Barn floor

Can you not rent flooring for the whole space?

There is no cheap way to cover the floor of an entire barn.

How large? Part of me wants to tell you to go to second hand stores and start collecting interesting area rugs on the cheap. Lowes and Home Depot sell indoor/outdoor by the square yard. Neither of those are really "cheap" but they're probably the less expensive option.
Does the barn regularly host events? Can you ask how others have handled it? You can use their idea, or even buy it off them. (Or buy with the bride a week before or a week after you.)

I would say unless its a complete necessity, leave it uncovered! you don't want anyone tripping and flying into the cake. Also, its a barn! we're getting married in a barn in August and our guests expect it to be a semi formal event but also understand that we won't be in an event center. Shoes can be cleaned, save your bucks for the honeymoon or something else!

If you really want to cover the floor, I'd turn to pinterest. If the barn has been used for a wedding or event before I would ask the owner what they recommend.

Could you get some sort of indoor/ outdoor carpeting from a home improvement store?

I would definitely cover it, I can't imagine what the bottom of your dress would look like at the end of the night without a covering.

My only complaint would be people are wearing nice outfits/heels... will it be dusty?

Straw would work to cover the dirt! however it may make it hard to walk on. I would suggest trying to purchase a carpet from a second hand store or something

I don't have any ideas on how to cover it, but if you don't end up covering it you should let people know that it is a dirt floor so that people can plan for shoes. I personally wouldn't want to wear sandals with the dirt that could get in them and sweat of an August wedding. I would be fine with dirt floors as a guest though, but I am often found in barns with horses and cattle so that may skew my opinion a bit.

View Quoted Comment It’s 1600 sq ft, would be too much money

View Quoted Comment It’s a friends barn so I just asked to use it it’s free of charge to use

View Quoted Comment I’m also thinking cheap rugs. My other ideas were sod and garden fabric

Is it actively or has it recently been used as a barn, like with horses or livestock? If so, please consider your guests. Many people have allergies to animals, hay, straw or alfalfa, not to mention the smell. Some folks love the smell of animals. Many do not.

As for the floor covering, if it is 1600 sq feet, that is a lot of ground to cover. Either consider rugs from second hand stores, or be prepared for complaints of dirty shoes, dirty clothes, and lots of dirt/dust EVERYWHERE, including, but not limited to, tables, chairs, linens, food surfaces, etc etc etc.

1600 sqft is a lot! If you're set on covering it, which is totally understandable, here's what I would do: Evaluate how much of the area you'll actually be using is, you can look at covering just the area you'll be using and leave the rest with a layer of hay. Get a larger dance floor. Price the indoor outdoor carpet and think about how much second hand area rugs will be. $40 would be cheap for an 8x10 rug and 10 of them would cover half the barn.

View Quoted Comment Not used as an animal farm anymore, not for years.. this barn was used to store equipment

Does the barn have AC?