My cousin just announced her engagement, and I'm her MOH. She isn't particularly organized and not much of a planner, so I offered to at least do the initial searching so she doesn't feel so overwhelmed. She is on a very tight budget, and will be cutting corners where she can, but I haven't lived in the Lansing area in years and am not sure what her best option for a reception would be. It's going to be a small-ish wedding, less than 100 people, and she is having it on a Thursday. Is there anywhere that is under/close to $500? I've been doing some searching and I came up with:
E.L. Hannah Community Center
The Ingham County Fairgrounds community center (which does have a deposit, but the actual cost doesn't look too bad)
Turner-Dodge House
I'm also looking at the Grand Ledge Opera House and the Grand Ballroom in the Realtors building, but those say nothing about price. They also seem like they might be out of her league.
Do any of you ladies have any suggestions? Any place you have had experiences with? I'm going to keep looking, but I figured maybe there would be some answers here that I never would have thought of.