need advice on affordable New England wedding venues

[andibh]

Hi. I just got engaged, and I'm already getting discouraged trying to plan a wedding without going broke. Read that the ave. wedding costs $30000. That's ridiculous! I just want something low key but in a beautiful setting. Don't need fancy food, just good quality (don't care if it's bbq, clambake, whatever), but I do want some traditional things like music and open bar. I would LOVE to have it outside, but also have to be cautious about the weather, and I realize that tents are usually quite pricey, so I'd settle for an outdoor ceremony with a reception in a place with lots of windows overlooking a beautiful setting. I know, a lot to ask! I live just south of Boston, so it would be convenient to have it in s.e. MA, but I also love the mountains of NH and would travel there if I found a great site. So, any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

[grant.cook]

I hope she got married already.. the OP was in 2010

[suzysue2]

Good luck saving money and congratulations to you!

We just did our wedding for about 80 people and used every restaurant and wine industry connection we had getting a lot of things at or below cost, had an open standing beer/champagne/wine reception at the church (we did have an oyster bar, but had insider connections and didn't tell them it was a wedding beforehand), paid a chef to roast a pig and cook some sides (food was at cost), my aunt did the flowers at cost as a gift, a friend did a cake as a gift, we printed our own invites and made our own favors and I think we still managed to spend $6000 easily.

If you want to save money you will have to do a lot of work yourselves and a wedding is exhausting and stressful as it is with tons of things to consider, so be prepared to be extra exhausted when it is all over. I got so sick afterward I was in bed for a week.

That being said, it was a great day, we had a lot of fun and our guests did too by all accounts.

The other posters are absolutely right about just hiring your own bartender ($200-300) and buying your own booze, also a couple of waiters (same price as above for good ones) too to set up, run the party and clean up. Handles of booze offer a significant cost savings. That being said not a single person complained about beer and wine only at our wedding.

Avoid telling vendors that it is a wedding, just say 'event' or else you will see dollar signs lighting up in their eyes.

Blue Ribbon BBQ will bring masses of food to you for relatively short money. They ask for a head count, but give you so much food that you could easily estimate at 25% less and everybody will still be stuffed.

One piece of advice I got from another friend was that by trying to save money and have it on a piece of his parent's land he ended up spending more because he had to create infrastructure (bathrooms, electricity, water) where there wasn't any previously and that ended up costing him much more than it would have to just have it somewhere that was already set up for a wedding. Considering the needs of elderly relatives and small children can also create limitations, so don't forget about them!

Best of luck!

[calliope_nh]

I have been to weddings at Castle in the Clouds in NH. Looks like the room fees are reasonable and there may be several options for the food.
http://www.castleintheclouds.org/Cast...

[Gabatta]

elope

[latertater]

A friend of mine got married at home. It was delightful. She had a tent and catering. You might try finding a site like an orchard or state park with a tent or lodge. Another friend had a beautiful wedding this winter, ceremony at the Old South Meeting house, we walked to the Old State House for a reception. Catering was by Above and Beyond which was nice too. http://www.aboveabc.com

You also might consider a brunch reception. Other friends had a brunch reception at the Larz Anderson Museum, catering by Blue Ribbon BBQ which was also v. fun.

-----
Blue Ribbon BBQ
910 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476

[grant.cook]

We got married at Bittersweet Farm in Westport - nice place, only supports afternoon receptions, food was pretty decent from a wedding perspective..

[edgewater]

Try Lake Pearl Luciano's in Wrentham if that location is at all convenient for anyone looking.
It is a beautiful location, good food and a very pleasant and professional staff.

-----
Lake Pearl Luciano's
Lake Pearl Park, Wrentham, MA 02093

[opinionatedchef]

There is a list of Historic venues/function facilities available through the State House, w/ basic descriptions and contact info.for the function sites. There are easily 30-50 places on it, including simple to elegant.

Some of the many popular boston area places:

commander's mansion, watertown; habitat, belmont; endicott house, danvers; tupper hall, endicott college, beverly; paine estate and lyman estate, waltham; gore place; camb boat club; arthur griffin museum, winchester; nat'l heritage museum, lexington, The Barn at the Peabody Historical Society, etc etc etc.

I would advise visiting some spots and getting a feel for what atmosphere appeals to you.

you'll be dealing w/ lots of decisions including price and capacity of facility and what they include in that cost (some have tables and chairs, others not); cost of tent if you want or need to be outdoors(many historic sites can hold 100 but rarely 150). Function managers at various sites sometimes are in the full-help mode, giving you a sense of what price ranges there are for all the diff aspects of the wedding.Each facility has a list of approved caterers, bands, florists, liquor companies etc.

once you decide on a location, the rest will begin to fall in place.

p.s. many many weddings have just wine and beer.and many facilities do not allow cash bars.

