Is it possible to plan a wedding under $2,000?

Me and my fiance want to get married we dont have long to plan and dont have that much money to spare, as we are a young couple. We both want a very simple wedding just closest friends and family, problly max people would be 50 and problly have the reception at our house, we have a max budget of 2,000 but would like to get away with about 1,600 and 1,300. is this possible, with the cost of dress and rings and flowers, invitations, ect...? please help.

Is it possible to plan a wedding under $2,000?
Honestly, for 50 people its going to be very very hard. You have to think of the prices per person. Meals, invites, rsvp's, postage to them and back to you, programs, plates and silverware, chair rental, favors. Each person gets one of these.





Even if you print out invites on your own, use paper plates, print the programs from home, borrow chairs and make your own favors (Which is what you'd likely have to do and with little time it would be a lot of stress) it's going to be so hard to stay under budget.





You also have to think about food and drinks. Even if you cook on your own it's going to be a big portion of a budget for just that not counting a cake unless you are not planning on serving a meal... you're still talking about $25 per person which is $1250 of your budget right there for 50 guests.





Then, on the rings, the price depends on what you like/want. Also remember engraving costs more. Dresses you can find anywhere for cheap. I've seen some really cute ones on ebay. If you go to ebay and just type in "wedding dress" in the search you'll get pages full of them for cheap.





Are you having attendants or thinking about it? You have to get gifts for all the wedding party too? Did you want anyone to DJ? A cheaper option would be to rent (or borrow from a friend) speakers that can be hooked up to an Ipod or computer and make your own track list for the night.





Also if you want pictures they don't come cheap from a prof. photographer so you might want to ask a friend to do it if they have a prof. camera. Or else you can usually find photography students at a local campus who are willing to do it for a small fee and some free food so they can use it on their portfolio. You might want to check out some campus's. If that doesnt work either. You could kill two birds with one stone and ask people who are esp. close to you to bring their digitals and get your pics that way. Just make sure they are reliable digitals!





All in all, $2000 is going to be hard to work with and a lot of work. It seems like anymore if it's for a wedding the price quadruples what it would have for something else! But the shorter your guest list and the more you do yourself the less you spend! That's the main thing that you have to look at. You can still do a beautiful wedding but it's just gonna be way hard. Hope that helped a little. I didn't mean to stress you out if I did but it can be horrible to start planning with a budget in mind and then half way through it's completely gone and you don't have everything you need. Now that's stress. Congrats!
Reply:I'm not joking here; get on eBay; the dresses, rings everything for half the price you'd pay in the shop.





Get some nice paper and do your own invitations (or on a friends computer if you don't have a colour printer), Your mum is doing the flowers so that's that. Do the catering yourself the night before.





There'll be a bit more to do, but drag some family members in and you'll be fine





P.s CONGRATS XXX
Reply:Is it possible to have a formal wedding for 50 people with a budget of $2000? Not really (unless you live in a rural area). Is it possible to celebrate with your closest family and friends after your marriage ceremony for less than $2000? YES.





First of all, trying to pull off a "real" traditional wedding with a low budget just looks, well, cheap. This is why you often see brides on this forum wanting a "do-over" for their wedding. It is hard to make yourself and your guests happy on such a small budget. There will be many sacrifices, and you never want to short change your guests. In my opinion, you only invite as many people as you can properly entertain. You are the host, after all.





So what do you do?





1.) Decide on your venue. I would choose a park, backyard, or conservatory (usually free). If you have a beautiful park in the area, no decorations are even needed.





2.) Have a picnic lunch reception, which could be as simple as sandwiches, cheese, fruit, wedding cake, and wine. If you are having an outdoor ceremony, you can make all of the food and/or wine yourself with the help of you family. If you are going to splurge, splurge here, on food and drink for your guests. Favors are un-needed, but you can make cookies as favors if you want to. Use a family recipie and print it out on a scroll for guests to take home and make themselves.





Use a single rose from your family's/friend's garden for each table's centrepiece. Or have a casual BBQ without any formal tables.





3.) I do NOT think you should skimp on your wedding gown, unless you truly don't care. That gown will be in every wedding photo to be passed on throughout the generations, and may become a family heirloom. Check out sales, buy a gently used gown, browse consignment shops, make your own gown...but whatever you do, do NOT buy a crappy gown you hate just because it's cheap. You will care, trust me. Look for something you love within your budget. Now is the time to ask your aunt who sews what she can do for you...





4.) Do your own makeup, hair, etc. or have a friend do it for you.





5.) Make your own invites, programs, and thank you cards. You can do this using any word processing software, or buy a DIY kit from a craft store.





6.) Personally, I am not a big fan of flowers or bouquets, and you don't need them for a wedding. If you must, have everyone carry a single rose. Or, have them carry an alternative, like paper fans (check the dollar store).





7.) Rings you can always upgrade later. Buy the best quality you can afford, even if that means a very tiny diamond. You can always add more stones later. If all you can afford are gold bands from Wal-Mart, so be it. You can always get bands custom made for your annivesary present to each other at a later date when you have the money. Some couples do not even wear rings. You are still just as married.





8.) Photographs are another area that people often regret cheaping out on. These are the only thing you will have when your memories of that day fade. Check local techincal schools for photography students. They may even offer to do your wedding for free if you agree to let them use copies of your shots to build their portfolio.





On a tight budget, it's almost always best to avoid trying to pull off a formal or large wedding. This usually never comes out right. Instead, focus on keeping it small and simple, which can be lovely if done right. It sounds like you have the right idea, so get to it! At the end of the day, all that really matters is that you are married. And all you need for that is a marriage license.





Good luck!
Reply:If you're creative, you can definitely do it. Check your vintage clothing shops where you may find fabulous one-of-a-kind wedding dresses, or what can be worn for a wedding, for very little money. Talk to your supermarket about catering a simple menu. Do you have a friend or family member who could help do a cake as their gift to you? Simple is good, and remember, lots of money spent on a wedding does not necessarily a good marriage make.
Reply:It's definately possible. Since you are having the reception at your house and with only about 50 people, you could technically do food yourself, (or have a family member or friend in charge of it) Either get lots of appetizers from a place like costco or sam's club, or even do hotdogs and hamburgers and a bbq type thing. You said your mom is going to do the flowers, so that is already done, Invitations you can get from Michael's (they are 29.99 for 50 invites, and you can get a 40% off coupon from their circular (so they would only be 15) and then you just print them out yourself. For music, if you have an ipod, you could just download more songs that you want to play and then play the ipod through your own stereo with an itrip piece for it, and if no ipod, then make a bunch of cd's and have a friend be in charge of the music. You can find rings on ebay (just make sure they are from a reputable seller, and offer returns if you do not like what you get. ) You can find great dresses online, either ebay (from a power seller with a return policy ) or even try to find a bridesmaid dress that is offered in white. (house of brides website has almost all of their bridesmaids dresses available in white and alot are about 120-140 dollars. If you are having alcohol, buy it at a place that will allow you to return any unopened bottles.
Reply:IF you are willing to do most of the work yourself, and cut your guest list to about 30, which is a more managable number, you could have the wedding at home, or at least the reception there, and keep it under $2000. If you have more than that number you would have to rent port-a-potties and a tent, which are NOT cheap.





Stick with the smaller number, just your CLOSEST family and best freinds (one or two each).





You can choose a more informal dress, try destination dresses, which are less formal and usually cost less. Try bridesmaid dresses in ivory or white, instead of wedding dresses. Look for a second hand gown at Craigs list, Ebay, or Kijiji. Or hire a seamstress to make a very simple gown, and dress up your look with beautiful flowers.





Make your own veil, its not hard at all. Google it, there are a couple of websites that show how to do it.








Have only one attendant each, a Maid of Honour for yourself and a Best Man for your fiance, and one usher to help seat your guests. That's all.





Buy silk flowers from Michaels, they have absolutely beautiful silk roses for weddings, that you can easily make into your bouquets and buttonierres. Google how to make bouquets. I'm doing the flowers for our daughters wedding using silk flowers from Michaels, Walmart, and a dollar store that has some really nice ones. I learned the basics from how to videos on the internet.





If you are doing a meal at home, borrow vases, serving platters and bowls, and even dinnerware from family members to save on costs and have them help out with the meal. If you are using the church hall, they probably have all the dishes you need, but if they don't, get family to help out in this area.





Ask everyone in your family and his, that you really want to have there, to contribute to the meal, and make it a family style potluck dinner. Keep it simple.





