NEED Thrifty Wedding Venue Ideas! (East Bay-ish=)

Thriftybutclassy

Budget: 8k-10k (not including wedding dress or wedding rings)
Guests: 160 SO FAR
Reception: Outdoor or Indoor
Reception venue: Must have windows
Reception times: Until midnight, not ending any sooner (want to party late!=)
Location: East Bay-ish (no to San Francisco or San Jose), open to North Bay too
Wedding date: 10/6/12

Looked at community centers with BYOB and BYOC. 
Options so far: Heather Farms in Walnut Creek, Snow Building in Oakland, Mill Valley Community Center.  San Ramon Community Center is really nice but out of our budget (ends up being like $4k just for rental fees for 10 hours). 

VENUE RECOMMENDATIONS WELCOMED!  THX!! 

Thriftybutclassy

chattychiqa

Hmmmmm.... Palmdale Estates in Fremont is my venue. They give a discount for off season but the music gets turned off at 10:30. Peak season on a premium night with a headcount (approximately, nothing set in stone yet) is 12k. The food is off the chain. If you're willing to consider a brunch reception it is crazy affordable, like under $30 a head. Check it out.

donnyandbelinda

We booked with Wedgewood.  It is all-inclusive.  We have half the amount of guests you are expecting but was able to select a more encompassing package and still was very reasonable.  They have locations in San Ramon, Oakland and Wine Country  http://www.wedgewoodbanquet.com/

Thriftybutclassy

@ chattychiqa and donnyandbelinda -- Congrats & Goodluck to both of you on your wedding and thanks very much for the suggestions! Still above my budget range but still appreciated. 

JW28

You could check out Century House Gardens (http://www.centuryhousegardens.com), it looks okay. I'm on a similar (but hopefully smaller) budget and I considered Century House briefly. I didn't dig any deeper into it because I'm on the peninsula and didn't want to go all the way across the bay. Anyway, their rental fee is only $1200 for a Saturday IF you use their catering (otherwise it's $2400). Their catering is only around $18-35pp (not including service, tax, etc), which is actually some of the cheapest food I've found. Venue rental includes tables and chairs, and catering pricing includes linens and place settings. Anyway, it looks like it's kind of nice, but nothing super special. It's very hard to find cheap venues around here, since anything that's really pretty is really expensive. And every time I see the words "affordable" next to pricing, I laugh, because usually it's still really expensive, just cheap compared to the places that charge $10000 just for the venue.

emilyrodas

Diablo Ranch in WC or a new winery in Brentwood: Hannah Nicole (I heard they are farely new, so might be flexible on price, but perhaps too far)

lizsmile

Look at Napredak Hall (can do indoor or outdoor), cost is pretty good .  For Sat invites u get the place from 7am - til Midnight.  We were going to use them, but due to our wedding plans, had to cancel.  Cost is around $3300ish (set up, clean up). Their is a few extra cost, if u want to bring ur own catering, $125 refundable deposit, need to pay for hall insurance $100.  Pay for security guard $25 hr (only when reception starts and ends).  But was the cheapest place that offered the full day.

Hope that helps, oh ya place is located in santa clara

Thriftybutclassy

@ JW28 - Thanks much! p.s. I too laugh at all the places claiming to be "affordable."

@ emilyrodas - Thanks very much!  Diablo one looks amazing--we shall see

@ lizsmile - Thank you!

DaphneAtlantic

Have you looked at Preservation Park?  It's in downtown Oakland but it's really pretty... it's like having a huge street party all to yourselves.   You can BYOB depending on the caterer.  They do have a set list of caterers (Fricken expensive.. like $50/person) but if you want to go cheaper, they charge you $500 for booking an outside caterer.  Rentals aren't included but they can be provided at a cost.  We spoke with Barbara and she showed us around and we were ALMOST sold... until we got the cost of the caterers and decided we would rather have Palmdale Estates (like chattychica! ).  Like you our budget was $10k and we just barely exceeded it at Palmdale (this includes food, beverages, tables, etc).. but we didn't factor in taxes and service charges... we had to push it up to $15K (including dresses and decor).  Good luck!  

Thriftybutclassy

@ DaphneAtlantic - Thx much for the info!!

staderdanger

We are also booking through wedgewood. Super affordable. Most places have a no loud music after 10:30 unless you are away from houses. Thats what we found when we were booking.  My suggestion find a local club or bar near your site and move the party to a different location once your reserved times are done, its cheaper.  Thats what we are doing. Good luck!

[Deleted User]

Check out the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, especially if you're open to a week night.