For those who had simple weddings - how much money did you spend?

I'm planning on having a simple "small" church wedding, followed by a reception at a small local hotel. In 2000, my sister paid $2000 for her reception there. I'm sure it has gone up. Planning on having about 150-200 people, if you want to call that small. I can't manage to get my guest list any smaller. Ideally, I want it double that, but it's just not doable.



I want the basics. I don't need a bunch of flowers, and the places I'm having it at aren't 4 stars. I want simple, but I don't want to leave anything out.



I'm in the very beginning stages of planning. I'm starting with budget. Is $5,000 too small for the number of people I am inviting, or do I need to increase it? I don't want to go broke, I am not taking out a loan, and it's just me and him paying for it. I am not getting married for 2 years. That seems like a long time, but for two people having to save up, it's not that long. Primarily, we're saving for our first home along with its furnishings. Thanks :)

For those who had simple weddings - how much money did you spend?
I believe our wedding was about 5,000 maybe a few hundred less and we had 290 people. we invited 250...Everyone else has given you really great ideas. Let's see, we spent the most on of course on photography because that is what is going to stick with you forever. We bought things on ebay (unity candle holder, party favors, wedding program, etc.) and then after the wedding was over we went back and sold the holders, and even leftover wedding bubbles! Our local craft store (Michael's) had 40% off one regular priced item coupon every week so I had all my friends and family save theirs and we bought a lot of make your own things. I made my tiara/veil with a $14 veil from the craft store and glued on pearls. It turned out beautiful! Do a ton of online searches for budgeting ideas and we even found an Excel template for wedding expenditures/budget. Anyways, hope that helps!
Reply:I think we spent roughly $5,000 and we called it a small simple wedding with about 150 people. We set up a buffett and paid one of my sisters friends to keep the trays stocked. Our photographer was my husbands uncle. Hes a retired professional and did the photos for free. the only flowers we had we're the bride and bridesmaids bouquets. Our cake came from albertsons. We got a special package deal on the equpment like tables, chairs, etc at the B%26amp;B we had the ceremony at. Alot of things like the center pieces and favors were hand made. You can do this on a $5,000budget but its going to take alot of organization. Do what you can to try and cut down your guest list. Don't invite the great uncle you never see or your parents friends because they are "nice". We had to make some serious sacrifices but we did it. you can too
Reply:Hey there. I am planning a very formal but small simple wedding (no more the 120 guest). We are looking to spend no more then $6,000. It is a year away (June 14, 2008) and I have found that the best way to save money is to find great sales! So far everything that I have bought has been around 50% off. I am also making most all of my decorations myself. I am from a small town and the place where we are getting married is really cheap ($350 for church and reception hall). So that is a big money saver. I am also using silk flowers on all my decorations (so that I can sell them later) but using real flowers on things like bouquets. They have brand new custom made wedding dress that you can buy on Ebay that are from China. They are very beautiful and usually cost no more then $300. Most all dressed that you find at bridal stores come from china anyways, so thats a good way to cut out the middle man. If you do not want to do the Ebay thing, there are a lot of online stores that will custom make your dress that you pick out to your measurements that are much cheaper then buying from a bridal store.



I think that $5,000 is very do-able and I think that is enough money to have a beautiful wedding without going broke. I can not see spending much more then that on a wedding. Just really watch your budget and remember to save money any way that you can.



Congrats and Good Luck! Hope some of my money saving tips helped.
Reply:well, I got married in a small chapel and the reception was at my parents house, my mom made the food, we didnt have a dj or photographer, the wedding party was only MOH and best man and there was only 40 guests and it still cost us $3500 so if you want to have 150-200 people then thats going to be a really tight budget. you can get the guest list down too if you really wanted to. if I could get mine down from over 200 to 40 people then I think you could do the same. its just a matter of you not wanting to and if thats the case I suggest you increase the budget a bit.
Reply:200 people is not a small wedding!!! I've got 35 guests and altogether the wedding is costing ￡2000 (dress excluded, my mother bought my dress as my wedding present) I'm having a registry office and not many of the frills and it's still costing me ￡2k!!!
Reply:Elope and then just have a reception. Have your friends help you prepare a buffet style food. The wedding part is over in 10 minutes and the party/reception will last longer and is more fun. My daughters was $3000.00
Reply:No more then $300. lol We got married by judge and a few witnesses. Went to a restaurant after and had lunch.........all you can eat buffet.........our witnesses drove so we just put in for their gas and their meal :-) Cheap, easy, no cleaning or setting up. We been married 21 yrs now lol
Reply:good idea i have the exact same problem my budget is 5000 and i want to get married next year in march. i went online to alot of wedding planner websites. u can ask them online and they'll call the next day. my mom says its absolutely doable. if u start buying table centerpieces and fake flowers. i try to buy a little something every pay week good luck and congratulations!!!!!!!!
Reply:Okay. I don't know what everyone includes in their budget. I think the initial budget gets blown out of the water!! I'm getting married in a month. We are paying for everything and going to Vegas with 40 of our closest friends and family. Our initial budget was 5000. But, I believe that has at least doubled. You said you were getting married in 2 yrs? You have plenty of time to really save. You just cut out all the fun money!

I'm not including our rehearsal dinner, wedding rings, and honeymoon. We are paying for those as well. We started paying for everything 6 months ago. We haven't taken out any kind of loans and have paid everything in full.

Just be aware that your reception will cost more than your planning. Unless you just do punch and cake!
Reply:There are a lot of ways to save money. You can have your local craft store do silk flowers for a fraction of the cost of real ones and you get them as a keepsake. Try your local supermarket for your cake. I did this for my sister's wedding and it was better than any fancy cake at a bakery. Do your own party favors. You can buy tulle %26amp; ribbon or organza bags and make sachets(guaranteed to be used by your guests) using potpourri or fill the bags with little candies which are always a hit. If you provide the food yourself you will save a lot of money. You can have meat%26amp;cheese trays, veggie tray, fruit trays, trays or bowls of crackers. You can buy all this in bulk at the supermarket and prepare it yourself. You can go with deli items like chicken wings, chicken poppers, shrimp poppers. You can even do chilled shrimp and if you get it at a store like wal-mart you get a great price for it. You can do a hot dip like spinach/artichoke. If you get a caterer that is going to take a big chunk of your budget. The most expensive things will be the wedding and reception venues, photographer and DJ. If anyone in the family can act as DJ you can have a stereo system set up or maybe the motel where you're having the reception will have a system. If anyone takes great pictures use them as a photographer at the reception and then you'll only need a professional photographer for an hour or two for the wedding photos and group photos of bridal party, parents, etc. There are many places that now sell invitation you can do yourself on the computer. Wal-mart and Target and local craft stores usually sell the things like the flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow, tiaras, etc. . I'm putting together two weddings for about $1000 to $2000 each. One in Morocco where my fiance lives and another one in America when he gets his visa. If you take advantage of local stores you can do a wedding for that many people on a $5000 budget. Congrats on your upcoming wedding.
Reply:When I got married we did it for under $700.



Alot of help from freinds and family. I think the cake came from Costco, but it didnt look like it did (I never saw a receipt now that I think of it. Maybe it came from somewhere else and my wife did a switch on me :D). My father in law was a Mason and got us a hall for just about nothing. I went to K%26amp;G (factory over runs kind of place) for my Tux and paid less than it would have cost to rent.



In the end, it was alot of work to make it inexpensive.



Heres a tip: put an ad on craigslist for photographer thats just starting out. It will be almost free.
Reply:i cant really answer your ? but i can say i know how you feel i am going tru that also