Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!!

cmdias78

I feel as though I've exhausted all of my resources so I'm reaching out to the knot community. I'm in the beginning stages of planning a summer 2013 wedding and am afraid my perfect venue isn't out there! My fiance and I are looking for something in the southern maine area that is less traditional than a function/banquet hall or country club, something with an outdoor option as well as indoor in case of inclement weather. We love the look of barn weddings (we've looked at Laudholm Farm, Barn at Walnut Hill and Chandler House B&B) or something just as unique and rustic. We've also looked at the Portland Company and loved the feel of their "room with a view" but felt it was missing the outdoor component. Although I realize my requirements are a little picky, I would LOVE help from anyone who may know some unique and reasonably priced wedding venues in the area! Thanks so much

hcorr34

Could you clarify what you mean by outdoor/indoor option?  Do you mean a place where people could go outside if they wanted or stay inside?  A place where you can have your ceremony outside and your reception inside?  Or just a place where you can plan for everything to be outside but you can change your mind and move it inside if the weather is less than ideal? 

PhishGirl

Merrill Farmhouse at Pineland Farms was beautiful.  We did a site visit and while the farmhouse didn't really jive with our specific plans, the barn space was gorgeous and there were a lot of great aspects to the entire space.  It's only suitable for smaller weddings though.  However, it might be worth checking out.

The Barn at Walnut Hill was ridiculously priced, in my opinion. 

MollyNicole24

from what I've seen online, Stone Mountain Arts center is Beautiful- not sure about the whole indoor/ outdoor options as It was a bit out of our price range, and we Didnt get to much more info about it.  It might be something to look into?   http://stonemountainartscenter.com/ArtsCenter/weddings.html

hcorr34

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maine_please-exhausted-venue-search?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:98Discussion:d24276de-2fee-4b3d-9a1c-231fea6ca2d7Post:c27f07f1-d093-4d56-8aaf-ea77d230cc20">Re: Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!!</a>:
[QUOTE]from what I've seen online, Stone Mountain Arts center is Beautiful- not sure about the whole indoor/ outdoor options as It was a bit out of our price range, and we Didnt get to much more info about it.  It might be something to look into?   <a href="http://stonemountainartscenter.com/ArtsCenter/weddings.html" rel="nofollow">http://stonemountainartscenter.com/ArtsCenter/weddings.html</a>
Posted by MollyNicole24[/QUOTE]


One of my coworkers got married there last June - had their ceremony outside and the reception inside.  Their pictures were pretty cool!  Lots of cool photo opportunities there!

joellennitsche

have you check out the barn of 1812? i cant remember where it is located exactly but i am doing a barn wedding myself and this is one of the ones i found online.

the walnut hill one was WAYYY to expensive even though it is beautiful!

nikkay19

Have you checked some Maine Summer Camps? A lot of them have beautiful grounds and beautiful mess halls, you will run into the occasional nasty ones. They are usually around the same price some more expensive than others.
I have also heard that board turn farm (name might not be that but similar to it) is beautiful. Or McLaughlin Gardens in South Paris I hear is beautiful as well.

joellennitsche

i am still searching for a barn as well-
is there any pictures of the barn at pineland farms?! i'd really like to see...

joellennitsche

i went to broad turn farm- the barn is SUPPERRR small was not really a fan of it- but you can check it out!

lclemence

There's also Red Barn at Outlook Farm. The place is absolutely stunning and they have a good indoor/outdoor option. I thought it was a bit pricey, but I guess they have a new "build your own package" option to fit into people's budgets.

LittleRandall

The only one I remember coming across is Red Barn. It is pricey. I also looked into Pine Land Farms and its was to much if you ask me. When your on a budget you don't want to spend most of it on the venue do you? I don't but that's me. I got some info by email from the black tie company, that is who does the weddings at Pine Land.The email has info and prices if you like I can get it to you. One of the things that turned me off was they $60 per head. We are on a budget and paying for our wedding so. Someone I know got married there though and it looked nice. I also came across Spring Hill not a barn but looked real nice and rustic.

sarahfowler38

It's more central Maine, than Southern, but we got married up at Sugarloaf. They have a bridal bridge outside that makes for a gorgeous backdrop for the wedding. We got some amazing pictures. Also, as part of the cost of the venue, you get an indoor back-up as well. Then we had the reception inside. You can choose from 3 different rooms, depending on the size of your party. I was so happy with my choice, but then again, I grew up at Sugarloaf.

BUT, all our out of town guests that had never been, thought it was beautiful as well.

SaraR715

Spring Hill, South Berwick http://www.springhillmaine.com/weddings.htm
The Links, also South Berwick http://www.outlookweddings.com/
Clay Hill Farm, Cape Neddick http://www.clayhillfarm.com/index.php?action=weddings

My wedding is an outdoor/tented reception on a private property. We wanted something different, that we could easily customize and personalize. The house is not large enough to move indoors but we will have side walls for the tent and a rain plan. I would recommend checking out vacation rentals and other non-traditional venues. Maybe you have friends or family with larger properties in the area you want to get married. Sometimes, at home weddings, can be fun, beautiful, and budget friendly.

