Unfortunately, I do not get the opportunity to help create dreams on a $5,000.00 budget too often.  Why?  It’s because most couples want to spend the money that they have on their wedding – and not hearing me rant, rave, and carry on!

Sad, but true.

Thing is, I think I have some really wonderful ideas on how to make this budget work  and create an air of elegance and taste – which is one reason I decided to pursue this blog series.  Why should I keep it to myself?  With that said, when I do work with couples, I make sure to adequately prepare them before we sign the contract.  There are a few fundamentals that must be understood before we venture on this exciting journey – because planning a wedding on $66.67/guest in the DC area is not easy.  All of the preconceived notions of what a wedding is – needs to be thrown out – revisited – revised – stylized – and realized.  Once the realization takes place – the possibilities are limitless.

What are the basic fundamentals?

1. Forget about getting married in or around Washington DC.  Just forgetaboutit!  Not happening.
2. Allow the dreams of a meal flow from your mind.  Definitely not enough dough to do that.
3. Long gone are the days of olde!  Large wedding parties are out.  It’s 2010 – and 1 attendant is in!  Better yet, no attendants.  Ask your guests to honor you by sitting in their seats and enjoying the day.
4. The four hour reception is a no-go.  Sorry!  Short and sweet,  a lot of spunk and sass – but always with an air of elegance, class and taste.
5. Hotel?  No.
6. The big white dress – well that’s ify.  I tend to venture on the side of quality rather than quantity, but others might not necessarily share my ideals.  There are ways to get the large white dress on significant discount.  Whats more important than that, is that the dress reflects the feeling and theme of the day!  The Bride is, after all, the center of attention.  All eyes are on her, and it’s her attire that will make a break a theme.
7. Prioritize…prioritize…prioritize.  Determine what you can live without.

Everything else – possible on $66.67/guest!  Want to find out how?  Come back next week (or everyday)!  We will talk about choosing a venue.

Just a note:

I convinced my client to drop their guest list.  We got a 15 person drop!  Great going!  So, now we are working with

$81.97/guest

Happy planning!

Tags: Budget Weddings, Planning a 5000 Wedding, Wedding budgeting

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 6:55 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.