Atkinson/Plaistow/Salem NH rehearsal dinner -- and centerpiece questions

desireecrossley

Hi there! We are getting married Sept. 30, 2014, at Atkinson Country Club. We are paying for everything on our own, and really REALLY need to save on a rehearsal dinner. We'd love to just do a simple bbq, where we will man the grill ourselves, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding a spot to do that near the venue. In lieu of that, we thought we'd do it at a local restaurant, but with a budget of $500 for 40-50 people, I don't know that it's even possible. My last idea was to use a meeting room at the HOliday Inn in Salem NH (I'm guessing that's where our guests will stay --- finding good hotels in the area was more of a challenge than I thought it would be, too! EEEK!) and just get pizza and drinks. Does anyone have any ideas at all to help? It'd be greatly appreciated!!! Also, Atkinson has a beautiful reception room with lots of windows and high ceilings. I hate the carpet, but my plan is to try to make tall centerpieces to work with the high ceilings and draw attention away from the carpet. Anyone have great ideas for centerpieces that are tall, elegant and inexpensive/DIY? THanks so much!

manda1933

I am getting married at Atkinson too and am in the middle of planning the Rehearsal dinner. I have not found a place that would fit your budget but you could do Polcaris in Salem and have a pizza buffet. Also, Atkinson does rehearsal dinner that start at $24 a person, the room fee is waived, and you get 5% percent off because you are having your wedding there.

 As for your centerpieces, I think they rent candelabras for $25 and they are really tall. You could also do something along the lines of tall vases with flowers or ostrich feathers coming out the top; just a thought.

manda1933

Also, the best hotels I found were the Holiday inn in salem, Best western in Haverhill, and comfort suites in Haverhill. The prices ranged from $99-$130 or so

AppleJam+PB

I was married at Searles Castle in Windham, and had a good experience with the Holiday Inn in Salem for both ourselves and our guests.  One important thing to note is that they don't block off a specific number of rooms, they just give your guests a discounted rate; this is ONLY done by calling the hotel itself, not the Holiday Inn 1-800 number!  If you do go with them, make sure to include the hotel's number with the accommodation info.  A couple of our guests called the 1-800 number anyway and were told that our block was full, which was not the case.

The Holiday Inn also has a Margaritas restaurant, which I have heard does catering starting at around $7 per person - quite cheap!  I am not sure if this is the case for that location (and as I said, I have only heard this; I'm not sure what comes with that cost or if it has risen since I was told) but it is definitely worth checking out.

My rehearsal dinner was held at The Common Man in Windham, where we had an excellent experience.  It was graciously paid for by my in-laws so I can't tell you how much it costs, but my mother held a different event there and was utterly thrilled with how inexpensive it was for 50+ people, so it also may be worth checking out.