I am marrying my best friend of 9 years- who became the true love of my life 6 months ago. He just proposed right before Christmas- and due to the unique nature of our "family owned" business being seasonal- we are really aiming for an early September 2015 wedding. His family lives right on the OH/PA border (Youngstown Area) and although we live in CT- 95% of my family lives in Northern Jersey. 3 hours between both locations appears to be central PA- the State College area. After checking with both families (we are keeping it small- 50 people or so) both families have said they feel totally comfortable traveling a bit and staying overnight for the wedding on their own dime- as we've done a lot of traveling for other family weddings over the years.
Ideally we'd like a place where we can a. serve alcohol, b. hopefully hire our own catering, and c. have a more rustic feel- particularly barn-ish or outdoorsy. Have already realized many of our options are out due to being 8 months out of our preferred dates.
Any suggestions?! We hate to go too far off from route 80 as that adds a lot of extra driving for both families. Thanks so much in advance! Ps. Our budget for about 50 people is 7-10k. The less the better- but have a budget up to 10k if needed.