Looking for a nice, elegant venue that won't bankrupt us!

triciaandkenswedding

Is there such a thing?  LOL   We aren't looking for anything over the top, simple, tasteful, good food, ceremony on site.  And a venue that is more about what we want then "the xyz experience" (actual quote from 2 vendors as to why we couldn't cut down on the amount of food offered to try to lower cost) Any suggestions?

ashc88

Have you looked at the Bradford Estate?  I don't know what your budget is, but we are very happy with what they're offering us.  They worked with us to get a rate we could afford.. plus, it is beautiful! 

triciaandkenswedding

Really?  We did meet with them, and they weren't open to working with us.  Maybe we should go back?

jneen101

Scotland Run worked with us on price and it's beautiful there.  Can I ask what your budget is?

triciaandkenswedding

Not 100% sure.  We wanted to be around 15K for 130, but that isn't looking possible

OliveOilsMom

I would look into Brigalias in Sicklerville.  They won't work with you on the price, but they have different packages and I think one of them will work out for you.  And think if you work with your budget right, you can pull off the wedding for 130 people on 15k.

dat5053

try valleybrook. Tracey is awesome and she worked with us on the price and got us down to $2 over the budget we wanted. We are having 120 people and spending 12000 on the entire wedding(ceremony, reception, dress, etc). Just send her an email and let her know what you want to pay per person.

triciaandkenswedding

Thanks for all the suggestions.  Brigalias is on our Saturday appointment list.  I've left messages at ValleyBrook.   Part of the issue is people aren't taking us seriously when we say 2017.  They' take my check seriously

 

dat5053

2017 might be a problem for most places. It's not that they are not taking you seriously its more that their prices go up every year so they cannot give you a concrete price yet. They will usually book 2 years out, but any more than that they dont have pricing for that yet. I'm not sure if you will be able to find a place that will book that far out so you may have to wait till they start booking for 2017.

krizzo17

Is that 15k your whole wedding budget or your catering budget? If it's your catering budget, check out Auletto's or the Camden County Boathouse. If it's your whole budget, try Marian House in Cherry Hill (not The Merion in Cinnaminson - lovely, but pricier).

ashc88

Maybe the Bradford just can't think that far ahead?  I know they recently switched management, and they update/make drastic changes pretty often.. so perhaps they can't plan into 2017.  I'm very satisfied with them so far though!

ogormanc1

We used Indian Spring Country Club in marlton, they were great. Really willing to work within our budget and came down a lot, but since we were a Dec wedding we may have had more wiggle room.

tac727

We are using Valleybrook and they have been nothing but helpful, and Tracey, the event planner, has helped us by finding other vendors (photo and DJ) that are willing to work with our budget!

MCH1445

We looked at so many venues before settling on ours. Valleybrook (and Tracey!) were great! Valleybrook ended up being too small for us, but they were very flexible.

We looked at Bradford and unfortunately had a terrible experience. They would not give me their prices via email. When I called I gave them my budget over the phone, and they told us to come in for a tour. We drove all the way out there, toured the place, loved it, just to find out that their smallest package in fact was NOT in the budget I had given them over the phone. When I asked if we could remove some of the food (they do offer a TON) to meet our budget I was literally told, "I'm sure your wedding will be lovely, but we can't do that because that would not accurately reflect the type of wedding we want to have here." Apparently it had something to do with the new ownership. I was heartbroken. To make matters worse I think they forgot that we had already toured the place, so after the fact they kept calling me, which was so depressing since I really wanted them but they weren't in our budget.

We booked Camden County Boathouse. Fell in love right away, and they were reasonably priced with plenty of caterers to choose from. Booked it, and then a few months later received a call that Cooper River was being dredged, and that there is a very strong odor associated with dredging. They offered to help us find another venue. They refunded us (though our caterer did not ) and we had to find another venue. If you're not in the "dredging window" I would really consider the Boathouse! It's beautiful!