to think a DIY wedding for 120+ will still end up as mega expensive?

[gohomeweston]

I genuinely don't mind hiring a hall, etc, but with the extra workload and organisation, and the fact that we've got 120 people to feed, is it really worth it?

I did exactly this, still ended up costing £9k.

If I could go back in time I'd get a package deal. We didn't end up saving much and it was so fucking stressful.

Depends. Are you providing alcohol for all? What are the timings of the day?

Church then venue. I absolutely could not bear not to feed people properly, so a buffet would never work. Alcohol wise, we'd hope to offer maybe 2 or 3 drinks each.

My mum seems to think we'd have it all for half the price, but she's not even thinking about cleaning the venue, decor etc.

We hired a DIY venue, and it cost about 13k all in, including all food and drink Friday - Sunday.

I didn't find it stressful, but then I manage events professionally.

My absolute number 1 tip would be to hire people who know the venue, and plenty of them - we hired from a hospitality company who regularly worked the venue. They knew how to do everything, and didn't need a bit of direction, plus handled all the clear up.

It was cheaper than what people assume we spent - a few people said they reckoned about 20k.

I’d factor in any annual leave you would need to take to get it done
i honestly don’t think it is worth it. I’d save money by having a late afternoon wedding so you don’t need to feed and water people for too long then DIY stuff like the cake and decorations.

I priced it up when we got married a few years ago then ended up with a perfect hotel package which offered everything we could possibly have wanted for about the same money. I scrimped a little on the extra things, like dresses (few hundred and bridesmaids bought their own), photographer (used a amateur who was a friend) etc but the 100 guests were fed a 3 course meal, an evening buffet and we had a completely stress free amazing time.

Planning your own can be great, but I'm not sure it's a great money saver

We spent 8k 5 years back for 80 guests. So with inflation must be more like 11k?

We did have all food and drinks included. If you go that way I would recommend some beer kegs.

Yes it will cost a fortune

Thank you, that is a good tip. Although I definitely do not manage events professionally lol.

It's all just so, so expensive. I just want lots of food and a dance.

I think you will struggle to serve 120 people for a sit down formal meal (if I've inferred right from what you said about buffet food?) would be difficult in a venue that wasn't used to catering / with caterers bringing food in or using an unfamiliar and probably non-professional kitchen.

That doesn't mean that you couldn't put on a lovely day to celebrate your wedding for much less than most "wedding venues" charge.

So, it depends what you are asking and what you are prepared to compromise on.

Ex-wedding planner here!

Catering for 120 people is expensive, no matter how you do it if you and especially if you avoid buffet food!

You need to have a good amount of time to dedicate to a DIY wedding, both in the preparations the week before, the day before, on the day, and the entire lead up to a certain degree.

In my experience, DIY weddings as you as describing aren’t always a great way to save money, but do give you more freedom.

Feel free to PM me with any other questions!

If you are talking about a proper sit down 2 or 3 course meal for 120 people then a standard hall won’t cut it. The caterers you source will need proper kitchen facilities. This is expensive - ours wasn’t a DIY wedding as such but we had to bring in outside caterers to the venue and it was a massive part of the budget.

I’ve been to a couple of truly DIY weddings and they were all for far fewer people and the food was either buffet or afternoon tea. For what you are talking about you probably would be better looking at a hotel package, if keeping costs down is your priority.

What about something different to a buffet - but still hot?

You can get some great hog roast/bbq/street food options for under £2k for 120 people

Any venues that will let you bring your own wine/charge corkage?

Don't book it as a wedding
Say surprise party - it will be cheaper!

Unless you really love all that stuff - it's not worth it. It might not save you any money but it will cost you a lot more time and stress.

At least with a venue you will know what it costs from the outset.

If you do it yourself the costs will probably creep up as you go.

Do negotiate with the venue though. We saved a lot of money by sourcing our own wine and spirits for example z

We got married in a hotel. 90 to the day 120 the night. Cost about 6k in2017. The things that brought price down-
Hog roast instead of sit down meal
No starters
Hired an ice cream van instead of desert
Student photographer
Bought off rack dresses
Family member made the cake
Hired suits
Bacon/sausage sarnies instead of evening buffet

Also, offering 2-3 drinks for 120 people equates to a lot of alcohol, especially if you want to offer some choice. A lot of standard halls won’t have either the licensing or the space for that.

I don't have the enthusiasm for sourcing all the alternatives. I can only see the downsides, enormous queues, annoyed aunties, and just an all round stress.

Negotiating with venues and cutting some corners are the way forward I think.

We did ours for £5k for 100 people. Everyone brought a big plate or two of food to share and a bottle of something instead of wedding presents. It was great. There was so much food and wine left over that we took loads on our honeymoon.
Food and drink is the biggest expense so finding a way to cut down on that will save you so much money.

I cater for weddings. Lots of clients are going for sharing platters on the tables rather than a buffet table. My costs start at around £15 a head and it's really popular. Other options are a hog roast , or a bbq if you want to keep costs down.