Budget struggles!

We made a list of 3 things we each had to have and 2 things we could do without.

You can basically make any budget work, once you work those kinks out.

Are you a diy-er? If so that can help keep your budget low.

We decided to keep it around $15000 max $20000. That will include out flights, hotel, honeymoon.. everything! So far we are right where we want to be, actually a bit under!
When decor on a budget you need to look at what you CAN spend then from there decide what you WANT to spend. If you start with what you want first it may be more than what you can. If you have a rough idea on how big your guest list will be then that's a huge bonus! We knew it would be under 100 but not under 70, we are at 80 guests on our official guest list.
For a 20-30 person wedding you can probably keep it under $10000 for sure. You have less people to cater, your venue will be small. The biggest costs will be your attire, accessories and your photographer.
If you're planning on having dancing still the I'd recommend not getting a DJ and using your own music because a DJ will be an unnecessary high cost for such a small wedding. You can rent some music equipment for a lot less then getting a DJ!
Definitely look around and get some quotes from different venues and vendors and go from there!

We're also having a small wedding... 30-35 people. We wanted a great dinner, amazing photographer and to pay for everyone's drinks. So we budgeted $5,000 with room to go over by about $1-2,000. We're also just making a spotify playlist instead of having a DJ bc were not doing a normal reception with dancing and whatnot so that obviously saves money. It all comes down to what you can afford and what's most important to you.

For budgeting, having a rough guest list as well as what I can and cannot live without, really makes a difference!

You probably won't have to pay as much for catering, since your numbers are fairly small, but some things will cost the same no matter the guest list (officiant, photographer, etc) so knowing what you want out of each vendor will help determine a budget. For example, we know we wanted a certain number of hours for photography and a second shooter so that definitely affected our budget for photography.

Well my budget was made before our head count. We decided on $20,000 (with room to go over at most by $5000). Our max. for the venue is 250 (including vendors). Therefore if you were to take my budget for your amount of people = $1,600 - $2,400 with room to go as high as maybe $3,000. Of course that is fairly cheap so maybe up the anty to $5,000 budget?

It all depends on what you are willing to spend and then you can find vendors to fit your needs!

It really depends on what your priorities are! Do you have a budget in mind for alcohol and food? That will take up majority of your budget so that might be a good place to start. (But I know you're trying as per your other discussion!) Venues can add up too depending on the fee to host your ceremony and whether you need to pay a rental fee for your reception area too.

My suggestion would be to get different quotes and compare based on what your priorities are. For example, how important is décor to you? Will your dinner be buffet-style or plated? Are you having a DJ or live band? Certain options are more budget-friendly than others, which will be evident when you get pricing!