Venue for a Midsize Wedding

cakemurderer

I'm starting to plan a wedding for about 80 guests and would appreciate any feedback from those of you who have done or are doing the same. My budget's $12k with most of the expense going to the reception. I'm planning to skimp on other things, like getting a used dress, doing my own hair, FI wearing a suit he already has, no wedding favors, etc. Initially I was against the idea of a "wedding factory," but the more I started to look at what they offer and the convenience, the more I'm swayed. Plus there don't seem to be many unique venues around here, so I gave up on looking for one. The most important thing to me is finding a venue with great photo ops where we can throw a fun party for our friends and family and feed them good food. I don't want to travel too far east of the Deptford area since some of our guests are coming from PA, and I want them to be able to get home at the end of the night. In other words, nothing at the shore.

I was eyeing Brigalias until I saw there's a 100 person minimum for their smallest room, and I wasn't too impressed by the looks of their smaller venue, Villa Manor. Right now Auletto Caterer's is at the top of my list, but I fear their fees may exceed the $120 per person (including tax) I'm aiming to pay. The wine cellar looks neat, though!

 

Rode's Barn in Swedesboro is also on the short list, but I'm not sure I'd know what to do when it comes to handling all of the decorations myself since it's a DIY space. The fact that they only offer a consumption bar option also scares me off since I know we'll have some big drinkers at the reception. On top of that, things like bussing the tables and linens aren't included and will cost extra. I'm also concerned from looking at pictures if there will be enough dancing space for my guests.

Lucien's Manor is tempting since it sounds like they have flexible packages within my budget, although my FI had his first wedding there so I'm not sure if people would find that weird. I don't think I'd personally mind but I don't want to field questions or hear comments about it on my wedding day.

I'm feeling totally lost when it comes to choosing a venue, especially since I'm not from the area and none of my friends have gotten married here. It also seems like a lot of folks here have huge weddings with 100+ guests, which isn't in the cards for me, so I can't get inspiration from looking at the web. If any of you can help I'd love to hear your experiences and advice. Thanks!

OliveOilsMom

I had my wedding at Brigalias and can't say enough good things about them!  I thought that on Sundays they did not require a 100 person minimum, I thought it was lowered to 75 on Sundays.  That may have changed since they did the upgrades.  I recently drove past Villa Manor and thought it looked really nice.  I know you will get just as great food choices there as you will Brigalias.  Our wedding had exactly 100 people, so we just met the minimum there.

Other places to check out would be Maggianos in Cherry Hill.  They are able to host weddings there and my sister attended one there and said it was nice!  There is also the Plaza.  They just moved to Berlin on Cross Keys Rd, sort of in between where Luciens and Brigalias is located.  There is also Adelphia's, I think there big thing was that if you had under 100, your reception stayed within one room.

Lastly, I just read on Philly.com that the Goodwill in Pennsauken is having there huge bridal gown blowout on Feb 14th.  They are samples and new dresses donated by designers & boutiques, plus any that have been donated.  They range from $49 to $299.

cakemurderer

OliveOilsMom said:

I had my wedding at Brigalias and can't say enough good things about them!  I thought that on Sundays they did not require a 100 person minimum, I thought it was lowered to 75 on Sundays.  That may have changed since they did the upgrades.  I recently drove past Villa Manor and thought it looked really nice.  I know you will get just as great food choices there as you will Brigalias.  Our wedding had exactly 100 people, so we just met the minimum there.

Other places to check out would be Maggianos in Cherry Hill.  They are able to host weddings there and my sister attended one there and said it was nice!  There is also the Plaza.  They just moved to Berlin on Cross Keys Rd, sort of in between where Luciens and Brigalias is located.  There is also Adelphia's, I think there big thing was that if you had under 100, your reception stayed within one room.

Lastly, I just read on Philly.com that the Goodwill in Pennsauken is having there huge bridal gown blowout on Feb 14th.  They are samples and new dresses donated by designers & boutiques, plus any that have been donated.  They range from $49 to $299.

I'd seen some of your posts and you were so enthusiastic about Brigalias that I really wanted to check them out, so was disappointed when I saw the 100 person minimum on their website. I'm not sure we want to go the route of a Sunday wedding (for the sake of out of town guests who need to travel home), but maybe I'll reach out to them to check. It's a beautiful venue!

I hadn't even thought of Maggiano's so will add that to the list of venues to check out.

Thanks for the tip about the Goodwill and all of the good ideas!

OliveOilsMom

I just drove past it tonight.  Another place to consider would be Villari's Lakeside in Sicklerville.  

cakemurderer

Thanks! Yet another one to add to the list that I hadn't even considered.