Hyde Memorial State Park was absolutely beautiful for our wedding ceremony and reception. It was perfect for our intimate wedding of 20 guests, but can accommodate larger weddings as well. It was the perfect place for my husband and I since we love the outdoors.

If you're willing to DIY, this place is unbeatable. For $500, including tables (rectangular and circular) and chairs for 120, this place is a steal. We had 144 guests, so we rented a few extra chairs and tables. The very large patio easily accommodated eighteen 60" tables, as well as our bar and buffet. We had dancing and cake inside, as well as our welcome tables. A few logistics I wish I had considered in advance: no kitchen/freezer means you have to figure out a plan for ice, you only have the venue 10 am to 10 pm so you have to do all setup and cleanup on the day of, and the bathrooms do not have flush toilets. That said, if you have a lot of hands to help, DIY is completely possible here.

Because of the popularity and great value of this venue, it was VERY hard to book it (we had to camp in front of the door overnight to beat out other people!). Also, because it is a state park, there are very strict rules about glass, fire, etc., which was fine for us, but it may be more difficult for other people to work around those. Also, if you need to change your date, tough luck! With everybody else who was camped out, I wouldn't doubt it if it was booked in less than an hour! But we did have it all day for only $500, and because the area was so beautiful, we didn't need to decorate much, so the only flowers we had to buy was my bouquet and my husband's boutonerrie!