New to the site and would love advice!

LRM2012

Hi Everyone!
I am new to the site. I have recently got engaged and I am planning a wedding for July 2012 (I am an early planner). Our wedding is going to be on a budget of $10,000, so things will be tight. Nonetheless, I know we can do it, but I will need help from those who are experienced. I know very little about wedding planning, but this site is helping a lot so far.

Right now, our priority is the venue. We want our wedding to be in Lexington. Originally, we wanted to have it at a hotel b/c a lot of guest will be OOT. We expect around 150 people. We have found a lot of hotels to be WAY out of our price range, but the convenience of the idea is so nice! We recently found the Clarion (originally the Holiday Inn-North at Newtown Pike) to be within our price range. Has anyone used this venue?? Any advice?

Another option is the Tates Creek Ballroom. Has anyone tried this venue? Any advice? We know it is around $100/hr. Does this include the time spent decorating and setting up? Also, any ideas about decently price catering, less then $20/plate if possible?

We have played with the idea of doing a "potluck" type wedding. I know this seems tacky. However, our family and I are very laid back, so a BBQ type style would fit well withour personalities. I would still like it to be classy, but comfortable. Also, I am a vegetarian, so it would be nice to know that I would have something I could eat. My fiance's family is more than happy to cook for us. However, I know this is a lot of people to cook for and perhaps, may cost more than catering??? Any thoughts?

squirrly

Re:  the Clarion.  I've not been inside the hotel in 15 years, minimum, so I couldn't tell you anything about the hotel itself or the experience.  However, I *think* they have a new chef as of June or so of this year.  If the chef IS Chef Owens, you'd be in good hands on the food - he was the chef at our venue for our wedding and the food was spectacular. 

I don't know anything about the Tates Creek Ballroom aside from what's on the internet.  http://www.themusicdifference.com/vendors/tatescreekballroom/ That site (which is an excellent resource, FYI) states the hourly rate DOES apply to setup/teardown. 

As for a potluck reception:  please don't.  The only reason TO do this is cost.  The reasons not to are numerous:
* Food preparation time will overlap with getting ready/ceremony time.  Why should family members miss your ceremony or be hurried getting ready?
* You might end up with 8 servings of green beans per person and no other veggies.  It's hard to be properly balanced with potluck.
* Who will refill the empty buffet containers?
* How will you keep hot things hot and cold things cold?  Food not at the right temperature will give somebody salmonella - a really bad way to end the night.

Bottom line - it's a logistical nightmare. 

BBQ, however, is a SPECTACULAR idea.  You can have BBQ catered very cheaply, and there are several great places.  We had BBQ for the welcome dinner the night before our wedding at my parents house, and had it catered by a BBQ place from Winchester.  (I can't remember the name, but I just sent my mom a message to ask, so I'll post that when I hear from her.) 

Here's a long list of caterers in the area:  http://www.themusicdifference.com/vendors/all-caterers.html Personally, I've had food from Billy's BBQ, Joe Bologna's, Wallace Station, Good Ole Days, Dupree, Made from Scratch, South Van Events, and Turf Catering.  It's been a while for the ones in BLUE, but other than that, I'd recommend any of those.  (Not a knock on any of the others - I just haven't had their food.)  Call around, ask for prices, and look at menus (many of them are available online). 

Things to ask - you'll need plates/cups/flatware/etc.  Is that included?  Do they take care of beverages?  Are non-alcoholic beverages included?  Do they provide table linens, napkins, chafing dishes, etc?  How early do they need a confirmed headcount?  (Later is better for you.)  Do they charge a fee to cut/serve wedding cake?  Do they bake cakes or do you need a separate baker?  Do they have restrictions on what bakeries are acceptable? 

Another pretty big expense is the photographer.  You might want to think about your budget for that & start looking. 

There are a lot of DIY ideas in my planning bio.  DIY will help you get the most for your budget. 