Also - check out Seacoast Weddings magazine if you haven't already - it is the best bridal mag for this area! http://seacoastbride.com/

sprigowheat

The Barn at Merrill Farm house at Pineland Farms....the great thing is you can have 20 or so people stay overnight and have the Barn. Yes it is catered by Black Tie....is $60.00 a person high for a wedding?  That does not sound so, but I'm just remembering my wedding and it came to about $50, and that was years ago.

best,

Erin

hcorr34

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maine_please-exhausted-venue-search?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:98Discussion:d24276de-2fee-4b3d-9a1c-231fea6ca2d7Post:f2b7f8bc-ed01-4a30-8062-3845a703e656">Re: Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!!</a>:
[QUOTE]The Barn at Merrill Farm house at Pineland Farms....the great thing is you can have 20 or so people stay overnight and have the Barn. Yes it is catered by Black Tie....<strong>is $60.00 a person high for a wedding?  That does not sound so, but I'm just remembering my wedding and it came to about $50, and that was years ago. </strong>best, Erin
Posted by sprigowheat[/QUOTE]

That is an incredibly high amount when you're on a limited budget!  I only had $8000 to spend on my entire wedding, so that price would have taken up almost my entire budget for 100 guests.  There are tons of places around here that are significantly cheaper.  I paid less than $20 per person last summer and the food was AH-MAZ-ING!  Sure, there's places that are more expensive, but the opinion of how high or low the per person cost is tends to be pretty dependent on how much the person has to spend.    What is reasonable to one person can be sky-high for another.

SaraR715

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maine_please-exhausted-venue-search?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:98Discussion:d24276de-2fee-4b3d-9a1c-231fea6ca2d7Post:eeb516ac-394b-44c8-9c75-5d4f3fcc45ca">Re: Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!! : That is an incredibly high amount when you're on a limited budget!  I only had $8000 to spend on my entire wedding, so that price would have taken up almost my entire budget for 100 guests.  There are tons of places around here that are significantly cheaper.  I paid less than $20 per person last summer and the food was AH-MAZ-ING!  Sure, there's places that are more expensive, but the opinion of how high or low the per person cost is tends to be pretty dependent on how much the person has to spend.    What is reasonable to one person can be sky-high for another.
Posted by hcorrigan34[/QUOTE]

I agree with this - it is extremely dependent on your overall budget and what types of venues you are looking at. Since my FI and I both grew up in York, we wanted to get married here. I was shocked (and a little disgusted) to find that most of the typical wedding venues had $10-15,000 food & beverage minimums (in some cases on top of room rental/venue fees). Another place was just flat out $100/plate no matter what type of food you served. That is just stupid, IMO!

So if that's what you're looking at, then yeah, $60/pp is not "that expensive" but it is entirely possible to to feed people at a wedding for far less than that.

sprigowheat

I spent 50 dollarts....that included a tented deck, tables chairs linens etc......china, food and service.  and flowers and candles on the tables.

20 a head??  Impossible to be anything but the food and some people to maybe put it out.

You are not compating apples to apples.

You get what you pay for, most of the time.

At least I think so anyway.  Tell me the place, I will get married again there just to pay 20 for everything.!!!  

erin

hcorr34

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maine_please-exhausted-venue-search?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:98Discussion:d24276de-2fee-4b3d-9a1c-231fea6ca2d7Post:10ad4c70-3633-49e2-bd45-5ebe371e533f">Re: Please help! Exhausted by venue search!!!</a>:
[QUOTE]I spent 50 dollarts....that included a tented deck, tables chairs linens etc......china, food and service.  and flowers and candles on the tables. 20 a head??  Impossible to be anything but the food and some people to maybe put it out. You are not compating apples to apples. You get what you pay for, most of the time. At least I think so anyway.  Tell me the place, I will get married again there just to pay 20 for everything.!!!   erin
Posted by sprigowheat[/QUOTE]

No where did I say I paid $20 for everything, I said I paid that per person for food.  When other things were added in (linens, alcohol, etc.), I paid close to $32 per person, which is still significantly less than $50 per person.  I got married at Seasons Portland. 

You are making it sound like I had a cheap-o wedding, which I did NOT.   You sound very judgmental because I was able to pay less than you by saying that you get what you pay for.  I had an amazing experience, top-notch service, amazing assistance of an event coordinator, unbelievable food, and people who are still talking about my wedding as one of the best they've ever been to.  Not everyone has the ability to drop $10+ thousand dollars on a wedding, and that includes a lot of people on this board. 

People appreciate advice and ideas around here.  They don't come here to be shot down because they can't afford the same things you can.  Money is a very relative and sensitive topic with everyone in a very different financial situation.  Please don't put other people, or their weddings, down because they don't have the same funding as you had.