newly engaged!

valelam

 

Hi everyone!

I'm newly engaged and looking to set our date! We are pretty open on the date- sometime 2013 and would like to set our  wedding budget at $15,000 for about 125 people (if possible ) . We are planning from Phoenix, AZ, with 2 trips to Columbus in May and June. I am trying to create a very short list of venues to tour for ceremony/receptions. 

Any suggests for a Friday cocktail type ceremony/reception, out-doorsy/ Tent or urban w/ patio space. I have contacted New Albany links, the Lakes, and Smith brothers so far. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

saacjw

Hey welcome! $15,000 for 125 people is completely managable, especially if you're good with bargain hunting (and a Friday coctail ceremony helps. I also would add Brookshire Event Facilty to your list to look at. It has a lot of things included, like the DJ, Cake, Food, etc, plus you can do the ceremony there (outside or inside). We're using them and it's great to do from a distance because we don't have to deal with a ton of vendors and the woman who runs it is amazing. 

Another place (and I don't know what prices are and stuff) that would be realy pretty is the Franklin Park Conservatory. MIght be worth looking into. 

Kimber0613

Hello!  I highly recommend the Conference Center at Northpointe in Lewis Center/Polaris area.  It's a hidden gem.  There are great conference facilities, as well as a hotel, really nice, with a great staff.  My family has stayed there several times in past years.  The ballrooms and dining facilities are lovely.

Hope that helps!

KayleighandDave

Congrats!  Are you looking to stay in certain suburbs around Columbus or just anything in the Columbus area?  I have a whole list of suggestions, depending on your location preferences.  Looking for venues was so stressful until we decided on a family venue, however, now we are rethinking that due to space issues.  

I'm a local bride and still had no idea where to look until I hired my wedding coordinator.  You may look into hiring someone local to help organize everything for you so that you don't waste time on your visits.  Our coordinator is very reasonably priced and has actually saved us a ton of money.  

tiffanydaniels

Congrats, You are definitely ok with that budget, and I would start looking now because all the best vendors that are the lowest prices book up fast! But you can definitely have an amaing day! Good luck  

tiffanydaniels

i guess i should read a little more into your post. 

I would definitely set up a bunch of venues to look at we looked at 11 before finding one we loved. We looked into smith brothers, makoy center, pinnacle, the big room, atheneaum, darby house, via vecchia, heimet haus, swim and racquet club, river club. this is all i can think of, and we decided after the last one! 

there are a lot more options you have especially with 125 people! I know that a lot of people reccomend la scala! 

I would also start looking into other vendors, my current vendors are 

dj: bryon from buckeye entertainment (he is amazing and cheap)

photobooth: buckeye entertainment

photography/videography: picture perfect potraits

venue: the big room

church: st marys catholic church

flowers: luvulila on etsy

cake: anita kline (amazing and the cheapest cake around she books super early)

dress: alfred angelo

just some ideas for you, again good luck! ask questions as needed.

Carly245

Welcome and congrats! 

I think if you are going for a "urban" feel smith bro's and also North Bank Park are great options!

 

Definitely do your research and book up the best people before it's too late!

ohsoashley

Congrats on your engagement! This board is great and fun.
I also am from out of town (we live in Florida) so planning from afar has been a bit stressful.  So I don't have much insight into venues and such (FI is the one from CBus so he knows all the places, etc)

Good luck and happy planning :-)

Westerman100

I am a wedding officiant who travels to numerous venues throughout central Ohio. Many photographers, caterers and DJs do the same.  You can ask any of them for comments about the locations you are considering.  Feel free, also, to send me any questions.  I will respond asap.

Greg Gordon

www.OnTheSideOfAngels.net

gregdgordon@gmail.com

614-260-5592

jnkreager

Congrats!!  I was also going to suggest North Bank Park.  Also, the Columbus Audubon has really lovely patios and a great view of downtown.  The Taylor Mansion has a large tent on their grounds, but I thought the garden area was starting to look unkempt when we visited about a year and a half ago.  It might be worth checking out though.  The Cultural Arts Center also much be worth looking into.  Hope that helps!

valelam

Thanks for all the advice! I have definitely expanded our list of places to look into. It's going to be hard to cut it down to just a few places for our trip home!!

akbrown19

i am planning from afar as well and had to fly home for a weekend to look at venues too. my best suggestion is to call/contact ALL of the places you're interested and find out exactly what they cost including everything - some places have a lot of hidden fees. then you'll be able to narrow it down almost immediately with budget constraints.

i narrowed it down to 6 venues and i was easily able to schedule to meet with people at all my venues, though it was a jam-packed. it was an overwhelming day and i thought i wouldn't find anything i really liked, but the last one ended up being perfect. good luck!

BAYB153

Welcome and congratulations! I recommend The Blackwell as a venue -- it can be a one-stop shop for ceremony and reception, has patio space and a nicely sized ballroom (up to 250). Also, if many of your guests are from out of town, you can crash there as it is a hotel.

North Bank Park would be a great place too, however since you are out of town, I think that may be a problem considering the way they go about "handing out" wedding dates. I think you have to show up and wait in line on the day you want to get married, but the year before. So, if you want to get married on June 9, 2013, you have to get in line on June 9, 2012. I don't know if that's how they still do it, but I'd look into it!

csh96

Congrats!  That was the same as our budget, except for closer to 100 people, so I know it's doable.  We had our reception at the Jessing center, though I don't know if that fits your outdoorsy/urban feel you are going for.  We also looked at several locations before decidiing including New Albany Links, another golf club I can't remember the nanme of ,  Atheneaum , La Scala, Creekside in Gahanna before deciding on Jessing.  Of course I googled at least a dozen more.  With your trip I would agree with others to book as many visits as you can.

Happy Planning!

lgillespie79

We picked the Blackwell because we can have it all in one place. The ceremony will be outside, cocktails will be inside and outside and the reception is there too! The best part too is they only do one wedding per day, so there won't be another wedding going on, like a lot of places in Cbus do. I don't have to provide transportation b/c it's a hotel too! It's really gorgeous and elegant. We just had our tasting the the food is phenominal!