Just wait till the next pandemic. Covid “eliminated” about 75% of unnecessary guests and saved me probably 75% $$$ not doing it at the original venue in 2020. Did it in my own property last year with all the bells and whistles 20k total.
My buddy got married late in life, he was 45 and still wanted to go to Vegas for a bachelor party. On that trip, half the people were already divorced 
Metro Detroit. Venue will likely be downtown
no one ever thinks this way but… don’t go overboard is the best hack I can suggest. my wife and I spent under 5-6k on our entire wedding. dress, rings, photographer, venue, etc. we wouldn’t have it any other way, and the small group of guests we had thought it was nicer than the exorbitant weddings their kids had.
most people feel the need to have ginormous weddings so family don’t feel left out. that day is about you, not them.
Agreed. This has been my biggest problem. My fiancé and I want a small wedding. The problem is, in our culture, weddings are typically 600-1000 guests. So, small to me is about 250-300. Our culture also is very traditional & my mom has been in my ear about how we have to invite this person we’ve never met so there’s no disrespect lol
In all likelihood I’m going to say to hell with the traditions & just do what my fiancé and I want
I definitely won’t tell you to go against cultural traditions but unless they’re paying for it, don’t go broke on it
That’s exactly what I told my mom I’ll be more than willing to invite 300-500 extra people i’ve never met before if it’s on her dime. Shocker, it’s not 
Well damn, where were your guests when I was putting together my guest list?
The other hack i forgot. We had our official wedding in April. But had a govt wedding in December. Married filing jointly saved us roughly 5k on our taxes that year. Def worth checking if that would help you get a little more cash to put towards the day.
I’d make sure the food is good. People still rave about our cocktail hour and the splurge we made on the Viennese but then again we’re foodies !
elopement is very fiscally responsible
I was just in a 600 person wedding 2 weeks ago. My buddy (the groom) said the whole thing was around $150k…my jaw dropped.
If it was up to me, I’d have a small ceremony on the beach and a nice dinner after. But my GF doesn’t have that same plan in mind…pray for me y’all.
Depends on your families traditions and etc but my wedding came out to around 60k and we got 75% cost recouped via monetary presents from guests
This sounds similar to how i’ll end up
Order 2 of everything to cover partial cost 
From someone that was married for 17 years and ended terribly, make sure you really know the person. Marriage seems hardly worth the cost and agony if it doesn’t work out. For guys, it hardly seems worth it anymore.
Destination wedding. Nothing as glitzy as in the movies but just enough distance to weed out all but the closest guests.
Min 10 hr flying time 
I’ve found that different areas of the country vary greatly with expected wedding gifts per couple and how much people spend. It used to be $200/couple in my area. That’s gone up to $250-300 now apparently. The weddings I’ve been to in the Midwest and south def were cheaper for the most part and friends that live there said $100/couple is normal.
I guess age and social class factor in as well. My examples were for working/middle class.
Honestly, forget the ceremony. What’s the hack on engagement rings? I’m getting those creepy “Google is listening” Brilliant Earth ads everywhere and they look kinda pricey.