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San Diego Venue - 250-300 people

NOCANNOCAN member
First Comment
in California-San Diego
Hi all,

My fiancee and I are newly engaged and have just started the wedding planning process.  The first thing on our list is to lock up a venue of course.  However, we're having a hard time coming up with viable options given a couple pre-requisites that we have right now.

As it stands, we are looking at somewhere between 250-300 attendees.  That might be trimmed but I'd like to plan for that amount right now.  I think perhaps even more difficult is that we'd like to be able to bring in our own food for h'orderves and drinks at the venue.  The reception will be banquet-style at a chinese restaurant after the wedding, but we'd still like to offer some Indonesian food and drinks at the wedding itself (she's Indonesian and I'm Chinese).

Does anyone have any recommendations on locations that might be able to accomodate both the large # of people and the ability to bring on our own food?  Our budget isn't fully set yet but I'm thinking something in the range of 4-5,000 for the venue (not including food).  I'd be willing to pay a fee to bring on our own food if that was possible.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!!

J
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Re: San Diego Venue - 250-300 people

  • Chels&JimmyChels&Jimmy member
    First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary
    Welcome and congratulations!

    I am confused by your post. It sounds like you already have your reception site and food locked down, but are looking for a ceremony site and also want to serve food/drinks there too... is that correct?
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  • NOCANNOCAN member
    First Comment
    Hi Chels&Jimmy, thanks for the response!  Yes, that's pretty much it.  We don't necessarily have the reception site locked in, but as it will be a Chinese banquet, it will be at a Chinese restaurant and not at the actual wedding venue.

    We're looking for a venue for the ceremony only which can also accomodate an area for cocktails and some light snacks after the ceremony.  It would be optimal to be able to actually bring in our own food for the snacks/h'orderves as we would like them to be Indonesian and there are no Indonesian caterers that I know of.  However, I think we're coming to the realization that being able to birng on our own food to the venue most likely won't be able to happen as the majority of venues require a licensed caterer.

    In any case, if you have any suggestions that would be great, thanks!
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  • Chels&JimmyChels&Jimmy member
    First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary
    Wow! I am curious to know where there is a Chinese restaurant in San Diego that will seat 300 people. 

    Have you looked into city or county-owned parks as a potential ceremony venue? That would be pretty inexpensive and provide you with a lot of space. I am not sure whether they would allow you to bring your own food, or whether a licensed caterer would be required. 

    Also... are you sure that you really want to bring your own food? Preparing and transporting food for 300 people will be a pretty overwhelming task. Another thing - why not just have the drinks and hors d'oeuvres served at your reception site, prior to dinner? If you plan on taking photos after the ceremony, it may not be a good idea to have all of your guests still hanging around there, eating and drinking and wanting to take pictures as the photographer is taking pictures... I can see it being pretty distracting for the photographer and the bridal party. 
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