Saving money on your wedding venue

When it comes to your wedding day, most couples would love to have the fairy tale wedding in some castle overlooking miles of beautiful vineyards in the country side of France. Then reality sets in. The budget you have to spend on your wedding can limit the options you have for your reception. In most cases the reception venue takes up a large majority of your wedding budget.

With a little bit of creativity, you can save a lot of money and still pull off the perfect day. There are three basic necessities to your reception.

You should provide good food and drinks, a place to dance and a celebratory mood to help your guests share your big day with you. All of the other details are just a matter of preference and can be tweaked to your style and budget in just about any case.

I would like to share a few ideas on where to pull off a less expensive wedding reception.

I recently attended a wedding of a friend of mine that was taking place at a State park. I never really thought about using a park as a place to exchange nuptials. I must say that the entire event was beautiful and well thought out. The ceremony took place under a gazebo and the reception was just steps away. There are some logistical concerns with a wedding like this, but nothing that a little bit of planning can’t take care of.

The only major concern is the weather. If you do not have a backup plan, you can really be in some trouble. The cost of procuring the venue is very inexpensive. The couple told me that they had to pay a $100.00 fee to enable the park to stay open past operating hours for their wedding guests only. That is a very affordable cost for your ceremony and reception. They had to do a lot of work before hand, but it was well worth it. They dressed up the picnic tables with white linens and real china, built their own dance floor and brought in their own lighting. This all took place overlooking a gorgeous lake. They pulled this off flawlessly (at least by my perspective) and all it took was a little bit of ingenuity.

Most people are familiar with wedding receptions at golf courses, but they think that they are too expensive for their budget. In some cases this is true, but if you take the time to look at the smaller, less known courses you can usually find a gem in the rough (no pun intended). These businesses usually have the available resources for you to have your ceremony and reception, but usually require the hiring of catering and rental equipment to entertain your guests. The cost to rent their facilities is usually well below what you would expect to pay. You may have to spend some extra time decorating, but in the end the savings are well worth it.

Just remember to take the time to think of some cost saving ways to pull off you wedding and you and your guests can still have an excellent time without breaking the bank.