Best wedding budget?

Question

my fiance has been out of college for a year now, in a nice, medium- medium high paying job (63,000-100,000) i have 2 years left of graduate school. We want to get married in 2 years, after i graduate. what would be a sensible budget (obviously we can't pay something like $20,000 for the wedding) we both have divorced families, and they are all helping us equally (it will be a 5-way split then). we live in a suburban town outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Again, what would be a sensible budget that we could have a nice but small (200 people) wedding? The cost of the honey moon is also negligable, since it has already been given to us as a gift from a family member, so we only have the rehersal dinner, ceremony, and reception to handle. Also, any webistes or locations/rentals/venues/entertainment (we want a DJ) with websites we could check out?

Answer 1

200 ppl isn't small. and 20,000 isn't all that much either.

you start with picking the reception hall and ceremony location, and go from there.  

Answer 2

It can be done, you have to really do your leg work though. My husband and I did our wedding, with a guest list of over 300 for $7k and it was beautiful. One of our biggest cost savings, we were married on a Sunday afternoon. Because of this we were able to get the hall rental for half the cost. Look around in your family for talented people too, a friend did all our photography and we saved a lot of money there. I made my own flower bouquets for around a third of the price (found out how online) and we rented the large decorative flowers instead of buying them which also saved a lot of money. Another big money pit...the favors. Really think about what you are going to do, most of the guests don't even take them home so it can be a huge waste of money. Our DJ was Ken Bausley and he did an awesome job for a very reasonable price. Not sure what area of Pitt you live in, if you are near the Monongahela/New Stanton area look into the Crystal Ball room in Hermanie. Food A Rama handles the rental and the catering and they do an amazing job. The food is incredible and the prices are wonderful.

Good luck to you both.

Answer 3

Basically figure out how juch you CAN spend and go from there. You said you can't spend $20k, how much CAN you spend? That way you know how much you're working with. Then you can decided on the venues, food, flowers and details following your budget. Ask your family how much they want to help since you said they want to split the bill. If they say $5k each, then that's already $25k and you're golden.  If they each give you $500 you've got $2500 to work with which you can do as well. The size of the wedding and the level of elegance can be determined with the budget. You can easily do a BBQ at the local community hall for about $5k. You could do a full 5-course sit-down at a banquet facility for about $20k. What you can spend will dictate what you spend it on.

We are having 175 people (I think mine's small too!) and have a flexible budget of ~$27k.

Check www.theknot.com for local listings of everything imagineable from cakles to invitations to DJs and photographers. Get lots of estimates, meet with everyone you think you'd like and then narrow it down. And don't forget to ALWAYS do a tasting before you sign a contract!!! We had a gorgeous venue we walmost signed for - until we tried the horrible food!

Good luck!

Answer 4

Sign up at www.theknot.com. They have local message boards. You can sign up for the one near you. The girls in my area are extremely helpful. I haven't booked a vendor without checking with them for reviews. They also help with how much to spend for each vendor etc.

Answer 5

My advice is whatever you plan is a good budget 15,000 20,000 whatever you do add a couple more thousand to that cause I promise you can never spend and stop at that budget limit. GOOD LUck AND CONGRATS!

Answer 6

We had about 200 people at ours too.  Ours wasn't a sit down or anything, just a buffet style, which was really nice.  200 isn't too big if it's where people are able to come and go as they please.

Overall, we spent around 6,000-7,000 for everything.  We had our marriage ceremony at a religious venue so we weren't charged for that, and then the reception was done at my parents house, which is where I've wanted it ever since I was about 12. :)  The money was spent mostly on my dress, food, decorations (like tables, chairs,) and we had a guy who played his piano the whole time and acted as our MC.  It was really nice. Oh, and photos and announcement/invitations.

I wish I could help you more, but we live in CA, but good luck with everything!

Answer 7

200 people is small?????? Why do you want that many? Its not intimate and you never get to  visit with any one person. I would cut the list to close friends and family.  Sorry I dont know Pittsburgh but just had to put in my two cents opinon

Answer 8

Unless you plan on doing a lot of the things yourself (invitations, center pieces, catering, etc.) which would be stressful for 200 people, then $20,000 will be extremely tight for a wedding/reception.  Lets see, you MAY be able to find:

DJ- $400

Ceremony site: $700 -unless you are a member of a church, you can get married in that church for less

Reception site- $1000

Flowers- $700 (attendents & reception)

Dress- $150 (Davids Bridal)

Catering- $20 per person x 200 = $4000 + tax & gratuity

Plus bartender x 4 = $400

Plus alcohol = $800 (kegs & wine) find a venue and caterer that will let you purchase your own.

Invitations - $300 ($1.50 x 200) Probably less because you wil be sending them to families, not 200 individual people.

Do your own hair/make-up- FREE

Drive your own car- FREE

Gifts for attendents- $20 a piece, not sure how many your having..better to keep it small..maybe MOH and 1 or 2 BM..groomsmen to match..then of course flower girl & ring bearer.

Thats just a few things, I know there is more that I missed..but these are the basics.  These prices are possible but I would start doing your homework now.  And although its possible to find this with a ot of research, it may not be your dream wedding for the sake of saving money.  Definately attend bridal shows in your area, you can sometimes find good deals that way.  Good luck!