I'm engaged! Venue ideas?

RaquelS

Hello ladies! I am newly engaged, and in the beginning stages of planning my wedding in March or April 2012. I live on the east coast of Florida, but would love to have a beautiful sunset wedding on the beautiful beaches over on the west coast of Florida with a reception nearby. I'm not real familiar with the area over there, but from what I see online, I am aiming for Siesta Key, Gasparilla Island, Anna Maria Island, St Pete Beach, Clearwater Beach areas. I will be leaving the state of Florida a few months following my wedding. With that said, I need it to be VERY budget friendly. I will have a guest list of about 40 - 50 people. I am HOPING to spend no more than $6000 total. Not including dress, tux, rings, alterations, accessories. With all my online searching I have been doing, it's looking pretty tough to do it within that budget. Any ideas?

amyorlando25

Hey Raquel!

First off CONGRATS!!!!  As far as venue goes, I'm getting married at the Grand Plaza on St Pete Beach and the cost is right around your budget.  They have been AWESOME with the planning part and pretty much everything is included in the package except DJ and photographer.

I'm sure someone here will be able to give you other places that are maybe even less1

Good luck

PS: I'm on the east coast too

CJTeacup

I personally think that Anna Maria is one of the more budget friendly places, i'm not sure about the other venues. Beach house or Sandbar, there are tons of places that you can call and find out prices on AMI. Good luck!

bananafanafofashley

without having to pay for all that other stuff i definitely think that it is doable with your budget. i can't give you any advice as far as venues go though.. sorry!

mbathey

Congrats!   I do think your budget is doable, with that amount of guests.  I am getting married on Anna Maria Island, at the Sandbar Restaurant.  The pavilion is right on the beach, feet in the sand.    There is also their sister site, the Beach House as CJ Teacup mentioned. 

If you do it on a Sunday or Friday, the rental is $1250, with a $2500 food and beverage minimum for 60 guests or less.  Saturdays were $2000 rental with $5000 minimum.   I found the coordinators at both places to be easy to deal with, and they were not trying to "upsell" me at all.  In fact, Patti at Sandbar was brutally honest and told me what was necessary and what was overkill in terms of spending too much money.  I appreciated her honesty!

Good luck with your search!  Let me know if you need more info

teachermegs

Glad that you made it over on the board.
There is also a tiki place down there that just started doing weddings.

RaquelS

Thanks for all the great ideas, I'll be sure to check them out. @teachermegs: can you give me more info on the tiki place? Also, I will be heading over to Anna Maria Island for that festival you mentioned, thanks!

gnatters

Welcome and congrats!  My sister was married at the Beachouse on Anna Maria back in 2007 and it was perfect for her.  She had about 60-70 people there, and she was supposed to be married on the beach, but TS Barry came through that day, and they moved the ceremony onto one of the tiki decks.

I absolutely love the beaches on Anna Maria and Siesta Key.  They aren't as commercialized as Clearwater nor St Pete Beach.

~Natalie

teachermegs

Here is their website:

Gulf Drive Cafe + Tiki

900 Gulf Drive, North
Bradenton Beach, FL 34217

941-778-1919
Peter Barreda or Wendy Kakeren
www.gulfdrivetiki.com/" target="_blank" title="Visit their website">www.gulfdrivetiki.com

Reception Venue

I don't know much about it. I usually go their for breakfast. The tiki bar is new, the only downfall that I see is it is very close to the road.

The Sandbar is off the road and has a separate pavilion for weddings.

klw0022

I agree, AMI or Siesta key would be the best budget friendly places.