If a family member can make a cake, that will cut costs. If not, consider doing several small cakes instead of one big expensive formal wedding cake. OR have a candy bar instead of a cake. Just buy candy in bulk locally and display it in large glass dishes with some small dishes for guests to fill or small bags to take home. They could be brown paper bags, or cellophane bags, or even tulle bags or little white cardboard boxes, if you can find an inexpensive source.





Get family and freinds with digital cameras to take lots of pictures, but hire someone to do professional photos if you can afford it, and get your own prints. Find someone who will allow you to do it this way, you'll save money printing your own from a CD. You can always get more prints made up when you can afford it, if you have a CD of all the shots taken.





This is probably the biggest cost saver - don't have a meal. Instead, have a Cake and Tea reception at the church hall. This would allow you to have a few more people, up to 50, and still keep costs way down. Make sure your invitations say "Cake and Tea to follow", so people know there won't be a meal. Have the wedding mid afternoon or around 1 or 2:00 pm.





Keep your decorations simple, that will also cut costs. Consider renting silk flowers for the church instead of buying fresh. Large groceries stores sometimes have beautiful silk arrangements, including arches, that you can rent. You don't have to go overboard with decorations. A couple of vases or urns at the front of the church are enough.





Keep it simple, and don't try to do everything the same way everyone else does it. You don't have to include everything that you have seen done.





Do it your own way and keep yourselves out of debt, so you can look back on your wedding photos with joy and fond memories, instead of wishing you had saved your money for more important matters in the future.
Reply:deffinetely, look on ebay, craigslist, or sales in stores for a dress (maybe just find a white bridesmaid dress that you like or something simple like that), you could have an outside ceremony at a park then all you'd have to pay for is an officiant (you can even have a friend get ordained online and ask them to do it as your wedding gift so it costs you nothing) rings- you could just get simple gold bands from walmart or any other store and have them engraved you can get both for like $120 , flowers- you could do yourself, you can order 120 flowers from sams club for $80, invitations- you can buy blank ones from Walmart or a craft store for like $20 (you can do the same thing for programs if they're necessary) and print them at home, decorations could be simple and you could buy those at any party store for under $100, cake you can get a cake at Hyvee for 50 people for under $100, for food just do apetizers from hyvee- a couple hundred dollars, or just have a dessert reception (these are way cute, just bake a lot of cookies and brownies or fudge and put them out on platters) i wouldn't hire a photographer with your budget maybe just have friends take pictures and videotape it for you...all of this for under $800!
Reply:yep, I just finished with one for a friend that cost less than $1000. I did all the flowers myself - brides bouquet and 3 bridesmaids bouquets, and table displays - silk ones are inexpensive and if you get the higher end of them for quality - nobody knows the difference. I bought ready made white cakes from the grocery store and decorated them with silk flowers and ribbon. I got cake pillars off ebay for $8 - used them to separate the cake layers. I bought a large garden archway on clearance at the cheap shop and covered it with fake ivy and silk flowers - used it to put over the cake display. bought plastic table covers in large rolls to decorate with. You can get 'Pull-bows' for very cheap in most colors that look the business for that extra touch with decorating. The reception was a finger food buffet - bought all the food in frozen in bulk from a club store - Sams is good. All the food cost $100 for 100 guests. The dress was $240 and beautiful, the rings were plain white gold bands - you can get these from Wal-mart for less than $100 for both. The grooms and best man's ties came from ebay - $2 each and shipped from Thailand for $10 in about 6 days time. Invites were done on the home computer and printed out - they came out just as nice as any printers can do, just find a nice design before you start printing them. Envelopes were bought at the stationery shop as the paper used for the invites. The bride was thrilled and the guests thought it looked like $20,000 spent! I didn't tell them otherwise.
Reply:Cut back on the cost of the dress and the actual wedding if possible. You will be wearing the ring for the rest of your life, so choose something that best symbolizes your feelings for each other. Your invitations can be handwritten or computer printed on stationery from Staples. Your dress can be a summer dress that you will wear again. Choose inexpensive flowers, like daisies, or ask friends to bring bouquets from their own gardens and provide vases to display them in or use balloons instead of flowers. Carry a loose bouquet held together with ribbon or hold a spray of your favourite flowers rather than having them made up. Wear a straw hat adorned with a matching flower instead of a veil.





