Weddingbee boards

I was going to say, if cost is an issue, I'm not sure either the Marriott or Grand Prospect would work.  As for the latter, when I looked into the matter not too long ago, I was told I would need to guarantee numbers of guests and the price pp, with tax and everything, would really eat up quite a bit of your $20k budget.

Bubby's is a good option; I'd check out other restaurants with large party rooms or can shut down for a few hours.  If you go that route, it'll be so much less expensive in terms of flowers and other things to make the place look nice.

I used Flowers by Richard and he was amazing and willing to work with budgets.  You can also try Designs by Rose - but she tends to book quickly. Dyker Heights is an option; I never made it out there to check out but have read some positive reviews.  If you have any friends that are good with flowers, consider just getting stuff on your own and buying vases and keeping it real simple.

If you don't have time, unless you already have chosen something, think of perhaps looking for someone on Craigstlist (CL) for a person that can do your invites at a cheaper cost. 

I'd also use CL for DJ or other music option you are thinking about.  The best route is to find someone that has speakers and willing to play off your provided ipod collection (talking hundreds less).

You can save on dress, veil and other accessories by buying from a bride (like myself) selling new or slightly used dress; I bought a great new veil online (Occaney) for under $35 with shipping, and spent less than $10 buying amazing jewelry pieces on ebay (all with return policies if I wan't satisfied).

That's just a handful of ways to save.  Feel free to message if I can offer anything else.  Our wedding wasn't close to $50k, though we were over $20k but I was definitely able to save in a lot of areas and certainly learned quite a bit after the fact.

GL.

I had a $10K (now $11K) budget for 100 and church ceremony in Brooklyn.  Here's some of our cost-cutting measures:

-Everything (hotel, church, reception and photos) are all in walking distance, eliminating the need for transportation.

-No flowers in the church except bouquets and boutonnieres.

-All flowers are local and in season

-Reception is in a restaurant that is looking to do more large parties and gave us a good deal ($35/head for 3 entree choices, plated hors d'ouvers, dessert and champagne toast, and chapmagne toast)

-No open bar, but we are paying (up to $xxx amount) for all beer, wine and soda for our guests, so they won't know that it's not open.  I've heard from many other couples that just picking up the tab often works out cheaper.

-A dear friend (and amateur pastry chef) is baking our cupcake cake (can be made in a home oven)

-DIY invitations

-Friend/amateur photographer and we are going our own post-processing of the photos (FI and I know how to do this.)