u/RemarkableMushroom5

In search of recommendations for the following vendors for a wedding April 3, 2027 in Akron. We are on a tight budget. 100 guests on our list (only family and a few very close friends) not sure if everyone will make it.

- hair and makeup (unsure if bridesmaids will want hair/makeup. Looking for more natural style that will hold up all day - I’m not a glam look girl at all). 4 bridesmaids, plus MOB and MOG
- photographers that are comfortable photographing a church wedding. We only want about 4-5 hours of coverage - no photography at the reception
- catering that is reasonable - we’re looking at buffet style rather than plated
- DJ (still on the fence regarding hiring one - our budget would probably be a MAX of $500)

We are between 3 venues and do not need recommendations at this time.

I’ve found wedding planning very overwhelming and am trying to DIY as much as possible to save money. Any recent/current brides on a budget - send me your ideas please 😭

My fiancé and I are planning for an April wedding. We are both so excited about the marriage prep process and are looking forward to our wedding mass!

I feel like something is wrong with me though because I don’t care as much about the reception. I don’t care about the details. I just want to find a venue and a caterer and have our family together. I don’t care about color schemes. I’m fine with getting some flowers from Trader Joe’s and putting them in bud vases. We don’t want a DJ. We only would like a photographer for our Mass. We are both so invested in the liturgy and the sacrament and just feel “meh” about reception planning. I’m in a couple subreddits (r/weddingsunder10k and r/diyweddings) but even seeing photos people post and all the details seem exhausting. Our guest list is about 100 people. We are so excited to celebrate with them but again, I’ve been finding myself anxious about their experience if I’m not obsessing over all the details.

Edit to add: we’re going to have music from a playlist, just not a DJ! And, I was thinking of doing disposable cameras at each table for photos. Otherwise, the photos we’re hoping for are those from the Mass.

Another edit: we’re paying for this ourselves and are on a tight budget. His mom has offered to help plan, my mom doesn’t seem to want to help.

Adding in that I don’t want a bachelorette and I’m 32 so I don’t really want/need a bridal shower. For the day of, I’m looking at DIY hair and makeup. Professional makeup looks so heavy/unnatural to me (again, my personal taste)

Am I the only one?? I worry somehow I’m apathetic to this but I have only ever dreamt of the sacrament and liturgy rather than the reception on the day

I know it may be odd to post in r/CatholicWomen about this, but I'm having a difficult time finding a modest dress for my wedding. I'd like to have a fully covered back (due to some pretty severe scarring), but I'm on a budget of about $500. It seems being plus-size has really limited my options. Based on my measurements, it looks like a wedding dress size 18 will fit. Do any recently married women have suggestions on where to find something? I saw JuneBridals as an option, but they had horrible reviews. I'm also looking at JJ's House but again, not great reviews.