I hope that helps get you started!

LRM2012

Wow! Thanks Squirrly for the great advice! This is a huge help. Like I said, I am very new at all of this and you bring up some good points that I have not thought of. We are thinking of doing cupcakes instead of cake (my fiance and I do not  like cake, and do not want leftovers). Do you think that this is a cheaper route? I looked at Baby Cakes (Lexington) online, and it seemed much cheaper.

As far as photography- we were thinking of using a friend from OH. She does mostly portraits, but I figured she would be fine for the wedding and would be slightly cheaper. I am toying with the idea of a videographer. I would love it, but I hate to spend the extra money. I guess I will see on how much I can save with the rest of the stuff. Any ideas for photography/videography?

I will look at your planning bio and the websites you suggested.
I can't thank you enough!

squirrly

Our photographer was out of Louisville - Bella Grace Studios.  That was a really important item for us, so we were willing to spend a bit more on it.  I couldn't be happier with how that worked out.  We have great photos that will last a lifetime. 

For video, we used Bella Blue out of Lexington.  We paid for 2 HD video cameras, each with an operator, and just got the raw footage.  That was a lot less costly than having it professionally edited too.  I can do some basic editing work, or we can pay somebody else to do it later - but there's no recapturing it later, so I wanted to at least get the raw footage.  You *might* be able to find a photographer that would do the same thing - just take photos and give you the digital negatives, with no editing, for a good price.  I'm not sure. 

Cupcakes are a good idea.  Their price can really vary, though.  Typically they're not ornately decorated, which helps a lot with the savings.  But, they can take more room to display at the reception, so keep that in mind.  The biggest thing with cake/cupcakes is go taste them.  Make an appointment with all the bakeries you're interested in (no more than 3 in a day - sugar overload!), and taste what they have to offer.  They can give you a quote at the time, and you can work through your list to come up with good choices for you.

Don't forget grocery bakeries and places like Sams, though - if you're not looking for fancy flavors, you can often get a really good deal on a tasty, if basic, cake/cupcake that way.  The same is true for flowers, many times. 

Overall, the less decorating you need to do at your venues, the better off you'll be - less money on decor, less time spent working on decorating/cleaning up, etc.  So if you can find a venue that requires very little work, it's probably worth a little extra expense compared to something that needs a lot of work. 

adunn09

One of my friends got married over the summer and had her reception at the Tates Creek Ballroom.  We looked there when we got engaged, but decided on ArtPlace on Mill Street instead. 

At Tates Creek Ballroom you do have to pay the hourly fee for set-up and break-down of your event.  It does come with tables and chairs, so you don't have to pay to rent those, which is nice.  The one thing I would say about it, though, is that the flooring and wallpaper are very dated and sort of ugly.

I would second what Squirrly said about www.themusicdifference.com. That website has fabulous overviews of a lot of different venues and vendors in central Kentucky and it's where we looked to get started on our search.

I'm also on a budget of around $10,000 to $12,000, so we've been working very hard to prioritize things.  I loved the idea of having our reception at ArtsPlace, so even though it's a little more than I wanted to spend, we're working around it.  Because it's an art gallery, we're doing minimal DIY decorations, so that's saving us some money.

Another one of our priorities was a great photographer.  We hired Hands Up Visuals (www.handsupvisuals.com)out of Louisville.  Brad, the photographer, went to college with my FI and since he's fresh out of school, his rates are really good.

Good luck with everything!  I think you'll find that once you prioritize it's easier to afford the wedding than you might think.  I'm having a great time planning and I hope you will, too!

LRM2012

Thank you Squirrly and Adunn, you have been a great help! I am so happy I discovered this site because I would be lost without it. Adunn-I might look at the photographer I mentioned. Do you think he would travel to Lexington?

