I recently got engaged and am in the process of looking for a venue in
the DC area. I am open to Maryland and Virginia (even a couple hours
away) as well. It seems like no matter how much I search, I can barely
find anyone that can accommodate our needs within our budget.
We are looking at having approximately 180 guests - and would want to
do the ceremony and reception in the same location. The bigger issue
really is our budget. We pretty much need to be under the $22,000 mark
(AT MOST!) for the space and catering. For $180 people - this seems to
be really really difficult in this area given that we want a full open
bar and cocktail hour as well. Not to mention, we of course picked a
Saturday in June as our ideal date (not the most reasonable time to get
married).
We do have a back up option, but the room is incredible long and
narrow and I feel like we would barely be able to see our guests. It's
really important to us that everyone has a good time and can dance the
night away together! I'd love a venue that is a bit more visually appealing than what we currently have - doesn't have to be a grand ballroom - but I don't want it to feel like just "event space" either since we won't have tons of money to jazz it up with decorations.
I realize I might be looking for a needle in a hay stack, but any
advice on possible venues that fit this criteria would be greatly
appreciated