More people need to realize the truth of "if you don't have the money, YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY" preach girl!

Crying because she acknowledges the people struggling to feel like they deserve/afford their wedding 😰

As a budget bride with $3-5k to spend on 60 guests, I found this so validating. It’s been difficult and sometimes downright discouraging to have to work so hard to DIY or do without some things, but I was lucky enough to find a great town-owned venue, a mom to DIY all the catering, and an aunt to officiate for free. It truly takes a village, but it is doable.

Thing #1: a spouse 😉

👏👏👏 we just pulled off a beautiful wedding for $5000. It can be done!!

You need these 5 things: 1. Bride 2. Groom 3. Ring for bride 4. Ring for groom 5. Officiant :D

We spent less than $1000 on our wedding. We invited a dozen of our closest friends, got permission from the city to have the ceremony at our favorite lake side park, I rented my dress, and went to one of our favorite restaurants. The most expensive thing was dinner and it was ~$500 with a $100 tip. The most important thing to us was getting married and making memories. I think too many brides get caught up in what the industry tells them they need or are afraid of coming off as tacky or cheap. Trust me, the people who matter won't care, and those who care shouldn't matter.

1) Location with restrooms (1 per 35-50 people) 2) Food and beverage (doesn't have to be a full meal/alcohol) 3) Seating (or keep the ceremony short) 4) Something to wear 5) Way to capture the memories (photographer or encourage guests to post photos with hashtag) Bonus: (6) Music (DJ or Spotify) (7) Flowers (some kind of centerpiece)

Another tip for the photographer is to get a student. They are often a lot cheaper but still know what they’re doing, and all you usually have to do is agree to let them use some of your photos for their assignments.

I did mine for under $1200 on Saturday, it was perfect! Our church was free. We only paid for the main course and had 'assigned' potluck sides. I got 3 used dresses that I will resell. I did my own flowers. My decorations were borrowed. My family made the cake and cupcakes. It was gorgeous and perfect, and there was SO MUCH EXTRA FOOD.

I am getting married in May and my entire wedding is costing $3000. Dress, suits, rings, bridesmaid dresses, food, chair rentals, decor, photography. You can have everything, you just have to find inexpensive ways to do everything.

I'm literally working with $200 and everything is almost already done. Potluck and bring your own chairs is what has helped our budget the most. Thrifting our clothes and free venue is also a big help. Decor, marriage license, and drinks are the most expensive things we've got.

I am a bookworm and I am using my own books as decoration for my wedding. It’s perfect. I love it!

Love this. I am a wedding professional but I am all for being reasonable and staying within budget. Nobody should go into marriage in more debt because of their wedding. I’m getting married (finally me!) in November and I honestly don’t care as much as I thought I would, simply because it’s all minor compared to marrying my best friend that day. At the end of the day, it’s just the two of us ❤️.

"You do not need to have flowers." I DO! I can't live without them. 😭 ♥️

This industry terrifies me. I started my wedding planning now, and it’s not even until 2022, but I needed to so I wouldn’t have anxiety attacks over everything. Thank you so much for making this video, seriously, thank you. I’m keeping this to watch anytime I feel myself getting overwhelmed again.

Hey Jamie, my soon to be husband and I are on our own with the wedding fundings and we decided it was more important to us to buy a house then to have a huge wedding. We are renting a larger Airbnb that allows parties and doing some picnic foods and having beer and wine. We are linking a bunch of Alexa’s together to play music. Our guest list is about 35 of our closest people and we are so thrilled to do it. All said and done we should be looking at about $9000. Minimal decor just some greenery. Our Airbnb was very open to the idea of a party as long as we were respectful to the neighbors and had less then 50 people. This could be an option for anyone struggling. Good luck out there.

It was totally by accident but I found a brand new tags attached 2000 dollar dress at a thrift store for 40dollars and had it altered by my gram (she was second generation of owning a alterations shop in my town) it was amazing

Another tip: I didn’t have a small budget, but during the pandemic, I had to end up having my wedding on a Tuesday night, which ended up slashing the price of the venue by more than half the price! Anddddddd.... my guests loved it!! They said they looked forward to getting dressed up, looked forward to a good meal and enjoyed the company of family and friends on a Tuesday evening! So if you’re looking for ways to save money, I highly recommend this!

I'm watching this video and I'm nearly crying. Because we just want to get married so badly with all of our favourite people in the world around us and I've just felt so much relief that it's ok we wont have all the bells and whistles because our budget is so small. I'm still scared it will be a massive flop because I have no idea what I'm doing but this has made me feel much better xx

Also, I got all our flowers - I think it was 12 dozen roses plus baby's breath and some other flowers to complement - for around $200 at Costco. If you can work with their colors and are handy with DIY it's a great savings. They have arrangement packages too that are way cheaper than professional florists. Like Jamie said, the pros are amazing and no one is taking away from them but if you can't afford them and still want pretty flowers at your wedding.... just saying...

I'm going to rent a villa in Spain for two days (where I live) that has enough rooms for my 25 or so guests. Prices are around 1000 for two days renting the villa and we will use the garden to get married the second day and hang out barbecuing/ enjoying life the first day.

My budget is $1,000. Let’s just say the venue is a park, and there will only be 20 guests.

I just started planning my wedding and used the exact phrase “ballin on a budget” when talking to my fiancé this morning :)

I’m a florist and got married 2 years ago... and if I had to do it again .. skip center pieces

Another idea for other brides. My fiancé and I can’t afford a fancy florist so we are planning to use cheap supermarket flowers and DIY ing our bouquets and boutineires

HOLY GOD. THAT WAS MY QUESTION ON INSTA!

I've been watching this channel for a while now just out of fun and curiosity (not engaged or married) and I don't normally comment. But wow, this video is so understanding and nonjudgmental of wherever people may be financially. Congratulations Jamie on creating such a wonderful and safe space for people of all kinds 💕

Hey ladies another Wonderful idea is to do your wedding at a veterans hall or one called knights of columbus, american legion. They are cheap and included alot including food, drinks, servers etc.

For a friend's daughter's wedding, they were on a very strict budget. I did alterations and embellishments on her dress, made the cake (!), and used a picnic theme for a reception. The venue had a hot dog vendor stand that was so neat; several types of hot dogs were used, baked beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, fresh fruit tray, green salad, veggie tray. The couple already had four young children and this was perfect for the whole family and the invitees. Friends took photos and handled music. The only criticism we heard of were from the in-laws, who I don't recall offering to help with a thing!

Thank you Jaime! This was perfect. I'm getting married in 12 days, we had a $2500 budget and your videos helped tremendously! Our wedding day is going to be beautiful

I’m literally planing my wedding potluck picnic style and am so disappointed that I’m not the first one to think of this😂😂😂

This video tore down every single misconception I had about what I thought my wedding day is supposed to be like. I can’t thank you enough ❤

My boyfriend and I have been together (going on 9 yrs this month) we have been together since we were 15. Both in college right now and are talking more and more about getting married in the nearer future Thankyou so much for your videos❤ Thankyou for this one above all

YAASSS. got my top 3 things and everything else won't have an impact on my wedding day. It's not about the little details. It's about me and my soulmate getting married. 💖🥰

If you’re in Southern California close to DTLA. Your groom can purchase a suit and have it personally tailored on the same day in the fashion district. For less than $200 this included bow tie/tie shirt and vest

My husband and I know our wedding photos are from a place of love and from the heart, because my Grandparents took them!

I’ve been to a few weddings with a potluck menu, and sometimes there’s enough food and sometimes not. One potluck-like method that prevented the problem of too little food was to gather a list of recipes with specified serving sizes and ask guests to pick one to prepare for your day. It’s also a good idea to ask a friend or relative who is known for being organized to be the “food organizer” on the day of. I saw this method done for some friends, they asked one of the main Scout moms from our church to organize the food that day, and the buffet looked beautiful and as professional as it could be without actually paying anyone.

I’m getting married on a Thursday afternoon in Feb.. the venue is $1200 for 12hr and the catering is tacos.. total cost $3100 including tables/food/linens etc totally amazing! And our photographer have us a package that included our engagement photos for $1200 as well. Just by moving the day saved us almost $3k

If you do tacos like my cousin did, she had chips and salsa as the center pieces instead of things people aren’t going to give a shit about plus while we were waiting for the ceremony we were able to eat! PLUS she got a venue that had tables and chairs included she set it up for dinner with dance floor space and that’s how her ceremony was done. No linens, no centerpieces, no “isle” to walk down. She walked down the middle of the room with everyone surrounding sitting at plastic folding tables and chairs! It was incredible the food was amazing and the best way to have a wedding. She also had it during a week day so the guest list shortened itself and the wedding reception was done pretty early because everyone had kids and jobs

5 Things you need for your wedding: Partner, Officiant, Witnesses, License, Rings. If you have a small budget start with the cost of the license first- since that's not negotiable. But seriously- Preach Jamie! Planning a wedding should be a time of joy, not feeling inferior because you don't have $30,000 for a wedding---I'm looking at you Say Yes To The Dress and Four Weddings.

