Venue for under $500

Justine Anne for the win!

Thank you, thank you very much!

Found it in like 60 seconds.. #Skillz

Justine anne, thats one of the places i found. But i wast trying to find otger options. Thx!

Really cute dress, Justine Anne. You look terrific in it.

Sorry, I'm stuck on the adorableness of Centerpiece playing Hanson at her daughter's Sweet Sixteen. :-)

Lettuce lake park on fletcher ave, my friend got married at Phillipi state part over in oldsmar area.

But seriously, just pick a handful of guests and take them out to a nice dinner.

Onawho, I try to cut my list down but all are very important family members.

To rent a venue at that cost, is do-able but then you will also have to think about food and tables, linens, etc. Your cost at a venue, generally includes chairs, tables, linens, flatware, etc. which is where the additional money over comes into play. My venue alone was $1,400 without any of that, with the rentals it was an additional $400 which was cheaper than I could rent/bring in myself.

When I started planning, here in Tampa, I was trying to keep my budget low and we were aiming for really low cost options. We were going to get married in my Uncle and Aunt's backyard but when we started adding in rentals, alcohol, catering/servers, it just became too much money and effort it wasn't worth saving a dollar up front to spend two in the long run with time and effort.

Most parks here will allow alcohol with approval from the county. Seminole Garden Center is a beautiful place to get married and has all of the rentals, other than linens and flatware, you need for $100 an hour. You have to have a bartender serve the alcohol but it is do-able. You also have to set everything up yourself and break everything down. It's a good low-cost for rental but once you start adding in all the additional things you will need, it becomes less of an option. A girl I went to HS with got married there, it was beautiful but it still cost about $5,000 at the end of the day and that was with several fri-endors.

Another option is as the girls said, get married in the courthouse and do a gathering afterwards. One of my closest friends did this about two weeks ago, about 10 of us piled into the courthouse room to watch the ceremony in the late afternoon. Afterwards, we headed to a rooftop lounge/restaurant and pretty much everyone else showed up. We were able to celebrate, those who would be in the wedding party, were at the courthouse and everyone else showed up later.

Best advice, expand your budget or courthouse with an awesome dinner.

East Verandah at the Univeristy of Tampa

$800

appx 150 guests

https://www.ut.edu/facilitiesrental/

Seminole Garden Center

$100/hour

150 Chairs

Outdoor space available

http://www.tampagov.net/parks-and-recreation/programs/files/seminole-garden-center

Tampa Women's Club

http://www.tampawomansclub.com/#!rentals/c1dij

Hillsborough County Parks, Shelters, & Community Building Rentals

http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/index.aspx?NID=3612