So it's been a nightmare trying to find venues for our June 2013 wedding... we are HOPING to cap it at 200 people, but we'll probably end up inviting 230-ish and hopefully 30 of them won't come! It's hard to say though, because most of our guests are family, and my family is REALLY close and I know they'll all show up... =/
My dad is paying for the reception, and he wants a plated dinner and open bar for 4 hours with decent liquor brands... he also would ideally like to have it at a hotel so people won't be drinking and driving. Basically, he wants a nice formal event. My fiance and I live in Capitol Hill (Denver) and we suggested having the reception downtown, and my dad liked the idea because there are a lot of entertainment options for guests (90% of them are OOT).
Well, we've been coming up with venue quotes and we've established that the cost will be around $26,000-$31,000 for the reception alone! Not including photography, DJ, flowers, invitations, etc.
The Brown Palace quoted us $31,000 for 200 guests (including gratuity & tax), the Grand Hyatt quoted us $27,000... I thought maybe the Embassy Suites would save us a bit of money, but no -- still around $27,000. We looked at places like The Chateaux, but after adding up all the costs, it seems like everything is going to cost at LEAST $25,000 for what my dad is looking for.
My dad is convinced we can find something for $20,000, but I don't think so... especially for the level of service he's looking for and the number of people we're inviting.
Ugghhh this is frustrating... anyone have any suggestions???