Who has been able to plan their dream wedding

For under 20,000? Maybe not including HM?

We are trying so hard to stay under budget, since are paying for it ourselves, everyone we talk to seem to think that under 20,000 is impossible!

Any tips for saving money here and there? I am already going to try make my own favors. I think the catering hall is what is going to send us over the top. Thanks for any advice.

Yup...we did! Of course this does not include tips or honeymoon.

Hall - $13,000 (134 people)
Limo's - $750
DJ - $600
Flowers - $1,200
Favors - $100
Church - $300
Photography - $1,300

We had a Sunday night wedding at the end of April, used only budget vendors, stayed away from adding in 'extra's' - stuck to your budget and our guestlist.

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Posted by tiffandmatt

Any tips for saving money here and there?

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I think I am just at the 20g mark.

but the best way to keep costs down is to keep the guestlist down.

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

Yup...we did! Of course this does not include tips or honeymoon.

Hall - $13,000 (134 people)
Limo's - $750
DJ - $600
Flowers - $1,200
Favors - $100
Church - $300
Photography - $1,300

We had a Sunday night wedding at the end of April, used only budget vendors, stayed away from adding in 'extra's' - stuck to your budget and our guestlist.

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and you had such a beautiful wedding!

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

Yup...we did! Of course this does not include tips or honeymoon.

Hall - $13,000 (134 people)
Limo's - $750
DJ - $600
Flowers - $1,200
Favors - $100
Church - $300
Photography - $1,300

We had a Sunday night wedding at the end of April, used only budget vendors, stayed away from adding in 'extra's' - stuck to your budget and our guestlist.

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Wow! This is great. This is gave me some really good guidelines to follow. I hope you have pictures in your album of your day, I really want to check them out! Thanks!

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Posted by tiffandmatt

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

Yup...we did! Of course this does not include tips or honeymoon.

Hall - $13,000 (134 people)
Limo's - $750
DJ - $600
Flowers - $1,200
Favors - $100
Church - $300
Photography - $1,300

We had a Sunday night wedding at the end of April, used only budget vendors, stayed away from adding in 'extra's' - stuck to your budget and our guestlist.

---

Wow! This is great. This is gave me some really good guidelines to follow. I hope you have pictures in your album of your day, I really want to check them out! Thanks!

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Check out our professional wedding pictures in my photo album, and here's my review:
http://www.nycityweddings.com/chat/topic-314213-1.html

I did. I dont remember exact costs, but these were very close.

Hall - $8000
Limo's - $1500
DJ - $1500
Flowers - $1,500
Photography - $1,500
Video - 1500
Dress - 1600

And then there were tons of minor things like the card box, jewlery etc..

Heres the link to my review with pics and video

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Posted by lcherian

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

Yup...we did! Of course this does not include tips or honeymoon.

Hall - $13,000 (134 people)
Limo's - $750
DJ - $600
Flowers - $1,200
Favors - $100
Church - $300
Photography - $1,300

We had a Sunday night wedding at the end of April, used only budget vendors, stayed away from adding in 'extra's' - stuck to your budget and our guestlist.

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and you had such a beautiful wedding!

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Awww..thanks so much Leena!

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Posted by N.Y.bride

I did. I dont remember exact costs, but these were very close.

Hall - $8000
Limo's - $1500
DJ - $1500
Flowers - $1,500
Photography - $1,500
Video - 1500
Dress - 1600

And then there were tons of minor things like the card box, jewlery etc..

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And you had the most beautiful wedding, I remember looking at you pictures!

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Posted by tiffandmatt

And you had the most beautiful wedding, I remember looking at you pictures!

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Thank you very much!

don't forget dress, makeup, hair, bp gifts, menus, programs...etc..those xtras add up.

Keeping your guest list small is key and doing it on an off day or off season.

i agree, and these are not 'Extras' by any means.

if you have a large family, its hard to cut the guest list.

but you can do it if you have either an afternoon wedding or a sunday early evening wedding

One of the best things I did was have a small BBQ rehearsal dinner at home just with the wedding party. It was excellent! I recommend doing that if you want to save $.

A family friend was able to get hair and makeup done for me and my husbands uncle performed the ceremony

And we had it on a Sunday afternoon in July.
I would also recommend an afternoon if youre having it on the water and want to enjoy the view the whole time

My honeymoon was at my parents lake house and we did not do any extras like tear packs and programs.. I planned my wedding in like 4 months and didnt even have the time.

Oh I did my parent albums online for about $75 each.

And my invites were about $200.

IT CAN BE DONE! we did it!

true we had way under 100 ppl at our wedding, but my under $20K cost was including the HM, dress, makeup, hair, photographer, and all my other vendors!

And our HM was not cheap! So if you subtract the HM and maybe some other “over and above” items, it can definitely be done!


Feel free to FM me with any questions!

Unfortunately my wedding is going to cost over 20K, but is mainly because we are having about 225-250 people at the reception (inviting about 300 people). That is where all the money is going because I did so good on budgeting for everything else. But my friend had her wedding for 6K for 75 people. She did not have limo's, her CH did the CP's for her, her DJ was only $300 (she definitely got what she paid for with that though, she did wish she spent more on that <-- I am not saying all $300 DJ's are bad, but this one was), and she made her invitations and favors. It can be done!

It really depends on what your CH is charging you and how many people you plan on having. The rest you can work on. Go with low CP's (or even candles) rather than high CP's. Don't get parent albums' and make them one with your proofs. Don't go crazy with the limo's. Just get a DJ, you don't need the MC or the lights and that will save you money as well. You can make your invitations, or pick one's that are not too expensive (remember your guests just throw them out).

Good Luck, but just remember, you can do it! Just set a budget and stick with it. When you go to different vendors, you tell them what your budget is, and see what they can do for you.

edited to say how my friend did it

$7500 INCLUDING HM FOR 35 PEOPLE

- CH + RH (4 Hours for 35 people)
- CHAPEL + OFFICIANT
- FLOWERS: boks, boutonieres, church decoration, converted by florist into CP
- NEW DRESS, veil , shoes, etc.
- MU/HAIR: Bride, mom + sis
- TUX
- HM (1 week all inclusive in DR)
- 1 PHOTOGRAPHER (all day, doing our own albums)
- PIANIST for ceremony and CH.
- INVITATIONS (DYI)
- DOING OUR OWN MUSIC (completelly feasable)
- FAVORS

Took a lot of creativity and negociation!

We don't have

- Limos
- 2nd photographer
- Videographer
- DJ or band

So, I am sure you can do it for under $20K

Wow!

Some people really did a go job at planning their weddings......i will be lucky if it only cost us $30,000.00