Wedding suggestions for the truly strapped

[JustAnotherHappyGirl]

Hi all. I'm getting married in mid March and we are struggling. We are having a small wedding (just family and super close friends) but my dh has a big family so there will be 50 guests some coming from interstate. The wedding is a garden wedding and the reception is at home. My other half (50) has never been married and wants a reasonable wedding. I'm not fussed but because people are coming from afar, we want to have a decent affair. Unfortunately my dh has had some serious health problems (he's in hospital now) and hasn't been able to work for six months so our wedding fund is depleted. We don't want pressies from our guests and my dh hasn't told anyone about his health problems as he doesn't want anyone to know. So, no one knows how much we are struggling financially. To keep costs down:
I'm making the cake
Not having a bridal party though dd is the flower girl and ds is the ring bearer
We still have to get his ring, pay the celebrant and organise seating etc for the ceremony.

The plan is to get a cook to come to our house with an attendant to assist and we have allocated 1 thousand for food and drinks plus whatever the costs of the helpers are.
I'm working full time and trying to do little jobs on the side to help but this is leaving me with very little time to plan.
I'm wondering if anyone can give me ideas on a cost effective but nice menu for the food side of things. My brain is just not getting enough down time to think this out and there's only 4 weeks to go!

First of all...his ring. Just get a cheap temporary one for now.

Seating....beg borrow and steal. Sometimes village halls or churches will let you use theirs.

Ask guests to all bring a posy of flowers from their own garden and use those to decorate tables.

A friend did this and it looked amazing and was a lovely, personal touch....say it is instead of gifts.

Then people don't feel they're coming empty handed.

Food.....I would do chickens, ham and bread and salad.

OR I would have various curries....vegetarian and meat based. Curries are very cheap to make and you can supplement with nice breads and some salads.

Fir drinks....if you're in Oz are there any wineries near you? They often sell larger amounts of wine cheaper.

Sorry, I've no ideas about food but just wanted to say you can get a very cheap ring for now and replace it with something more expensive at a later date, no one will notice I'm sure.

Cut costs where you can, e.g. make stuff yourself if possible instead of buying - favours etc if you're doing them.

If you're ordering flowers, tell them your budget - I had £65 left for my flowers and the florist did 3 beautiful bouquets and some buttonholes for that, but she didn't order in advance, using what she found at the market on the day instead.

I bought my wedding dress on eBay and the bridesmaid dress for my dd too. We asked friends to take photos and video stuff.

For his ring--you can get tungsten carbide (=indestructibe) mens rings for about $150 AUD or less tungstenrings.com.au/shop/. This could be a forever ring that doesn't cost much.

Booze : ask people to bring fizzy wine and drink that (its great fun that way)
Food : Go buffet - that way you can bulk up the bread and reduce the meat : meats, cheeses, salads, fruit and then finger foods like Samosas are great

Agree about "bring flowers"
also, make the dress code colourful not formal as then people are more relaxed about a lower budget

Can your local pub lay on a barrel of beer to be tapped up in the shade in the garden ?