Ok guys, I need your help!

Shorty McBride Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:36 PM

Ok guys, I need your help!

My parents' 25th wedding anniversary is this October.... My siblings and I are pretty young (all under 22), so my Grandparents decided that they want to throw a surprise party.

No problem, right? That's easy enough to do, EXCEPT that g-ma feels the need to invite EVERYONE that was at the wedding (not including those people my parents no longer talk to.)

NOT including OOTers, she has a list of 100!!! Problem is, she doesn't want to spend over $2000, and my siblings and I can't contribute too much, I'm paying for college and a wedding of my own, and the other 2 are just too young.

We looked into a few places big enough for 100 people: a couple VFWs, Knights of Columbus, and they all either smelled like cat piss or had bugs. GROSS.

We have a DJ for free, and we have people that will set up/clean up/bartend cheaply. The party will be in October, so that rules out any kind of outdoor party at home ---

what do we do?!?

My suggestion, as a last resort, was to have the party in the backyard (its definitely big enough) with a tent in August, 2 months early...they'd definitely be surprised!!!

Anyone have any suggestions?!? PLEASE?!?!
What about just doing a cocktail/hors d'oevres party?! Anyone have any info on this?

Thanks guys, you're the best.

Calla Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:39 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

Seems to me that no matter what you do, you will need that list to be smaller -- unless you are planning to serve just pizza.

Shorty McBride Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:41 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

I'm sorry, I should've added that we have a family full of chefs - we just need to buy the raw food material - prep. will all be free!

MonkeyLuv Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:46 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

Shorty... my e-party was about 100 people, with a big tent in my backyard, catered and was all about 2500. (We didn't have a DJ though)

I think it's absolutely doable. And you'll have more fun at an outdoor party IMO!

P.S. We did the same thing for my parents 35th anniversary...they loved it!

Shorty McBride Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:48 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

Posted by MonkeyLuv

Shorty... my e-party was about 100 people, with a big tent in my backyard, catered and was all about 2500. (We didn't have a DJ though)

I think it's absolutely doable. And you'll have more fun at an outdoor party IMO!

P.S. We did the same thing for my parents 35th anniversary...they loved it!

Thanks for giving me some hope! Any good tent rental recommendations? My aunt gave me the name of a place that included tables and chairs...I wish I could find the piece of paper I wrote the name/number on!

ETA: headed back to work now - I'll be back later tonight to see what other ideas are out there. thank you!

wc0143 Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:53 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

We used All Island Tent (I think they are 110 in Farmingdale) for the chairs for our wedding and the tent they put in our yard in case of rain.

I don't really know how cheap or expensive they work - it was on Tim's TO DO list.

MonkeyLuv Posted: Feb 08, 2005 01:54 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

I think we used All Island Tent too. My mother planned it and made such a f***ing production out of it, I didn't even want to be around!

LoriH Posted: Feb 08, 2005 02:13 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

There is a VFW hall at the Massapequa train station. We used it once and it was nice, roomy and drinks were inexpensive. If everyone makes something you should be able to keep it under $2,000. I would also cut the list as much as possible..

frosty Posted: Feb 08, 2005 04:07 PM

Re: Ok guys, I need your help!

Depending on the size and type of the tent, they can be expensive. Plus, you'll need to rent tables, chairs, linens, dishes, etc. I don't think you can do that for less than $2000.