My fiance and I just got engaged and we would like to have a fall 2012 wedding. That is not a lot of time to plan - I know! Right now we are thinking of going to Lake of the Ozarks to get married with just our immediate family or even just our parents in September. We really want a fall wedding with a lake in the background - that is the main requirement.
Then we are wanting to do something else when we get back home to celebrate with the rest of our families and friends in the Springfield, IL area. We would like to keep costs down partly because we would like to start a family pretty soon (we are both in our 30s) and because as much as I would love the idea of some fantasy wedding I just cannot wrap my head around spending 20,000 just for one day - even if it is my wedding day!
So I am looking for ideas/input from other people on places to hold the wedding reception/party (not sure what to call it).
We would be open to holding it at a reception venue but obviously going to be somewhat difficult to book at this point. We have also talked about doing it late - 8 pm or so and just having bar and appetizers. And we are also open to Friday night.
We also talked about having something at our house - we have a huge yard! But is that going to be too much work for a day that we want to just enjoy? We are thinking in the neighborhood of 150 people and we have had parties in the fall at our house before with 75+ people and had no problem accomadating them. Would a tent rental work or be just as expensive as renting a hall?
Thanks for the help!!