Venue hacks for extremely cheap, adorable weddings

I'm going to be eloping, but I did search for some ultra-cheap venues. At the end of the day, it's not what you pay for the venue, but how you dress it up!

-Inquire about using lodges at state parks. They're usually a couple hundred bucks or less, and some of them clean up real nice. It also works well if you are able to get married in nature at the State Park. Be proactive and get to know the park staff. Ask them about what you'll need for your wedding, in terms of permits, what capacity is, what it is you want to do for your wedding, what's allowed, etc.

-Use a picnic shelter. Not all picnic shelters are created equal, but all rent out for under $30. That doesn't matter. What matter is how well it cleans up. Some of them even have fire places. You can even hang fabric to create the sense of curtains. This would look great with a white/ green motif, a rustic look, a boho look, or a retro look. You can also have picnic baskets that you decorate with flowers.

- Spread picnic blankets. You can even line up the picnic blankets so that there is an aisle, if the wedding is small enough, put picnic baskets along the aisle, and decorate those with flowers. You pay for wedding seating, reception seating and tables, aisle florals and table florals all in one fell swoop. If you find a scenic park or yard, you are also saving money on venue decorations. Finally, you can make this super trendy by making it a boho- or pastoral-styled picnic.

- Some places do gourmet picnic baskets, and it runs around $20 per head. You can also get bottles of wine to pair with the food. Here's one example I found, for anyone who wants to have a destination wedding. They even include a basket rental (and dishes??) in the total price, so all you have to buy is the picnic blanket. http://www.the-rhu.com/picnics . If you don't have a service like this near you, see what your grocery store can do. A lot of them have gourmet deli menus now, and might cut you a deal if you order in bulk. You would still have to supply the baskets, but you could take home already packaged food. Finally, you can make a charcuterie lunch picnic basket for really cheap, and you could just throw it together the night before. It's inexpensive, but has elegant, Frenchy vibes.

-Call up some historical sights and see what it would cost to do a wedding there. These places usually aren't so greedy. By me, there are lighthouses and an old train depot that run a couple hundred dollars. Places like "the old mayor's house" or "Blanktown historical museum" are jackpots. Anything that has a "historical society" trying to revive the building. Their goal is to get people in there and make the building functional.

-Finally, if you're looking for a more traditional hall to house a lot of guests, check in with your alma mater. They will oft times give their alumni a huge break and have giant auditoriums. Some of them have botanical gardens that are way cheaper than a traditional greenhouse venue.