Country Wedding On A Budget
Want to have a beautiful outside country wedding but think you can’t afford it? Here’s a few tips to help you through!
Many barn wedding venues look beautiful but even the cheapest can cost thousands simply to use the property and that’s without a single decoration, table, or the food. We have our own small farm so we used it and dressed it up. These tips can be used to do it all yourself at your own place or it’ll save you a bundle after spending the money to rent a venue!
We started by clearing the field and getting spools from the local electric company (FREE I might add, we just went and picked them up. Call early as they are sporadically available, so try and plan ahead) and used them for tables. There were several sizes so we used them as seating tables as well as cake and present and drink tables! Some were tall enough we put them around the perimeter and some people liked to use them to stand around!
Backdrop for the Ceremony
Next we made the backdrop for the ceremony. We were using the barn but needed to dress it up a bit. This was a fall wedding so we incorporated sunflowers into a burlap wreath. To make it the large scale we wanted and so it would be heavier than the normal wreath to hang and help us shape properly, we used chicken wire and doubled it over. We then took Burlap Ribbon (easily found at craft stores for $1.00-$5.00 per roll) and intertwined the holes in the chicken wire. Put in some sunflowers and you have a simple but eye catching backdrop for an overhead backdrop. Bales of Hay and pumpkins and one of the larger spools set up with a unity candle finishes off where the bride and groom will stand and take their vows!
Dance Floor and Presentation Area
Next we built our own dance floor. Find level ground then use Particle board and 2×6’s screwed together in any dimensions that will accommodate your number of guests. Bales of hay around the perimeter holds the 2×2’s to string the lights on (it always helps to have cute little helpers with the lights) and the hay bales double as seats for spectators who want to be close to the action! We had a friend we hired who is a DJ, so that’s where we spent our wedding allowance in addition to the dress of course!
Centerpieces and Signs
Next we made centerpieces and signs! We took a small tree and cut it into slices then used a simple wood burner tool to make the bride and grooms initials. We repurposed some different shaped beer bottles and painted them wedding colors (purple and white here) and used them for simple flowers and wheat stalks. Repurposed wine bottles were used as candle covers. We used a glass cutter and took the bottoms off the bottles and used a citronella votive to help at night when the mosquitoes are out. The sign was just a piece of particle board painted with whatever message you want…for this one Here Comes The Love Of You Life. It can be made small enough to be carried by one person but we had 2 so we used a pole through the top!
Goody Bags and Cake
Next instead of the usual birdseed or bubbles we made a goody bags instead and we had them available for guests at the end of the meal line as we also had a bonfire pit available after the sun went down. We used Sending You S’mores Love as the theme as Smores are a great idea to make outside at a bonfire. 1 Pack was 2 smores and we simply printed and cut the tags on our home computer as well. The wedding cake was made by a friend of ours. Always price your local bakeries but also as around your area for some folks who might do this as a hobby. By all means be sure you get samples and see pictures and don’t just take someones word for it. The level of skill for the cake you want for your big day makes alot of difference in price too.
Bouquets and Tutus!
The bouquets we made from a local supermarket and plant stand with sunflowers and some accent flowers. We used a spool of flower tape and ribbon to keep them spun tight and beautiful! For the flower girls we dyed the shirts/onsies ourselves to be sure we got even colors for the 3 of them. Next we make them tutus with some elastic bands and tulle!
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Bridesmaids got to go pick their own style dress as long as they got the same fabric and color. So the bride made it easy. These bridesmaids paid as little as $25 for their dress, but by having the option to pick whichever style they wanted as long as they stayed with the same fabric and color let them spend as little or as much as they wanted. For the groomsmen, the only thing they spent money on was a white long sleeve button up and a purple tie. The vests were rented for $8 each! The little boys simply wore white button ups with their jeans!
Feeding the Crowd
BBQ is always a cheap way to feed alot of people! You can crock it and do it yourself or its pretty cheap to cater in as well. Chips and Beans are easy peasy as well. We used Mason Jars with lids and straws. Using plastic cups is cheap too, but we opted to do these in case it was windy so they didn’t blow away when they were getting empty!
The Final View
The finished product! We used folding chairs and had everyone bring theirs from the ceremony area over to use at the tables. It was super fabulous both day and night!
Dance Floor Fun
And the crowd danced into the night!
The Best Wedding Ever….Keep It Simple!
The Wedding Party! A beautiful country wedding for less than $500!!!!
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