Portland venues- 1 small intimate venue and 1 large informal venue

rojacobs · January 2012

Wedding in late 2012 or 2013...

I swear I have looked at and contacted every venue in Portland that I could find via Google... I'm having a hard time justifying spending a lot of money on 1 day (even if it's paid by family).

I would love something nice and fun, but found that a large guest list kills the budget, so my idea is this (advice is very welcome)-

A small, intimate ceremony and reception at a restaurant like Chart House for 50 people, buffet dinner, hosted wine and beer, wedding cake, dance floor. Then because I want to celebrate with so many other people we could do a large, informal reception on another day.

So, any ideas for a small venue that would have decent priced food and drinks? I'm having a hard time with buffet dinners at $40 per person, and house wine at $30 a bottle or a $20 corkage fee. In order to save money we are totally open to a Friday event in the off season, piece of cake.

For the large, informal reception I'd love to have something outdoors, with our own caterer (Hawaiian food), our own beer and wine (love some wine from Trader Joe's), a friend's band and a place to dance. I have looked at private vacation rentals, estates, farms, but everything seems to have a large rental fee and some don't allow outside caterers or alcohol.

I'm not originally from Portland (if you need Bend ideas, let me know) so I'm not familiar with all of the places I have found on Google (every ballroom in town, every event area that's specifically for weddings and events, etc).

And finally, maybe I just need to get over stick shock and plan to spend $10k no matter how I try to slice up the budget?

Thanks for the advice, I need all the help I can get!!

AbesPrettyGirl · January 2012

We're having our wedding at Cedarville Park (www.cedarvillepark.net). They allow outside caterers and alcohol. Rental price is reasonable.

JeremyHeartTrena · January 2012

I guess I'm confused. Two receptions sound much more expensive than one. I have a 10k budget, and it is hard, but there are places out there. Have you looked into the McMenamins locations? If you meet the minimum food/drink budget (which is very reasonable), you get the venue free of charge. So you can spend just over 3,000 for ceremony/reception venue, chairs, tables, linens and food. (depending on which one, some have a 4k minimum).

What is your budget? I agree I had major sticker shock when I began looking. McMenamins has definitely been the cheapest I have found. But if your budget is really tight, you will probably have to start looking at meeting halls and such that only have a few hundred dollar price tag usually. And don't think this is a bad thing. They are usually a blank slate that you can decorate at will

Also for cheaper, I would look outside the Portland area. Portland is a big city, so the prices will be high. Is there a reason you are picking Portland over Bend? Bend is gorgeous!

I hope this helps!

rojacobs · January 2012

The reason for thinking of 2 events is that I could have something really nice for a smaller group of people (some restaurants don't have a rental fee), then a less formal event for a bunch of people since our budget won't work for a really nice event for a bunch of people.

I have heard good things about McMenamin's weddings, and I've been to quite a few, and I just want something different. I'm not the biggest fan of their food and beer, it's not bad, but not great to me.

We're doing Portland over Bend (I love Bend, born and raised there) for the ease of our out-of-state guests, it's cheaper to fly into Portland versus Redmond, and most family is out-of-state.

Cedarville Park looks great, thanks for the suggestion! We are also considering some other venues I found by reading posts on The Knot such as the Mountain Park Rec Center http://mountainparkhoa.com/hawthornrm.html and Columbia Edgewater Country Club http://www.cecc.com/sites/courses/layout9.asp?id=509&page=26245. Any reviews on these venues?

I should reconsider McMenamin's, many people have recommended it, and it would be so nice to not have to piece everything together myself through rental companies.

If I could have it all and not care about money I would love to have a summer weekend wedding, 150 guests, something outdoors, dinner buffet, hosted wine and beer, a great dance floor and lots of twinkle lights and lanterns! I can only pretend to be as creative as the people I re-pin from on Pinterest, so help from the venue is nice.

I'm so glad some people replied with ideas, I'm an only child, never planned a wedding with anyone, and my fiance would love to just show up and have a good time without having any clue what went into the planning process

Thanks so much!

eospassion · January 2012

I do recommend having a nice wedding and 1 reception: It is doable!! We are doinig a lot of planning ourselves. Our venue is 1600 for the day, And there are so many things that you can do food/drinkwise.

