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Unique venues in the Albany/Saratoga/Lake George region?

CaitlynScottCaitlynScott member
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in New York-Upstate
I am dead set on NOT having a cookie cutter wedding. I feel like all of the weddings that I have been to lately are just like the ones before. No one does anything unique anymore. Ideally we would love to have a destination wedding but the opinions from those closest to us are rather negative on the topic. I am looking for a unique venue. Maybe a museums, galleries or theaters (or really anywhere out of the ordinary, but preferably indoors as were shooting for fall 2010) capable of accommodating about 75-80 people, plus all the other necessary wedding junk. I already looked into The Museum of Dance and Auto Museum in Saratoga. If we had an extra $2000 laying around to just RENT the space we would be all about either of those, but we dont. Thanks!
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Re: Unique venues in the Albany/Saratoga/Lake George region?

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    jnic0319jnic0319
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    The Palace Theater in downtown Albany I heard does great weddings and definetly unique and different! HTH
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    MillerPuglieseMillerPugliese member
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    edited December 2011
    I agree w/PP on Palace TheaterOthers:Capital Rep TheaterAlbany Institute of History & Art11 North Pearl - not a museum but the artictecture is awesome - used to be a bankAltamont ManorJack's Oyster HouseLongfellowsThe Appel InnRiver Stone ManorThe AlgonquinThe Pruyn HouseGood Luck and let us know where you decide!!
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    jnic0319jnic0319
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    edited December 2011
    I second 11 N. Pearl GORGEOUS...but you have to rent the facility and then get catering on top of it.  I think the facility rental was 3k, which for us was a little high.  We are actually getting married at Riverstone Manor, which I found to be reasonably priced.
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    CaitlynScottCaitlynScott member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Heres the problem, I dont have room in my budget to pay an outrageous rental fee. Chances are, were paying for most of, if not all, of the wedding ourselves. We absolutely cannot go over $10,000 for the entire thing but I would love to stay closer to $6 or $7. All of your suggestions have been great and some I have already looked into. Looks like its going to be a "cookie cutter" country club wedding like everyone else has. If anyone has any suggestions for venues under or around $50 a head, I'm all ears (well eyes, but you know what I mean)!
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    srblack72srblack72
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    edited December 2011
    I know it's not a venue suggestion, but I just wanted to say, if you're limited by your budget, that doesn't mean you can't have a really kick-@ss unique wedding at a country club.  I felt the same way about our wedding (all of DH's friends got married within one year and I was SO SICK of the typical wedding garbage.  It was so frustrating).  You can really get creative with the other touches and make it a lot of fun!Also, what we did was had a really pretty ceremony and cocktail hour at a beautiful hotel on Lake George, and then went to my parents' house and had a BBQ.  It was fantastic! (and didn't have any rental fees!)Whatever you do, good luck and I hope it goes fabulously!  Stick to your guns and do what makes you happy!
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    CaitlynScottCaitlynScott member
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    edited December 2011
    I know I can make my wedding as unique as possible, I'm just so sick of the country clubs and hotel ballrooms. By now, they all just look the same. We'll remember our wedding forever, but I want to make sure our guests do too. One unique idea I was considering doing was serving a brunch buffet instead of a dinner. We would still have the reception later in the day but serve brunch foods (omelet & Belgium waffle station, misc breakfast foods, pasta and carving stations, soup and salad). Rainers Gourmet has a FANTASTIC brunch buffet. They cater events at the B & B on the green in Hudson Falls. That is definitely a unique venue that I would consider but no one ever answers my emails or returns my phone calls (quite aggravating). I wish we had more affordable venues around here. *sigh*
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    amlewis83amlewis83
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    edited December 2011
    Depending on the time of year, you could look in to renting a pavilion at Saratoga State Park and have a BBQ type reception.
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    am&pm09am&pm09
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What about the crooked lake house in Averill Park or having it at Thatcher park?
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    lynniearudnerlynniearudner
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think you are limiting yourself by trying to find a "venue." What about something at your home? At a local park? At a state park around Lake George? At a camp like the one on Echo Lake in Warrensburg? Those are usually affordable (pending the time of year, needing to rent things, etc). There are also a number of vinyards just south of you guys (in the New Paltz area) that do amazing weddings. Not typical country club at all. i bet you will find something great!
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    AKatharineAKatharine member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Srblack72 if you don't mind sharing how much did the ceremony and cocktail hour at the Sagamore cost?
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    srblack72srblack72
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Not a problem.  It was around 10k.  Which was way more than I wanted to spend, but I learned pretty early in the process, I didn't argue about budget with my mom when it was something her and my dad were paying for.  I would have gone less expensive (not so much changing the location, but maybe scaling back a bit on the cocktail hour), but we really loved it there, and my mom was alright with it (very excited actually).  So I stopped arguing.
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    Jen42881Jen42881
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    edited December 2011
    What about The Egg or the Observation Deck in the Corning Tower?
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    notquiteblushingnotquiteblushing member
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    edited December 2011
    I've always wanted to go inside this place, the Ten Broek Mansion. It has gorgeous gardens in the back and you can apparently rent the entire mansion out for a reasonable sum.  Good luck! http://sites.google.com/site/tenbroeckmansion/
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    librarianbecklibrarianbeck member
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    edited December 2011
    My fiance and I have a similar wedding budget to you.  We chose the Appel Inn in Altamont.  I had read some negative things online about the owner, Laurie, but decided to go ahead and meet her for myself, and she has been nothing but kind, helpful, and enthusiastic.  If you get married there on a Sunday, the rental fee is $1600, and she really does recommend and work with vendors who want to save you money.We got a really good deal on a photographer, her favorite DJ has an unbelievably low fee, and the caterers she works with are highly flexible in pricing.  It's totally possible to have a wedding there for under 10K.  Take a look and see if you like it. 
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