Is it possible to plan a wedding on a $5,000 Budget?

Question

My fiance wants to try to plan our wedding on a $5,000 budget. But i think we should aim a bit higher. I mean the cost of the wedding dress and the tux it self will come out to be around $700, depending on how much the tux cost, but i'm not going over $250 for my dress. Then we have the flowers, decorations for ceremony and reception $2000 right there. And then theres paying for the venue and a place to have the ceremony not quite sure what that would come out to, and then there's the preacher/JOP. The cake and food. Etc.... Is that possible. Whats the least you've spent on a tasteful wedding/reception?

Answer 1

Yes it is very possible to plan it under $5,000 but you will have to cut MAJOR costs.

Peak seasons and peak times should be off limits when you are planning a shoestring wedding. Don't even think about May, June, July, August, February or December. Peak times of the week are off limits as well. Don't do a Saturday wedding and you will save tons. Also, try to get married later in the evening or earlier in the morning. These tips right here can save you as much as $10,000.

Have your bridesmaids pick and buy their own dresses. Mind you that you may not like every dress they pick, but it will save you money. If you want them to all have the same dress, try going to a department store during prom season (like J C Penney) and you will be able to get/order the same dresses in different sizes and pay as little as $50 per dress.

Have an indoor reception at avenue that supplies catering, linens, tables, chairs, and some decor. This will save you on rentals. Also, choose meals such as chicken or pasta. These are usually cheaper. In most cases, buffets are cheaper as well.

Hire a photographer from a university or college in their senior year. Many of these student need to do senior projects and will do an amazing job at your wedding, and you can pay them a lot less than a professional. 9 time out of 10 they will do an amazing job. examine their portfolios thoroughly.

Hire a florist from a university or college.

Hire a DJ instead of a band. This will cut costs as well.

Design and print your own invitations at a store like Kinkos. They can do high quality work for a lot less than stationery supply stores.

Have your cake made from a culinary arts school such as Johnson and Wales (I'm not sure where you are, but there are tons of highly accredited culinary arts schools).

Favors (such as bubbles) can be purchased in bulk online or in party supply stores.

Answer 2

My wedding will be less than 5000 dollars. The cake we will make ourselves, photographer someone in my family will do it. Decorations and such we will make ourselves as well. Most of our decorations will be made. Were buying the stuff from Micheal's and hobby lobby. Flowers I will buy for my bouquet and bridesmaids. Boutonnieres and  will also be bought. My wedding dress is $800 and my fiances attire is country so wranglers, boots and a shirt that will be made. Everything is possible you just have to make it that way. Invitations and save the dates you can also buy yourself. Party city has lots of wedding stuff as well.

Answer 3

I myself had a big wedding, however a few of my friends had a small wedding which came out beautiful and it didn't cost them much!

for wedding dress...go to juliusbridal.com it has amazing dresses for cheap...it copies designers, just make sure you have enough time for the shipping because it takes to latest 2 months!

wedding cake and flowers, go to bridal shows and you will learn a lot and see who the cheapest organizations are, this way you can find affordable stuff.  Also, you can win stuff at the bridal shows, such as i won free grooms tuxedo and half price on the father's of the bride/groom tuxedos.

You can do buffet for your food which can be real cheap, and it depends on the type of food!

Just don't let it stress you, that could be bad!

Enjoy planning and congratulations!

Answer 4

My wedding was under 3000.00, it was simple but nice. We had a great time and 8 years later we still hear about how nice it was and how much fun everyone had.

I made my own cake (savings of about 500.00)

We borrowed a home stereo system from friends and had 4 friends in charge of the music for about a hour each...(No DJ 750.00)

I Did y own flowers for 150.00.(they were fake flowers BUT I was able to save them AND I saved about 600.00) I went in and found a shop with an amazing woman that was willing to help me with all the details.

We went to costco and got the silverware/plates/cups/napkins and most the food.. meats, condiments, drinks, rolls, chips, crackers & cheeses.. family members each brought salads.( saved about 500.00 by not having it catered)

I went to a store that was going out of business and found a nice dress marked down from 999.00 to 190.00... plus 75.00 for alterations

we didnt have a photogapher, we had a friend that was a good ameture photographer and he took pictures of the wedding and wedding party, then we bought disposable cameras and let the guests take pictures.

for the tux because the groomsmen all got theirs at the same place the grooms was free.

the inivites were about 150.00 for 100 that includes postage.

Our local fair grounds has a hall and they charged us 75.00 then 25.00 for the JP...

I would think with rising prices I could do it again for 6000.00

The key is to do your home work and bargain shop.. a nice wedding doesnt have to come with a nice price tag.

