The Location

This is an area we really struggled with price-wise. I found lots of great locations, but also found that I would need a good $2500-$3000 if I wanted a decent location for our wedding and/or reception. And the gorgeous ones were upwards of $5000. Just wasn't in the budget.
We chose a local venue that is naturally gorgeous- our local Botanical Gardens. http://www.fwbg.org/fuller.htm
I'll walk down a stone "aisle" and we'll stand under a gorgeous gazebo, complete with a trickling waterfall behind us. Our guests will stand on the lush, green lawn. Up sides:
It's gorgeous and I don't have to decorate.
We paid $300 for it. :D
I only paid another $50 for the bridal room, and it's just what we need :)

Down sides:
We can only have 10 chairs on the lawn at the gardens. But then again, the ceremony will be short and we haven't even found 10 elderly people to fill those chairs yet. So defintely NOT a big deal. :)
It COULD rain. And although the gardens have a back up plan, I'd much rather get married in the garden. :)

Ceremony Venue total: $350

and then we will do the reception at our house, which is about 20 minutes away. Believe it or not, this is the part where it gets interesting and somewhat expensive. Updates to come on that :)