[bostonwest]

Off season anywhere is the best idea. Try golf resorts in the Winter, or if you are south, hotels on the cape in Winter or Late fall (after foliage) We got Married at Killington in June, it was dead but we had the hotel to ourselves and we were catered to hand and foot. The most expensive thing was our giant tent!! We had open bar, beer, wine, tent, live band, and a barbeque dinner..all for a whopping 8 grand!!! so yes, you can do it cheaper if you are willing to do an off-season thing.

[Hunny72578]

Where in Killington? We were thinking June or July of 2013 and the original place we liked is $3200 Fridays & Sundays and even more on Saturdays so this 'off-season' thing seems like a good idea

[CookieLee]

Hunny, I think bostonwest is referring to the ski resort, Killington.

[tatsu]

If you want a super cheap but beautiful venue, you can rent the grounds of the Olde Manse in Concord for all of 200 bucks. You can't beat the price! I had an awesome going away party there, we had Blue Ribbon deliver and brought a keg. But you can have Gordon's Liquor in Waltham "booze cater" it for you. Heck you might get away under 5 grand. Tom there is a nice guy and super easy to work with. Good luck and happy wedding.

[sbs401]

http://countrygardens.ws/e-weddings.php

339 Tremont Street
Rehoboth, MA 02769
Phone: [phone]

We had our wedding at Country Gardens in Rehobeth 6 years ago and i think our expenses
for 120 ppl cam in right around $15,000. The Owner Ralph was a pleasure to work with, I highly reccomend

website hasn't been updated but: The 2009 cost for a 5 hour wedding package for 100 people is $9,275.

[lexpatti]

I got married on the Mt Washington Boat on Lake Winnie in NH and although it was 9 years ago, it was very reasonable and the captain married us, everyone had a great time (we did not have the boat all to ourself). Another great venue for a wedding is Alpine Grove in Hollis NH, just outside Nashua - I looked at this place for hubby's 50th and their place is very nice, food packages are very reasonable.
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/alpinegrove/
http://www.cruisenh.com/

[edgewater]

Regarding the Open Bar, I would suggest having the Open Bar before dinner then a Cash Bar from then on. There is a lot of waste once people are up and dancing. Many people if they are not paying for their drinks will just go to the bar and get another drink instead of tracking down the one they left when they got up to dance.

[Science Chick]

I think throwing a party and asking guests to pay is atrocious. Personally, I rarely bring cash with me to a wedding (in my bitty little fancy clutch purse) and found myself stuck and embarrassed at the bar realizing I had to pay *after* I already ordered a drink. Thanks goodness for the kindness of strangers!

If you can't afford an open bar the entire evening, better to limit hours or the liquor selection(s). I think there have been a number of wonderful suggestions already posted for venues that allow you to bring your own liquor, which is a huge savings.

[dulce de leche]

Totally agree. We had wine & beer, and a couple of special cocktails made by the pitcher. We bought it ourselves--some liquor stores will deliver, I think Martinetti's does? And some will buy back what you don't use.

We paid bartenders, had the bar open all night, probably spent somewhere around $1200 for 120 people (though a decent amount of kids and other nondrinkers).

[roux609]

We had a really lovely affordable wedding at the Codman Estate in Lincoln. About 100 guests tented, and used the carriage house for music, bar, etc. We were able to split the cost of the tent with the couple getting married the next day, and it ended up being about $1000, IIRC. Catering was by East Coast Grill, which was much more affordable than we'd thought. They brought grills and set up a beautiful buffet- several entrees (including a cuban mahi, pulled pork and short rib) and passed apps for $40ish a person, I think? Open bar with beer, wine and 2 signature cocktails didn't top $1000, similar to the above poster. ECG handled picking up the liquor from the distributor. They were awesome and really great to work with.

-----
East Coast Grill and Raw Bar
1271 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

[monicall]

Martinetti's and Kappy's will deliver the alcohol and pick up the unopened alcohol the next day. They refund you on the unopened drinks. We're doing this at our wedding (mentioned above) and going to Costco to buy the mixers. We're paying bartenders, but the cost of the bartenders and rental glassware is pretty insignificant.

[BlueMagic]

I disagree. I have never been to a wedding where there was an open bar the entire time. I've been to a few that have open bar at the beginning of the reception while the wedding party is having pictures taken...but the reality is that the OP has a limited budget and shelling out thousands of dollars for an open bar is just unnecessary.

Edgewater makes a great point..when people aren't paying for their drinks there tends to be a tremendous amount of waste.

I second the Stonehurst Manor suggestion.

[L2k]

You should have come to my wedding then!

By the way, you responded to a comment from 20 months ago

[Allstonian]

Or my wedding. I know it's a widespread approach and there are lots of people who insist it's all right, but I'm with Science Chick - I don't think it's appropriate to invite people to a party and then make them pay for refreshments. Better to throw the party you can afford and not make guests help pick up the tab for a bigger bash than you can swing on your own.

We had a brunch reception and served wine, beer, and domestic bubbly. I think we also bought some vodka for bloody marys and screwdrivers. Not only was there not "a tremendous amount of waste," but we ended up returning about a case of wine and half a case of the sparkling wine.

[BlueMagic]

Oops..silly me. I guess someone bumped the thread up. I never look at the dates on these things. I assume if it's at the top of the feed it's recent.

I had an open bar as well..but a smaller side wedding..about 80 people.

To all that responded..you mean an open bar the entire time of the wedding? It's never happened to me. Every wedding I've been to the open bar has been limited to pre dinner for guests ( although the one's I have been in the wedding party, I've never paid for a drink).
In fact, I went to one wedding about 6 years ago where there was no alcohol served or allowed ( quirky family member). Of course, my table found a way around that..lol

[bagelman01]

It's a very ethnc thing......................
I was in the catering business years ago. When we did a kosher affair, we had open bars for the full time of the affair, from pre-ceremony cocktails to after dessert cordials. We never had a cash bar at a kosher affair, or a short duration open bar.
In the same venue, when we did a non-kosher affair (using separate kitchens) open or cash bars and the duration were up to the host and the depth of his/her pocketbook. In 1989, when I left the business we charged $15.95 for the liquor for an open bar at a kosher wedding (5 hours) and $15.95 got 1 1/2 hour open bar at a non-kosher wedding. We found that the guests at a kosher wedding consumed far less alcohol than those at a non-kosher wedding. In fact the average at a kosher wedding was 1.6 alcoholic drinks per guest, while at non kosher weddings the average consumption at the open bar was 2.5 drinks por hour per adult guest. Also, the guests at a non-kosher affair were likely to load up on drinks during the open bar period and take them to thier tables to drink during the remainder of the event.
Also in those days, we never served beer at a kosher catered affair, but went through plenty at non-kosher affairs.

Since that time, I have hosted my own wedding (2nd marriage) and made weddings for two of my daughters, all three affairs were open bar from start to finish.

[mkfisher]

To be honest, I can't recall the last wedding I was at where there wasn't an open bar

[Skeezicks]

Go to Cape Cod in the off season - can get a great place and a good deal. A friend had a wedding at the Chatham Bars Inn in January - practically 1/2 the price, beautiful room with windows overlooking Chatham harbor

[Guido]

The Hotel at MIT (corner of Mass Ave and Sidney St near Central Square) has a beautiful roof garden available for weddings (and backup rooms indoors, just in case). The hotel has a new name recently, I think, but it's still there. They were very reasonable in comparison with other venues we looked at, and we were very happy with our wedding there. They also have a nice restaurant ("Sidney's") with private room for a rehearsal dinner. AND the happy couple get to stay in the Presidential Suite (which is really, really nice) after the wedding (nice and roomy for a post-event party, too).

[Ruprecht]

You might check out the transportation museum at Larz Anderson park in Brookline.

[trueblu]

Although the website says it can host 150 inside, I think that may be a squeeze seated -- but heck, they'll know for sure. It's a great venue, but I think they charge a couple of grand to rent the space. The plus side is that they do allow outside caterers, so costs can be kept down with prudent choices.

tb

[AGM_Cape_Cod]

Don't limit yourself to caterers from Boston and environs. I worked for a caterer on the Cape and we regularly did functions at the Larz Anderson Park. I don't know what prices were but you might do better with someone from out of the city.

[MABMAQ]

great place in the white mtns is stonehurst manor in north conway - we stayed for a weekend and was very impressed with the food and the ambiance - here's one of their wedding packages for an afternoon tent reception and pizza buffet -
http://www.stonehurstmanor.com/tent-w...

