Massachusetts

Venue HELP! Please!!

I'm getting so incredibly discouraged trying to find a venue, and I would love some advice/encouragement... FI and I have checked out 10 venues so far...

Tekoa CC, Oakridge CC, La Renaissance, Chez Josef, Spfld Marriott, The Cove, Mill On The River, Twin Hills CC, Log Cabin, and Storrowton Tavern (at the Big E)...

We're trying to find a place in our budget that's still nice and doesn't have 2 time slots per day for weddings... apparently, this is an impossible task and I have a feeling I ultimately just can't afford what I truly want.

We want to get married on a Saturday in May 2013. We're going to have a Catholic church ceremony (around 2ish) with an evening reception.

Some of the venues we've looked at do 2 weddings per day, so the evening time slot doesn't start until 6pm or there abouts. This doesn't work b/c there's too much time in between ceremony and reception...

We're looking to spend a total around $18,000-20,000, so I'm hoping to keep the venue (and whatever is included in the package) to $11,000-12,000 max. Therefore, a few of the places we've looked at have turned out to be slightly out of our price range (my parents, who are paying for the majority of the wedding, would like an open bar all evening, so I am factoring that into the venue budget as well).

We're hoping to find a place that doesn't look run down / old / in need of a lot of TLC... so that has eliminated one or two from our search that we've been less than impressed by...

We thought we'd decided on a place... but in trying to set up an appointment to actually book the venue and sign a contract, we've been playing a lot of phone tag... then had our appt cancelled (via voicemail) with a promise of a call back which we're still waiting on... giving us the impression that we should keep looking for a different venue as I don't want to spend the next year and several months being frustrated that I'm not getting the service I should be for spending this kind of money.

Any thoughts? Am I being too picky or unrealistic? Any amazing venues we haven't checked out yet (in the Western MA or Enfield/Windsor-ish CT area)?

A few other notes of what we're hoping to find:
We're hoping to find a place where we wouldn't have to then hire an outside caterer... mostly b/c I haven't been looking for caterers in my search and that would just be one more thing to figure out at this point and I'm starting to lose my sanity.
We're also looking for something for an indoor reception (hopefully with some form of outdoor element to at least have the option of guests going outside)... We're not really interested in a tented, outdoor reception... I'm too paranoid about rain, etc.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated!!! Thanks!!!
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Re: Venue HELP! Please!!

  • Have you looked at the Red Barn or Salem Cross Inn?  While neither seem to fit into the theme of where you've looked, they're both beautiful locations, have their own food service.  They're both older buildings but neither are run down by any means.
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  • Maybe not quite in the location you are looking at but... Jiminy Peak is really nice and the Publick House in Sturbridge too. The Publick House is similar to the Salem Cross Inn.
  • DivaJenDDivaJenD member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited February 2012
    Thanks for the ideas! I'll have to take a look at the Publick House and Red Barn... Can't do Salem Cross unfortunately - my sister got married back in 1998 and that was her dream venue, but she couldn't afford it at the time... so that's a no-go because of that connection... but I appreciate the ideas!

    Any more would be welcome as well! Thanks!!
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  • Another option is the Summit House - I believe you'd have to bring in an outside caterer, but it is in your location range and has amazing views!
    Oh and if you have any questions about the Red Barn, let me know and I'd be glad to answer them as I had my wedding there. 
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  • Definitly check out the public house. Since you liked Salem Cross - this may be a perfect fit and it's quite reasonable and they will do so much in house. 

    Good Luck!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_massachusetts-western-mass_venue-help-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:619Discussion:b4e67a7d-aa72-4b72-bafd-fdc78c931ea7Post:3ab8bf2f-6516-45ec-b012-e24a86cc2fba">Re: Venue HELP! Please!!</a>:
    [QUOTE]Thanks for the ideas! I'll have to take a look at the Publick House and Red Barn... <strong>Can't do Salem Cross unfortunately - my sister got married back in 1998 and that was her dream venue, but she couldn't afford it at the time</strong>... so that's a no-go because of that connection... but I appreciate the ideas! Any more would be welcome as well! Thanks!!
    Posted by DivaJenD[/QUOTE]

    That was 14 years ago, hopefully she's gotten over that.  In any event, as PP said, the Publick House is very similar to Salem Cross Inn.  You can easily have a wedding there for under $20k.  I think they even offer a special for the month of May since June is the officially start to wedding season.  I got married there in November and was thrilled with the service we received. 
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  • If Salem Cross is out, consider Old Sturbridge Village...as rustic and unique as any venue! And, VERY doable with your budget.  They've been great to work with so far and have been SOO helpful!  Like other said, you can check out the Publick House too...I'll be honest though, I wasn't impressed.  They pump out a few weddings a day and it seemed to much like a generic venue for a wedding. I didn't want that at all and I really wanted a full experience.  Don't get me wrong, I've been to a wedding there, at Salem Cross and at Sturbridge Village (8 years ago) and SV won  my heart! Good luck - hope you find the perfect venue!
  • I'm getting married at the Publick House in August and having my reception in the tent, easily doable under 20k. They only have one tent reception a day so you can have it at any time. You could also try Zukas Hilltop Barn, I believe they also have a tent.
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_massachusetts-western-mass_venue-help-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:619Discussion:b4e67a7d-aa72-4b72-bafd-fdc78c931ea7Post:22f340c8-77f4-4ef5-b729-1cfcd9cce05e">Re: Venue HELP! Please!!</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm getting married at the Publick House in August and having my reception in the tent, easily doable under 20k. They only have one tent reception a day so you can have it at any time. You could also try Zukas Hilltop Barn, I believe they also have a tent.
    Posted by HeatherR45[/QUOTE]

    Zukas is nice for the ceremony and the indoor space for the cocktail hour, but I was in a wedding there and I was not impressed with their tent.  The tent just seemed old, dirty, and nothing special.  It's a shame since the property is so beautiful.  Maybe the wedding I was in was lacking something at the reception, but that was my impression of the Zukas tent. 
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  • I'm a Springfield Marriott bride. Love it!!!! We looked at a couple of places on your list and this was by far our favorite. They only do one wedding a day so you choose what time it starts, etc. RIta and Rich have been amazing to work with. We went to the tasting there a few weeks ago-- it was great!!!
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  • What about Sturbridge Host Hotel? They have a pretty outdoor ceremony location and if there is bad weather...the indoor location is pretty as well. Good luck!
  • Thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone!! We ended up giving the venue we had wanted another shot and ended up signing a contract this week!! Finally can put a giant check mark on the "to do" list!! Now I just have to find photographer, DJ, florist, etc... oh boy!
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