only work on a budget $5,000. We are planning on inviting at least 200 guest can this be done on our budget?
Our wedding was $5000. We had 75 people, a free dress, and my husband worked at the hotel so we got all the food and beverage at a discount. And I was very frugal with everything else. We only had appetizers, and a limited open bar (beer & wine only).
If you are planning on having a dinner and open bar for 200 people, absolutely not. $5k only gives you $25/person for food, beverage and a venue. What about dresses, rings, photography, DJ, gifts, invites, flowers, decor?
You need to reduce the number of people you are inviting, or increase your budget.
14 Responses to “Wedding Budget?”
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yes, it can i invited 100-150 and my budget was like 500… including the dress
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I hope so, because I too am on a 5k budget with 200 guests!
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Unless you are planning a bbq on a public park or a cake and toast reception at home, or a pot luck reception on a community hall , I don’t see how can you feed 200 people with 5k.
Does that budget include your dress, shoes, accesories, tuxedos, decorations, flowers, minister fees, invitations, postage, cake, etc????
It’s time to become serious about what you can afford and downscale your plans accordingly.
Good luck
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I really don’t think so. I am having about 225 guests, and my budget is 20,000 and sometimes I don’t even think thats enough. Thats a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of drinks to serve. If you want a nice wedding I suggest you up your budget and get rid of some of your guests.
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Depends on what sort of wedding you had in mind and how much work you are willing to do. If you wanted to feed all 200 guests a catered meal you’ll end up spending your entire budget on the catering fee alone. If you’re willing to cater it yourself, or better yet have just a traditional cake and punch reception you’re much more likely to stay in your budget. Start making a list of friends and family members who might be able to contribute skills (such as cake-making, floral arranging, dress-making etc.) for a discounted price, or as a favor. You’ll also need to find an inexpensive place to hold the wedding as venue fees can be very high. If you’re a member of a church you can probably be married there for free, also look into area parks and community centers (but also consider the chairs, tents, tables, etc. that you may have to rent). Also, ask recently married friends if they have leftover decorations (chances are they will be more than happy to loan them to you!)
You would definitely find it easier to stay in your budget with a smaller guest list, but I would say your task is not impossible. Good Luck!
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My fiance’ and I are having a gorgeous English Garden wedding for roughly 200 guests, and we each will have 7 attendants, for $5,000. It’s very possible! I have even seen beautiful and elegant weddings with a $2,000 budget. It’s in the planning, the chosing, and the execution.
Here are some of my money-saving tricks:
Ceremony: Have an early ceremony (around 2 o’clock).
*Your guests will have already have eaten lunch, and won’t be expecting a huge meal. You then can serve light food such as finger food and desert. This is the only way that my fiance’ could manage to feed our 180-200 guests without going way over our budget.
Wedding dress: I found a beautiful gown at http://www.groupusa.com/ for a little more than $300 (my splurge). They have beautiful gowns by wonderful designers from affordable to extravagent.
*Try places like GroupUSA, David’s Bridal, and even eBay for knockout deals.
I just found this eBay store http://myworld.ebay.com/gianinarbridal
One dress is $39! Brand new. Add $89 for shipping from China and you have some knock out deals.
Bridal Jewelry: I found my crystal wedding jewelry at no other than Wal Mart. Originally I had been looking at genuine jewelry from big name stores, but decided to scrimp here to save money for the wedding gifts my fiance’ and I plan to get each other.
*Don’t forget retail sortes like Wal Mart and Target. My headpiece, earrings, and necklace by Crystal Collections came to $21.
Wedding location: I have four choices, a lovely place on the property of a family friend, the beautiful garden of a local inn, a church that has a SMALL fee and goes well with my wedding style, or on the mountain where my grandparents’ grew up, married, and live.
*Look for unconventional venues; they’ll be cheaper or even free. I opted for the for the garden for my English Garden theme.
Reception Site: I have two options here, one of which is the brand new mansion-style library in our town. It would cost only $199 ($100 refundable damage deposit, and $40 for a library worker to stay on site). The other would be our local arts building of the town center. They have several large and beautiful rooms and are roughly the same amount as the library.
*The same rule for venues applies here.
Caterer: My friends and family are fabulous cooks, and are going to provide a buffet-style meal for the wedding guests.
*Friends and family can really cut down on wedding expenses!
Cake: A friend of my fiance’ and I is a baker, and would only charge us the price of the ingredients.
*If you don’t have anyone who can provide this. Go for a two or three tier cake, and then have sheet cakes to cut for the bulk of the guests. That way you end up saving several hundred dollars. You can also have a two-tier cake, serving that only to wedding party, parents, and grandparents and serve guests with a cupcake tower.
I’m simply having a three tier cupcake tower and forgoing the cake.
Flowers: I am making my own bouquets. Flowers for a 30-stem wedding bouquet, toss bouqet, six 20-stem bridesmaid bouquets, arrangements, and 18 centerpieces (five flowers a vase would only run $288 before shipping costs from http://www.theflowerexchange.com. I am having a family friend do the arrangements for a fraction of the cost.
