Having A Budget Wedding During These Tough Times

My fiance an I got engaged a few years ago, and we were in no rush to set the date. I didn't even know what I wanted my wedding to be like. I had no clue as to how much it costs to have a wedding. I mean, not even a ballpark figure. So when we finally decided to set the date, I began researching what a wedding costs. Wow! Was I blown away! All the articles I read said about the same.....$15,000-$25,000 average. And if you wanted a REALLY grand wedding, we're talking about WAY more than that. I was stunned. I certainly didn't want to spend that much money on one day....not even for my wedding day! What was I going to do? After all, I had just lost my job. The economy was at its worst, and I didn't want to just go to city hall or Vegas to get married. We wanted our family and close friends share this with us, so to the internet I went.

I searched anything and everything wedding related that I could find. After all, I had time on my hands to do it.
I wrote about my wedding dress mishap in a previous blog, and also wrote about falling in love with paper lanterns and how I knew the moment I saw them that I just HAD to have them at my reception. As I scoured the internet for tips and ideas, I learned quite a bit. And I'm still learning. I search every day for anything wedding related. I decided to do my own programs, invites, centerpieces, favors and decorations.
I don't want to have a wedding that's too la-ti-da, but still nice. I want it to be economical, but not cheesy cheap. It will be obviously DIY, but it will give it a quaint personal touch.
So I found a community center nearby that rents for $90/hour. I figure I'll need it for about 5 hours, and they only charge $20/hour for any time that you need it to decorate (including the day before) . We do, however, have to hire a security guard or two per community center rules, so I don't know yet how much that will be. But full use of kitchen, refrigerators, freezers, ice machine, stove, etc. at no extra charge. Nine round 72" tables, several 6 and 8 foot tables, and chairs (padded, ugly and bulky) included free of charge also. They said to just draw a chart of where we want the tables, and they would arrange them for us, and take any away we didn't want. So we will be removing the chairs and bringing in our own. The Mr. has a co-worker who does catering on the side and along with the food brings chairs, tables, plates, etc. I haven't called her yet, but if I choose her to cater, I will have her bring chairs. If not, I will rent the chairs from a rental co.
As far as catering goes, I think one of the most economical type of dishes are Mexican. So that's really what I'm looking for. I've already found a few caterers that I can get for less than $1,000 ( My guest list is a little less than 100 people). But I've yet to sit down with one and go over details.
The church, which is right around the corner from the reception area, is an adorable, very old, cobblestone church. It's perfect! And the cost to have my wedding there is something like $100-$150, and that includes the minister.
On the subject of alcohol.......well. we're on the fence about that. We may have some beer and wine, but we're still tossing that around. How we do on the rest of our budget should decide it.
But, that's about it for our venues. We've had to cut out quite a few people from our list because of our budget and the size of our venue. It's a shame, but unfortunately, necessary. We wish we could invite the world, but not at the price of going into debt. We don't even own our own home yet, so first things first.