Save Money with an Outdoor Wedding

Figuring out how to pay for your special day can be very frustrating.  Instead of letting the stress of wedding planning and your budget get in the way of this exciting time, consider alternative resources such as planning an outdoor wedding.

An outdoor wedding can be the first step into cutting your costs drastically.  When you have an outdoor ceremony and reception, you have the option of how much décor you want.  Choose to go all out with expensive flowers and lighting or go the more affordable route and use nature to your advantage!

If you pick an outdoor wedding site, you wouldn’t have to worry about decorating a large church.  Instead, you can do as little or as much decorating as you want—budget depending—because everyone always appreciates the natural beauty of nature.  A great idea is to say your vows near a big beautiful tree or in a rocky/mountainous area. 

Keep in mind, just because you opt for an outdoor wedding that doesn’t mean it has to be in the summer.  Outdoor fall weddings are becoming  increasingly popular because the fall foliage can add natural warm colors to any backdrop or picture.

For the reception, scout out local places that has an outdoor large grassy area.  An ideal location would be somewhere by the ceremony to save on transportation costs and you can easily reuse the décor at the reception location (whether provide by nature or a florist).

Ask your family or friends if they know of any locations.  Once you find a place, all you need is to rent a tent, tables and chairs.  This will be a lot cheaper than renting a venue and having to decorate the entire place to fit your theme—the cost of flowers can give you a headache.  If the weather is not working in your favor, all you need to do is pull the tent flaps down and forget about the weather!

A tip when renting your tables, chairs and tents is to rent from the same vendor.  By renting it all from the same vendor, they may provide a discount if a certain amount is rented.  Also, a number of ceremony sites have built-in seating, which means fewer chairs to rent! 

Below are some examples of outdoor wedding ceremony and reception sites: