Budget-Friendly Wedding Venues from A to Z

— Economical ideas for finding ceremony and reception venues that fit your budget

— In order to finalize your daughter’s wedding date, one of the factors involved is selecting the venue. I know your daughter may want to shop for the dress first or choose her colors or decorations, but please gently remind her that many venues book up far in advance, so this should be done before moving on to other planning. Locations need to be chosen for both the ceremony and reception.

What’s your budget?

Before even looking at venues, you need to decide what your budget is going to be. It is traditionally the parents of the bride who pay for most of the wedding costs. Although it is tempting to plan a lavish wedding like you see in the bridal magazines or on Pinterest or in “Father of the Bride” movie, it can be done very economically.

With both my daughters, we paid for the venue and divided the remaining expenses with them. Not having high incomes or wanting to go into a lot of debt, we were looking for budget-friendly venues. Here are some of the ideas we considered that you may want to look into.

Budget-Friendly Venues
from A to Z

Art Gallery or Museum

If you want a location with artistic flair, you might want to check out your local art galleries. They often are open to hosting private events after hours. Pricing will depend on the size of the gallery, the size of your wedding, and the services included.

If the couple is really into science or history, many museums offer their spaces for special events. If you are a member of the museum, then you may qualify for a discount.

Church

Does your daughter want a church wedding? If so, many churches have a fellowship hall or a gym that can be decorated for a reception. If you are members of the church, they may not even charge you anything or it will be a minimal fee.

My wedding was at my church and we had a finger food reception out on the lawn under a rented tent. I was the first of four daughters to get married, so my parents definitely needed budget friendly options! And since both sets of parents were from the same church, we ended up inviting the whole church to attend. Thus, a finger food reception was a more economical choice than a sit-down dinner.

City Hall or Town Community Center

This doesn’t sound glamorous, but our city hall is actually a gorgeous building with beautiful architecture! They rent out their hall by the hour for weddings and photography. It’s a beautiful place for the ceremony!

Does your town have a community center that can be rented? One of the community centers in our area that we looked at is right on the beach, has a beautiful balcony, and lots of room for dancing! It kind of looks like a gym, so it would need some decorating, but it’s a very budget-friendly option. It was a top contender when we were looking at venues for my second daughter.

Country Club

If you are reading this post, chances are, you are not a member of a country club. But if you have a family member that is, you might want to check out this option. We looked at one and I was pleasantly surprised that they had some budget-friendly options.

Farm

Many farms in our area offer their barn and grounds as a wedding venue. If you are looking for a rustic feel, this may be a good option. If you have a friend or family member with a barn you can use, it will be even more budget-friendly.

Fire Hall

When my cousin got married, her reception was at the local fire hall. They had brought in some trellises and flowers and made it look very nice. Very budget-friendly.

Historical Home

If you have a smaller wedding, you may want to check out the historical homes in your area to see if they host weddings or receptions. Some come with beautiful gardens, so you may be able to have a pretty garden ceremony, followed by a reception inside.

Hotel

If you are looking for an all-inclusive package and have many out-of-town guests coming, you may want to consider a hotel location. They often have ballrooms or banquet halls ready for wedding use. The cost will be more than a DIY wedding, but sometimes the convenience can be worth it.

Library

This is a very budget-friendly option. Our library has some large community rooms that can be reserved for events and include a kitchen. My second daughter and her husband met at a library, so we looked into this option as a possibility.

Parks

This is a budget-friendly option that is great for smaller weddings and it’s what we ended up going with for both of my daughters. Our country has a reservations system online where you can look up what facilities are available on specific dates. It has lots of pictures and full descriptions, including measurements, of each facility. Many of the lodges contain up-to date kitchens and work beautifully for receptions.

My first daughter’s wedding was in December, and we rented a lodge that used to be a church. It had beautiful gothic arches, so it gave the feel of having a church wedding. We had both the ceremony and reception there, flipping the room in between. Another bonus was that the park also had a conservatory across the street where the bride and groom went during the reception to have some couple pictures taken. We decided to rent the lodge for two days so we could have the day before to decorate and set up. Since we were doing the food ourselves and just doing an hors d’oeuvres reception, this ended up being very budget-friendly.

For my second daughter, who wanted a June wedding, we found a beautiful new lodge looking out over the lake that also included a shelter. I really felt like God led us to it. We were visiting a different lodge whose exterior looked pretty run down, but had a beautiful view of the lake, when the park ranger told us about the brand new lodge that had been built just down the road. Did we want to see it? Yes! It was perfect and it hadn’t been put on the reservation website yet. So we waited and kept watching until it was listed, then signed up as soon as it went live. It was a bit more expensive than our other daughter’s had been, so we just rented it for one day. ( More about how we managed the setup later.)

Party House or Restaurant

My other sisters had their ceremonies at the church, then a smaller reception at a party house afterwards. The great thing about party houses is that they are already nicely decorated (unlike a church gym) and the catering is included. Some also have nice grounds and gazebos where you can have an outdoor ceremony.

For my first daughter, we didn’t even look at party houses. I assumed they would all be too expensive or already booked since it was such short notice. We also ended up catering it ourselves as well.

For my second daughter, we had more time to plan, so we actually took a look at several party houses and were surprised to find that many of them were reasonable. After doing all the work for my first daughter’s wedding, I was definitely open to paying someone else to do some of it! If you have a favorite restaurant that has a party room, this can also be an option for a wedding reception. Many also offer catering and will come to your location.

Theatre

For dramatic types, this may be the perfect option. A friend of the family rented an old theater for their daughter’s reception. The floor was open so they could set up tables for the reception. They did the dancing on the stage. The balcony was advantageous for taking photos.

University

My sister and her husband met at Houghton College and chose to have their wedding there. The wedding was at the church in town, then they had the reception in the student dining hall. Since they had a larger guest list, this was an economical choice for them.

Zoo

Once when we were visiting the zoo, we saw them setting up for a wedding and got a sneak peek at the bride. Our zoo even offers catering for after-hours events. If the bride and groom are animal lovers, this might be the perfect venue for the wedding.

SOME VENUE HUNTING TIPS

Please keep these things in mind when choosing a venue…

The focus will be on the bride and groom, not the venue. The important thing is getting them married. That can be done in any venue.
It’s okay to set budget limits and narrow down your choices of venues.
If your daughter really wants a venue that’s more than you can afford, tell her what you are able to contribute and ask if they want to pitch in for the rest.
Having a few dates that will work for the wedding in mind before you interview at a potential venue site will be helpful. Then you are more likely to fit into their schedule.
Use a venue comparison sheet, such as the free download below, to keep track of your venue research.

So there you have it! Budget-friendly venues from A to Z!

Hopefully, this has given you some ideas of places you can check out with your daughter. I found it helpful to have a weekly meeting with my daughter and we went to go look at a different venue or two each week until we found the one that worked for us.

Much research can be done online or by phone to narrow down your choices. Keeping a notebook about your venue research can be helpful.