Jamie my daughter is getting married in June 2020 and the best decision I ever made was hiring a wedding planner. We are on a budget but not that loW and she and her team have kept track of all the costs that make my engineer program manager husband very happy. She steered us to the Venue and DJ and photographer which have all been amazing. She does the flowers in house so know exactly what we need and her team is understanding of our Churches rules and that the wedding team from the church and the priest run the rehearsal and the wedding. They are there to support us and make sure everything runs smoothly. The best money I havE ever spent is hiring her as my wedding planner

THANK YOU!!! SO MUCH FOR THIS!! I recently got engaged 💍, this month and I was stressing out freaking out, I literally started breaking out 😭😭 after I saw your video I felt really relived and reassured! ❤

When will KZfaq give us an option to Love not just like a video! This was so helpful and so relieving I could cry. Jamie you are the best!❤️

Our wedding is gonna be around $4500, and that includes everything we want!

I blew my $1,500 budget by about $500. An inexpensive wedding is possible. Just make sure you have what is important to YOU. Also, make sure you have the right spouse. BUT you must pick your battles. My wedding was so much work for me, I barely enjoyed it. I didn't pick my battles and ask for enough help.

A friend of mine made paper flowers for her sister’s wedding bouquet. Much cheaper and actually looks suuuper real if done well. And the flowers last forever! Definitely would recommend!

For all my Texans here, Chapel Dulcinea is free to get married out and it has seating for about 15-20. I'm getting married in my backyard but if you want free venues, that's a great one!

I have watched this video repeatedly, and it is soothing my soul. My fiance and I were a "Covid Couple". We were supposed to wed in April of 2020 and had to cancel. We are both healthcare workers so rescheduling has not been a priority. Now, I am starting over again with a significantly smaller budget. Thank you Jamie for giving me some straight talk on the difference between wedding needs and wedding wants.

YES Jamie, if you dont have the money, you dont have the money!! Thank you so so much for making this video - it's super real and helpful 💛

Another great cheap photo option is to find photographers that have worked as a second shoot and have some experience shooting weddings but are wanting to go off on their own! They typically will do it for cheap!

I saw this video because I might become a diy wedding consultant. "You do not need flowers" is the funniest thing I've ever heard but thanks for the tips~

We have 700$ for our wedding and it's so hard 😭😭😭 This was super helpful ❤

I hope that person with the $3k budget for their wedding had an amazing and meaningful wedding!

I only recently found your videos and have been binging them nonstop. We got engaged on Valentine's this year and I've been planning everything by myself because of the pandemic. I got into a rut over whether or not our budgeted plans are good enough. Literally no other resource I've found supports brides with under $10k weddings or unconventional plans. So I watched this video tonight and you literally mentioned all of the things that apply to my picnic in the park reception. In the few days that I've been obsessed with your channel, I've had so much more motivation to happily tackle my planning to do list. I cannot thank you enough for helping bring me out of all the doubt and worries!

The single loveliest wedding I ever attended had the reception at a beautiful farm, under a giant tent, and there was no food, just lemonade and AN ICE CREAM SUNDAE BAR. The mother of the bride was serving people ice cream that they could top with all these things; it was SO CUTE. that said, when I get married, I would never do desserts only, because I want the party to go on a while with nobody sugar crashing on me!

Have an open mind when it comes to dress shopping. I found a beautiful bridesmaid dress that came in white for $214! I planned my Cape Cod wedding from afar in Maryland and my caterer was a lifesaver. Not only was the food cheap and good but she handled my chair rentals for the ceremony, and the linens at the reception and worked with the Mason Lodge where we had it. Which was crazy cheap and a last minute lifesaver too!

I remember watching this when I first started planning pre-covid. I was doing as cheap as possible while still being a "real" wedding. I had a better job and hadn't wasted all my money on planning the first two times. Now we're just doing a backyard type thing with family and have zero time or money to plan. I remembered this and it was my first thought. THANK YOU.

Started volunteering at a local thrift store. SOOOO MANY things to do a beautiful CHEAP wedding! Like the little tiny jewel picture frames as placeholders. Mismatched vintage china and glassware, remnant fabrics, candle holders by the dozen short votive or tall elegant ones, silk flowers, glass beads, even signs and decor from other weddings! CHECK OUT a thrift store!

