How to have a beautiful outdoor wedding on a budget? - Arroyo Hondo Land Preserve, Gaviota, CA

cieritaqt

Hi! I just got engaged and I am new to the Knot. My Fiance and I found a venue for $2000 that is exactly our style, rustic and outdoors. It is a huge property with 786 acres of land. We will be using the bottom portion of the land with a small barn to serve food in, and a beautiful guest room for the bridal party, the reception will be on flat grounds of the property. The ceremony will be in a meadow about 1/2 mile up a dirt road, then the reception down bollow to follow. Our budget is about $6000. We have a photographer for $600-$800 that is our friend. My other friend is arranginf the flowers as a gift, and we will get flowers from the LA flower mart for $200. We are looking for a DJ and taco truck, or ther catering service that is about $1000 or under. We want a simple wedding. The most important thing is to marry the man I love, and to celebrate with all our friends and family. We plan to have about 80 guests. Does anyone have any DIY ideas, or ideas to have a nice reception without it being too fancy. We may even use disposible plates and silverwear from costco, but I don't want it to be tacky. Thanks!

Location: Just above Santa Barbara, CA off the 101 freeway.

2013bethseth

It sounds beautiful. Well just a thought...my fiance n I have decided to make our own flower arrangements instead of buying the real. Its cheap if you know were to look. We also were thinking on having a family member make our cake instead of a bakery. Cuz. We have a budget of 5000 and the venue I found itvwill only cost 400 dollars and that is for reception n ceremony. Its a park plus camping but beautiful. Another idea is catering we thought maybe have family n friends bring food. Whatever theyvwant tht way u save..and like bridesmaid dresses ik thts a hard one but evn if you go to a department store orvlike prom is coming can get dresses like tht too. Well congrats to you and fiance

Wheels987

We're actually getting married in the same area! We're using mytacoman.com for our rehearsal dinner--great prices and he travels!

As for a DJ, we're kind of stumped there too. I think we'll just end up doing an ipod. If you're interested in how to successfully dj your own wedding, look at this post: http://apracticalwedding.com/2009/09/djing-your-wedding-with-ipod/ . We were pretty scared at the idea until we read that.

Question for you--how are you planning on getting everyone to the ceremony site? We're kind of in the same situation and thinking about doing a hay ride type of thing but I'm curious if you have any other ideas.

Thanks!

EDIT: Flowers--I looked at the SB Farmer's Market a few weeks ago--they have great flower selections for not a lot of money. You can get 3 bunches of Gerber daisies (appxomimately 5 or 6 daisies in a bunch) for $10. Just an idea!

cieritaqt

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings_how-to-have-a-beautiful-outdoor-wedding-on-a-budget-arroyo-hondo-land-preserve-gaviota-ca?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:666Discussion:035d99d3-3e54-459f-a4de-3dfd2660c60bPost:2278dd00-54e2-4556-8bbc-8bf840a2eb0b">Re: How to have a beautiful outdoor wedding on a budget? - Arroyo Hondo Land Preserve, Gaviota, CA</a>:
[QUOTE]We're actually getting married in the same area! We're using mytacoman.com for our rehearsal dinner--great prices and he travels! As for a DJ, we're kind of stumped there too. I think we'll just end up doing an ipod. If you're interested in how to successfully dj your own wedding, look at this post: <a href="http://apracticalwedding.com/2009/09/djing-your-wedding-with-ipod/" rel="nofollow">http://apracticalwedding.com/2009/09/djing-your-wedding-with-ipod/</a> . We were pretty scared at the idea until we read that. Question for you--how are you planning on getting everyone to the ceremony site? We're kind of in the same situation and thinking about doing a hay ride type of thing but I'm curious if you have any other ideas. Thanks! EDIT: Flowers--I looked at the SB Farmer's Market a few weeks ago--they have great flower selections for not a lot of money. You can get 3 bunches of Gerber daisies (appxomimately 5 or 6 daisies in a bunch) for $10. Just an idea!
Posted by Wheels987[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I'll check out the SB Farmers Market for sure. As far as getting our guests to the ceremony site, we will need an SUV. I think I'm just going to have all the guests walk and tell everyone to wear proper shoes, or bring flats. It'sd kinda' stressful to think about all that, and going top be hard to get all the chairs from the ceremony site to the reception site, rather than renting 2 sets of chairs :/.

mrsbobfilson

look under wedding classifieds for outdoor chinese lanterns they have 123 in all different colors and sizes for 125.00 for all or cheaper if you just take some

gandb14

Hi There!  I'm looking into the same venue for our wedding in May/June of next year.  I wanted to know if you already got married there and if so what your experience was at Arroyo Hondo Preserve.  Please let me know if you can also kindly share your rental vendor.  Thank you!

 

 

TheAllisonMeganWedding

Hey! I'm trying to get in contact with John the Preservation Manager and I'm not having much luck! Called and emailed several times. Did you have a rough time getting ahold of them the first time?

Thanks for the help!