Hi I'm new here and engaged for about a month. :) We havent really done any planning and I started looking thru magazines and almost had a panic attack.... there are soooooooooo many options I dont know where to start. We are on a budget but want to do something different as far as venue. Any suggestions?? We want to get married in nov 2008. Thanks for the help!
NowAndForever2012
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welcome and congrats
Summer842
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Welcome and happy planning!!!!!
BNBride60
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I do actually have some suggestions (we've seen a lot of places) - but exactly how limited is your budget? Unfortunately, a lot of the 'unique' places (at least the ones that I saw) are also really expensive.
ErinC0119
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Welcome and congrats!!! I think I booked with a unique place and I am getting married in november this year. I picked The Vineyard Caterers and they were really reasonably priced for what I wanted. You have to start with a budget how much can yoiu afford per person and that will really narrow a lot of venues down.
Irishny8
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We haven't really settled on a budget but I think we don't want to go above $15,000??? I don't know is that going to be doable? I'm totally clueless. HELP!
firesign75
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Congrats and welcome.
Go to borders and get the reception magazine they have a lot of good ideas or do a destination wedding it's cheaper to have a wedding in Rhode Island. My uncle got married in a park, his ceramony was at an old victorian house on the front porch. The reception was immediately following in the tent behind us.
BNBride60
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If you know your budget is around $15,000, you have to figure out how many people you want and also if there are things you're willing to sacrifice.
A co-worker of mine was able to get married at Carlyle, an otherwise expensive venue, on the same budget by doing it the week between Christmas and New Years and also by cutting out alcohol. They only had around 60ish guests.
Also, you could do it with just your immediate family and have a destination wedding somewhere nice. There is a GORGEOUS little church in Aruba that is basically on a cliff overlooking the water. With $15,000 and some smart travel arrangements, you can probably afford that. For example, if you do priceline, you might be able to get very affordable hotel rooms. I've used that a bunch of times and have NEVER been disappointed.
Irishny8
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Thanks for the suggestions..... I don't think a destination wedding as far as an island is doable (grandparents and other family members wouldn't be able to go) I'm open to going all the way out east or as far north as Poughkeepsie? I just don't want to go broke or in debt (more than we are) for our wedding. We think we'll be having about 180 people... Do you think we'll have to increase our budget?
GinaBambina08
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Posted by Irishny8
We haven't really settled on a budget but I think we don't want to go above $15,000??? I don't know is that going to be doable? I'm totally clueless. HELP!
I think you could probably pull that off if you're guest list is around 100...
BNBride60
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Posted by Irishny8
Thanks for the suggestions..... I don't think a destination wedding as far as an island is doable (grandparents and other family members wouldn't be able to go) I'm open to going all the way out east or as far north as Poughkeepsie? I just don't want to go broke or in debt (more than we are) for our wedding. We think we'll be having about 180 people... Do you think we'll have to increase our budget?
Would you be willing to get married on a Sunday afternoon or a weekday - and would you be willing to do it in the off season months? 15,000 divided by 180 guests is about $83 per person. So you'd have to find a place that charged $83 per person including tax and gratuity, and that wouldn't include a photographer, flowers, dress, etc...
I've read of some people who found venues as low as $60 per person, not sure if that included tax or gratuity. Here is a link to quotes people got for 2008, check them out and see what you find.
The other option besides increasing your budget is decreasing your guest list, if possible.
Irishny8
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Looks like the budget is going up.... Anybody want to tell my FH?? lol I was expecting that it would, but hoping it wouldnt
BNBride60
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Well - with 180 guests - you might be able to pay off any debt you go into with wedding gifts! Gotta try to find the silver lining in every situation.
Irishny8
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I'll take it! thanks!
jennd311
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congrats!
Anthonysgirl
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Congrats and Welcome!!!!!!!!!
medic6809
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Congrats!!!! There are ways to cut costs. Try gerber daisy's as flowers and have pumpkins, gourds, indian corn and apples as cp. Try a Friday night reception, Saturday brunch or Sunday brunch. Think about the guest list..........if in 1 yr you will be dissapointed that someone was not there or you don't really care if they were there then don't invite them. Trust me no matter you do or plan everyone has an opinion, and someone will always be p***** at you about something Just smile say thank you for your opinion I appreciate it and then walk away and drink the BIGGEST glass of wine you can find!!!!
Congrats and happy planning
Irishny8
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Thanks to all! Everybody is SO nice and helpful on this site! I'm sure I'll be back with a million other questions!
ChristineAaron08
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My sister had a beautiful wedding at Manor East in Massapequa and spent LESS than $15,000.00, so it can be done. She had about 50-60 people. The food and everything was great. They just re-did the place too. It's not unique, but as a previous poster mentioned- those tend to be more $. They DID have open bar all night so they didn't have to forgo that. They had a cocktail hour, but didn't do passed hor-derves (sp?). They had the usual 3 choices of dinner and wedding cake, no extra dessert. ME threw in small CPs for the tables so they saved a lot of $ on flowers. I think their dj was only around $500. They didn't have a photographer, but regreted that.
You may have to sacrafice a bit on some things, but you can still have a beautiful wedding on that budget. Our budget is slightly higher and there are STILL things we are sacraficing on. You just have to decide where you would rather spend your $. Weddings are just sooo expensive!
Good Luck. Feel free to FM me.
oldladybride
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doing it in Nov will help the price a little. you might want to ask the RH's if you are open to different weeks, if the beginning or end makes any difference. How about the Friday after Thanksgiving?? Maybe that's an off day and would be cheaper - - ask.
You might want to try some venues other than the typical catering halls. I hear the Knights of Columbus in Oceanside or Seaford have nice rooms and will be more reasonable especially if you have 180 people. You could also try the Amer Legion in Levittown.
Also some places do complete pkgs. There were some reviews here for Arianna Waterfall. Marconi Maonor also does pkg where you can select from 4 diff plans, buffet or sit down dinner. Maybe some of those might work.
Stuart Thomas Manor in MAssapequa is supposed to be nice. I got a quote ther for a buffet for about $55 in 2006. I'm not sure, that quote might have been beer,wine soda, not full bar. but that is an idae also - - Limit the alcohol to a specialty drink and this supposedly cuts the cost a bit.
