Small wedding? costs?

Yes, it's possible! A few tips below:

-opt for a venue who has the ceremony, reception, and rehearsal in the same place

-hand make your invitations, save the dates, favors, decor; there are tons of free, super cute templates online

-hire a photographer who is somewhat new to photographing weddings (most are very reasonable and great!)

-use an iPod with your music selections instead of a dj

-choose an off peak time for your wedding, and also maybe a different time of day (morning and noon weddings are cheaper)

-rent tuxes/suits instead of buying

-borrow or buy a used dress; or even but new...Davids Bridal has tons of super cute dresses under $200

-mix cupcakes with your cake; order a small cake plus a variety of cupcakes ( I think they're cheaper)

-ask attendants in your bridal party to all choose a dress they like of your specific color (dresses will be mix matched but that's sometimes really cute!)

-choose a meal where you and your family can make it to save on catering; a new trend here in this area is a potluck...in the invitation the couple explains it will be potluck and each family is to bring a side dish with their family recipe attached. The bride/grooms family will provide meat, etc. and the recipes can all be put into a recipe book for the new couple! This would be cute for a small wedding!

There are so many ways to save on weddings. I am planning my own as well. :) Congrats on your wedding!

You've gotten some good ideas and I'll just toss out another one. If you can find someone with a decent sized house and yard, this would be ideal And as for the food and catering, one option I love because I've seen it is for you to get pulled pork and chicken by the pound from your favorite barbecue joint. They can deliver it the day of the wedding. Then a couple family members could make all the side dishes or you could even contribute a signature dish yourself that's made ahead.

What works with this is that the side dishes are so cheap. Corn is great (not on the cob) and if you want to dress it up with some pimento or whatever, that's fine. Corn bread and rolls are cheap to make or buy. The same applies to baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, deviled eggs, etc. Also, put out a tossed salad and let people add their own fixings with some dressing options.

If you're serving alcohol, keep it cheap and simple. Get a keg and a couple boxes of red and white wine. And of course sodas, water and coffee. You're done.

The barbecue is the only significant cost here and for a group this large, I'd think 10 of each meat would work. This is probably around $200, but the entire rest of the menu probably wouldn't be more than $100 or $150 max, and that's super cheap (and yummy) for the food.

You could even set out some veggie platters and fruit/cheese platters and add another $50 or so to costs. It's still very cheap.

I play weddings (violin) and last fall I played for a wonderful outdoor wedding. It really worked well.

It was indeed a redneck wedding - but it worked out so well I'll even go so far as to say it was classier than much more elaborate weddings I've played...

The bride wore her mother's vintage gown (and was barefoot, too).

The bridesmaids wore matching bluejeans, white tee-shirts and straw cowboy hats.

The groom and his groomsmen wore jeans, teeshirts, flannel shirts and ball-caps (and big work boots)

I (a solo violinist) played old time hymns, jigs, reels, bluegrass tunes before and after the ceremony (I played the traditional wedding marches for the ceremony).

The flowers were fall colored chrysanthemums

The venue was a private campground along a beautiful scenic river (Johnson's Campground, Herold Road, Sutton, WV)

The altar was improvised by placing straw bales against 2 big oak trees and then decorated with flowers and corn stalks.

Grandma baked the cakes

Mama and Auntie made the fixins (coleslaw, baked beans, and other stuff)

Bubba and Roy cooked burgers and hotdogs on the grille

Uncle Lewis performed the ceremony (He's a pastor at some little church nearby)

This worked out really well. Everyone was happy. THe bride glowed, the groom had a look on his face that only a 12-point trophy buck could make him happier.

I think there were probably 40-50 guests.

OK so this was a redneck wedding - but I don't think she spent more than $1000 on it. Everyone had a lovely time.

Assume that the majority of your budget will go to the food. $2000 split 50 ways gives you a budget of $40 per guest to work with.

Lunch is cheaper than a full dinner. You could even do brunch- eggs and waffles are cheap. Find a restaurant with an outdoor eating area, and see if you could hold your entire wedding/reception there. You probably won't have enough money for a DJ or anything like that, expect to skip the dancing. Therefore the reception will be shorter than usual, probably 2 hours maximum.

You could always go super casual and have a backyard BBQ. Burgers, hot dogs, salads, and coolers with cans of beer. If you aren't looking for elegance, this could be really fun.

Here are a few ideas:

- Cash bar or no alcohol.

- Have the reception at an off-peak time (not at lunch or dinner time) and just serve cake and punch.

- Skip flowers.

- Skip the wedding party (brides and grooms typically buy something for their party).

- Skip the fancy centerpieces. You really don't need them.

- Likewise, skip the favors. Nobody cares about them except you. If you feel like you need some favors, make them edible.

- Keep in mind that an outdoor reception may require the rental of chairs and tables.

- Put your favorite songs on a iPod in lieu of hiring a DJ.

To me, the most important part of my wedding, when it was all said and done, was the photography. That is the physical evidence I will have of my wedding forever. It will also be the most expensive aspect of your wedding, but you want to hire someone who will devote time to photography. Asking your guests to photograph things may be cute, but the photos will not turn out, especially outdoors. (We had a destination wedding; our wedding planner was the photographer. All of our guests took pictures. Only one of the guest photos had decent enough lighting to actually display. All of the photographer's pictures were great.)

of course it is possible but you need to decide what you will compromise on to keep the cost down.

to start with anything you know you can make, make. for example, invitations, favors, table plan, place cards,programmes, cake,bouquet or boutonnieres etc.

making invitations is easy, you just need card in your wedding colours and a piece of ribbon in a bow shape to stick in the corner if you want.

wedding photographers are expensive, work out if you want one, and how long you feel you ca afford them for.

consider what you will serve at the reception. call around a few caterers and tell them what you were hoping to spend on food see if they have something to fit that budget.

Wtf ! My cuz js got married n der wer over 1000 guests. Or mayb thats cos v r Indians ;) but hey ur wedding sounds sooo tiiinnnny :P