Venues that allow outside Catering. Opinions Please

Get_it_Done

Hey Ladies,Can I get your opinions and experiences on Venues that allow outside Catering.Would you prefer to have a Venue to only have in house Catering.OrWould you prefer to have a Venue that only charges a facility fee and you can choose your own Cater or bring your own food/drinks.The purpose of my question is we are considering a Venue that does not allow outside Catering. They mentioned it something they may consider in the future but thinks its not really worth it.Whats your take on it?T I A

myvette13

I think it depends on the in-house caterer and the type of dishes and drink you want to serve.  I know for us we save anywhere between $2500-$4000 (cheapest in house caterer we saw vs. a more expensive in house caterer) on alcohol by choosing a venue that allowed us to being in our own caterer and hence supply our own booze.  One thing to consider is if it requires a minimum.  Based on our experience we had originally booked a very nice venue with a 'higher-end' in house caterer and a fairly large minimum.  Halfway through we opted to switch venues to a DIY kind of place.  Best decision we ever made.  We are ~30 days from our wedding and our finding out that almost 50% of our guest cannot make it to our wedding due to the economy, etc... We would have never had made out minimum at the other place. (not to scare anyone...most of our guests are out of town.  We invited 160 and are now expecting 80-90 people) 

Brit12

myvette: would you mind telling me where you're having your receptions? I've been looking into venues that allow outside catering and drink - mainly because my FI's family is so large, we need to cut costs where we can and have found that's where we can save the most money.

StephyJeffy

We opted to have our ceremony/reception at a place that allowed outside vendors, so we could cut back on cost - we had our wedding at the Olde Gahanna Sanctuary, had Culinary Classics Catering (Pastaria from the North market) cater, and bought our own alcohol (a couple cases of beer and 2 buck chuck. Since we had no limit for the alcohol, our total drink budget was $250ish, and we had a bunch left over.

myvette13

BritK: We are using the Bryce Eck Center http://www.standrewparish.cc/?id=164. It is about a block from the church so its not attached to St. Andrew and you do not have to be a member to rent it out.  The price was faily cheap (I think $900 for insurance, rental, and monitor from 7pm-12pm on a saturday night, its cheaper if you dont go to 12 pm).  Also if it isn't booked the day before they let in early for free to decorate.  It has a large ballroom (about 150 people) and is fairly new (clean).  We were also able to work a deal with a nearby hotel for free transportation to and from the reception hall.  Chase Suites in Dublin.

myvette13

oops Brit12.

kerr

I prefer venues that let you bring in your own caterer simply because it allows you to set your own budget and shop around for the best deals, type of food you want, etc. You aren't locked into something you really don't want, and you can play with pricing a bit more.

BlairDunlevy

Bryn Du Mansion allows you to bring your own caterer and if you get married in the mansion you get up 10-6ft long tables and 10 5 ft rounds included