I hope this helps you. Planning my budget conscious wedding wasn't easy but it was a fantastic day that I couldn't be happier about. We just had a wedding October 11, 2014 in the St. Paul area.
CEREMONY - St. John Vianney - South St. Paul - great smaller church, that my husband's family goes to. It worked well for 125 people.
RECEPTION - Shamrock Hall at St. Patrick's Church in Inver Grove Heights. They let me bring in food and booze. It was the best, economical choice for my husband's large minnesotan wedding. You don't have to be catholic to have a reception here.
REHEARSAL DINNER, WEDDING PARTY & GUEST ACCOMODATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHY SITE - Full house rental. This was a GREAT option for us. My family and friends were all from out of town - most of us stayed in this gorgeous - GORGEOUS - fully renovated mansion. There is a dry sauna and heated floors in the bathroom!!! We got ready there, had a morning after brunch. We wish we could have used this space for our reception, but we had 125 guest. It only holds 75. Look into renting DEARING MANSION -
http://dearingmansion.com -
dearingmansion@gmail.com
There is a full kitchen that you or a family member can cook in. There is a BBQ out back as well. We had our rehearsal dinner here and it was so much fun to BBQ and kick back with our friends after all the wedding prep chaos. I can not over state how beautiful this house is. We also took our photos here. What a magical place! Talk to Scott Kramer - the owner - he is very nice and will help you out with what you need. $600 for a full house rental overnight - there is a fee for having a reception. Talk to him about what the price would be.
CAKE - Sam's Club makes a three tier cake for $75 - and it is DELICIOUS. I think it serves 50 people, a Full sheet cake is about $35. They also do 1/2 sheet cakes. WORTH IT.
FLOWERS - Market Flowers on Lyndale in Minneapolis - you can buy and arrange your own flowers there - very economical.
NAILS - found a Groupon for Lydia Nails in Eagan, MN - very nice people!
PHOTOGRAPHER and VIDEOGRAPHER- We posted on Craigslist what our needs and our budget were - we found a fantastic fantastic photog - Jason Albus - and videographer - Elliot Malcolm. But there were many many other photographers, who were fantastic and willing to work with a budget.
CATERING - We went with Kane's Catering because we didn't want to deal with a family member cooking for us. The food is good. They were very economical ($13/person) cleaned up after us and were fantastic all around.
LIQUOR - Cameron's Liquor - They delivered and allowed us to return and unused items - They were wonderful to work with!
We asked for a lot of help from friends and family. We couldn't have done it without them!!!
God Bless!!! A wedding is a momentous beautiful occasion. I hope this helps you plan your perfect day.