How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

Honestly, how do people with no outside financial help get married on this Island!? We have to pay everything ourselves and I can't find anything for under $20,000. I'm ready to cry. 

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

I know it can be so stressful. What we are doing is keeping guest list count low.  Also having a small bridal party saves on flowers and gifts. Some of the halls have their own centerpeices.  Djs are less than bands.  Im doing only one limo too.  So many ways to have our cake and eat it too. Do lots of research on sites like this.  I find it so helpful.  Also when my sister booked her wedding she booked all really close to the wedding date and everyone gave her good rates. I have a cousin getting married this June on a weekday.  It will all turn out good just do one thing at a time. Heck my mother opened wedding gifts at her wedding to pay people. (most do checks now probably)

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

Completely agree with the above suggestion.

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

I'm right there with you! Even the "deals" for all inclusive wedding packages for 10K still come out to about $20K! My trouble is, we don't want all the typical wedding traditions so we're trying to plan something a bit simpler and laid back but it's still tough when you still want 100 guests.
I'm trying to do a simple ceremony somewhere and a then maybe a simple brunch or dinner reception afterwards.
I know my date here says June but I'm even looking into a winter wedding, kind of last minute, just to help cut costs.

I see this was posted a couple months ago, have you made any progress??

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

Try booking off season and maybe even a Friday for a venue.  Some venues are open to pricing flexibility.  You can also set a date further ahead.  We did almost a 3 year engagement.

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

The quickest way to bring the cost down is to cut the guest list.  Not EVERYONE needs to be invited to your wedding - it's not a family or college reunion.
Try Thursday night:  that's when I got married and we paid under $90 pp (at Chateau Briand).
Skip save the dates and engagement pics.
Use a site like Vistaprint for invitations.
Buy a dress off the rack.
Cut out floral arrangements.  You can just do a bouquet for yourself.
Nix the wedding party, that will save you on having to purchase bouquets, and bouts for the groomsmen.

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

Not sure if you have finished the planning but with my wedding less than a month away and planning this crazy big event there are things I would have changed. First save the dates are pointless no one pays attention to them. Send your invitations out 3 months before if not a little more time. I invited over 350 people with a guarantee of 250 and I'm not sure if I'll make it. Secondly I would have not invited half those people if I was doing again. So plan something small with only the important people in your life. Also buy your flowers online you can get the bouquets put together for a fraction of the price. I agree with the person who said use Vista print or even Wedding paper diva. Look at groupon for discounts on things like that. Good luck and keep us posted.

RE:How do people get married on this Island?? I'm ready to cry.

You should find some way to save money. the true cost of a wedding really hits home. Going into debt because of a wedding isn't exactly the most romantic way to start a marriage,