Rental Houses - Lobster Bake

SWood426

Hey guys! So I'm totally knew to this whole site and I'm having some difficulty in my wedding planning.  My fiance and I are looking to rent a house on the water somewhere in either Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island.  We're looking to do more of a laid back reception with a lobster bake / clambake theme.  We're having trouble finding a place that will accomodate approximately 175 ppl.  We would like to rent a home to we are not stuck to the 5 hour minimum because we have people traveling from all over.  The plan would be to have a cookout out the home on Sunday for all the people who stayed in the area overnight.  We're both very laid back and easy going people and this idea would fit us perfectly....although I'm stuck... Any ideas!??!

RoyalOrient

There are definitely rental properties available but not too many can accommodate 175 people. It is also a lot more expensive to rent a home because of the insurance cost, rentals of tables, chairs and china plus the addition of portable toilets, and electric generators (for lighting, cooking, ect.) You will definitely need to hire someone to coordinate the affair even if it is laid back reception.

However, I do know of a few traditional venues that might fit the bill for a lobster or clambake. The Herreshoff Marine Museum and Roger Williams University Global Heritage Hall have outdoor settings with a view of the water. Both are in Bristol, R.I. There is no overnight accommodations. I also recommend you check out Five Bridge Inn in Rehoboth, MA. You can book the entire bed and breakfast for yourself and guests. Really beautiful and picturesque. Also, the wedding is under a huge tent. Another venue is Country Gardens in Rehoboth which is also a bed and breakfast too. All of the venues I mention above require an outside caterer or from a preferred caterer's list. 

I also suggest you post this on the MA and CT boards for more suggestions. G.L

http://www.herreshoff.org/events/index.html

http://www.fivebridgeinn.com/

http://www.rwuweddings.com/

chrispygal

We ended up doing something simliar to this (but for 60 people) up in Maine.  We found our venue by using sites such as vrbo.com, homeaway.com, etc.  We are not on the water but are in the Mountains and the home we rented is beautiful.  We have the house for a week and will be building our honeymoon into the trip.

I agree with PP that this ended up being WAY more expensive than just having the wedding somewhere, but it is not just for 5 hours.  We have a whole weekend with people and if you break down the cost per hour, it's a way better deal.  I like the idea of the B&B and there is also a place in RI that is not waterfront, in the woods rather, but you can rent out the entire place.  It's called Whispering Pines.  Here's a link to a DIY wedding that was feattured on style me pretty.   http://www.stylemepretty.com/2010/04/07/diy-wedding-in-rhode-island/

kdemos

Hi there - this sounds almost exactly like what we're doing!  We're renting a house on the water in Jamestown, RI and although the owner originally said 100ppl max, she was willing to accomodate us at 125 (I don't know if she would go for 175, but it's a possibility - I can send you her info if you're interested).  

We don't have a wedding planner, but Moni's totally right - it's a huge undertaking and you have to be prepared to handle EVERY detail.  That said, I'm a total nerd and love organization, so that probably helps!  Also, our wedding isn't until September, so I might go crazy between now and then!


I was so afraid of getting in over our heads price-wise, and had heard horror stories of it, so I very carefully tried to price out everything beforehand (speaking with someone who has done this before is helpful b/c there area tons of details you might forget that you have to pay for, like portable restrooms as Moni mentioned!) and then compared it to the other sites we were considering.  Most sites we looked at were about the same when you tally it all up, and some were even way more.  The rental itself was not astronomically expensive, so that helped a lot (an important piece of that is that we were able to just rent 1 wk at the house as opposed to 2 - many ppl only rent saturday-saturday in high season in RI and becuase of that for a Sat wedding, some places were going to make us rent for 2 wks - that TOTALLY would have broken our budget!!! so keep that in mind!)

Also, don't underestimate the savings you will get in providing your own alcohol!!!! It's so huge. 

 We'll be having several events at the house in the time leading up to the wedding (including -hopefully!- a casual clambake rehearsal dinner) and a brunch on Sunday.  There are definitely pros and cons of doing it this way, but it was perfect for us and exactly what we want, so we're super happy!

I'd be happy to try to help in any way.  I also recommend vrbo.com, and maybe calling realtors in areas where you might want to go.