How much would a small wedding cost?

Weddings can cost as little or as much as you want them to. It is all in the planning. If you do something small, such as a bbq at your house, it can be relatively cheap since you are not paying a vendor to provide food and staff.

Since you would have a small wedding, you are saving money off the bat. A wedding with 20-50 people (your numbers) is going to cost a lot less than 100+ guests. Wedding cakes are expensive, but you can save by getting a regular cake (really, they taste just as good).

There are a lot of wedding planning websites (such as theknot.com) that provide a checklist of things you can do for your wedding. I would recommend going through a checklist, take out what you don't need and then figure out how you can save on each individual thing.

The best way to save money is to not serve a meal and to not have alcohol. 200 guests is actually a very large wedding. I've seen 2 things: 1) Have a sunrise wedding. This way, you don't have to worry about food or alcohol, and its truly a gorgeous time of day. It is also unique and I've seen photo albums of sunrise weddings by a few places and they're really lovely. 2) Have an afternoon wedding, but have it at 3pm or so and don't let it run over the dinner hour. If it runs over the dinner hour, you should feed your guests a meal or at least heavy appetizers....gets pricey. If you have the afternoon wedding, you can still have a reception afterwards, and even dancing if you want to spend the $ on a DJ (you can get ones for cheap, just call around). Just serve cake and punch. If you want to have a longer reception, you might want to look into how much it would be to do just a few light appetizers. If you really want alcohol, buy your own kegs. I suggest a professional bartender, though, because if your guests drink, the bartender is liable for any accidents that may occur on the way home, not you. You can get creative with the cake if you want. You can buy a tiered wedding cake and decorate it yourself with flowers from Sam's Club (we did this), or you can have a dessert table where you have an assortment of cheesecakes, chocolates, etc. Nobody says you have to be traditional about it, unless you want to. Also, if you have the wedding and reception in the same location, it saves you money having to decorate 2 places with flowers, etc. If you have a wedding party, they pay for their own tuxes, dresses, etc.

Where do you live? If you live in an expensive area, expect it to cost more. Are you going to redo the ceremony? Or just have a reception for friends and family? If you let people know you are planning on having a gathering of some sort, they will probably offer to help, so take advantage of that. Even if you do have family members cook, you still have to buy food for possibly 50 people. You have to buy supplies to make the cake. Where are you going to have it? You will probably have to rent some sort of room at a restaurant, or rent tables and chair at your home. All the little things add up. Even a very small wedding/reception will cost you money because most people do not have accommodations/food, etc. for 50 people just around their homes. I would imagine this could cost a couple grand, unless you get really creative.

You could probably do it for $1000 or less depending on what you do. I've had 20 people at my house for a BBQ and that food cost about $300. You could buy all the food and have a few loved ones help prep the day before and cook it off the day of. Pasta is always cheap. Meat isn't cheap but you could do a lot of it on the BBQ and everyone would be happy. Just get paper plates and cutlery and put on some music on the stereo. You could do this in a park or in someones back yard or even at a campsite. (Which is good for people who drink too much and want to crash, they can just rent a campsite)

The ceremony could be at the same place or in a church. That couldn't be more than a couple hundred. And just get a nice white dress from anywhere.

I am planning on having 50 people Max and I would have a buffet of good home cooking and have it in a hall or venue. Mine I figure in total $5000. But I like things like pro-photographers and having a band.

Good luck.

I got married for less than $300. That included my dress and lunchmeat/cheese/veggie trays for about 50 guests. Aunt made my cake, Uncle took digital photos, brother played CD's, my dress was 2nd hand, he wore a suit he already had, and my flowers were fresh carnation/daisy I tied together with ribbon from a spring bouquet mix.

My sister got married for less than $100 in Gatlinburg TN. Dress was 2nd hand $20, license $40, and the little Chapel of Love took the balance. I donated dried flowers and took pictures. No cake or reception though.

Hope this helps some, and congratulations!

I spent less then $1,000 for about 20 people. So for about $2500-$3000 you should be able to pull something off.

our families made the food, my aunt made the cake, we printed out our own invitations, and went to a party supply store for decorations. all-in-all it cost under 2000$. that is including the dress, the tux, decorations, food, priest, hall rental the list goes on. you can email me if you would like and i will help you! cool_aid_2007@yahoo.com

anywhere between 500-5,000[tops] but more like 1,000 or 2,000

3,000-5,000 tops I'd say