I Need a Venue!!!

lindseroo

Even though my wedding is still over a year away, I'm trying to find potential venues so that I can begin touring in January.  The only problem is, I am having SO MUCH TROUBLE trying to find a venue that meets all of our needs!  My fiance and I are both from Albany, but went to different high schools, so we know a LOT of people who will all be local.  I also have a pretty huge family.  Anyway, we're probably going to end up inviting (at least) 400 people.  We are paying for at least half of our wedding on our own, since my parents have four daughters, I'm only the second, and they have to keep the budget precedent low LOL.  We can't afford to book a venue that has a contracted caterer, because, well, they're always waaaay too expensive!  My aunt is a caterer, so we have that covered at the cost of food, but need somewhere that will allow her to do it.  Also, our wedding is going to be in March, and we all know how Oregon is in March---we're going to need an indoor venue!

So...all that being said, does anyone have any ideas for me that are at least semi-affordable?  We really don't want to cut our guest list, so I'm trying to exhaust all of our options before resorting to that.  Thanks for the help!!

Oh, and I'm willing to go anywhere in the Willamette Valley, would go to the coast too.  But probably within two-three hours from Albany.  Will consider going farther for the right place!

kizat

I can't remember if they make you use their in house caterer or not... but have you tried the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas?

When I was looking for my venue, I remember thinking that they seemed reasonable but I think I'm going to end up elsewhere.

I'm sure another issue for you will be parking, and since it's a hotel, they have an ample parking lot.  Also, since you'll know a lot of local people, but I'm sure you'll have some out-of-towners, Monarch offers price breaks for guests that stay at the hotel the night of your event.

Good luck!

lindseroo

Thanks!  That actually looks really awesome.  Although they do have a caterer, I am probably going to go up there and look at it because it's honestly the first place I've seen with TWO rooms big enough for my guest list!  Their catering menu seems to have some affordable options as well...we'll just have to see.  Thanks so much!

kizat

Good luck!  I have Jan (the coordinator) on my twitter and she's really nice and helpful!

pdxmouse

You might also try the McMenamin's sites. You do have to use their caterers, but there aren't any site fees.

Parks & Recs have some nice places and you can use your own caterer, but 400 people indoors might be too hard to find.

How many do the facilities at Silver Falls hold? Not sure if that's too far out of your way.

If you haven't checked already http://bravowedding.com is a good place to start.

CaliopeSpidrman

I would recommend you really think about your guest list size.  Right now you're early in planning and still caught up in wanting to invite everyone you've ever met.  But it might be a better idea to cull the list some.  Use the rule that if you haven't talked to these people in a year, they shouldn't be invited.  If you can cut your guest list to a more manageable size, that will make the wedding more affordable and you'll actually be able to spend time with the people you love most instead of spending your wedding day playing gracious hostess to a bunch of people you hardly know.

mayflymanitou

What Cali said....

And McMenamins can be quite affordable depending on the food you select.  You only pay a food and beverage minimum which includes the site rental and all your tables, chairs, linens, dishes, etc.  Grand Lodge, Edgefield, and Kennedy School all have larger spaces that might be able to accomodate your group size.

estherandgeoff2

I just wanted to say the same thing Cali mentioned. Really think about who you want to invite because 400 people sounds like way too much! We had 130 guests and that was almost too much. There were still several people that I didn't get to talk to. If you haven't spoken to someone in over a year, they shouldn't be invited, IMO.

And I third the McMenamins option. We got married at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro. See bio for details.

VitaLuna

I agree that some guest list revisions are in order. Having that many people that you're kind of close to will take away from your time with the 100 or 150 that you are very close to. Although, it's your wedding, not ours : )

Check out the Alumni Center at OSU. They have a big ballroom that holds a lot of people and allow you to choose a caterer off their list (which, if I remember right, has several different price options).

lindseroo

Unfortunately my guest list isn't too "cut-able."  We will expect 300-350 to attend, but 250 of the 400 invitees are my family members.  I don't think they will all come, but they do all have to be invited.  Honestly, I probably have 10-20 actual friends on the list.  This is because, like people have said, I don't care to invite people I haven't talked to in forever.  When I imagine my wedding day, I would rather see and visit with family than some casual friends! 

And thanks for all of the venue suggestions, I will have to look into them!  I have looked at McMenamin's, but quit when I saw they have a caterer.  I will definitely consider it more strongly now that I know they have no site rental fee!  Yay!  And I have looked into the OSU Alumni Center.  They seem to have some pretty reasonable catering options, so they're still on the list of possibilities!

DramaGeek

Just wanted to say I feel for you.  I wanted a small wedding but H wanted a big blowout event and my parents sided with him.  Since they were footing the bill, guess who got vetoed?!  We ended up with 485 on the guest list and 330 attending.  It is damn hard to find an indoor location that can handle that.  We ended up getting married at the church I grew up in, even though I really wanted an awesome, unique venue, because none of the awesome, unique venues I could find could hold us all.  It sucked and I was totally bummed, but I will say that we had a wonderful ginormous wedding and everyone had a good time.  Seven years later people still talk about it, so it must have been memorable!

lindseroo

Oh my goodness!  You just said exactly what I'm dealing with haha.  I wanted some cool ballroom, but we'll probably end up in the church I grew up in 'cause it's huge.  Plus I just talked to my mom last night, and she reminded me of some relatives I had forgotten about.  Awesome.  I keep telling her I hope they say no and just send me a check in the mail LOL.  I feel like a horrible person, but more than anything we really can't afford to feed all of these people!  Oh well...hopefully we get lots of nice stuff

It's encouraging to hear that you invited so many people and not all of them came.  I'm hoping to keep the number of guests around 350, but so far we'll be inviting at least 450.