Budget-- are we crazy?!

Another Ottawa/Gatineau bride here

We have a budget of $20-25k for 100 people (we'd like to keep it close to $20k). We're planning the entire thing from Calgary without a planner, so I totally get the frustration. I mean, the only time we'll get to visit the venues (2 on our list right now) to make our decision will be during the holidays!!

It's definitely tough, but it's not impossible. My FH and I sat down to determine what was important for us and what we could do without. We've decided to have a very intimate ceremony (close family only) at a parents' house (not sure which side yet) and then hit a venue for a cocktail reception (hors d'oeuvres only + late night snack). We don't have a wedding party, won't have an open bar. We won't have a cake either AND I'm DIYing my faux flowers arrangements.

You could look into: Brunch wedding, off-season wedding, Friday or Sunday wedding, all-incluse packages. Etsy or Creative Market for invite templates + printing with Vista Print, not doing save the dates.

I agree with you, glad to see other Brides from the same area!

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I am finding I am really into the farm/rustic/vintage style....I did look at the Lonestar Ranch - which IS beautiful - but, as much as I love Lonestar, we get that catered in for work lunches, and I don't really want to eat work lunch for my wedding LOL

Looking at Beantown Ranch and Orchardview right now ... the LOOK like they in the budget on the face of it, but haven't spoken to anyone yet. I have the first week of October off, so hoping we can take a look at some places at that point.
We are looking at next October for our date, but may consider pushing to November if it saves us enough...I started really thinking about it and kind of getting my heart set on those beautiful fall settings for photos! Might be iffy into November!

I am also looking for a knee/tea length dress.....I really do make things complicated for myself!! haha

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I know!! We ended up going with the RCAF officer's mess and it is truly a steal!!!! The surf and turf meal is 42$ which is crazy inexpensive. Not sure if they require you to have a military sponsor so maybe check it out and see if that's your style?
Also! I just saw on one of the Ottawa wedding groups that there is a Lonestar Ranch here on Hunt Club. What is the vibe of your wedding? I looked it up and honestly, if I had known about it, I might have seriously considered that location. Its SO COOL and who doesn't love the fajitas at lonestar?!

Do you have any vendors you're looking at?! How far into planning are you? When are you getting married?

Great to connect with another Ottawa bride!

I am also trying to plan a wedding in the Ottawa area, and its near impossible to do it for less than at least $10K. that's just food and venue.
Quite frustrating!!

I've budgeted my 75 person wedding for 10k-15k and that's all outta my own pocket

Hi Zoe! Thanks for those awesome discussions, I have been reading through them

I haven't started looking at dresses yet! I think I am going to wait until the end of summer. I THINK i want a flowy, long sleeve gown but not sure if that will work for an early sept. wedding!! We will see- I am SO excited for that part

Hi All!!

Thanks for the reassurance. Still having some difficulty trying to find the perfect venue within our budget since most venues will come up to almost 20k with food and bar alone!

Luckily I want mostly greenery for florals so that will save. I know someone who does cakes so that should be lower cost. DIY is definitely going to be the name of my game, as well. Just have to find that venue and then the rest will fall into place!! But lets not talk about photog/videography!!! WOWZAAAAAAA

Hi Jordan, So nice to meet you here. Maybe you can check this discussion to see what the budget is from the other brides-to-be: What is your wedding budget?. Did you check our promotions ? Did you already find a dress? Let me know xx

I agree with the all inclusive venue package idea from Amanda. There are several places in Ottawa that will take care of almost everything if you have your wedding at their venue. It will save you a lot of headaches and you'll have a pretty good idea for how much budget is left over. Also doing some DIY projects will save you money.

Depends on how formal and fancy you want I think, my wedding is about 55 people and costing under $5k

I think it's doable we have about 130 guests and we aimed for 20 000$. I feel we might go over a bit ( maybe 1000$ tops) but that's a reasonable margin. We're having a Sunday brunch wedding so that saves quite a bit on food and people won't typically drink as much. Our venue was quite reasonable price-wise compared to some other spots we visited. We also did quite a bit of DIY projects together! Some vendors omitted the taxes from our contracts if we paid cash so that's some good savings

Doable!! I suggest all inclusive wedding packages! Some cover everything down to decor for the ceremony and dj/catering for the reception. The whole day is done on one site and can save you some money! Call on your friends for DIYs as much as you can! And vistaprint!!

That's doable as long as you are careful and willing to do a fair bit of work yourself, not go designer, keep flowers to a minimum.

I'm doing 160 for under $10,000... You just have to get creative... Biggest areas we saved in are having a cash bar... Buying my dress on sale... Having the recption at a community hall... And hiring a local Girl Guide unit to prepare and serve the food... Bonus the last two are service organisations so that money goes back into the community.

I'm doing 100 people for about $14K so I think $20k is doable. It just depends what you want to spend it on.

I think you can do it but you might need to compromise on a few things to make it happen. If you could push your date back to the "off season" of November to March you could definitely cut quite a few costs without trying. But of course then you have to deal with winter. Decide what is most important to you and cost those things out first and be ready to either adjust your budget or your wants list based on what you find out.