A large portion of the expense of the wedding is spent on things that will never be looked at again. The dress, veil, cake and flowers are there for only one day. If you want these items, they can be rented instead of purchased. Do have photographs taken, as they will remind you of the important things, such as the smiles on peoples faces and their good wishes.
Reply:We did it! We had my one of my daughters married at our church and had the reception at the Parrish hall. We did all the cooking and my daughters helped. We had the baker make the cake and the band set up. The friends decorated the Parrish hall and helped cleaned it. We danced all thru the night and we had a blast. We had bought bottled of soda and for drinks and couple couple cases of beer and boxes of wine when it was gone, it was gone. We had 45 guest and they still talk about the wedding 12 years latter and how much fun that they had. So you can see you can do it and I think it cost us including with everything about $1200.00.


(We bought the paper plates we wanted on sale and cups, soda, paper napkins, plastic forks, knives, spoons, everything, months in advance) I forgot I put cameras on the tables for everyone to take shots and that worked, one one table thought that was for them, but that was ok, they gave us the copies of the prints!
Reply:ask a family member if you can use there garden that would take care of the flowers. there are a lot of second hand stores that carries wedding dresses for 150.00 or less. get the ring's at wal-mart or k-mart and invitations you could print yourself with print shop or one of them other art disk. and if you need more flowers you could use fake ones. and if you sew you could make your own Vail and ring pillow and things like that. i tell you this because my husband and i had to do the same thing. because both of our parents have past away so we had to do it all on our own. besides you can always redo it when you have more money.
Reply:you would have to look at the license fee and the pastor or Reverend and then you have flowers and stuff so I would suggest get the closest of the 50 guest invite them to the court house and have a ceremony there you can usually do all that for like $100-150 then just buy the food and get simple decorations at the 99cent store like the votives and some green stuff to put around them like fake ivy maybe buy a couple of bunches of flowers and get some clear bowls and put the rocks of your color choice n there with some flowers on the bottom and floating candles and you can use a stero system with some previously put together music you and your fiancee want. you can have a lovely simple wedding like you want you may not be able to have the regular ceremony and reception and as for the dress look online at weddingdressonline.com they have some for like 100-150 or so and the rings look on Jewelrytv.com that is where I got my engagement ring, my guy let me pick mine and it was only 160 but they have nice ones for less and the cake make it yourself just add fresh flowers from those bunches you bought for the centerpieces and bouqet and use colored paper plates and stuff or plastic. Good Luck need more ideas if you have a specific idea of what you want let me know by email and I will try and help find whatever you need also you would be able to invite all the guests to the reception at your house so when you make your invites you would know who to invite to the court house and who to just invite to the house at a set time and maybe have a close friend do a special speech outside of the BM or MOH if you have them and a prayer or a poem so it will kind of have a ceremony feel for those who missed the actual vows!
Reply:It is but that isn't near as important as really being sure that the love is there. I had a nice wedding the first time and it only lasted a strained 3 years. 10 years later, we went to city hall and will celebrating our 21st anniversary in June. Weddings are nice but marriages that work are more important!
Reply:Anything is possible! Have a friend get ordained as a minister, this can be done for free, so you don't have to pay a church official. Go to Sam's club or other wholesale store and buy food-(there's one kind of bbq pork or beef at Sam's club that's frozen, and in a tin pan that you just heat up. I've served it at several parties, and there is never any left, no matter how much I buy! It's great!) Get a keg of beer, buy anything you can off ebay- your dress, toasting glasses if necessary, fake flowers, etc. Get your cake from a grocery store, or bake it at home. Have a friend take the pictures. You can do it. Just don't get lost in the small details; people often don't notice them anyway.
Reply:I suggest no attendants or just one attendant for each of you to cut down on bouquet costs. Finding a cheap dress shouldn't be a problem at David's Bridal or your local vintage shops. The groom can wear a black suit he already has...hopefully.





I also suggest you have a simple cake and punch reception...or dress it up by having champagne also. You can find champagne for about $3-4 a bottle at grocery stores. Purchase plastic plates, forks, cups and champagne glasses too. There are some very nice plastic ware out that really looks nice...for plastic.





I suggest you find someone else to take pictures, maybe a cousin...not your Mom...let her enjoy the event. Someone who would do it for free.





