Ok i wasn't sure about responding since I am just barely planning my wedding but i see no one else has, so I'll give you my take...which is limited in experience. I think 5k would be really difficult to do what you're looking for, but if you're willing to go without some stuff, you might be able to pull it off. If you can cut down your head count, then yes, you can def do it. If not, then you need to get creative! Do you want a photographer? If pics are important, a good photog will be no less than 3k, so if you know someone, that will be a great place to save money. I had a 20k budget and for me a photog was the most important, so im spending almost 5k on mine. From my planners budget (dont have solid pricing yet) a DJ will be around 1000-1500. An officient is around $300. Are you open to a friday or sunday wedding? Most resorts offer discounts for that. Also if you do a cash bar, that can obviously save a ton. I've found most food quotes are around 40-75pp not including any booze and only some including hour devours. if you do the all inclusive, though, you will save lots and lots and it will make ur budget even more doable. Flowers are also pretty expensive and since it's mexico, we cant just grab cheap flowers at our local market and bring em over. My estimate for bouquets alone was over $1,000, not including centerpieces. I have seen some cool paper flower decorations on pinterest, so if youre open to that, more savings! Again, that was my planners guess, not an actual quote. I dont have crazy fancy taste and am hoping I can drop that down. i think most resorts dont require a lot of guests, most destination weddings are quite small, so I'd keep hunting if you're running into that issue! Restaurants yes, but not the resorts. You can also save money by doing ur own planning instead of accepting the resorts package. So all in all, if a photog isn't important and you go extremely minimal on decorations, you might be able to make it work. I do think a planner will put you over the edge on your budget, so you will just have to dig your heels in and make lots of phone calls. OH dont forget the 11% tax on everything plus 18% for food service. That stuff is killing me! Good luck, i hope you can make it work...and if not, take that money and have a killer honeymoon!