US States With The Most Affordable Wedding Venues

According to The Knot, the total average cost of a wedding in the U.S. in 2025 was $33,000, with the venue having a huge impact on the final tally. For instance, the average cost of a local wedding was $32,300, while the average cost of a wedding venue was as high as $12,200, or roughly 38% of the total cost. As such, it's worth knowing there are still some states with more affordable wedding venues that can save you money on your nuptials. It's especially important when you consider how the number of guests at even a small wedding, with under 100 guests, can raise your vendor costs as high as $15,000. That's not including the cost of your venue. 

As per an April 2025 Lending Tree survey, 67% of new marriages result in carrying large debt. Even before the wedding, 53% of engaged couples admit to having financial arguments over how much money should be spent on a wedding, with 16% to 19% who take on wedding debt considering uncoupling over the issue after the fact. To help ease that burden, consider marrying in one of these states.

Not being forthcoming about your financial situation is a major financial red flag while dating, and not talking about ways to protect your finances before your wedding is another one. With venues incurring so much of the cost of a wedding, you would be wise to consider Nevada as an affordable option. As per The Knot, the average cost of a wedding venue in Nevada in 2025 was $8,780.

According to the wedding planning site Joy, a Las Vegas venue like Red Rock Canyon, with full service planning courtesy of The Cactus Collective, offers a 50-guest package for as little as $1,700 to $3,000 which includes wedding photography. If you're willing to spend a little more money for more guests in a bigger venue, Rainbow Gardens offers newlyweds an all-inclusive wedding package for $6,995 for small groups of 50 people or less that includes a full wedding experience with a host, dj, catered dinner, a custom cake, a complimentary tuxedo, and even $500 worth of credit towards your wedding photography.

According to The Knot, the average total cost of a wedding in Louisiana is $33,240, with the average wedding venue making up $13,230 of that amount. Aside from being one of the cheapest states to buy a house in the U.S., you'll also find some of the cheapest wedding venues in the country. For instance, as per Eventective, the Shaw Center For The Arts offers couples venue-only access to its property for up to 400 guests for $4,500. The benefit of this arrangement is you're allowed to pay for an affordable catering option of your choice. The venue-only package also includes tenting for inclement weather, seating and tables, set up and tear down, and three hours of wedding time. If you want to extend that time, it will only cost you an extra $600 per hour to do so. Lighting and linens will cost you extra, but at a starting rate of $4,500, or ⅓ the state average, linens will likely be the least of your costs.  

North Carolina, as per Promani Weddings, offers those in the market for affordable wedding venues a low-range cost of $4,000, to a mid-range cost of $8,000 for a venue. According to The Knot, the average cost of a venue in the state is $$8,830, which means budget-friendly and midscale wedding venues in North Carolina can undercut the average by several hundred to several thousands of dollars, if you know where to look.

Joy notes that an outdoor wedding in the lush Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden presents both an incredible backdrop for your wedding photos and an affordable price point starting at $1,550 for a wedding guest list of as many as 400 people. You have a choice of a small and quick one hour wedding with access to a honeymoon suite, a garden wedding that seats up to 175 guests, or a premiere garden package for up to 500 guests. If you want to hedge your bets with an indoor and outdoor wedding venue, then The Ballantyne hotel in Charlotte, for example, offers the rental of its garden areas and ballroom for as much as $3,500 with serious food options and room for 350 guests.

According to Here Comes The Guide, Venue 311 makes a case for why Texas is a state not to be overlooked when it comes to affordable wedding venues. As a Texan venue, the ranch-like, farmhouse vibe makes sense, with pastures and ponds adding to the ambience of a chandeliered chapel located on the grounds. A fee of $4,600 to $6,600 offers couples ready to exchange their vows, in front of as many as 250 guests, all the accoutrements of a basic wedding. That includes a bar, catering, seating with tables, yard games and the presence of an onsite manager to help your wedding go off without a hitch.

This much value in a state where the average wedding venue can set you back, as per The Knot, $9,520, is even more impressive, especially considering that the state average is still lower than the national average of $12,200, allowing couples to avoid having to explore more extreme money-saving wedding trends like forgoing a wedding venue. 

