An Affordable Venue/Location

[Layleks]

Hi everyone,

My FH and I have $10,000 max to spend on our wedding (and that's all comming from his parents). It's to include absolutley everything. I have a ton of ideas on how to cut costs, but I'm stumped at finding an affordable location.

We're going to do a summer wedding and I definitley want something outdoors. I did a little research and discovered state parks are sometimes free, you just need to get a license. However, I'm not really sure a state park is my thing. I also noticed a lot of people saying destination weddings are pretty affordable, but how exactly do you find one? I actually don't want to go away to a destination, but I live in LA and I'm assuming there are some local destination wedding venues.

Does anyone have any ideas or experiences with finding an affordable wedding location? I'm sorry if I'm asking obvious questions, I'm just new to this

[wannabeNurse2]

If anyone in your family or his family belongs to The Elks Lodge, Moose Lodge, or Knights of Columbus these places I've found are usually pretty cheap to rent for the reception. VFW and American Legion are good places to rent that you don't have to be a member. I'm renting a city park pavilion for my ceremony. It was only $55 for 5 hours!

Here are some sites for California destination weddings.
http://www.theweddingexperience.com/wedding-destination-california.html
http://www.weddingsbythesea.com/packages.html
http://www.losangeles.californiaweddings.org/
And here's a Onewed article on destination weddings in California
http://www.onewed.com/article/story/1490450

[WebLady]

You mentioned you wanted an outdoor wedding; here is another OW article with tips and ideas about outdoor weddings - http://www.onewed.com/article/story/1061957

[Kari&Jeremy]

Think outside the box!
--Check your local parks. Many have buildings they rent out.
--Look and see if any of your local schools rent out their gyms!
--Call around to churches to see if they rent out their fellowship halls.

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

I had a DW in Mexico on the beach and LOVED IT!!!!! I wouldn't change a thing about it. My girlfriend had a DW in California and also got married on the beach. I think she had to get a permit for the beach space, and then had the reception at a friends house. We both did a lot of DIY and brought our own centerpeices, cake toppers, bouquets, ect. You can TOTALLY plan a wedding with your budget, and have some left over to take a nice honeymoon! :) If you have any questions about DW let me know :)