*Do as much as you can on your own! Http://www.theknot.com has videos and step-by-steps on how to make your own bouquets and arrangements.
Favors: For get then! Most of the guests toss these expensive trinkets.
*Instead I am making a candy buffet–something even my smallest guests would enjoy. You need a small table, glass vases shapes and sizes, candy from a bulk store like Sam’s (in your wedding colors, if you like), scoops, and little bags or favor boxes. Mine will come to about $60.
Children: Do you want children at your wedding, but want the adults to enjoy the reception worry free?
*If so, enlist a teenage niece, cousin, or friend. They may help as a wedding present, or simply be happy with $50 or so. They can keep the children happy and occupied with toys or color books in another room. Alternatively have the kid’s table covered in a paper table cloth with crayons at each place setting.
Invitations: You can purchase nice paper, envelopes, and an emblam, and an ink cartridge and make your own for about $50. OR you could go to http:///www.invitationsbydawn.com.
She has great deals and some of them come to a total as little as $100.
*Instead of $250-$350! Do what you can on your own, or look for budget-conscience resources like the one above.
I am making my own invitations using beautiful, old postcards from the early 1900s. One-of-a-kind, over a century old, and inexpensive at a total of $90.
DJ: My fiance’s brother is a DJ, and will save us $975 by doing the reception as a wedding gift.
*If you don’t have someone like this, consider cutting the cost by having premade CDs of the music you want, and have someone man the player.
Attendant Gifts: Try places like http://www.exclusivelyweddings.com
*I found my 7 attendants gifts for $35, because they were having a sale on freshwater pearl and silver bracelets =]
Centerpieces: Something simple. If you’re having a fall wedding, vases filled with slender branches painted gold or silver is beautiful and inexpensive, and branches of berries can be added for winter. Spring or summer, simple vases with a few flowers.
*I found short, square vases and am putting five gerbera daisies in each. Total cost for 18 tables is $99, and they look gorgeous!
Have your bridesmaids’ pay for their dress and shoes, and have a family friend who’s good with hair or makeup help with that on the wedding day. Be sure to get them nice gifts!
If your attendants are on a budget, go to a place like http://www.groupusa.com for dress ideas. My attendants dresses cost $119 each, and they’re something they can wear again and again.
GO TO http://www.theknot.com It has everything you could ever need. Also get these books: Wedding Planning for Dummies, The Knot’s Guide to Wedding Planning, and Priceless Weddings for Under $5,000. Your local library should have at least one of them.
Good luck!
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BTB 09.19.09
You’re going to have to really work at that.
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Our wedding was $5000. We had 75 people, a free dress, and my husband worked at the hotel so we got all the food and beverage at a discount. And I was very frugal with everything else. We only had appetizers, and a limited open bar (beer & wine only).
If you are planning on having a dinner and open bar for 200 people, absolutely not. $5k only gives you $25/person for food, beverage and a venue. What about dresses, rings, photography, DJ, gifts, invites, flowers, decor?
You need to reduce the number of people you are inviting, or increase your budget.
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If you have a reception at someones house and make bulk food, or just have a cake and punch reception. I’m having 100 guests and it’s costs $4,000 to feed them through the hotels caterer. Around $30 a plate is the average cost I’m finding (Indiana). You can buy flowers in bulk from Costco and arrange them yourself, and check out the sale rack at David’s Bridal. Try and keep your wedding party down also. Attendant gifts get expensive.
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My budget started at $5k, then went to $8k, ended up spending $12k. I’m still paying for it. The dress, shoes, cake, and drinks (only beer & wine), and bands ended up under $1k. You wouldn’t believe the other small expenses that really add up. By the way - I only had 100 people there!
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
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Yes, my budget was around there also. So far, I’ve spent about 3000 dollars. And all I have left to do is pay the officiant; cake; 100 for my bouquet & some small detail stuff.
(to save a lot) only get yours & his flowers to be real. Do everyone else’s in silk flowers.
This company has tons of wedding favors, decorations, and necessities. They have great deals, fast shipping, good quality, and the prices are amazing!
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/shared/sharedFlowController.goToBrowseController.do?requestURI=viewEndecaCategory&categoryId=377344&tabId=PartySupplies
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Yes it can. I just finished planning my wedding for 130 people, and our budget was $10,000, but there were things we could have changed to make it cheaper. In general, our most expensive things were the caterer ($6,000!-and we are only doing a buffett!), the photographer ($1,000) and the DJ ($800). All the other elements were small charges that added to the rest of the 10K. Here are my suggestions for minimizing cost:
1) Food: Do a BBQ or potluck style for the food. To be honest, most of the food at even the fanciest weddings I have been to, is never really all that good, and it is DEFINITELY not the most important part of the wedding. Besides, who doesn’t love a good BBQ. And the more traditional people who attend will just have to deal with it. Also, I went to a wedding once where they served pies instead of cake because the bride hated cake, and they were really good! A baker is going to charge you $600/$700 for a wedding cake for 200 people. As a cheap alternative, why not try pies or cupcakes.
