Venue help please!

Knottie9a305662db8b1487

My fiance and I are paying for our wedding ourselves so our budget is tight. We want a wedding of about 100-125 people and we want to spend less than 30k. We have looked at a lot of places that just seem to cost a fortune. My friend managed to find a caterer in Lancaster and get her food around 30 pp plus alcohol but her venue allowed her to shop around for caterers. The vibe we want is something like Aldie Mansion or a place where we can have a white tent or something. We want it to be homey but rustic. That being said aldie was nice but we worried if it rained everyone would be cramped for cocktail hour and the menu was 110+. Does anyone have any ideas what we can do? I feel like we have been looking so long I am starting to lose hope.

Knottie1472489229

Do you mean 30k for the entire wedding or 30k just for food/catering/alcohol? Either way you could easily do it, but there's no way you'll find something for 30pp including alcohol! The cheapest I saw when researching was about $75 pp

knottie2525060991

Check out the old mill in rose valley pa. I'm from Doylestown so I've been to a few weddings at Alde Mansion. The Old Mill does not allow you to shop caterers but the in house caterer is very helpful and will work with your budget. It's also BYOB so you can save money there as well. I am getting married there in September with 160 guests and we managed to stay under 30k for entire wedding 

knottie2525060991

Another place is the rosewood winery in newtown - it's a total diy place but you can chose whatever caterer you want 

knottie43c8500a778282ff

I strongly recommend Jeffrey Miller Catering. We are getting married at the Duke Art Gallery with them and are falling just over your budget with 150 people. They are extremely helpful with all planning and I couldn't be happier with the food selections and venue. Also, they are BYOB which helps to save a lot of money!

erin2308

I agree with the previous post and definitely recommend checking out Jeffrey A Miller Catering. We are getting married at the John James Audubon Center in September and we are so happy with our choice. The food is outstanding and they are so helpful. All of their venues are really unique and special, similar to their food choices, so you really get a lot for your money. I didn't want a plain old ballroom wedding day, and JAM catering is definitely going to make our day exactly what we wanted. 

dandi825

Not a mansion, but FI and I are getting married at Ballrooms at Boothwyn.  it's beautiful and we're coming in under $9k for 125 people including food, cake, decorations, and alcohol all provided within the venue. $30k is definitely possible.

thesamanthaball

I apologize for the book I am about to write....

Completely agree with checking out Jeffrey Miller Catering properties, and I want to build on their comments some more. Tyler Arboretum might fit what you're looking for, it has a white tent, barn, great ceremony and cocktail hour locations, sooo many ways to do it there. Rain plan was also super important to me. That's where I'm getting married and I will be coming in at just under 30k for 100 people. I'm also using their florist, Buttercup.

I actually think Aldie Mansion IS a JAM property, keep in mind that you get ALOT for what you pay for so consider that into their per person charge. There are plenty of enhancements you could add, but it's not like alot of places where you actually NEED to add them and your costs just continue to go up (I only added one dessert enhancement that was $2pp). I really came to this realization when pricing things out and "cheaper" places I had to consider either alot more in certain rental costs (chairs, tabless, linens, literally everything) or DIY which is also expensive. Also more to keep track of and a huge headache and stress. I promise that JAM is not as expensive as it appears to be at first glance.
 
MOYO in Skippack is another one of their venues and I think that one might even be a little cheaper and is super cute, although no white tent. Their cocktail hour set up is just to die for.

Also, you can use partyspace.com for other ideas as well. You can filter everything down to what you need and see a lot of cool places you might not know of otherwise. They also have a handy calendar to see what dates are available too!!

Hope this helps and good luck!!

Knottie9974f2e7632ac83b

I agree JAM catering is the way to go! they have so many venues to choose from. I am getting married at the John James audubon center but they have a ton of places. MOYO I would die to get married at but we have huge families so our guest count is over 200. your party would fit there and it is beautiful! You should definitely check it out