Take your budget and prioritize.

When you have a clear picture of what you want the most, the rest will have to fall into it's place. Also, having 2 receptions will mean 2 cakes and 2 bartabs and 2 dinners. You can have the ceremony in one of the beautiful Portland Parks and a reception in one of the gorgeous ballroooms.

Or look into the Hoyt Arboretum. Decorations, food, chairs, linens. The package deals DO save you money. And I'm sure it is a sticker shock, but your family must be happy for you and your fiance. The more research you do, the more you will find out and the better deals and quality you will get.

eospassion · January 2012

You can try Bridal Exclusives! I got mine there, and they do have dresses in your price range.

We are getting married in the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion. Chairs, tables etc included. We are renting the dinnerware and they're throwing in bussers. Stick with packages for sure. If a place has a majority of the things you need like chair covers and linens, it's worth it. The price to rent your own will be about the same and then you also don't have an extra thing to worry about.

try http://www.recycledbride.com/

rojacobs · January 2012

This is great information, who needs a wedding planner when you have people on The Knot to help out??

I'm going to check out Recycled Bride, I could spend all day on the website! Now I just wish I was creative enough to put everything together.

DramaGeek · January 2012

I definitely think one event is the way to go. I would be put off if I wasn't invited to the ceremony and first reception but was invited to the second (less nice) reception, like it was a consolation prize or something.

You can definitely do a nice event on 10k. How many people are on your guest list? Can you give me any more info that would help sort out venue ideas?

I think it's probably going to be less expensive to rent a place and then bring in your own catering, etc.

rojacobs · January 2012

Yes, I think you are right about having just 1 event now that I have found a place that I can bring in my own caterer and alcohol. It's going to be more work to figure out and set up, but I think I can pull it off. We are hoping to keep the guest count to 150-175, have our favorite Hawaiian restaurant cater, and we have many friends that are licensed bartenders.

The venue we are thinking of (hope to check it out this weekend) is the Mountain Park HOA's clubhouse, in their Hawthorn room. $1200 to rent, and it sounds like it has everything we need- large room, includes table and chair, private balcony, dance floor, sound and PA system, caterer kitchen. My family loves to decorate, and we might have to rent some linens and/or chair covers to spiff up the place.

It's almost a personal challenge to see if I can do this on a $7.5k budget. I know budgeting is extremely important (I'm a CPA, I get it), but I wanted to first see what was out there and what things cost before I decided on a realistic budget. So that's still up for debate (I know, that's bad, right? Should set a budget right away and stick to it, that's what everyone says).

Luckily I have a great network of people who will help me pull this off! My bridesmaid has a DJ company, her parents are photographers, so those are some things I got lucky with. Friend of the family's son has a great cover band. Flowers from Costco, DIY center pieces should help the budget too.

Any other advice at this point? I have dress ideas from David's Bridal, haven't picked colors yet (blue is my favorite color, but black is just so easy), and haven't decided a date to shoot for. We are still thinking summer 2013 for the weather, and because I don't think I could pull it off for summer 2012 without driving myself crazy.

I've never planned an event, or helped plan an event, so I am learning a ton. Something I still want to research are caterers, anyone have luck with a great company, and kept the per person cost under $30?

rojacobs · January 2012

Yes, we love Bamboo Grove! That's the place we are planning to have cater the wedding, I'm so glad to hear that it went well for you. Kawika contacted us today about it and we'll set up an appointment to pick things out. I'm assuming it will be more reasonable than other places we have checked out, and we alrready know that the food is excellent. I was a little worried that it would seem somewhat informal, but it sounds like they can do pretty much anything we can think of. So excited!

Any suggestions of places to rent linens and/or chair covers?

Anybody held an event, or been to an event at the Mountain Park HOA Clubhouse? We're thinking of the Hawthorn room for the reception.

DramaGeek · January 2012

I've never heard of Mountain Park HOA, but I looked it up on google and it looks nice! As far as renting items, Barclay Rentals is my suggestion.

Portland venues- 1 small intimate venue and 1 large informal venue

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