2) Photography: Instead of hiring a professional, ask a friend to be the photographer for the day, or put a disposable camera on each table and ask the guests to take pictures.
3) Music: Hire a band from a local college instead of a "wedding" band, use a friend if you have a musically inclined friend, or, if you have a computer and an Ipod, make your own playlist. You may need to rent speakers but it will be the cheapest option.
4) Decorations: The quote from our first florist for all the flowers was 5K, so I decided to do the centerpieces myself using cheap flowers that were in season (we are using mums). We will be getting enough flowers for all 18 tables for about $150 (instead of 5K). Try getting flowers that are in season and making the centerpieces yourself. Also, the Christmas Tree Shop has great decorations. Alot of the stuff in there is tacky, but there are nice options as well.
5) Attire: We got the BM dresses on sale at Anne Taylor Celebrations for $50 each. Great place to look. For the groomsmen, we are asking them to all wear kakhis and a navy blue blazer (something they all already own). And for your dress (the most important part) there are nice, cheaper options than the expensive boutiques. I purchased my dress at Jessica McClintock for $180 (before alterations). They have nice wedding dresses that range from $150-$500.
6) Invitations: Traditional invitations with all the inserts cost anywhere from $400 ish to $1000+ (and that was for our wedding of 125 ppl). We ended up going with some beautiful seal n send invitations, that only cost us $180. Some people think seal n sends are a less formal and think you should always go with the traditional invitations, but I think the seal n sends are more practical too. All the important information is on one piece of paper, not 5 small pieces that can get lost.
Hope this helps.
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Just planned a wedding
Mine is coming out to that aount. And I"m inviting about 200 people. The hall package which included all the food was about $4,100.00
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For the dress, I absolutely love David’s Bridal and their $99 sales which always seem to be going on.
Target also has a new line of wedding gowns for a very reasonable price, I think all of them are under $200.
You can always rent one too, my mom’s got eaten by mice in our garage anyhow!
For the cake, you can search the internet for the basic idea of what you like, then take a picture of it to your local Walmart and they will recreate it for you!
It is really awesome, and they do amazing things!
A fraction of the price of any other cake.
College students can come in really handy too.
If you have a cullinary school near by, check out if you could get a senior student or a recent grad to make you your dream cake.
They aren’t used to getting much money, so they would be cheap and it would give them experience and exposure for their portfolio.
Photography majors could also help out.
Tons of wedding photographers have never gone to school for photography, but a college kid would know all of the latest tricks of the trade- all of that crazy technology now-a-days!
They would be cheap since they need exposure and experience too.
You could even request to see samples of their work to make sure you are safe.
They would be thrilled for the opportunity.
Don’t use a familly member or close friend for the photographer though, too many things could screw up that situation!
Decorations are easy.
Making them yourself would be your cheapest way to go.
For tablecloths, you could either rent them from a party supply store or have someone hem some lovely fabric of your choice from a fabric store nearby.
Centerpieces?
I always love creative candle arrangements, and you could even make those your wedding favors for the guests.
Go to walmart, the dollar tree, or a cheap craft store and get some glass dishes to fill with a little water, fill the very bottom with some marbles or glass beads, then get floating candles to light in the center.
I’ve seen square mirrors set underneath the centerpiece and even little christmas lights look really cool to just drape around the whole arrangement.
Flower centerpieces are great too.
You could get some fresh flowers from a local farmer or from your farmer’s/saturday market, or use fake ones from walmart or the craft store.
Get a few of your favorite blooms and set them in a skinny clear vase that is filled with colored water, glass marbles, pebbles, pennies, beans, whatever.
Everyone love candy, you could buy a few bags of m&m’s, red hots, dinner mints, anything small, and sprinkle them around the centerpiece or even the whole table for cute, edible decor.
I have also seen picture frames with pictures of one or both of the couple.
You could use pictures of when you were growing up at different stages at all of the tables, or your engagement pictures, or even pictures from the wedding that were developed before the reception if that is possible.
With this idea you can use frames you already have, get cheap matching ones, buy a hodge podge from a second hand store, borrow some from a friend, anything goes!
It is a very personal touch to have pictures out, wherever you display them.
I don’t really know anything about catering, but you can always recruit friends and family to help prepare any food you want present on your big day.
If you shop for your food at the store, make sure to check the unit price of each item to get the best deal.
Some stores will give you a discount if you talk to the manager ahead of time and are getting a big quantity.
Also, ask a manager about any future sales that they could tell you about, sometimes they can’t tell you though.
Make sure your food won’t go bad before the day you need it.
My friend had a reception with only cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa, and everyone loved it.
She had friends each bring a few dozen of their favorite recipe, some orange rolls, with nuts, with raisens, with chocolate frosting, with extra cinnamon goo!
We made the hot cocoa as it was needed in three big fancy crockpots that were lended to us.
It is amazing how creative you can get and how fun it can be when you are forced to stick to a budget.
Have fun and remember that it is your day to have what you want, no one else gets to criticize your choices!
Don’t worry too much what everyone will think or what is expected from you, just stay pleasant and all will go wonderfully.
Good luck and congratulations!
Best wishes!
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