HELP. Outdoor/Barn/Farm/Garden Venue

simplebridetobe

Ok ladies I need your help!!!
We are looking to stay on a SMALL budget.
That being said we both want to get married outdoors around trees or a garden. and we both want either a tent or an indoor area for the reception. Either is fine but these are our must haves.
(If we could pic we would do like a refurbished barn on a farm or an apple orchard, but beggars can't be choosers)
We also want to be within 30 minutes of Portland
We have 150 guests.
We have looked into:
Pineland Farms, Wallingford Hall, Gilsland Farm, Wells Reserve, Highlander's Garden, Barn on Walnut Hill, Laudholm
The problem we ran into with most of these is they gave us a very high price that often didn't include catering or a tent/chairs/etc.
We are trying not to be be picky we don't ned anything fancy or traditional. We just need a nice simple inexpensive outdoor wedding. Ideas???

jpickering8

What is your budget?  That would be helpful to know

simplebridetobe

6,000-7,000 prefering closer to 6,000
Keeping in mind that flowers will come from my own garden. Bar will be cash bar. Cake will be multiple small cakes from a local baker which is actually a lot cheaper than one huge wedding cake. So we have some areas where we can cut costs

jessicabessica

Do you plan to have music and dancing?  I was going to suggest looking at state and city parks (many have covered structures you can rent for not too much $), but I'm not sure if you could have dancing, or at least there wouldn't be a dance floor set up. 

simplebridetobe

Yes to music an dancing, for sure. I mean we could bump up our budget but i'd rather not.
I just feel like its silly to spend 10,000 on a wedding, but there might not be an alternative because i've been researching a lot of outdoor venues

simplebridetobe

I'm still waiting on a reply from Highlanders Garden in Saco but i've read on here that other brides have gotten some very high quotes for what they offer. So we shall see what she throws at me.

If anyone knows of a barn/farm/orchard I haven't thought of though please throw the names at me because one of those would rock!!

I'm also waiting to hear back from Clarks Cove but they are a little far away.

Oh and when I say 6,000 I really mean that for venue and catering costs

hcorr34

Camp Ketcha? I think they actually have a barn to use.  I have NO CLUE what they charge, but I was looking at their website the other day and saw they had some rustic spaces.

LHB2011

If you're willing to go a little further out than 30 mins from Portland, you could check out 1812 Farm in Bristol.  You can get married outside and have the reception inside.  it is owned/run by Stone Cove Catering.

amshaw1

Bath is going to be about 40 minutes away - but the Maine Maritime Museum is really pretty, can get married outside by the river and then they have a place for indoor reception.  I can't remember how many people it can hold.  I looked into it and they were really affordable.  They do make you use one of their approved caterers but they had a long list to choose from, both standard catering companies and some local cafe/restaurant type places.

simplebridetobe

yes we looked at the 1812 place, although at an hour and 15 its really a haul but definitely considering it depending on the quote they give us

amshaw1

Oh! Thought of a couple more - Pineland Farms in Gray, and there's one I'm trying to remember the name of that is in Gray or New Gloucester or somewhere near there, very camp-like and rustic, in the woods and wicked pretty, and if I remember right very affordable.  It will come to me.... or maybe one of the gals will know. 

simplebridetobe

Pineland farms is on the pricier end we did already look into it. Would love to hear about the other place though!

hcorr34

Also a little more than a half hour away, but Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield looks pretty.  A co-worker is getting married there and the pictures she's shown are gorgeous.  Her entire wedding is costing less than your reception budget and she has about 100 people.

amshaw1

I remember!! Damn - it's in Poland, not Gray.  That's between 45 min to an hour so might be too far.  But its Cliffside Lodge
http://www.cliffsidemaine.com/

simplebridetobe

Hmm I do like the stone mountain arts center but their minimum is 75pp which is about 11,250 not including DJ but including venue and food. Still up there though in price.

But its a beautiful venue and ideas like that are definitely what i'm looking for!!! thanks guys keep it up!

hcorr34

I'm curious where your Stone Mountain Arts Center price quote comes from.  I know for a fact that my co-worker, who is having her wedding there in June, is paying significantly less than that for 100 people.  Her entire budget for everything was around $8000. 

simplebridetobe

If you head on over to their website
http://www.stonemountainartscenter.com/ArtsCenter/weddings.html
you'll see the cheaper wedding package is 75 per person and that does not include use of their sound system with if your having a dj you have to choose to have use of thir sound system which is 500
with 150 people that gets expensive fast, if some people can't come and say we have 140 its still 11,000 plus tax and gratuity will bring it up to about 14,000 unless their prices include this then its just 11,000 but thats more than we want to pay especially for an hour drive for all of our guests

hcorr34

I'm guessing they have some cheaper packages or a la carte options that they don't have on their website.  Again, a co-worker of mine is having her reception there in June and her entire wedding, including dress, photography (which I know she has said is over $1500), decor, invites, using their sound system with an iPod, etc. is costing her $8000 for 100 guests.  I'm not trying to push the place on you, as I have nothing to do with it.  I'm just trying to let others know that you can have a wedding there for significantly cheaper than you are quoting.

simplebridetobe

Well I'll shoot them an email then and see what they say! Can't hurt!

kbunkwedding

I've been pretty impressed with Village By the Sea. I went there for their open house and it was nice. I'm doing the wedding in the winter so having an outdoor service was not an option. But they have a gazebo and there are great pictures online of their outdoor weddings. It's right near Wells Beach. And it's a great deal. www.vbts.com.

Good luck. :-)

LillyBean7

I know of these two right now: Broadturn Farm, Scarborough, Turkey Hill Farm, Cape Elizabeth. I also have a wholesale flower place that does weddings as well as sells flowers bookmarked on my other computer. If you send me an e-mail I will remember to send you the link. Hope this helps!

jwade1867

I noticed someone above already mentioned this, but I just booked Camp Ketcha in Scarborough as my venue.  I too looked at many of the places you looked into as I was looking for a barn type venue.  I am on a very tight budget and none of the places were fitting my budget so I had sort of given up on the barn wedding. I then stumbled across some photos of a wedding at camp ketcha and it looked like the setting could definitely work for what I wanted.  Once I emailed about pricing and looked at the venue I realized that it would work great. I'm not sure if it would accommidate 150 people as they say it can accommidate that many but I think it would definitely be tight but may be worth a look for you. 

aprilmay412

I didn't read through all the responses, but Thompson's Apple Orchard in New Gloucester Maine has a GORGEOUS gazebo on top of the hill, overlooking one of the orchards.

My ex-husband's family owns it and it's only a couple hundred bucks to rent. I don't think they have any pics on their website, but it is SO worth a drive to see it.

www.thompsonsorchard.com

If you wanna call with questions... 207-807-6869  ask for Mike. Tell him April sent you... hopefully, he won't charge you more for that! hahaha

Ttweedie10

I realize I'm a little behind on this post but I figured I'd respond to help anyone else who is looking for similar venues. I've looked at basically every place listed and they are all too expensive if you want a $10,000 total budget. Stone Mountain Art Center personally emailed me a price quote. The cheapest they have is $75 per person, and it's only for Fridays. This does include sound system, food, and an open bar (beer and wine only). Just thought I'd clear that up. I'm currently looking into Camp Ketcha, it sounds like it will be a little more reasonable!!