Venue and Photog suggestions for newbie?

TashaK24 · July 2010

Hi everyone, I'm recently engaged (1 month tomorrow!) and FI and are just starting to plan (no date yet!). We're getting a little overwhelmed with costs since we're covering most of the wedding ourselves. Particularily we're looking for an inexpensive photographer (less than $1000 if possible) and unique venue. We're looking at about 50-60 guests and don't want to be at a standard place, like a hotel or winery or whatever. Blue RIbbon Culinary is one place we're considering,if anyone has comments on that?

Thanks in advance for the help!
Tasha

amandasw · July 2010

there are lots of good places and photogs people have used here, so you'll find something! My photog would be well within your price range and you could have her for a good portion of the day. Check out the review in my bio

TashaK24 · July 2010

Thanks Amanda! I think I'm missing something and feel a little slow... when I click on your user name, a bio comes up, but it's empty?

Tasha

fancynewbecca · July 2010

We checked out Blue Ribbon also, and it was a bit above our price point because thier minimums were a bit too high for us.

Our venue is Acalia Events in Seattle. It's the home of Foodz Catering and I hear nothing but good things abpout their food. It is definitely reasonable!!! Here's a link

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http://www.acaliaevents.com/

fancynewbecca · July 2010

Oh! And the Bios are ususally in the signatures... look underneath her picture )

Tygirljojo · July 2010

Tasha - congrats & welcome! Under Amanda's pic click on the "Butter, cheese, sour cream, and chives!" Another option about that range is Fike Fotography www.fikefotography.com. As for venue, if you're under 60 people (in fact more towards 50), I would look at Heirtage Hall in Kirkland http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/depart/parks/Facility_Rentals/Heritage_Hall.htm. There's also Legion Hall in Everett http://www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=460. Both those places while they say they can seat up to more than your guest count, mean theater style seating vs. banquet with tables and space to dance, so keep that mind when looking at places.

Another option over by Blue Ribbon is Lake Union Cafe http://www.lakeunioncafe.com. The thing we discovered with Blue Ribbon is they have (or at least at that time, had) a minimum depending on the time of the year and with the food, etc we were having a hard time hitting the minimum for a summer wedding with 75 guests - not to mention it would have actually cost us more due to their min and the other things we wanted to get (transportation, etc).

jennuinne · July 2010

Congrats and good luck. Photogs are hard. I googled photogs under $1000 and found mine who was newer at the time for a great price, but now there more. One of my friends had luck w/ getting an affordable photog for a small length of time b/f her prices went up. So if you can find someone good but newer, you may find a good deal. Or if your not a summer and/or Saturday wedding, you'll likely be able to find better deals, and you might have to cut back on how many hours you want. $1000 seems to be a min for most good photos.

When you say you want something unique, what exactly are you looking for? Mordern, artsy, etc.? Does location matter? Indoors/outoords?

amandasw · July 2010

yeah, in the siggy like people mentioned

don't worry about it, there's lots of random lingo and stuff you'll learn - people are nice and will help if you don't know something!

Archel · July 2010

First, congrats on getting engaged! This is a wonderful time in your life!

The venue I am using is Sanctuary at Admiral and it definitely meets your criteria of being unique! Not sure if it will fit in your price range, but just thought I'd throw it out there, since this isn't a venue that you will see advertised in many wedding magazines and such. It used to be a church, but is now used as a venue for events - brick exterior, beautiful wrought iron gates, high ceiling and windows inside, unique artwork decorating the interior, a kitchen that is the envy of any Seattle foodie. A stage, dance floor, and organ. I love this place!

My photographer is Mike Kane, who is a former Seattle PI photographer and whose work just blows me away. He might be a stretch out of your price range, but I say is worth checking out nonetheless if you want stellar artistic and photojournalistic quality photos.

jennuinne · July 2010

Another unique venue that I think is affordable is the Georgetown Ballroom. http://www.georgetownballroom.com/

ginabrat911 · July 2010

Congrats!!! It sounds like your budget and vision is similar to mine. We are having the ceremony at Ray's Boathouse - their wedding coordinator is fabulous! So helpful and the cost is so much less than I'd ever have expected.

Our photographer's business is still fairly new but I'm really happy with his work that I've seen and his most expensive wedding package is $1000 - Brian Stern
www.briansternphotography.com - if you look under his client viewer you can see pics from my engagement session - Gina and Burr

Good luck in finding what you are looking for! The planning can be so much fun

TashaK24 · July 2010

Hi everyone, thanks for the all the suggestions and helpful hints! I'll certainly be looking into all these!

Tasha

irshis20 · July 2010

Just FYI on a couple of the venues mentioned here... Lake Union Cafe has a minimum of 100-150 people depending on the season - it's why we didn't book with them. I loved the place, but they were going to charge me a rental fee for my anticipated 90-100 guests, and they hinted that we would be asked to order additional food beyond the norm, too. It is a beautiful venue, though!

I've heard Georgetown Ballroom is actually very expensive, so not sure about that one. The photos look great, though!

You didn't share what your budget was for a venue, so that makes it hard for us to recommend a place. The most unique place we considered was the Museum of Flight, but that is ungodly expensive. So, it would help if you gave us an idea of what you'd be willing to pay in terms of rental fee and/or food/bev.

TashaK24 · July 2010

Oh right, I probably should have said the budget, sorry about that! We're thinking around $5-6000 for the venue/food/booze for 50-60 people.

Tasha

Tygirljojo · July 2010

For that budget I would look at a parks department location/facility/hall. Those tend to be more affordable on the rental (so you can put that extra money to something else) and typically you get to bring your own caterer which can save money vs. having a place that you can only use their exclusive catering company at. You'll also want to find a caterer with whom you supply the alcohol. One other option since you have such a small guest list, is having the wedding at a place like Palisade restaurant. One of my absolute fave weddings our photog shot: http://jennyggphotography.com/blog/?p=1662 They had a smaller guest list and had a brunch wedding which obviously would cut down on cost. Maybe worth a shot looking into?

Venue and Photog suggestions for newbie?

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