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.
Re: Venue help please!
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!!