[pdubs]

We are getting married next summer at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, which is a gorgeous and affordable venue. Catering will be provided by Wildflour, who is also catering my sister's wedding. We are feeding 150 people for about $9000, which includes extras like a raw bar, as well as labor, etc (that works out to about $60 pp). We are doing limited open bar with beer, wine, and 2 signature cocktails-- the estimate for this from Gordon's liquors was around $2500 (but it's very possible this could go up). Everyone I've worked with so far has been great, and I can't recommend them enough!

-----
Cambridge Multicultural Arts
41 2nd St, Cambridge, MA 02141

[DanW]

We had our wedding here back in 2005. Outdoor ceremony, catering by East Coast Grill, open bar (beer, wine, sangria). It was a fantastic party in a beautiful location. Everyone stayed at the Hotel Marlowe and had a great time. Unfortunately I can't recall the budget numbers, but I'll try to look them up later tonight.

[jjbourgeois]

We had our wedding and reception (in 2003) at the Hampshire House right on Beacon Street in Boston. Price was extremely reasonable ($300 for the 3rd floor if we spent at least $2000 on food.) I'm not sure what their prices are like now, but we were very happy with them. They had an excellent wedding coordinator (Michelle) and the food was wonderful.

-----
Hampshire House
84 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02108

[monicall]

We're getting married at the Essex Conference Center and Retreat. It's a beautiful outdoor venue and the cost starts at $65pp. We had our tasting a couple months ago, and the food is really good. You also have the option of doing a clambake, but I think that costs a little more. You bring in your own alcohol, which is a great way to save and allow for an open bar. There are a few other places that let you bring in your own alcohol, and that may be something you want to look for. I know Glen Magna in Danvers allows it as well.

[ArlingtonTeacher]

I got marriage at the Killington Grand Hotel in Killington, Vermont. Very affordable food ($30/pp, choice of 2), also their package includes rehearsal dinner space & brunch the next day.

[treb]

Skip the open bar which could easily cost you $5-7K. Open bars are really passe because of liability issues. BTW - the average cost per plate, even rubber chicken, would be around $75.

[StriperGuy]

I dunno, I like open bar at a wedding. What you can do is limit the hours...

[treb]

Yah, I've even seen beer & wine only, also there's a lot of waste with open bars as people tend to ditch half finished drinks, not me I even suck the ice dry!

[Bob Dobalina]

$5-7K? Really? I am planning a wedding in a month - open bar (and everyone is REALLY positive about that - who wants to pull out their wallet at a wedding? Tacky! And liability issues remain regardless of whether the bride and groom are paying or individual guests...bartenders need to be insured, etc....anyway, I digress...)

So my pre-event bill for alcohol is ~$1,200 and the caterer is supplying the bartender. We have about 120 guests planned. It's not a huge drinking crowd so that lowers the numbers a bit.

For SE Mass, you might consider Camp Kiwanee in Hanson, MA - they have a really cool wooden lodge overlooking a lake - should be able to fit 100-120 and I think it's pretty cheap to rent.

-----
Camp Kiwanee
Camp Kiwanee Rd, Hanson, MA 02341

[trufflehound]

Needham Golf Club has a reasonable venue. Where are you located?

[StriperGuy]

Really all depends on the number of guests. Endicott College in Beverly has an AMAZING venue but seating maxes out around 100...

[andibh]

somewhere between 100-150 guests. it'll probably end up being a bit over 100. I'm still trying to figure out a reasonable per person budget, but every place adds it up different. I would like to have a total budget of less than $15000

[StriperGuy]

With that budget with over 100 people + open bar it will tricky.

If you do a bit of a "do it yourself" find an outdoorish venue, and hire your own bartenders and provide your own drinks you might swing it.

Some of the more wedding hall like places that do volume, but you won't get the beautiful venue, could probably also swing it.

[bagelman01]

http://www.tewksburycc.com/pdf/weddin...

See: Tewksbury Country Club................
Saturday 5 hour pkg is $50pp incl champagne toast multi course meals, linens, etc

Lots of reasonable package options, Beautiful views and tasty food.

I have attended a few functions there and it is a good buy

-----
Tewksbury Country Club
1880 Main St, Tewksbury, MA 01876

[StriperGuy]

That's awesome.

[trueblu]

Agree it's a great price -- but the wedding party has to be out of there early to make room for presumably a second event. If the bride + groom want to go on into the evening (with dancing etc) the food alone for the meal at the same venue will be at least $100 pp incl tax and tip, which are fairly typical prices.

I think with that number of guests, a budget of $15k will be a stretch unless they find a venue that allows outside caterers, and you get a reasonable, say, indian/ chinese caterer in, which might come in at $50pp.

tb

[bagelman01]

If you post the number of guests and your anticipated per person budget it will help you get focused replies.