Intro and asking for help finding a venue

jamiemarie33

Hi everyone!  I figured I'd introduce myself before I start asking a questions!My fiance and I just got engaged a little less than a month ago in Jekyll Island, Ga.  We've been together for almost 7 years.  We live in Gainesville, but we are both from PA (via NY for me and NJ for him).  Although we met in high school, we didn't start dating until college when we both moved to Florida.  I went to UMiami and he went to a college in Naples then to UF.  I moved here after graduation four years ago, and we both got our master's degrees from UF.  We have an awesome dog, a German shepherd, Mikko, and a crazy cat, Wiley-Kat.So we plan on getting married in the Spring of 2011, probably early May.  I know it's a while away, but I am a planner and love to have everything planned early, and we'll be doing a lot ourselves.The location is what matters most to us.  Luckily we both want the exact same thing- a garden wedding (ceremony and reception), with the (night) reception being either under a tent or covered patio, where we can hang lights.  Problem is, I can't find exactly what we are looking for.  The Sweetwater is nice, but a little out of our price range.  We are working with a pretty strict budget, but with some flexibility if we find the perfect place (I didn't realize just how strict until I starting seeing how much everything costs!) Any suggestions for a venue?  We are open to most of north/central Florida.Thanks!

jagore08

Hi and welcome! I was just wondering if you had a meeting with Sweetwater. I had my wedding there in May and I thought the place would be out of our price range too (our budget was 15k for everything including our plane tickets from Cali to FL). After talking with them and seeing how much was included with the venue, it came out to be a very reasonable price compared to what we had looked at. I know I am bias about Sweetwater but if you haven't sat down and spoken with the event planner, you should. It's a gorgeous location with excellent staff. Good luck.

janedoe1113a

Try looking at Dorothy B. Oven Park in Tallahassee.  It's gorgeous! 

janedoe1113a

Oh and welcome to the board!  Can't wait to see you around more.

clseale13

What about the oldest house gardens in St Augustine? I have no clue what the price is...but it sounds like it might work for what you're looking for. Here are a few pics of weddings planned there. http://www.staugustinehistoricalsociety.org/garden.html

clseale13

Sorry...take out the and the link should work. And welcome to the board.

clseale13

There's also Palm Valley gardens. www.palmvalleygarden.com...but they might be pricey. It's worth a call though.

katiek200

Hi I live in Gainesville too. I'm also getting married at Sweetwater Inn also! Just like Jagore we thought we couldnt afford it, but i got a quote and found it really reasonable. The fact that you bring in your own alcohol really helps. As far as other venues in Gainesville, The Thomas Center will let you do an outdoor ceremony. How many people are you wanting to have at the wedding? That will really help determine what venue and the price. Also, are you set for a saturday wedding or would you consider a sunday?

GatorD

Hi and welcome to the board!I am getting married in Gainesville.  Our reception is at the Thomas Center, but you can have your ceremony there, too.  The gardens there are absolutely beautiful.

icantstandstill

I was also going to suggest the Oldest House Garden's in St. Augustine. That or the Llambias House, which is across the street from the Oldest House Gardens. A woman named Cheryl coordinates both sites, and I thought she was really nice when we met with her. We didn't end up booking with them, but I was really drawn to the Llambias House because I thought it had a very cool "Secret Garden" vibe to it.

DevonStiles

Cummer Museum in Jax comes to mind... but I think its pricey.

clseale13

LOL...yeah...The Cummer is my venue and I didn't even think to mention it. The rental is quite pricey...but I certainly don't have an unlimited budget and I'm making it work. It really helps that you can bring in all of your own vendors.

jamiemarie33

Thank you everyone!  All of the places look beautiful...just a matter of what they quote me now!I did correspond with Sweetwater via e-mail and got a few quotes.  Fridays and Sundays minimums are more along the lines of what we wanted to spend, but since both of our families are traveling from up north (PA, NJ, NY), we thought a Saturday night would work best.  I got a quote from The Oldest House, which is more than Sweetwater.  The more quotes I get, the more I realize that Sweetwater really isn't expensive...We love the Thomas Center!  However, they don't have an outdoor covered area for a reception.  I wonder if we should take our chances without a covered area?  Or maybe have the inside available just in case?  Is anyone doing this?

GatorD

We are doing cocktail hour outside at The Thomas Center and using the inside for backup in case of bad weather.

mon.petit.chou

what about kanapah garderns in gainesville?