Community› Local Wedding Boards› Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul
Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul
New Discussion
Options

Overwhelmed

YogaLady17YogaLady17
in Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul
My budget is $5,000.  For everything.  Ceremony, dress, music, everything.  I was thinking we could get married somewhere pretty and then all just go out for dinner afterwards, but my mom (who is paying) says it's not "classy" enough... but a traditional reception is going to cost WAAYYY more than $5,000.  We just want something small (around 80 guests), unpretentious, and pretty.  Can anybody recommend an inexpensive place to have a reception - and possibly a ceremony?
Report Reply to Post

Re: Overwhelmed

  • Options
    kidlets2kidlets2
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My first thought is if it's not good enough for mom and she's paying, then she can find some place else or up the budget.

    Instead of dinner, can you look at doing appetizers & cocktails instead? Cut the guest list down a bit?
    Report Reply
  • Options
    eponine03eponine03
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Can you host the reception at a restaurant? We are having a small wedding (around 50ish guests) and are having a dinner only reception at Heartland Restaurant. We're going to have a beautiful sit down meal in a private room for less than $2,000 including the cake. You'll have to decide where to cut back and where to splurge, but I think you can definitely do it. Our budget is around $8000 and we splurged on my dress and the photographer. We ended up spending about $1200 out of pocket for those *splurges*, but we could have totally done it for less.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    Report Reply
  • Options
    SSaltzman87SSaltzman87 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Jimmy's Restaurant in Minnetonka hosts quite a few receptions. Their food prices are great and it has an upscale feel.
    <a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Money Saving Tips"><img src="http://global.thenest.com/tickers/tt17ce82.aspx" alt="Anniversary" border="0"  /></a>

    White Knot

    Planning Bio-Added FOR SALE page, will be adding more stuff to it soon! 
    Report Reply
  • Options
    AETS26AETS26 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You've probably thought of this, but do you have any friends or relatives who have a nice house they would donate? My friend just had her ceremony & reception at a family friend's house on a lake, and it was beautiful. They had a small ceremony in the living room with 30 guests, and then a sort of "open house" reception for 120, with food catered by Byerly's. The food was great, and the mother in law enlisted some friends of hers to pick up the food and help serve it. They used plasticwear, but you can find some that is kind of dressy, so it doesn't look cheap.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    maybe984maybe984 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Community Centers can often be super affordable options. I don't know where in the Twin Cities you live, but I know that Eden Prairie has a really pretty Community Center with some very affordable room rentals... and so do a few other towns. Then, the trick is finding a catering option in your budget.

    Talk to your mom about your concerns. Thank her for her generosity, but explain that you'll have a hard time living up to her 'class' standards without a few thousand more dollars in the budget. (I've seen beautiful weddings for $7-8k I agree, $5k is really pushing it.) See if she can help you brainstorm or maybe find out if there's any flexibility in her contribution. Normally, I'd say "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" but she can't expect you to do unrealistic things with her contirbution.

    Also, is there any way for you and your FI to pay a portion? Maybe if you mention your current conundrum to FI's parents, they might also volunteer to help at leasta tiny bit (but don't ask directly, that can seem needy and tacky.)
    Report Reply
  • Options
    flower_loverflower_lover member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you would consider an outdoors venue, look into the Muriel Sahlin Arboretum in Roseville. It's very reasonably priced, and is an extremely classy / beautiful place- go check it out now while the weather is still warm! If they allow it, you could consider renting tents and having the reception there with your own caterer.

    Otherwise, you could always go to a nearby restaurant, it's pretty close to Rosedale.

    Another idea would be to have a reception at an off time, for instance have a Sunday morning brunch. My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary celebration at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul in their smaller reception room. It was super classy, and they had a fabulous brunch. It was very affordable, and the room is nice so you don't really need to decorate it.

    Report Reply
  • Options
    newlyseliskinewlyseliski member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Some good restaurant options for starters that have private party options/space for ceremonies...

    Jax Cafe
    Happy Gnome
    5120 Restaurant & Onyx Bar
    Elsie's
    Atlas Bar and Grill

    Another good option would be anywhere with open catering.  For 80 people, if you keep it simple, $5,000 is definitely doable.  Get a used dress on craigslist... hire students for ceremony music... skip the favors... skip the booze... put together your own flowers... have the wedding on a less-popular day (Friday/Sunday) in the off season...  there are plenty of shortcuts :)  There's also a lot of good bride-on-a-budget blogs!  "Budget-Saavy Bride" in particular does an awesome job at featuring affordably done weddings that still turned out fantastic.

    http://thebudgetsavvybride.com/category/budget-savvy-wedding-of-the-week/
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards