OMG budget shock! Is this true?

Don't believe it. If you are determined to spend under that and you budget your money you can do it. I'm on a budget, a strict budget because although I think its nice to have an extravagant wedding, no one has to know how little it costs. You can do a lot of it yourself, order things wholesale, and shop around for bargains. Its a challenge I am not going to lie but its worth it in the end.

Oh and if your flexible with your wedding date and move it to a winter month you will save so much $$$$$$. That is how we achieved our dream wedding. In some cases you can get packages for 1/2 in the winter.

I know I can't spend more than X amount so that why I am doing my research now with my date a little less than 2 years away at this point.

I'm not going to skimp but I just want to shop and know where I can get the most quality & good deal for a price I can afford. I already have 3 DJ's I know I want to see & compare. If I none of them strike a deal that I want then I look elsewhere.

Sadly, I think the figure seems a bit low to me. Weddings are ridiculously expensive, especially if you have them on a Saturday night in season. There are definitely wants to cut corners but there are even more ways to spend too!

You can look for one of the halls that includes everything for 10,000 I have seen them in paper but not sure how it is.

Ours is about $35000 also.

I think this is a really generalized statement --

you can get the budget down by doing a non-saturday evening wedding, in the winter, etc.

We are doing 75-80 guests, a very good caterer reduced because of winter, flowers, photographer, videographer, DJ, cocktail hour pianist.... the budget is around 20K. i have a of stuff that could be cut, for example getting a cheaper RH and caterer, not getting the big photo/video package I have which includes all albums, finding a cheaper DJ, etc.

there are girls on here who have done weddings for 10-15K easily, you just have to hunt them out for ideas!

With a small guest list, you can spend a lot less than that, at a very nice place!
Look around. Think of a Sunday night instead of a Sat night.
The following places were $85 pp or less for a Sunday night in July '08:
Swan Club
Riviera
Thatched Cottage
Coral House
Chateu La Mer

They did have higher minimums thought, but maybe if you did it off-season they would lower the minimum. Good Luck!

It depends on where you are having it. I had it in Queens, at a Catering/Restaurant Hall (with delicious food) 5 hr affair, I didnt have it at a church hall...or community room...we had a ceremony at our church...

a great DJ/MC, lights, flowers beyond my expectations, limo, video, photo, great invites, great favors, honeymoon to Jamaica for 6 days all inclusive, wedding bands, dress, tux, etc. for 85 people $15,000

I think its very much doable, its all up to what you think is a must at your wedding, and how much you are willing to compromise. Do you need a photo/video for 10 hrs...do you need 5 albums...do you have to have a photographer that is 'brand name' (by that I mean one of the same 10 named in every post here...no offense ladies)...

Do you need a $150 pp plate? at a hall overlooking the water....do you need an intricate light show? Do you need a dress that costs $1200-$5000 dollars? (Mine was $259+$100 alterations....check my pictures)...

Do you need to have the $4000 party bus?

Like I said its all on what you think you need...
My advice....figure out how much you can spend...then decide how you want your wedding...do the 2 conincide? Are you willing to compromise?

I think it depends on what you're looking to do and WHEN you're looking to do it. The reason I say that is because i have been engaged for 3yrs and when i first got engaged i jumped right on the wedding planning binge. We had originally set our date for 9/15/07 in the evening(Saturday). Every RH hall i went to, we had to guarantee a min. of 100+ AND I received quotes for no less than $100.00pp. Suffice it to say other things came up and we put the wedding on hold. Good for us because now we are more flexible with our dates. Our date is 2/15/09 at Fox Hollow and I am having 75 people, I only have to guarantee 60, I am having ceremony on site. My affair is from 7:00pm -12:30am and that's for $55.00pp!!! They were one of the RH that quoted me $105.00 pp with a guarantee of 125 for a Saturday evening wedding back in Sept.07. The BM explained to me that i got this great price because during the months of Jan-Mar is their off season (not too many people want to get married in the winter i guess). Therefore you tend to not only get great rates but .more for your money. I also visited the Crest Hollow and they quoted me a flat rate of $6000.00 for UP TO 100 people. The Coral House was $52pp for Sat.evening, $46 for Sat Afternoon and Sunday afternoon and $48.00 for Sun. Evening. these are all for the weekend of 2/13/09-2/15/09 NOT including V-DAY (2/14/09)my wedding is the day before a holiday (Presidents Day) so none of my quests have to work that Monday!!! The same holds true for other vendors. It's an off season for them also. I have been told that by two photographers that was actually recommended by a FEW past brides on here and they agreed that while they are not starving for business they will give exceptionally good rates during the winter season because business is slow. Go to wedplan.net and enter your information including your budget and vendors who meet your criteria will contact you. I have several photogs and videographers contacting me and I am not spending over $1K for pics. It's your choice where you want to cut costs, but IMO you shouldn't have to break the bank for such a small amount of guests. There's A LOT of things you can do yourself. The ladies on these boards are so creative and SO HELPFUL that you can definitely get some great ideas ( i know i have).

Good Luck!!!

I think that figure is very high...I don't know what month you are planning, and what they are including in that #, but I do not think you have to go that high!

Does it include HM, dresses, tuxes, and every detail, or just Rh, flowers, photograher...etc?

our reception was Sun eve of labor day weekend 2007. Now I don't know how much prices have increased since then but for 76 ppl our cost was about $15000. that does not include flowers since they were wedding present or photo album but i think I included honeymoon in it.
I used an invitation kit from Micheal's and printed them myself and did my own pew bows from Michael's and made lollipop favors but other than that we just did a lot of price comparing and checking for reasonable vendors.
we were conservative with what we selected and did not do alot of extras like plasma and fancy lights but we were happy with our celebration.

remember you are celebrating your marriage, your love with people you care for and it's the people being together, being happy rather than all the things.

good food, nice music and a pretty place will be fine. you don't need the extra lights, photo booth, cigar roller . . . if you want them and can afford them, that's fine but don't feel the day is ruined if you skip some things.

heck yeah its true