Ha. You're not cheap. You're looking at venues which cost $5,000. My venue cost $15 for the permit in a beautiful park. It was in September on the Sunday before Labor Day and perfect. We rented chairs for maybe $100. Our minister was the same guy that my parents used and cost around $100. There were flowers for maybe $250 total. My wife's dress was a prom dress that she got on sale for $90. My suit was my Air Force dress uniform which I got for 8 years of my life. The photographer was not certified for his union yet so he only cost $600 including a lot of prints but we had to agree that he could use our photographs for his portfolio and advertisements for his work. Now he charges $1,500 for a wedding. We had a chocolate fountain and fruits and pot-luck food and it was a really good time. Our cake was the most expensive thing that I wouldn't have spent money on but it was a gift from my parents and cost around $500. All told our wedding cost $3,000 maybe. Everyone was fed and happy. Couldn't have been much more perfect for me. Had an awesome time, and I've been married 10 years in September. Weddings can cost a lot, and finances are a huge strain on a new marriage. Why add a huge strain to a fledgling relationship? Or even a strong one? Unless you both want a huge wedding of course, then do what you want.
I am cheap, my fiance on the other hand... I'm trying to convince her to go the park route. She's currently trying to find that one perfect place that has everything and costs nothing. Hopefully she'll find some perspective in her search.
I don't know how to help you there. The park that I got married in was donated by the Busch family as it used to be one of their mansions. That gave it a lot of architectural flavor that a normal park won't have. If you're looking for a park you might look for something like that to perk up the park for your spouse. I linked a picture of where I was married in my original comment. That's the mansion in the background and I got married in front of the fountain.
She loves the woods and there are some historic towns in the foothills of NC that have been preserved for some 150 years. I'm thinking I could corner one of those, place a few tents, and probably be good. The other side of it is that this is the first really big project we've worked on together, so it's more about finding that middle ground than anything else.