Answer 5

Yes, the wedding dress is a major expense, but it sounds like you're aiming to keep this ultra-low. Keeping the guest list to closest friends and family, having an early-in-the-day wedding in the off-season, and having a cash bar are all ways to save on your wedding.

You can have a champagne toast and cash bar if it's a late morning/early afternoon wedding. (Who needs to get rip-roaring drunk at 1pm?) Anyone with that priority in mind on your wedding day can simply fork over a few bucks for his/her drink of choice. Getting tanked is simply not the focus of this special day!

Also, consider an already ornate reception location. If the location itself is visually captivating, you won't need to spend and arm and a grater-belted leg on decorations.

Cheers & Good Luck!

Answer 6

Yes, it is possible.  That was our goal at first, it ended up being closer to 7,000, but we waited too long and had to go with a place that the food was a bit more expensive.  I got my dress for $250 at the Filene's Basement Wedding Blowout sale.  One way to save a lot of money is to do your own flowers, they really aren't that hard.  There are several sites online that you can order flowers wholesale for a lot cheaper than florists sell them for.  For the flowers in my wedding, it would have been almost $1,500, but I ended up getting my flowers online at www.flowersandfreshness.com and they were beautiful.  I paid about $170 for 200 red freedom roses.  You would also need floral wire, floral tape, and ribbon, but it was still only about $200 for everything, and with a little help, it took only about 2-3 hours the night before the wedding to put everything together, bouquets, boutonnieres, decorations, etc.  It was also a really fun experience.  Another tip would be to look around for the cake.  We knew someone who did wedding cakes on their own, not through a bakery, and she only charged $1/slice (person).  She was a senior in high school and had been doing this for years, and I promise, this was the BEST cake I have ever had, and I've been to a lot of weddings.  You'll pay a lot more for it in bakeries.  Another good way to save a lot of money is to have an alcohol free wedding, we had no alcohol whatsoever (since neither of us drink), and it saved us so much!  A lot of places have specials for weddings that if you rent so many tuxes (like 4 or something) you get the groom's tux free.  Check around, you find deals.  Advice- don't go with the first place you look, compare.

Answer 7

The tux will probably cost anywhere from $75 to $250 if he rents one.

Don't forget about alternations to your wedding dress, which can add up. You'll need your hair done unless you do it yourself. That's about $75 but could be more. It is possible but it will be a challenge. How many people will be attending? What time of day? What kind of food? Don't forget the photographer. Forget a videographer because that's about as much as the photographer. Don't skimp out on the photographer because those are your memories. You don't have to go over the top but hire a good one. Check around. We hired a middle of the road guy that was great. I think our photos came up really good. We could have paid less but I didn't really like those photos. For that, we could have done it ourselves or asked a relative too.

We tried to keep our wedding cost down. We had 100 guests, maybe a little bit more. We hired a JP. We had the ceremony/reception at a nice hotel. We paid for drinks at the cocktail hour. ($800+) We had a dj. I think we estimated that we spent around $17,000.

edit: It's good that you are trying to come up with a budget. That is highly recommended. Prioritize what is most important to what is least important. It's going to take some work and planning. You can keep it a reasonable level. You may have to be a little creative to do so though.

www.theknot.com

www.theweddingchannel.com

Congratulations!!

Answer 8

the only way to do it for under 5 is to not have a reception....it's going to be closer to 10G by the time you're finished....my budget was 5 at first, grew to 10 and we ended up spending 20.....so, if you want minimal decorations, flowers etc. then you can definately do it.  prices are insane, but it is worth it.  find a culinary student to cater they are usually cheaper and need the experience.  email me if you have any other questions, my wedding was last June so still pretty up to date on things

oh yeah, don't use credit cards, if you don't have the cash, have a super small wedding close family and friends.

ps. my outdoor wedding cost double my sisters indoor wedding cause you have to get tents, tables, etc. that you don't have to worry about with most reception halls.

Answer 9

well of course it's possible.. it might not be a really nice wedding, but definitely possible.. if you want a nice place or great decorations, you might have to spend less on something else.. like for example, instead of a big pricey wedding cake, get some kind of cake that isn't so "wow", but is good anyway for the guests, and cheap! in my experiences as a wedding server (i worked for a catering company for a while), barely anyone even eats the cake.. we end up throwing away ALOT of full, untouched pieces of cake. or the pictures and video, try to get someone who charges less, maybe they don't make th pictures too special, but at least you can have memories. or maybe just get less pictures and video time? record the important parts, and that's it. or pictures of the ceremony and the couple/bridesmaids/groomsmen poses and then some with guests? i don't know, there's a lot of options. i'd go a little higher than $5000 though.. $8000 would be alot better. this is your wedding day afterall, it's worth it.