Lastly, I agree with some of the others of spending most of your money on your rings.
Reply:Hi Ben, YES it sure can be done on a $2,000 budget. I helped plan a japanese themed wedding last year for one of my best friends. They had a $1500.00 budget.





Guest List: I know this can be difficult. But keep the guest list really small. Only invite immediate family, and a few close friends.





Attendants: Don't have any bridesmaids or groomsman. This saves congestion at the altar.





Attire: Some friends of mine didn't spend any money in this area. They each went through their wardrobes and found that their "dressiest" attire. So this might be helpful on your budget.





Rings:





For her ($70.00)


http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104...





For you: ($60.00)


http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104...





Invitations: Make them yourselves. www.scrapbook.com has some great ideas on making invitations. Card stock, paper, glue or paper tape, and a little bit of your time.





Food: This was on area that is important to alot of people. I personally want good food at a wedding.





Time and Date: Have your wedding on a sunday or during the week. It's much less expensive to have a early luncheon meal then to serve dinner.





Venue: Where you get married can be any place. Most people are opting out for FREE places to get married or opting for a very low cost to get married. Im attending a wedding this summer at museum in the rose garden that charges $15.00 for one hour.





Honeymoon: I would find a quiet hotel for a few days. You can often times pick up some really good deals at a Bed and Breakfast if you call around.





Good luck.
Reply:Yup! I got married in October and our whole wedding came in at less than £2000, i know you were asking about dollars but i just want to let you know it can be done on a budget. It just takes some thought and planning. But i tell you i we had a perfect day and i wouldn't change a thing about it. Just remember its not about how much you spend, you're getting to marry the love of your life and thats the most amazing feeling in the world. Trust me, no matter how little you spend, its gonna be the best day of your life. Good luck, and have a lovely day :o)
Reply:Hope your creative juices are flowing, because you are going to need them to plan this wedding! It's tough these days to plan a wedding under $10,000, but with your small guest list and simple expectation, you may be able to do it. The best advice I have is to get your family involved. Do you have aunts/sisters/soon-to-be-inlaws that are great at putting together flowers? Is your gradma a wiz in the kitchen and loves cooking for everyone? If not, this is going to be tough.


Keep in mind that your reception is generally thought to be the most expensive part of the marriage process. Figure about 50-60% of your budget going to the reception. Even if there are no rental fees, you will still have to buy food, utensils, beverages, etc. If you choose to cater, think about $15-$20 per person (possibly more for special arrangements due to the reception being at your house).


Finding second-hand wedding dresses online is easy. Ebay is a great resource for that. You can get a good dress for a couple hundred dollars. If you really want new - take advantage of sales (like David Bridal's $99 sale), and buy discontinued styles. Be sure to save some money for alterations! A tux or suit rental runs about $100. Simple flowers are easy - carry a single calla lilly tied w/a pretty ribbon or a single red rose. you can get invitations that you make yourself at Target or Wal-Mart. To spruce them up, punch a couple holes and add a ribbon.


The rings might present a challenge depending on what you want. If the groom is a simple soul, he will do well w/a white or yellow gold band ($50-$200) - this style will do for the bride as well if you don't want any stones. Most jewelry stores offer some kind of financing, but if you want to buy right out, keep in mind you can always upgrade. Buy a setting you like, pick a modest diamond (or CZ - no one will know if you don't tell them!!) and upgrade in 5-10 yrs when you can afford it. A growing trend in the younger generation is to forgo the two-ring bridal set and wear only an engagement-style ring. You can always add a band when the price is right.


Search theknot.com for great ideas and use their budget calculator to get an idea of what items are most important to you and how much they suggest you spend on them.


Good luck and congratulations! Make the day your own and have fun!
Reply:yes


look on craigslist for those things


i got my photographer, my officiant, my cake, my dress, and my florist off craigslist


they are still professionals and come with experience and credentials


the dress had only been worn once and i'll only be wearing it once


also people sell their unused decorations in bulk
Reply:Of course it is possible


also at the end of the day as long as you both are happy


who cares if the flowers cost $50 or $500 most of these big wedding planners just rip the ar se right out of the prices they quote you can do it yourselves for a fraction of what they charge.


The person answered above me is SPOT ON pay for the things that mean something to you both .the rest is eye candy