Richmond Area Reception Locations and Food...help!!

2bwritten

Hi All,

Woo hoo for my first post!! Here's the deal...been engaged for almost a month now and have gotten absolutely nowhere with planning. My fiance and I have encountered a lot of problems from both sides of our families (concerning planning and setting a date) and have finally gotten things calmed down but cannot set a firm wedding date until we know the rough costs of the reception venue/food. We are getting married just south of the City of Richmond and would like to keep the reception right around the city/metro area. I've already looked at a few places that I am interested in, I just would love to hear suggestions from people who have actually used some of these places. I've only lived here for about 6 years, and my fiance has lived here for less than that so we really don't know any good, reliable places. We are expecting no more than 200 people and would like to have everyone seated for a buffet style dinner, and I would really love to have an area set aside as a dance floor. I'm open to places that have their own catering as well as to places where I'd need to bring in a caterer (if I could get a few caterer suggestions too that'd be amazing!!). The biggest factor here is budget...right now our date is set for a year and a half from now and neither of us really want that. The less expensive the wedding, the sooner I can actually get married!! Thanks everyone!!

Renee

sassybanana

Try paring down your guest list if you are looking for something cheaper.

2bwritten

That's the problem...that is the guest list already cut down. Odds are it will come out to between 150-200, but we won't be able to go lower than that.

Dont AskMeAgain

We are having a very small wedding about 25-30 people, then later have the big party. I noticed most venues charge more for weddings while social events or parties are significantly cheaper. Is there any way for you to cut down your list then have a big party later?

medicapril

It will be tough with that many people, but try looking at the following:

Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center
Montpelier Center for Arts & Education
The Rockville Center

As for catering, I've heard wonderful things about Champagne Taste Catering & I also got a very reasonable quote from Traditions Catering.  You may also want to check out local restaurants as well, like Buz & Ned's, Joes Inn, or Mio's... I know they cater and they may be within range of your budget.

GL!

2bwritten

DontAskMeAgain, we had considered trying to do the ceremony and a smaller/more informal reception after, with a bigger party later for our family and out of town guests, but it came back to that awkward question of how to not have too many people feeling left out. As it is we're having an open ceremony and a closed reception (for the 150-200). My fiance is a pastor and I work at another local church and between the 2 alone we're probably looking at having a couple hundred people show up at the ceremony and since we DEFINITELY can't afford to invite every one of them to a reception, the 150-200 include family and closest friends only, so we can't cut down any more than that. It's definitely making planning interesting.

I don't need anything super super cheap, I mainly need recommendations of caterers/reception venues that are worth the money and/or are not at the tippy top of the price range. I've found a lot of seemingly great deals but I don't know what's good and who's reliable to actually follow through with a great turnout.

And thank you for the suggestions, medicapril!!!!!

(Sorry, haven't gotten the hang of replying yet!)

medicapril

Glad we could help... also, you may want to look at The Place at Innsbrook- they had an open house not too long ago and the food was decent, parking is ample, and they include a lot of things in the price (tables, chairs, white linens, catering...etc)

Happy planning!