Yessss I love these budget videos. I’m doing a micro wedding ( 6 people ) and no reception just an awesome honeymoon since I’ve only been out of the U.S once ! I’m splurging on a photographer and videographer , everything else is modest and affordable . Thanks for these tips 💕

I am a bride on a budget and have learned with a lot of research, you can have everything you want at your wedding. I have $4,500 budget and have the venue on a lake (tables, chairs, linens included), a buffet at the reception, cake, DJ, professional photographer, a beautiful ballgown, flowers, suit rental, and a few more extras. However, I really believe where you live has an effect on the cost of all those things. Great video!

Would you be interested in doing a video on bachelorette and/or bachelor parties? I know it's not exactly your forte, but a schedule/timeline to get things together, price ranges from simple to expensive, and who is responsible to pay and what to pay for. Thank you, I love your videos

We had a 40 person guest list. I had my wedding at a historic mansion that is now a restaurant. I rented two floors and the roof top bar for $1200. They first floor was for eating and reception and second floor was a game room. They catered the food (cause it’s a restaurant) which was 4 courses for $3200 and seated. We didn’t do a cake because we did dessert from them. My dress was from Cocomelody (Black Friday sale) and custom made sizes for $300. My flowers were wood flowers from Sola Wood flowers for $200 (included table center pieces, bouquets, etc) I got candles and vases in bulk on Amazon for $100. Shoes from a local store on sale for $25. Photographer for $2400. Music was created using the Pandora premium. Biggest advice- spend money on the food and photography.

Tell me I don’t need to print menu and wedding schedules 🙂

Having been working for in event rentals for a few years now, I am baffled by how much wedding can cost. Thanks for making this video. Helps couples know there's no right or wrong way to play a wedding and it's ok not to break the bank.

Yeah I've got like 1g maybe to spend...probably going to go the backyard route with our 20 closest friends and family! I am very crafty and can thrift well, and already have a beautiful dress I got on Facebook for 60 bucks. I recommend dollar tree diy decor videos for other poor peeps!

I thrifted my wedding dress for $80! Perfect Fit!

Thank you so freaking much, my god. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting this video. I'm up to my neck in wedding planning and feeling seriously overwhelmed.

Thank you so much for these videos. My budget is around $1,500. I love in Deep South Texas so cost on things is a lot lower. Any who, I feel so happy because I have a few of the things you listed planned. Thank you!

HELL YES! THIS IS THE VIDEO I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR. Planning a wedding has only seemed overwhelming and expensive ever since I got engaged..almost 2 years ago. Now I literally have built a loose wedding plan just while watching this. Thank you!

I was a part of a wedding party where all of our outfits were from jjs house. They were really great and super cheap. Brides dress was $150 and was super gorgeous!

Hey, Jamie, thanks for your advice. I was considering a pasta buffet, and you just affirmed my decision.😁

Disposable tablecloths from dollar tree are my choice. Easy clean up and cheap 🥰 22 days until mine!

JJsHouse also has crazy inexpensive dresses that are stunning and made to fit you perfectly! It's where I got my dress from and it's stunning!!!

These were great ideas! I love your humility about it... l think a lot of brides just need to be encouraged w ideas & to let them know it's ok not to have a lot of money! As long they are good ppl, have made a good choice for a husband & are happy! 💗😄🤗💗 Thank you!

I loved that message at the end! You're such a sweet person and really great at your job ✨

Black dress bride here! :D your channel has helped me so so much while planning my wedding, thank you for everything you do!

Jamie, I don't even know where to start thanking you! Here in Brazil there are a bunch of traditions and expectations on what you should or shouldn't do for your wedding, and nobody teaches you how to actually do anything! I'm getting married in August now, and you've been an enormous help on how to organize and plan things, and what to keep in mind so that the whole event flows properly and everybody is (reasonably) happy! We've already got most of our event planned now, and I'm so excited for everything! I even sent this video here to my BFF who's getting married soon, too, so that she can start planning her own wedding on her super tight budget! Thank you so, so much for all your advice and tips, you're really a lifesaver! Huuuuge, huge hugs to you and your family! All the best!!!

Jamie, this is one of your best videos ever, in my opinion.

My wedding, 14 years ago this past August, was $2k. I did the David's Bridal $99 sale. Got the perfect dress that I loved. Had an awful experience with the consultant my grandmother offered to help with the dress and said to look at the other dresses first. I did, but didn't find what I really liked, my mom peaked at the rack and found a dress I feel in love with. The consultant walked away angry, didn't help me remove the dress and underthings, put it on the hanger and back in the garment bag. Or anything. My mom and I did it all. When I came back out she was with another bride and pretended we weren't there. I had no interest in ever going back, so thankfully I was close to a wonderful woman who had made several wedding dresses and evening gowns and prom dresses. She did an amazing job altering it.

i am a florist by trade, and if you don’t want flowers, YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND MONEY ON FLOWERS!! they are beautiful and add that extra specialness to photos and the day in general, but they are NOT essential ✨

LOVE this. I'm planning/coordinating two weddings right now and both are within a certain budget that is about half of the national average lol. Still way more than 3k, but still not a ton in wedding world! People get so caught up in the extravagance of it all because of what they see on TV and online, that they feel like there's no other options. Thanks for proving them wrong!

