This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by maroki13 on 5/02/05. Feel free to add your comments by pressing Post Reply.
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posted by maroki13
For those of you who have had (or are planning) weddings for about 150-200 people...how much did you expect to spend? And has your expectation been fairly close or have you had to spend a lot more? I'm considering my budget and am trying to figure out if inbetween $5000-$8000 is a reasonable amount to spend on a wedding with that many guests.
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posted by feb-bride
My cousin had a 180-guest wedding and they spent less than $5K. They served a buffet-style dinner and had a DJ. They had the ceremony and reception in the same place (saved money), and a friend of theirs catered for the cost of the food.
Part of the way they saved money was to NOT hire a professional photographer, but I highly recommend against this. Their wedding pictures just aren't that great.
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posted by syringa
Whether you can plan a wedding for 150+ guests on a $5,000 budget depends partly on where you live. Like FebBride, I also recommend that you put your money into good photography. Your memories and the photos are what will last, so you don't want to skimp on pictures.
By choosing a facility that doesn't cost too much (which can be a challenge) and having the ceremony and reception in the same location, you can save money. You can also save on food by making wise choices. If you plan the wedding for mid-afternoon or later in the evening, you don't have to serve as much food. I have also had couples who have had a late morning wedding followed by a luncheon reception. This eliminates the need for a DJ and it costs less to serve lunch than other types of meals. At events like this, we sometimes use the services of a harpist or a couple of violinists rather than a DJ. The cost is less per hour and live music adds a special touch to the festivities. Serving alcohol can be a budget breaker, so you may want to avoid that entirely.
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posted by Marge129
My guest list was 175. We spent $12,000 on our wedding.
We had a sit-down dinner, provided wine, beer, and soda. We hired a DJ and photographer.
My reception alone was 6K.
~Margie
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posted by HeatherR
I'm not even putting up my numbers. Ugh.
Heather
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posted by Lizbet
I'm having a 200 person "dream wedding". It's not going to be all frilly and princessy, but I'm getting everything I want. It's going to cost about 18k. The reception location, food, and open bar will be about 8k. My FH and I were going to do a 12k wedding by ourselves, but my parents insisted on giving us 15k. I'll admit I embellished the event because I could. I know it will be a day I'll remember forever. --at least in pictures-- One of my biggest splurges was a good photographer.
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posted by HeatherR
Okay, now I don't feel so bad. My reception alone was 18K - but that included the ceremony too (set up/tear down), cocktail hour(and a half) & h'ordeurves, full sit-down dinner, open bar - top shelf, red and white wine on each table, silver place settings, centerpieces, etc...
With everything, including rings, honeymoon, dress, gifts, photography, invitations, DJ and officiant - it was about $25,000 total. I know MANY of you are cringing - but I'm in NY too. We were married on a Saturday and had a Saturday night reception which increased the price from about $12,000 to $18,000.
Heather
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posted by maroki13
I'm in WA state and hoping my costs won't run as high. We do want to get married in the summer so that will up the prices for the reception at least. We are going to have the ceremony at the church where I am a member so that shouldn't cost too much. I guess it will depend on the reception place, time of day, type of food/buffet, etc. Are there any areas you think NOT scrimping is a good thing? I think I'm hearing its good to pay money for quality photography...anything else?
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posted by HeatherR
My opinion is to NOT skimp on the food and open bar. It's really what people remember the most, especially the food. I also highly recommend the open bar, you don't want people shelling out money for their drinks along with everything else.
People will not remember what type of flowers you had, what color the BM dresses were, what the centerpieces were and probably not even what their favors were. A girl who attended my wedding as a date just became engaged and asked me for advice. I asked her all of those above questions and she didn't remember anything except the great food, open bar and dancing all night. So make sure you get a great DJ/band too.
In her defense of the lack of memory, I can't remember those things from most of the weddings I've attended either. Make a list of what is really important for you to have. Then make a list of "nice to haves." Plan your budget accordingly.
**EDIT: Also try to find a photographer who will hand over the negatives to you. If you pay a lot for their services, you can save money after the wedding by having additional pictures developed yourself. You can also create smaller wedding albums yourself and give those to your parents and in-laws.
Heather
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posted by NovemberGal
Quote:
Okay, now I don't feel so bad. My reception alone was 18K - but that included the ceremony too (set up/tear down), cocktail hour(and a half) & h'ordeurves, full sit-down dinner, open bar - top shelf, red and white wine on each table, silver place settings, centerpieces, etc...
With everything, including rings, honeymoon, dress, gifts, photography, invitations, DJ and officiant - it was about $25,000 total. I know MANY of you are cringing - but I'm in NY too. We were married on a Saturday and had a Saturday night reception which increased the price from about $12,000 to $18,000.
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Don't feel bad Heather, it looks like we're going to top you. But we're in Washington DC (well, VA, but it's the "greater metro area"), which is also an expensive area, and we're also doing Saturday night. We are allowing ourselves to splurge a bit, though, because we're splitting costs three ways--us, my folks, and his folks.
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posted by Lizbet
I agree with Heather. I am spending a good portion on food and drink because that's what my guests will remember. I'm spending alot on photographs, because that's what I'll want so that I can relive my big day whenever I want. Those two items make up about half of my budget.
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posted by syringa
A $5,000 budget doesn't really allow for alcohol beyond a champagne toast. Serving alcohol is the one thing that can really destroy a budget.
Budget: What to Expect?
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