Answer 10

E&E,,it can be done..here's my advice to you ....If it is a church wedding...churches don't charge for weddings...just put bows on the pews..and have a unity candle plus one flower arrangement for the altar...use the church hall for a reception..for the tables go to a dollar store and get the round table cloths...use round tables...buy clear vases for $1.00 and then go to a vendor that sells flowers in bulk and use those flowers for table centerpieces...go to walmart and buy your invitations and do them yourself on the computer...$250 for a dress is great but some bridal places have wedding dresses  for $99.00  a Tux can run from $89.00 to $150.00....if you know someone who sews, they can make the brides maids dresses, flower girl dresses...have family members cook the food for the reception or you can have like finger foods...walmart has a 3 tier cake for like $250.00 have someone bake some small cookies to go with the cake so you don't have to spend $800.00...I wouldn't have an outside wedding in case it rains...have a friend make your bouquet....surely there is someone in town who does weddings as their hobby that won't cost you much...for a photographer,,,shop around and get bids to see who will give you the best deal...ask your high school band director if they have any students who play the violin who can play at your reception...If not at a church go to a civic center, recreation center to see a hall, some hotels have large rooms but they are usually expensive...for $5000 you need to make it small and quaint with a few family and friends..also try looking at different halls,,,some have the full package....I think you will be able to do it just shop around and find some friends to help with it...

Have any bread and breakfast inns  in your area..some of them do weddings and have large staircases for you to come down and that is a beautiful picture......lots of luck...and congrats....

Answer 11

YES!

ha ha I am getting married this September and I have only spent probably about $4,000.  What I did was;

1- hand-made the invitations (looks good nd people appreciate it)

2-Hired amateur vendors (i.e. Photographer, make-up, hair) Not DJ though he is a professional)

3-Made all my wedding favours, we are doing magnets which you can buy at any office supply store.

4-We are not doing a dinner, we are doing sandwiches and salads.

I hope this helps you, its fun to plan your wedding even on a budget but you always have to keep that in mind.  Its very easy to go over board.  GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN

Answer 12

If you do an outdoor wedding (park, etc) then you'll have a wedding AND reception venue together for cheaper than either of them alone.  The preacher/JOP/minister can be done cheaper if it's a family's preacher rather than "renting" one.  Or some states allow a friend or family member to deliver the vows (check into that!).  

If you cater the food yourself and make it hors d'oeuvres and finger foods rather than sit-down food, you'll save a bundle...so plan the event for between 1 & 5 in the afternoon (after lunch but before dinner!).  Also, alcohol adds a BUNCH to the bill, so keep it simple (champagne for the toast only, beer, water, soda ONLY), and do disposable plates/forks/cups rather than renting.  Paper EVERYTHING!

Photography was a gift from my husband's best friend's husband, so that was a NICE bonus (because photography can be VERY costly).  Music was an iPod mix we built ourselves and sent through a boom-box.

The cake was from Costco (believe it or not!).  

Rent chairs/tables if you must, but see if you can borrow what you need.

Flowers done yourself, as well as the invitations can save a BUNDLE.

My husband and I had a wedding and reception in a park for 100 people and we did it all for under $5K...but we REALLY cut corners.  But frankly people didn't seem to mind.  We got help from a lot of friends and family so it wasn't a HUGE burden on us, and it was a fun day.  But it IS a lot of work.

If I might make a suggestion:  plan your wedding on a $10K budget, and if you can get it all done for less well, then you have a little nest-egg for a honeymoon or a down payment on a house or whatever.

(PS - I found my gown on eBay for less than $100!!!)

Answer 13

I just got married on the 6th of July. We spent probably around $4,000 all up. Yes we had an outdoor wedding, in our own backyard, with about 60-70 guests. It was very doable and we didnt really miss out on anything. I got my dress cheap then hand beaded it myself. We had h'orderves and finger foods which we ended up having way too much of. We had pink champagne and beer, again we overbudgeted. Our wedding was lovely. And we didnt break the bank to have it.

I think the secret is plan ahead, plan to the last detail well ahead of time and buy stuff little by little as the day gets closer. I bought gerbera daisies off of a grower and we got so many for our money. The night before the wedding my maid of honour, sisters and friend sat and made the bouquets and corsages.  I had fun planning and doing as much as I could myself. And came in under budget.

Give it a go, you will probably really enjoy yourself.

Answer 14

It would be possible if you try hard!

I would suggest an afternoon wedding with just cake and desserts or whatever instead of an evening wedding where you have to serve a meal. There's nothing wrong with that, and some people would rather you do it that way than have to spend their Sat. night at another wedding.  

Answer 15

you could have a very nice reciption at home. and keep it cheap.