A Reasonable Budget?

ashc88

Hello everyone!  My name is Ashley and I'm newly engaged and new to The Knot.  My fiance and I are having some trouble coming up with a reasonable budget.  We are looking to get married in either South Jersey (think Cherry Hill/Cinnaminson area) or Bucks County (think New Hope/Peddlers Village area.)  We are thinking June of 2013, and a ceremony/reception with around 120 guests.  There will be 10 people in the bridal party.  All of the venue websites I look at say nothing about PRICE and since we are so new to the planning stages, I don't want to start e-mailing everyone yet.  Has anyone had a wedding in those areas with the same criteria as us?  Can you offer any insight into the amount of money we are going to spend?  I greatly appreciate any advice!  Thanks!

krizzo17

We looked in the Cherry Hill area, aiming to spend less than $100pp with no minimum number of guests. We found the Camden County Boathouse, Marion House (not the Merion or Merion Tribute House), and Aulettos to be very reasonably priced. We didn't look at anywhere where the venue was separate from other costs, so I can't help there.

The boathouse was around $99pp for a Saturday evening wedding with food, open bar, and cake from Gallos (really good, if you've never been there). They did have a 100 guest minimum, which we were afraid of not meeting (although it looks like we will after all)

Marion house was slightly less (maybe $70 or so per person?). They included all food, had a smaller number of minimum guests, and provide a bar tender for you to bring your own liquor. If you buy it from Canals on Route 38, you can return any unopened bottles/cases after the wedding. They have very lovely artificial flower centerpieces that they provide.

We ended up choosing Aulettos, where we rented the terrace room (they have 2 rooms, which can be combined into one for a very large wedding). This included a beautiful ceremony space, cocktail hour with hor d'oeuvres in the wine cellar, open bar, buffet dinner (chicken, beef, and fish), a cake from Terminis in South Philly, and fresh floral centerpieces for each table from Cooks florist. For a Sunday afternoon, we're paying $110pp including tax and tip. There was only a 65 person minimum.

An easy way to save, since I was set on a Saturday evening wedding, is to pick a Sunday of a 3-day weekend. This way, you get Sunday rates, but your guests don't have to go to work in the morning.

Hope this helps!

OliveOilsMom

A little away from Cherry Hill is Brigalias in Sicklerville.  It used to be the Winslow House for a long time.  Most people who do not know Brigalias will know the Winslow house.  We have about a 100 people on our guest list.  Brigalias is one of the best deals around.  We looked at many different places and even though Brigalias has a 100 person minimum, they were still cheaper than places who had a lower minimum guest count. 

The facility is beautiful and the grounds surrounding the building are beautiful as well!  The highest tier wedding is about $109 pp (2011 prices).  I am doing the 2nd highest tier, basically less hors d'oeuvres and no flambee dessert station, for $96 pp.  The cake is included as well as a centerpieces on the table.  Also, there is no price difference between sit down or buffet. 

We just had our food tasting on Saturday and it was so so so so so GOOD!  They don't advertise, they rely on word of mouth, so that helps keep your costs down! 

tanyanubin

Those sound wonderful! My daughter will be getting married at the Merion (Cinnaminson) over Memorial Day weekend, 2013. Their rates are anywhere from $125/pp to $190/pp. They are willing to work with you. That's all inclusive of a great deal of food, open bar, appetizers, wonderful cake and ceremony room. However, the ceremony is an additional $800--$1000. It's a beautiful place, and has great ratings from what we've seen online.

ashc88

Thanks for the responses!  I just looked into the Camden County Boathouse and it's beautiful!  I'm definitely adding it to my list.  I'm going to look into the Marian House also, although their website doesn't seem to have much on it.  I would love the Merion, but sadly, that is way out of my price range  Thanks everyone

krizzo17

One more thing - The boathouse is catered by Vitarellis - really, really good food. If you haven't been there, it's near the intersection of Chapel Ave and Kings Highway (on Kings Highway) in Cherry Hill.

PHughes819

When I started my planning I had made an appointment with Vitarellis to check out the Boathouse early on a Sunday morning- got there waited a half hour for the girl to show up and never did.  We had other appointments that day and couldn't wait around all day.  I emailed/called and never heard anything back. 
We ended up going with Valleybrook- We are getting married the weekend before Memorial Day on a Sunday after taxes/tips we are paying about $108/pp.  We have premium top shelf bar, sit down dinner, ceremony Filet Mignon and martini bar- the cake and centerpieces are included as well.

frugalphillybride

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_south-new-jersey_reasonable-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:128Discussion:b4bff379-64f7-4845-915c-ceab6dbdc996Post:70ddce37-b7d4-412a-91e6-3b20b420f449">Re: A Reasonable Budget?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks for the responses!  I just looked into the Camden County Boathouse and it's beautiful!  I'm definitely adding it to my list.  I'm going to look into the Marian House also, although their website doesn't seem to have much on it.  I would love the Merion, but sadly, that is way out of my price range :(  Thanks everyone :)
Posted by ashc88[/QUOTE]

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</div><div>Hi Ashley!  I would have loved to get married at the Merion but also found it to be way out of my price range.  I actually just had my wedding at Marian House recently and had a great experience.  You're right, the website doesn't have much on it, but if you email them, they get back to you super fast.  They will send you a brochure in the mail with the info and prices.</div>