According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding venue in Alabama is $7,200, beating the national average of $12,200 by $5,000. That should be enough to make most couples looking for an affordable wedding venue happy, but as per Here Comes The Guide, the average isn't entirely representative of the most affordable options in the state. Venues like Azalea Cove Waterside, offering a lakefront view, garden gazebos, seating accessories, and an in-house designer for between $3,000 to $6,000, demonstrate the latter point. Pricing here is based on the duration of your stay, with two-day visits falling on the lower end of pricing before rising to the higher end for a four-day stay. For a little more money, from $6,300 to $6,900, you could have your wedding at The Barn at Shady Lane, another rustic farmhouse-style wedding venue in Alabama. The $6,300 pricing represents $600 saved by booking on a Friday or Sunday instead of Saturday. The venue accommodates up to 300 guests and includes all your seating, design, and parking needs. They'll even manage the set up and clean up of your wedding.  

According to The Wedding Spot, you can find a bargain basement wedding venue with luxurious amenities in Arizona, like Windmill House located on a private, manmade lake surrounded by manicured trees and grass. A windmill from the 1900's provides the perfect wedding photo backdrop for 50 guests for around $3,640. If you forego the reception and extras, you can work out a two-hour ceremony for $500. The addition of a catered reception will add $75 to $120 per person to that bill, however, a four-course buffet reception dinner lowers your cost to $28 per person. Beale Celebrations is an event venue in Arizona offering a one day rental for a low initial cost of $1,050. Set up and take down cost an extra $50 in each case, with a $120 per hour cleaning fee, $250 to rent out the parking lot, and $50 for an extra bar. Still, even with all these costs added up, according to the Wedding Spot, you're looking at an average venue cost of $1,961 for a 50-person wedding. 

One of several major money red flags to look out for in a partner is feeling pressured to make huge financial decisions. While renting a wedding venue isn't exactly like buying a house, with the amount of aforementioned debt associated with weddings, it could be just as impactful to your finances. According to The Knot, a wedding venue in New Mexico may spare you some of that pressure with an average cost of $8,710.

As per Here Comes The Guide, for a smaller wedding that accommodates 65 or less guests, Casa Perea Art Space offers indoor and outdoor ceremonies and receptions. If you're not too proud to provide your own alcohol and food, you can scrape by on your nuptials for as little as $400, or up to $8,500 for all the bells and whistles. Combining your wedding day with your honeymoon stay at Eldorado Hotel & Spa will cost you $2,000 for a ceremony, and $79 to $99 per person for a reception that includes a multi-course dinner and all the standard wedding fare. 

As per The Knot, the average wedding venue in Tennessee is $7,510, roughly 38% lower than the national average. Promani notes that the most affordable wedding venues are in the range of $5,000, with the midrange landing as high as $10,000. Even lower than the lower end, Dogwood Meadows offers micro-wedding packages that offer a full eight-hour day, from Sunday to Thursday, for up to 50 guests. The rate gets higher or lower depending on the season, with a low of $3,000 to a high of $3,900 during peak wedding season. An essential wedding package for up to 100 guests will cost anywhere from $4,900 to $5,900 in the peak season. Both packages include all the standard wedding offerings, including on-site staffing. However, you'll need to source your own wedding photographer, alcohol, and licensed bar staff. If you serve in the military, you're in luck. Dogwood Meadows is one of the best places to use your military discount with 10% off for military service-people and emergency responders. 

Michigan is another state where a budget-conscious wedding can be arranged for as little as $5,000. While the midrange still falls below the national average at up to $10,000, as per The Knot, $10,850 tends to be the average cost for a wedding venue. As per Here Comes the Guide, another beautiful lakeside venue, Bay Pointe, demonstrates the affordability factor to a tee with an average rental fee of $260 to $6,000 per event, with packages for $87 per guest that includes alcohol, dinner, dessert, and a late night snack. 

If you want to go extra small, get married on Valentine's Day. Bay Pointe's 2026 Fireside Elopement package offers a one-hour ceremony conducted by a provided officiant, a comped bottle of champagne, and a dinner for two for $750. If you and your beloved are more beer than bubbly people, Solarium by Watermark lets you have your wedding at a venue with its own beer garden. The least expensive period is between December and March, when the rates are $3,900 to $5,000 with 5% sales tax. If you want to pay even less, an onsite ceremony that includes a bridal suite can be had for $1,500. Throw in a two-night stay at an Airbnb for around $1,350, and you're looking at a self-curated wedding package of around $2,850 not including your meals or drinks.

As per Promani, Illinois is another state with affordable wedding venues in the $5,000 range. While the cost of venues like the Wilder Mansion is anything but exorbitant, the venue itself is definitely luxurious. This 19th Century mansion with an average eight hour rental fee between $3,200 to $4,000 is a choice wedding venue, with extras like outside catering costing an additional $1,000. However, if you're just in the market for an in-and-out ceremony, that's also doable at the mansion at a rate of $200 per hour. Wedding rates this low should help you avoid awkward, wedding-debt-related warning signs of financial infidelity in the future. As per Here Comes The Guide, Drury Lane Theatre & Events is another unique venue in a theatre and event space with an 1,800-person capacity. With a package price range of $75 to $155 per person, you would be wise to keep your guest list small to take advantage of a potential $2,500 event fee. 

