location location location.

So...the newly engaged feeling has finally sunk in and i have realized: i. am. getting. married. whaaaaa? crazy, right?! ok, not THAT crazy, but seems crazy to me! of course i am overly stoked, but a little worried at the same time because I AM BROKE. that's right. i have very little money and i am planning a wedding. go ahead and laugh if you want to, but i am confident that i will be able to have the wedding of my dreams. After lots of research and pinning things to Pinterest, i think i have this whole budget thing down to a science. at least i hope : / My first decision as a bride-to-be, before I even chose our date, was the location. A couple of years ago, my dad and my little brother built a "horse barn" on my older brother's farm. it's a big, beautiful barn, complete with a riding ring right next to it, and a gorgeous field up above it. So before I was even engaged (or dating Matthew..shhhhh!) I decided that THIS was where I was getting married. I love the country, I love barns, I love outside. End of discussion. So my #1 first tip on saving wedding money? Skimp on the location if possible! My location is totally and 100% FREE, which I love. Some of the perks to this are just fab. Besides that it is FREE :) I can decorate any way I want, any time I want. Most locations, you can only decorate the day before or the day of...so just a few hours before the start of the wedding. Plus we can stay however long we want! My brother and super sweet fiance built a fire pit next to the barn this summer, we are building a fire and dancing all night long! Not to mention, I did check out some other locations before I completely decided to go with our barn and YIKES! talk about pricey! One barn I checked on was $2,800 for 4 hours. Yes, that's right. I just did NOT want to go through with that. May not seem like a whole lot when I know some weddings that cost $50,000 or more, but to a BROKE 23 year old, it is A LOT of money. Anyway, you may have to sacrifice some things when choosing a budget savvy location, but I promise it will be worth it!