Do I really need...?

A must have would be my brother saying transportation for family is needed though i didn't find it necessary at all. The whole time it was always about he thought was the ideal when it was a venue that had everything there and family carpooled. At the end, my brother realized it wasn't important after all hus arguments.

I wouldn't compromise on food, bar or entertainment! To me those are the memorable staples that everyone remembers. And guests certainly remember if they don't like any of the above. So I decided to have a more modest budget on invites, flowers and decor (although I love decor and keeping adding to my bill! Hahaha) I also chose to only have 1 maid of honour and best man in our bridal party along with flower girl and ring bearer! Best decision I ever made to keep that small. We are also thinking of doing away with transportation, and staying in the hotel beside our venue!

This topic!!! We are still fine-tuning some details but the biggest thing we cut out was the sit-down dinner. We will have servers with h'ordeurves and some platters. So there will still be lots of food going around. Because we condensed everything down to just the evening, we saved by booking with vendors that charged hourly rates. We also skipped the big wedding cake. As a guest, I find the cake cutting thing pointless and not that cute, not pictures that I'd cherish. We are having a dessert table with a mix of options. Also, my mom and I are making my wedding dress, I just want something sleek, fitted, one of a kind and... sparkley! Our overall budget is $10,000 and we are right on track.

We cut out the special cake knife and just used one from the venue. We also didn't get special pens to sign our marriage license. We didn't do "Bride" and "Groom" signs for our chairs at the reception. We did a small display cake and the rest of the portions in sheet cake instead of doing a huge cake. We didn't do an open bar but gave out drink tickets instead. (And as far as we know, no one had to buy a drink)

I did an uncle-niece dance instead of a father-daughter dance because my dad wasn't invited to the wedding. Our moms also gave the speeches instead of the fathers. We didn't get a special car as transportation to the venues because everything was in walking distance. I rented a veil instead of buying one. (Great decision!)

View quoted message Weve cut both of these as well

There were a few things I was leaning to getting because I felt getting married justified it (expensive shoes, a big cake, etc.). I would take a step back and think if you really need or want it you can find a way to cut elsewhere to make it happen and often I couldn't.

We aren't having cake or a DJ. These were both things people said we had to have in order for our wedding to be "successful".

This is an excellent topic for discussion. I have kept my budget to under $6000 for this wedding. I've cut on everything except the venue, food, drinks, and music. It's not hard to spend $10,000, $15,000, or even $20,000. I didn't need the big ball gown, just a 3/4 length lace dress (45.00). Things to keep guests "entertained" - cut. We have music, drinks, conversation, and dancing for entertainment. Guest list - cut to only immediate family and close friends (30 people). Anything you want you can probably find cheaper somewhere else. It just takes some research but I figured if I saved $700 on a DJ for 2 hours of research, I actually pocketed $350.00 an hour! Not bad for a little work.