According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding venue in Virginia is $10,260, which is already just under $2,000 less than the national average. As per Promani, that's by no means indicative of the lowest amount you can pay for a venue in Virginia, where a $5,000 budget can earn a couple access to one.

The Historic Rosemont, for example, a sprawling 5,000-square-foot mansion built in the early 1800s, gives couples a beautiful spot for their nuptials for an affordable price. Your best bet here is to book a small wedding in the low season, and take advantage of packages like The Lady Bird Johnson or The Martha Washington for $5,000 and $3,000 respectively. For even more of a bargain, skip the packages and for a small six-hour wedding ceremony and reception starting at $4,000, or elope for $1,495 to $2,495 with a two-hour time window. The Cricket Chirp Farm is a property surrounding a farmhouse in Virginia that provides full wedding packages for up to 100 guests starting at $2,975 to $5,968. If you just want a ceremony without all the frills and costs of a reception, that lowers to $995 to a high of $2,431. 

According to Promani, budget-conscious couples can find wedding venues in Indiana for as little as $4,000. Here Comes The Guide suggests art building Gallery Forty-Two as an example of wedding venues in Indiana. with art as the backdrop. Booking the venue's elopement package for up to five hours starts at $1,250 to $1,450 for the first hour on one of four floors, to a high range of $3,850 to 4,250 for the maximum five-hour allotment that includes the reservation of all four floors. The package includes an officiant, a photographer, and room for up to 20 guests — you can add an additional 20 guests for a flat $400 fee. If you just want a ceremony, that can be accommodated for just $1,500. Full wedding packages — including ceremony and reception — are offered for between $3,500 to $5,750 depending on when and the type of event you want to book. For example, the base cost for a reception-only is $3,500.  

In Maryland, considering marriage may be a wise move for a relationship not just in terms of moving your relationship forward, but also financially. While not the U.S. state with the highest cost of living for single people, it still doesn't make sense to take on debt from an unnecessarily expensive wedding just as you're combining your incomes. According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding venue is $13,490, but that's not representative of the most affordable wedding venues.

The Vandiver Inn, as an example, offers an $8,000 full wedding package on Fridays and Sundays in the off-season that includes food and beverages. That said, getting married in nature at the Howard County Conservancy can cut that cost in half in the off season, starting at $4,000 for an 8 hour package. However, even the peak season offers bargains during the week, Monday to Thursday, with a $3,900 wedding package, or a $4,900 package on Fridays and Sundays. So now you don't have to counter the benefits of a DINK lifestyle with avoidable wedding debt. 

In Washington, you can take advantage of Seattle Parks and Recreation buildings like the Puget-Sound-facing Golden Gardens Bathhouse. You can get married outside with spectacular views of the lake, or do the deed indoors with its spacious interior. With a maximum 200-person standing room capacity, small or large weddings can be accommodated. At $280 per hour for an eight-hour weekend, or four-hour weekday minimum, you're looking at a $1,120 to $2,240 base rental fee for the venue. Once you add on staffing at $78 per hour, fees for maintenance, alcohol, staffing, and a deposit, you end up with a wedding venue cost of $2,196 for four hours or $3,628 for eight hours. If your wedding guest list is a more intimate size below 70 people, The Pritchard Beach Bathhouse is another lakefront wedding venue managed by Seattle Parks and Rec. It shares all the applicable fees already mentioned, however, the base hourly fee and staffing rate are significantly lower at $50 per hour for a two hour minimum, and $39 per hour for staffing.  

According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding venue rental in Wyoming is $3,770, making it 2025's most affordable state for wedding venues, as well as one of the cheapest states to retire in. Demonstrating why is the The Wedding Spot listing for the Platte Valley Community Center, which can accommodate up to 500 guests and is ensconced in the natural beauty of the state. Venue rental starts at $1,752 for small parties of 50 guests, and gives you 12 hours of celebration time and all the standard amenities for a full wedding ceremony and reception. You can control more costs since you can bring your own alcohol for the event, but you'll need to choose from a list of approved caterers.

Waves of Wyoming Weddings and Events is perfect for a wedding with up to 300 seated guests, and starts at a rate of $1,500 for a venue rental. Packages for food, drink, and other services can be added, or you can bring in your own from outside. Then enjoy your life together in one of several Wyoming towns with the lowest cost of living.