Hiya girls (and guys?),
I just joined the site yesterday and have been lurking around the forums and the venue/reception list posted for newbies.
We're planning on doing an Elvis wedding at the Graceland Chapel, but haven't sent in the reservation/deposit yet because we still need to decide about the flowers and some other things you fill out when you reserve. (BTW if anyone has any personal reviews that would be great- so far the staff has been really quick and helpful.)
But since the chapel doesn't do receptions we've been pretty stumped about what to do. Since I wanted to keep with the rock and roll/music theme, at first we thought about doing it at the Hard Rock Cafe or the House of Blues. Hard Rock Cafe responded to my inquiry, but I was really shocked that the best they could offer me for a "budget reception" was burgers and alcohol for $4,000 (once linens, gratuity, tax were added). I was pretty shocked, to say the least. I haven't heard back from House of Blues yet, but some other reviews lead me to believe it won't be much different so I'm not holding my breath.
Neither of us (nor our families) are fans of French food, and my FI hates Italian. We're also trying to stay away from "Asian" since we both live and would be flying in from Japan; generally the restaurants cater more to American tastes rather than actual authenticity and would probably leave our Japanese guests (and us) feeling rather unsatisfied. Ideally we'd like something more American with steaks and seafood since it would offer something for everyone. We're currently considering Joe's but are open to suggestions.
We just want some place with a simple decor, good food, but not too expensive or tacky. Am I asking for the impossible? ;____________;
I would love it if we had the time off or money to travel and visit some of the places ourselves, but unfortunately we don't so we've been doing everything online thus-far.
Sorry for the tl;dr post, but if any of ya'll could lend some insight that'd be great!