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Updated Oct 14, 202419 Charming Barn Wedding Ideas on a Budget to Elevate Your Day
These budget rustic wedding ideas bring style without the hefty price tag.
The great thing about your wedding day is that it can be whatever you want it to be. And that includes something cozy and low-cost while still focusing on your love story. We've rounded up some barn wedding ideas on a budget for that perfect rustic feel without breaking the bank. Barns are an excellent option for a vast open space that gives you room to decorate in your own style while still bringing classic elements that fit any theme. Plus, many venues have unique amenities at their barns, so you can customize your day with laidback wedding ideas on a budget like a fire pit, lawn games and more. We gathered these inexpensive rustic wedding ideas to give you an idea of where to start planning, and we spoke with a wedding expert for some special tips and tricks to help you save more. Mel Sallese of Haven 33 Creative has experience bringing creative visions to life for weddings, especially on a budget. So, let's take a look at some of the most budget-friendly barn wedding ideas to make your day truly special.
1. Affordable Barn Venues
Finding the right barn wedding venues near you can take your day to the next level, and The Knot Vendor Marketplace lets you filter by location, barns and a range of prices to fit your budget. You can also find a wide array of rustic venues with all the modern amenities your wedding day needs.
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2. Natural Greenery
Utilizing natural greenery is a great low-cost way to make your venue pop with some color and texture, like eucalyptus garlands, dried flowers and foraged foliage. It's also the perfect creative element to enhance any barn venue by creating hanging displays, rustic wedding centerpieces, table runners and floral arrangements.
3. Buffet-Style Meal
Buffet-style dinners can be more affordable, but they also give you a chance to have your favorite meal and unique bars, like a pasta bar or dessert bar. Consider going with some classic barbecue or a grazing table for your event to keep with the barn theme.
4. Floral Wedding Cake
Adding fresh flowers to any style cake is a budget-friendly option that brings a bit of glam and elegance. Plus, it's easy to incorporate flowers into any style, like a naked cake, classic tiered cake or barn-themed cake.
5. Repurposed Vintage Accents
Consider shopping around thrift stores and antique shops to make your "something old" into something new. Repurposing vintage accents for your day is a wonderful budget rustic wedding idea to stay on the theme while giving antiques some new life, like making an old mirror into a welcome sign or as our wedding expert Sallese says, using old "shipping pallets to make hand-painted signage for directions, the ceremony program, food menu and more."
6. Wildflower Bouquets
Incorporating wildflowers into your bouquets and floral arrangements is a fun way to add authentic barn vibes to your day while sticking to a budget. Consider growing your own garden in the year leading up to your wedding so you can bring a bit of home to your venue with some of your favorite flowers.
7. Homemade Desserts
Treating your guests to some delicious desserts doesn't have to be costly—you can easily round up some of the best bakers in your family for a potluck-style dessert table of your favorite family recipes. Consider something like a pie table or cookie display for your loved ones, especially with some take-home boxes for any leftovers.
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8. Mason Jar and Vase Candleholders
Mason jars and vintage vases are great as inexpensive wedding decorations, especially when you utilize them for a new purpose: candleholders (and that includes flameless candles if your venue doesn't allow open flames). Sallese adds, "Collect vintage vases from thrift shops and flea markets to make a beautiful mixture of shapes and colors for centerpiece table decor."
9. Barn-Inspired Eats
Whether you opt for a sit-down meal or buffet, one affordable wedding planning option for your menu is taking inspo from your barn venue. The sky's the limit, but you can't go wrong with Southern barbecue, mac and cheese, homemade pies and sweet tea to start.
10. Seed Packet Favors
One common issue with wedding favors is people not using them, which ends up wasting money. That's why something rustic and useful, like seed packets, is a fantastic choice. Set them at each person's seat and include an adorable little message like "Let love grow" with this eco-friendly favor.
11. The Knot Paper Invitations
Finding wedding invitations with the right barn vibes shouldn't be hard, and that's where The Knot Paper comes in. Filter by "rustic" and different price ranges to match your budget, and our wedding expert even has another budget-friendly tip that will help save you time: "Get a return address stamp made. Then, they can continue to use this stamp for any mail in the future, including their thank you cards and even save the dates!"
12. Barrel Display Tables
You can repurpose barrels for a ton of fun uses, and that includes making them into rustic display tables for your wedding or reception. If your barn venue has barrels available on-site, this can help cut down the cost of table rentals, and barrels are just the right size for displaying cakes, guestbooks and other medium-sized decor.
13. Reclaimed Wood Decor
Keep the wood aesthetic going in your barn venue with reclaimed wood. For this rustic fall wedding idea on a budget, Sallese suggests, "Find scrap wood for cheap or free on Facebook Marketplace, have a friend or someone local with a Cricut machine make stencils for you and then hand paint the signs yourself!"
14. Honey Jar Favors
To celebrate a love sweet as honey, give your guests a wedding favor they're sure to enjoy. Pint-sized honey jars give that rustic feel while being perfect to sweeten up any classic drink, such as sweet tea or lemonade, during your reception.
15. Alternatives to Wedding Cake
Buying a tiered wedding cake can be more expensive than just buying your favorite sheet cake from a local bakery. There are also other dessert ideas outside of cakes, like pies, cupcakes, an ice cream bar or a s'mores bar to give your guests a rustic treat on a budget.
16. Seasonal Flower Arrangements
Buying seasonal flowers for your wedding can help cut down costs, and you can even try your hand at making bouquets and arrangements yourself to save even more. As for other ways to spend less while making your DIY floral arrangements, Sallese recommends, "Purchasing things in bulk or larger quantities can save money. For example, $10 for 100 yards of hemp string, versus $8 for 50 yards."
17. String Lights and Lanterns
Adding extra lighting to your venue can make the space feel even bigger and brighter, and lanterns or string lights can give that cozy feel to your barn wedding. One hot tip is to buy your lights during holiday sales to save even more money toward your wedding budget.
18. Chalkboard Welcome Sign
For another rustic wedding idea on a budget, chalkboards make great rustic wedding signs for welcoming guests, leading them to gift tables and more. Plus, with a chalkboard, you won't have to pay if you make any spelling errors—the design makes it easy to erase and start over at any point.
19. DIY Photo Booth
Renting a photo booth can be pricey, but there are plenty of ways to do it yourself, like with DIY props, disposable film cameras and simple backdrops. For making those props and signs, Sallese says, "Acrylic paint is best to use for a project like this and can be found at any local art store costing around $5 per color/bottle."