I love the website themusicdifference.com, it was a huge help. I have to admit, I was pretty overwhelmed with all of the caterers and the different prices. It sure seems to be a lot more convenient to use a hotel, but you pay for the convenience. I have also looked at the Red Mile round barn (Bayou Bluegrass Catering), the Barrel House (Bluegrass Catering), and Fasig Tipton (Central catering). However, Fasig-Tipton is appears to be out of our price range. Anyone have experience with these?

KyCountryGirl15

We looked at having our reception at Red Mile, but the price was more than we could afford.  Tates Creek Ballroom is TINY and not in a very easy to find location. We had our wedding at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, it a beautiful location for outdoor wedding and they have a great clubhouse for the reception. You can use your own caterer, which is something most venues do not allow. 

Dupree Catering is one of my favorites they have reasonable prices, also Sonny's BBQ does cartering and it's very inexpensive.  Good luck, I know planning can be very stressful!

squirrly

I think the Round Barn is going to be pretty pricey. 

BTW - are you including alcohol in the 10k budget?  I was assuming not. 

LRM2012

Yeah, the Round Barn seems pretty pricey. I am not including alcohol, we will most likely have a cash bar. Thanks KYcountygirl15-I am hearing a lot of negative things about Tates Creek Ballroom, not just from this site.

Planning can be stressful, but also fun and exciting-especially when you have the support from those more experienced on the site!

adunn09

Brad from Hands Up Visuals does travel to Lexington.  He charges mileage (at the 2011 IRS standard rate), but that really doesn't tack on too much to the cost.

KYCountryGirl's idea of Sonny's BBQ is awesome if you want to do a BBQ reception.  I've had their catering before for a party and it was great!

I loved the Round Barn, but it was out of our price range.  We also had a caterer in mind (Atoka Catering out of Boyle County) and we were leaning towards a venue that allowed us to pick our own.

inkygirl

I'm a bit late here, but wanted to toss in another BBQ place...Old KY BBQ.  It's off Newtown at Winchester Road and is AWESOME.  We did the Dinner of the Month Club and used our November certificate there when traveling through at Thanksgiving.  Holy cow was it good!  They do catering too. 

I also will recommend getting your cupcakes from someplace like Sam's.  It's 30 cupcakes for $12.88 and they're GOOD. 

Trust me, spend the money on good photography.  And you want someone who is experienced in wedding photography, not just someone who has done portrait work. For video work, you can just borrow handhelds from people and set up tripods with them and then pay someplace like Video Kitchen to edit the footage that you provide. 

On flowers, you can get loose flowers from a florist and arrange them yourselves.  We did that with baby's breath and green button mums.  My bouquet was done by a florist and everything else was done by my BMs and MIL.  Saved us loads of money! 

All said and done, we did our wedding for about $3500 total, but we had a lot of things already (like my dress from being engaged a few years ago) and did almost everything ourselves.  If you need help with anything DIY, don't hesitate to ask me!

LRM2012

Thanks so much Inkygirl!

Erin275

Photographer??-Nvisible Photography! Very affordable (they will even work with you on prices and beautiful photo's!)

carlygetsmarried

I don't know all that much about the Lexington area either, but I wanted to reiterate what the other ladies said about photography - you get what you pay for!  In the end, your guests aren't going to remember the food a year down the road but you will have to look at these pictures for the rest of your life!  I'm using Amanda Egan (www.amandaeganphoto.com) & I really love working with her so far.  Her prices are, I think, in the same leaque as most other photographers here in Louisville but she does have lower cost options and she was willing to work with me on a custom package.  I am also on a $10K budget, so I completely understand your frustrations!  Good luck to you! 

Kristi&Jared

I have sturggled to find a decent priced caterer. My FI and I were thinking about a pasta bad and fruit and veggies. The best price I have found it Bella Note. They have great food and the price is GREAT!

Jandoe2011

So what did you decide on?  Who are you using for a DJ and photographer?  I am using the Tates Creek Ball room 7/23/11.  I've got a million more questions.