Low Budget Wedding - Need Wedding Venue & Other Ideas

dazyabbey

I am looking to have an outdoor wedding probably at a park or somewhere similar, primarily because that is budget friendly and pretty. I have looked at a couple including Elmwood Park and Gerald Ford Birthplace but I was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions or anywhere they think would be beautiful for a wedding. I think right now we are leaning towards having our reception downtown at Blue so I don't want to go to far out west our outside of town.

We are planning on a date in 2012 and are starting to save money right now since we will be paying for it all ourselves. If you have a suggestion for time of year for a specific place or anything else add that too!

Also if you have any ideas for low budget photographers (under 1k), DJs (under $500) or anything else please let me know!

Thanks for all your help!

dimondsandlace

Our photographer was AMAZING and her most expensive package is only 1200 or something!  I highly recommend her-Her name is Karin Pruess and she runs her business out of Craig, NE but travels to wherever she is needed
email me at gazaryan.kim@gmail.com if you want to see pictures or have any further questions.  We did our wedding on less than $5000 and i've had dozens of people say it was the most beautiful and elegant wedding they've ever been to--it is so possible!

veritasatori

Budget DJ:  We recently booked In Stereo (Spencer Williamson).  His website is kind of lame, but we met with him in person and he seems to be exactly what we want -- low-key and professional with a good music library.  For cocktail hour and reception (unlimited hours), he charges $500.  For an additional $75, he will do ceremony music as well.    

For your ceremony:  This is probably farther away than you want, but Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs is gorgeous. 

Chasity08

We're having our wedding at Mt Vernon Gardens in Omaha. It's older, so the paint is a bit chipped and such, but I think it gives it character. And all the flowers and bushes in the summertime are BEAUTIFUL for pictures. Just like Gerald R Ford Birthplace and Elmwood Park Grotto it's $99 for 2 hours.

My photographer is doing 8 hours with all edited pictures on a cd for $950. Her name is Christine McGuigan  http://www.christinemcguigan.com/ Her website says all day coverage for $1695 but if you talk to her and tell her what you want (example, we didn't want the engagement shoot or coffee table book, and did 8 hours instead of all day).

We're using Showtime Music as our DJ and it's costing us right around $600, but they have fantastic equipment and have a HUGE selection of music, so it was worth it to splurge a little bit on our DJ.

HTH! Good luck planning your wedding!

LRPJ

low-budget videographer: visualitiesvideography.com

been to a wedding at the Gerald R Ford birthplace, and it was beautiful.

Good luck :-)

dazyabbey

We just looked at Mount Vernon and we actually really liked it there. The only problem would be parking and what the plan would be if it was raining that day.

Chasity08

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nebraska-omaha_low-budget-wedding-need-wedding-venue-other-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:79Discussion:9ce56d86-f52f-48dc-a3cd-5e8f68e50ac3Post:13bf43cd-787e-49b8-aadf-04a123dcd580">Re: Low Budget Wedding - Need Wedding Venue & Other Ideas</a>:
[QUOTE]We just looked at Mount Vernon and we actually really liked it there. The only problem would be parking and what the plan would be if it was raining that day.
Posted by dazyabbey[/QUOTE]

The parking lot on the right side of the gardens is actually pretty decently sized. They have enough parking for maybe 15 cars on the left side, and quite a bit of parking on the right as well. I know that when I first went I didn't realize there was parking on the right side, so I just thought I'd point that out ;]

And yes, the rain factor does stink. We looked in renting a tent in case it rains, but any place you go will require you let them know at least a week or 2 in advance, so that sort of defeats the whole purpose. So our backup plan had to be to have it at the reception hall if it rained. Not what I would want, but such is life. For the price, you can't really beat it =] =] =]

dazyabbey

How much was the tent that you looked at renting? We are probably going to be having a very small wedding of about 50 people or less. I think I would rent the tent anyway just in case. We are also looking at possibly having the wedding down town in the conagra park. Someone told me of an area there that you can have the wedding at overlooking the lake.

Thanks for your help!

StephB22

Our friend referred us to Midwest Music (which is who we are using) for our wedding next August. It was $550 for 6 hours with a $50 deposit. You could check into them.

dazyabbey

I was thinking about even ditching the DJ. The place we are looking at having our reception at has a large projection screen and a sound system hooked up so we could just play a pre-set music playlist for free from our laptops.

Anyone think that would be a bad idea? It would save us $500 and we could use that money for our honeymoon instead.

Also has anyone gone to a wedding at the ConAgra park? Someone suggested that to me. THought it might be neat.

ayoung22

You have to do what's right for you and your budget.  However, we had a DJ (Mark from Bandstand... fantastic!)  and I can't imagine not having him.  He helped keep everything on track at our reception and played MC (but not in an annoying way), he was also able to read our crowd and play the appropriate music. 

I would suggest trying to save that $500-600 in other ways - reduce flowers, food, guest list, favors, invitations, etc.

dazyabbey

My total budget, or goal budget, is about $6000. That is what we are hoping to have saved up by next year for our wedding. So $500 is a lot of money out of that.
I did check out Heartland of America park and was wondering if you have ever seen a wedding there? It looks really neat but I am still concerned about having an outdoor wedding and working around weather.

Chasity08

$6000 is a pretty decent budget. Let me give you my breakdown:

 We are hosting a wedding for about 250 and our budget is under $10k.

-We rented Mt Vernon for our ceremony (we are renting it for 6 hours because of pictures and timing, but you could work it out to only need 2 hours which is $99). Our total is $300.

-Renting 100 chairs through Gibbs in Council Bluffs for $175 (after delivery and pickup).

-Legacy Hall on a Friday is $1300 (plus a $500 refundable deposit).

-We are going through Schierbrocks Grocery & Catering out of Neola, IA, and he is charging $8.50 per person for a 2 meat buffet (which includes 2 veggies, 2 potatoes, 3 salads, rolls, coffee, as well as all the plates, napkins, silverware, etc...which just the utensils alone is a big money saver). $2275.00 after tax for 250 people.

-Our photographer is Christine McGuigan and she is doing an 8 hour package with all images on CD for $950.

-We're using Showtime Music and they are costing us $600 for 6 hours.

-I got my dress from the Nebraska Bridal Outlet in Wahoo for $350 after tax and shipping (and I love it. they have a ton of dresses there, so definitely worth checking out).

- We're making our own cake which is going to cost us about $75 all together.

- We are getting fresh flowers from Fleur De Lis Concepts out of Eagle, NE, and she is charging $260 for my bouquet, 5 bm bouquets, 8 bouts, and 6 corsages.

The total of all of that (including the refundable deposit for the hall) is $6785.00. If you have less guests then that...then it will be even cheaper for you. Cut 100 guests, and you cut your catering costs by close to $1000.00. You can definitely have a fantastic wedding on $6k. HTH! GL! =]

dimondsandlace

6000 is completely do-able--we did ours for under 5000.  Get creative, use craigslist and be willing to compromise on some things (fake flowers instead of real ones, not serving alcohol, etc)

pfmin

Bellevue Rose Gardens- FREE
we were going to get married there but it flooded last year,,:(  it has only done that once every 8 years, so you should be good.
also the bellevue volunteer firefighter hall is awesome! it new so they only have pics on Merchant Circle right now,,,
Jennifer
http://www.delacruzstudios.smugmug.com/weddings