Location location location!! *vent*

So I found the key to this is your probably going to need to look at non-bridal non inclusive venues. I'm talking camp grounds, VFW halls, historical sites, larger restaurants. May-July is peak wedding season so these banquet halls with wedding packages run out of weekend dates quickly. Looking at alternative venues will give you better prices and better date availiblity because your not getting the wedding upcharge.

I totally understand what you are going through! We have a very tight budget, we don’t want to spend more than $3k for venue, catering and bar combined. But we did it! We started planning in October 2018 and didn’t decide on a venue until June 2019! But the important thing is that we got everything in our budget and it’s perfect for us! Just keep looking and I promise it will show up! I started giving up hope around March 2019 but you gotta stick it out. Make sure to ask everybody you know where they got married and how much the venue costs, that’s how I got mine. Research, research, research! Best of luck!

(Here’s a screaming emoji for you: 🤬)

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We started out looking at all-inclusive to save on outside vendors, but that got too expensive, and we've been looking at parks and restaurants but nothing has been available so far. and I want to keep everything in one place because I'd lose about half my family members in transit from a ceremony location to a reception location What's been really hard is that our date is a Thursday! Cuts costs a little but also limits places that are available.

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Thank you!!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

And thanks for the faith!!! I just want my wedding to be magical and I'm getting so discouraged I'll definitely ask around and probably just make a Facebook post looking for recommendations, I've got a lot of married and engaged friends!

Sometimes with a small budget you have to get creative! And as Candice said, it is peak season too so you have less availability to work with. Is your wedding small enough that you can use a park? Backyard wedding maybe? Definitely look into venues that aren’t necessarily advertised for weddings!

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I've been looking, but there don't seem to be a lot of "off-the-beaten-path" venues near us. We're in SoFlo and there's like a huuuuge market for Ft Lauderdale/Miami weddings and everything is like crazy expensive. We could do park, but not a lot is available so far.

And for personal reasons, we are not going to have a backyard wedding. (AKA; my sister is mean and spiteful, she doesn't "approve" of us getting married and she got married in our backyard-- she told my MOH "I don't know why Kaitlyn is bothering to try and plan a wedding when she's just going to end up getting married in the backyard." So...that's a hard no. Not giving her the satisfaction of being right.)

View Quoted Comment I agree with this! Don’t just check into wedding venues! My venue is actually a rehearsal space for the local orchestra but they’ve done a few wedding before because it’s a beautiful ballroom! Going out the box will definitely save you money!

Try Freemasons, knights of Columbus, the elks. I got a great venue that's an elks Lodge! Freemasons tend to have really ornate buildings so it'll look cool and save on decor.

View Quoted Comment You'd think all inclusive would save money but in my area it decidedly does not. All of the inclusive ones were around $4.5-6k just for venues, decor and a standard buffet dinner and bar package. I found a historical venue for both ceremony and reception (different rooms if the same restored mansion) for $1200 together. Catering and bar with everything I wanted $2500. And I DIYed my own linens and decor at around $200. Hotels with conference rooms will sometimes do the two room situation too or if they have an outside gazebo.

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That's about the same prices around here! We found a beautiful restaurant venue with a gorgeous little courtyard for the ceremony, a fireplace room as a back-up ceremony room, really pretty vintage Italy looking place. Customizable food and beverage packages, setup/breakdown, bridal suite, wouldn't have to worry about anything other than floral/light decor to bring in-- But for almost $7k.

I don't mind DIYing anything, I'm actually looking forward to that. I just need a space to get married in!!!

Try community centers!

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For sure, thanks!

Also try places that you wouldn't initially think of as a place to get married. Local aquariums, museums, art galleries, theaters. Also what someone else said about Elk's lodge, shriner's, VFW halls.

Since your budget is small, looking for a "wedding" venue probably will not net you any results. Time to start thinking outside the box, and look for the non-traditional. Good luck!!