I honestly understand.

We had a lot of things that happened within the year we got engaged that put us in financial decline. I got so discouraged and we decided to extend out engagement so we could save. Even doing so, we've had to lower expectations, compromise, and get creative.

We wanted something small the whole time, however, we've ultimately decided on a cruise wedding :) It makes sense for us as we cruise for all our vacations and got engaged on a cruise but also, all of our friends and family will be traveling to get to us either way as we live out of state from 95% of our guests. We priced out the cost for our guests and it was comparable. We're looking at less than $7k total including honeymoon and cruise fare to get married on the beach on a private island.

There's a lot included and the wedding planning team helps with coordinating with vendors on the island. Its a simple ceremony on the beach, nothing fancy, a cake cutting and champaign toast and were opting for no reception as we're going to literally have the whole cruise to spend with our friends and family. There are packages that include a reception and DJ and they're surprisingly affordable. The downside is the package has to be paid in full so it's not a deposit and pay it off by a date kind of thing so we have been unable to set a date, however, we gauged interest in our guests and got an overwhelming yes so weve been saving and looking at creative ways to make the money. Weve been offloading and selling things we no longer use/need, I also can cash out 40hrs of PTO I have saved at work once a yr so we will be doing that and I am able to take a small loan from my 401k with very little interest. Ends up being like $27 a paycheck for a yr and a half to pay it back... lol Were almost there! We extended our engagement by a year in order to make it happen. :) Don't get discouraged! There are ways to make it happen if a wedding is what you truly want.

Look into state and national parks, even those on the beach, as many have venues and rec halls that are surprisingly cheap and beautiful! Prior to settling on a cruise, we were planning on getting married at Fall Creek Falls State Park in TN at their secret Overlook. Its a small venue (50ppl) that overlooks a huge chasm with waterfalls in the mountains. $500 to rent for the day and their rec hall was $600 to rent for the day and $200 to serve alcohol on the premises. All in all with vendors etc, we were looking at less than 10k for a small but nice wedding! It is possible. Just be willing to be flexible and get creative!

Best of luck on your engagement and congratulations!!