Less than $5,000 wedding budget: 1.Marry at a pretty city hall or other cheap and attractive ceremony venue (park, garden, chapel, etc). 2. Have a dinner at a nice restaurant or cafe (EVERYTHING is included except maybe a cake. 3.Enjoy the rest of my life.

This video really gave me a huge sense of relief, thank you so much! I’m just starting to plan my wedding and we haven’t even established a budget yet, just spitballing ideas, but I’ll be looking to your channel frequently during this process. You’re wonderful.

I'm DYI-ing my wedding because my budget is less then 10 grand. I'm so happy that you put this up. I have absolutely no way of hiring a wedding planner. :( it's daunting. My fiance and I are trying to at least find a - day- of coordinator.

I’m planning my wedding for the first time now. I’m on a budget everything is included and will be paid off before our wedding date that’s exactly how I wanted it to be. It’s so amazing because a lot of the ideas you gave I’m using a lot of them already. I didn’t want a big wedding and especially because of COVID. I’m a realist we have to live after that day. I’m keeping it small, sweet, and elegant. Thank you for sharing with me and just as you stated it’s going to be a beautiful wedding regardless. I’m excited sooo..looking forward to my Special Day!! Be safe.! 💜💛

My wedding is this September and I am hoping to only spend $3k so thank you for this video! It has been super helpful watching your other videos, but it is nice to hear your specific necessities for a wedding!

A potluck is genius. However at most of the potlucks I've seen, even when there was a sign up sheet, most people brought dessert and not actual food. I think it's partly due to not wanting to buy a crockpot, and picking up a bakery item on the way is so much easier.

Yes to all of this! We have a 5,000 dollar budget and have stayed under budget. Without sacrificing what we wanted 😊 one thing we did was find a silk floral outlet store. I watched a couple bouquet tutorials on KZfaq and made mine and my bridesmaids’ bouquets. Overall, making the wedding what we wanted and nothing else helped us stick to our budget ❤️

I will be having a Pakistani wedding next year, which means there´s a minimum of three wedding days, which means... Three different venues, three dresses/suits, three different types of decorations, three meels for our guests... We do have enough money saved up, but I kinda refuse to spend too much money on a wedding. Let´s see how good I truly am at budgeting haha

I was thinking of doing pot luck / pizzas in my grandmas giant back yard. My idea for the pot luck is to ask guests to bring a family dish and a recipe for me to start a cook book with!

That is the same budget as me. I paid 1,500.00 for the venue. Bought a used dress, used house hold flowers, only 2 bridesmaid aka my kids. The cake is 2 layer,sweet bar. Buffet lunch. Suit rental. Bought clearance wine and doing tea,water.

You’re absolutely right it’s all about the budget you have and remember what’s most important is getting married to the person you love!!! ❤️

You are so passionate, I almost tear up, on how much you care❤️ thank you for your help.

I thrifted my dress!!! Its beautiful. Found a vintage one form the 70s too someone was giving away for free I would also want.

Look at your local restaurants - is there one that has the vibe you are looking for. I got married at a restaurant that has a "green house" attachment to the restaurant. I paid $30/ person for appetizer and a brunch meal for each guests. We had a coffee and mimosa bar and served 60 people. Cost us $2700. We didn't have to worry about renting seating, tables, or paying for service. My friends and family still rave about how minimal yet beautiful my wedding was.

My wedding is 6/14/2020 and I definitely don’t have as much money as the vast majority of other brides. I’m on Facebook groups where girls can throw money around like crazy whereas I’ve been struggling this entire process. The wedding industry puts so much pressure.

My fiance and I are planning a super low budget commitment ceremony ourselves, and as far as food goes we thought having a sort of potluck would be the best option. My family is southern so they've always made lots of really good food for holidays, (my mom alone would make enough for a week of leftovers for our family of four) so if you have a fam like that a potluck could be a huge money saver. I also happen to be a baker so I'm planning on making our cake myself!

You are such a delightful person, thank you for bringing so much joy to this process whenever I'm feeling stressed out about wedding planning ❤

This just popped up and I am so excited. Three years after you made this video but as a girly with a $5000 budget I feel confirmation that I am on track with the choices that I have made so far.